by Connie Glynn
As if hearing her mental frustration, Ellie leaned towards Lottie and whispered. ‘I was just trying to get us a midnight feast or something, you know, to cement our friendship or whatever …’
Lottie turned to Ellie and gave her the best You’ve got to be kidding me look she could muster, but it must have been pretty weak because they both snorted, having to use all their willpower not to burst out laughing at how ridiculous the situation was.
They came to an area of the Ivy dorm Lottie hadn’t been to yet. The corridor was wider and it was even more ornate and luxurious than the regular dormitory. At the end, above the door to the house mother’s rooms, there was a huge gold-framed painting of an effeminate-looking man with little square glasses smiling out at the world. Lottie recognized him as the founder of Rosewood, William Tufty.
Professor Devine opened the door and gestured for the girls to go in. Lottie was expecting an imposing office, with dark grand furniture, a perfect scene for a mortifying reprimanding, but to her surprise they entered the quaintest little room she’d ever seen. The floor was a peachy marble, with a large plush rug in the centre, on top of which was an intricately decorated cream coffee table, its glass topped with a sophisticated rose pattern. Two pink-trimmed love seats with gorgeous woodwork and golden lining sat on either side. Soft light from velvet lampshades gave the whole room a dreamy glow that seemed to mimic Professor Devine’s own natural luminescence. Lottie felt completely out of place in her nightgown and half expected the room to come alive and refuse her and Ellie entry for being too scruffy.
‘Take a seat, girls.’
Ellie and Lottie sat next to each other, Lottie with her hands nervously in her lap, Ellie leaning back, getting instantly more comfortable than she should have been in the situation.
Professor Devine brought out a tray with a beautiful floral tea set and biscuits. This was not the punishment Lottie had been expecting. The deputy headmistress set them down upon the coffee table and sat on the love seat opposite them.
‘Miss Wolf, this is your first warning,’ she said sternly. ‘Do not let me catch you getting up to mischief again.’
Lottie noted the odd choice of words. If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought the professor was encouraging Ellie to be more cunning next time. They shared a look that Lottie couldn’t quite understand. It was a tense stand-off, until finally Ellie sighed in defeat.
‘How did you know I was there? I was so quiet.’
Lottie held her breath for a moment, thinking Ellie had been tricked into confessing but the professor simply laughed.
‘I want you to know, Ellie, that I have eyes and ears all over this school.’ She tapped her nose twice. ‘Nothing gets past me.’ Ellie raised a disbelieving eyebrow in response. ‘Now, if you’re going to wake me up, the least you can do is offer me some polite company for a while. That is your punishment.’ Her tone was humorous and light, a sharp smile spreading across her lips as she poured a cup of tea for each of them.
‘To be fair, Professor, Lottie didn’t actually do anything. She wasn’t even awake,’ Ellie said honestly. ‘I wanted to surprise her with a big feast in the room for breakfast or something –’
Professor Devine held a finger up to silence her and turned to Lottie. ‘Miss Pumpkin, is it?’
Lottie nodded nervously. This whole event was just too strange; she was half convinced she was dreaming the whole thing.
‘Pumpkin, what a charming name.’ The professor said the word melodically, seeming to truly delight in it. ‘I suppose you are a fan of Cinderella?’ she added, gesturing to Lottie’s nightgown.
‘Oh yes,’ Lottie replied enthusiastically. ‘I love all the interpretations of old fairy tales.’
Ellie smirked and Lottie instinctively stuck her tongue out at her.
The professor laughed good-humouredly and took a sip of tea. ‘I have met many girls like you, Miss Wolf. It seems I have quite the mischief-maker on my hands.’
Ellie shrugged as if this were no big deal.
‘Now I know you did nothing wrong, Miss Pumpkin,’ she said, turning back to Lottie with a warm smile on her face, ‘but the fates have placed Miss Wolf in a room with you, so you must look out for her. The same goes for you, Ellie. This is a vital lesson for you both.’ Her face turned very serious all of a sudden. ‘I cannot express how important it is that you young girls do everything you can to support each other in a world that is so ready to belittle you and bring you down. We can achieve amazing things when we uplift one another.’
Lottie and Ellie turned to face each other; it truly was amazing that two girls that were so vastly different would end up sharing a room.
‘Now off to bed, both of you. What on earth were you thinking, getting me to serve you tea so late at night. Dreadful, completely unprofessional!’ The professor winked at them before sending them off and heading back down the corridor in a floating vision of silky white fabric.
Lottie realized that neither she nor Ellie had even touched their tea.
What an odd night, thought Lottie.
‘She’s fun,’ said Ellie, grinning.
Lottie and Ellie clambered back into their beds, snuggling under the duvets. A warm feeling started to spread through Lottie as she looked around at their odd-couple decoration. Her place with Ellie had become their little sanctuary. She smiled to herself, feeling suddenly very at home. Maybe she’d be happy at Rosewood after all.
As the girls fell back asleep, something was stirring around Rosewood Hall, something that had all the students giddy and excited. A rumour like an unstoppable weed was spreading its way through the roses of the grounds and it was going to have a life-changing effect.
10
The next day was one of the most perplexing days of Lottie’s life. Somehow everyone in Rosewood seemed to have discovered Lottie’s royal secret, and they weren’t very subtle about it. As she walked through the Ivy dining hall that morning, she could hear hushed voices gossiping at her expense and, worst of all, Lottie realized she was kind of enjoying it.
‘Look, that’s her!’
‘She certainly looks the part.’
‘I thought Pumpkin was kind of a weird name.’
Lottie purposefully ignored that last comment as she took her seat next to Ellie. This Maravish princess must be a big deal, she said to herself.
She’d already had little gifts left outside their door that morning, from bath bombs to perfume, all accompanied by business cards. How are they so good at networking and manipulating already? she thought. Luckily she was able to hide them without Ellie noticing, one of the few perks of her terrible habit of ‘sleeping in’. The idea of Ellie finding out about this ridiculous mess made her cringe. If Ellie was going to discover the misunderstanding, she wanted to tell her herself.
‘Good morning.’ A tall dark-haired boy with round spectacles stood at the front of the hall on a speaker’s podium, a short purple-trimmed cloak with a stag emblem round his shoulders.
‘I’m George Ogawa, Year Thirteen head of Ivy House. I trust you are all settling in well,’ he continued, smiling at everyone with a charismatic expression that he’d probably practised many times in the mirror. It fell a little short as the dining hall continued to buzz with hushed whispers. ‘While those of you who are new here get settled into your classes over the next few weeks, I have been asked to remind you that you will soon be given the opportunity to join a club or team, an honour that should be thoroughly respected.’ He paused a moment to clear his throat and Ellie made a gagging motion. Lottie huffed at her, knowing how prestigious some of the extracurricular classes at Rosewood were. ‘So it will be in your best interests to consider carefully in which position you feel you will best represent Rosewood. Thank you and enjoy your breakfast.’
George exited the stage and the hall immediately began chatting enthusiastically again. Lottie was acutely aware of the word ‘princess’ being thrown about and was tempted to shove her face into a loaf of bread to hide.
‘Here –’ Ellie pushed a little apple tart on a rosy dish across the table – ‘I had one of these yesterday. They’re really good.’
‘Oh, I can’t. I’m allergic to apples,’ replied Lottie, sliding it back.
‘You’re …?’ Ellie’s voice trailed off and she looked around the hall, which had been so lively and loud the morning before, to find only hushed whispers and pointing fingers.
‘Umm … why is everyone staring at you?’ she asked, grabbing a pain au chocolat from the middle of the table and gnawing off a big chunk.
Lottie was amazed at how completely indifferent Ellie was to all the gossiping. She almost wondered if Ellie was teasing her again and actually knew about the whole thing.
‘You seriously don’t know?’ The words came out a little harsher than Lottie intended, but Ellie didn’t seem to notice, instead taking another big bite of her pastry.
‘We’ve only been here two days,’ she said, gulping down her food and immediately stuffing the rest in her mouth. ‘What could you possibly have done that’s got everyone so worked up?’ The words came out muffled through the food, but the ‘two days’ was loud and clear. How on earth had she managed to cause such chaos in two days? Lottie felt like she should get a prize.
‘Basically …’ Lottie began. What difference would it make if she told her now? Better she tell her herself now, she’d probably just find it hilarious. ‘There’s this ridiculous rumour –’
Lottie was abruptly cut off when Lola and Anastacia appeared at her side. Anastacia looked immaculate already. Her red Conch tartan dress was somehow more starched and pristine than anyone else’s, and her hair was a perfect silky pool of chestnut brown cascading to her waist, a contrast to Lottie’s sleepy bedhead. Looking at her made Lottie want to run upstairs and put a paper bag over her own head in shame. The only odd thing was that Anastacia was wearing sunglasses again. What does she have to hide?
‘WE ARE SO SORRY!’ Lola proceeded to get down on her knees and began making a big show of grovelling.
Anastacia removed her sunglasses and rolled her eyes. Did she seriously just take off her sunglasses for the sole purpose of rolling her eyes?
‘We promise we didn’t tell ANYONE; we have no idea how this happened!’ Lola remained firmly on her knees, looking up at Lottie like a little puppy. Everyone was staring now. She reached into her bag and pulled out a box. ‘These chocolates are for you. I’m so sorry, Lottie. I’m so, so sorry.’ Her bottom lip was quivering slightly and she looked like she might be about to cry.
Lottie stared at the box. TOMPKINS CONFECTIONERY CHOCOLATE CARAMELS COLLECTION. Lottie mentally kicked herself for being excited by the chocolates. How could she have let this get so out of hand?
‘Oh, get up, Lola, for God’s sake – you’re being ridiculous.’ Anastacia’s French accent came out particularly strong as she pulled Lola off the floor.
‘We didn’t tell anyone,’ she said sternly. ‘I promise. None of us did. We really have no idea how this happened.’ Anastacia was deadly serious, so serious that she’d kept her sunglasses off and Lottie noticed her eyes were bloodshot, as if she hadn’t slept well.
All of a sudden they both became aware of Ellie, who was sitting chewing her food like it was popcorn and watching them as if they were performing a play.
‘Who’s this?’ Anastacia said, pointing at Ellie without actually looking at her.
‘That’s Ellie.’
‘I’m Ellie.’
Their two voices came out in unison.
Anastacia seemed dissatisfied with this answer. ‘OK, but WHO is she?’
Lottie decided to ignore how rude that sounded, as if everyone needed permission to be in Anastacia’s presence.
‘She’s my room-mate.’
‘I’m her room-mate.’
Again they spoke in unison. Lottie had to resist the temptation to shout ‘jinx’, thinking this might not be the appropriate time.
‘Can someone please explain what’s going on here?’ Ellie interjected. ‘You guys are kind of ruining breakfast, which, in my family, is actually punishable by death.’
Lottie kicked Ellie under the table but had to stop herself from laughing.
‘She doesn’t know? Everyone in the school knows except your room-mate?’ Anastacia looked like she was about ready to explode.
‘Hey! I know plenty of things,’ Ellie replied, as she forked some of the apple tart into her mouth. ‘Like … you know she’s allergic to apples?’
‘SHE’S WHAT?!’ Lola screeched in disbelief. ‘Oh my God, it’s perfect. A princess who’s allergic to apples. It’s like you’re a Disney character!’ Lola’s burst of giggles was cut short by Ellie choking on her tart.
She quickly downed her orange juice trying to catch her breath. ‘What?’
Lottie had a sudden distinct feeling of déjà vu.
‘OK, this is getting tedious.’ Anastacia rolled her eyes again and turned to Ellie. ‘Your room-mate Lottie Pumpkin is actually the undercover Maravish princess.’
Ellie’s eyes shot open so wide they looked like they might pop out of their sockets.
‘Lottie?’ She turned to her questioningly, and there was suddenly an intense and slightly terrifying energy radiating from Ellie that completely contrasted with her jokey mood a few minutes ago.
The severity of this change made Lottie gasp and she found her words getting muddled in her throat. ‘I … couldn’t stop it spreading.’
Lottie wished she could kick herself in the face, she sounded like such an idiot.
‘I thought you said you were attending on a bursary?’ There was a coldness now in the way Ellie was speaking.
‘Yes … I didn’t … this is …’ Lottie tried to reply, but she was still stumbling over her words.
Ellie abruptly stood up, pushing her plates away. ‘I have to go,’ she said coolly, and just like that she stormed out of the dining hall.
Lottie’s heart was thudding. That had got … unexpectedly extreme.
Anastacia turned back to Lottie and shrugged.
Lola grinned and waved after Ellie as she left. ‘She seems nice!’ she said.
Lottie tried to get through the rest of the day, praying that Ellie would show up to class. Lottie had looked everywhere: the library, the field – she’d even checked the little hidden spot she’d found by Stratus Side. Ellie had vanished. She went back to the Ivy dorm at lunch to look for her, but Ellie clearly did not want to be found. Lottie hoped she’d show up at their room later but she was also nervous about seeing her again. Ellie had made it very clear to Lottie what she thought of all the Rosewood students whose lives had been handed to them on a plate and as far as she was concerned now, Lottie was one of them. Not just one of them, but a big stupid liar as well. The worst part was this wasn’t a lie; she really was attending on a bursary and she really had worked her butt off to get in – but she didn’t know how she’d even begin to explain the misunderstanding. Yet still, for all that, Ellie’s reaction seemed too intense. Why had she reacted like that? It didn’t make any sense. She knew they had their differences but this was just … odd.
Lottie had one more look around campus after her last class but she knew deep down that she needed to head back to the dorm. She bumped into the prefect Eliza on her way through the gate and asked her if she’d seen Ellie at all.
‘Oh, I think she came in about an hour ago. She said she wasn’t feeling well.’
Lottie said a quick thank-you, then hurried upstairs. She was just about to open the door to their room when she suddenly felt a wave of anxiety. What if Ellie is really mad about this? Maybe she knows the Maravish princess? All these possibilities started popping into Lottie’s head and she found herself not wanting to open the door. She reached into her bag and felt her tiara, finding comfort in always having it by her side. You can do this, she thought. Face your fears. Lottie gently pushed the door open and found …
Nothing. There was no one; the room was dimly lit and
she couldn’t see Ellie anywhere. She was just about to turn and leave to hunt for Ellie somewhere else when a voice came from behind her.
‘You’re a liar.’
Lottie jumped as she turned to find Ellie waiting by their door. She looked furious. Her hair hung in front of her face, causing a dark shadow to mask her eyes, and her fists were clenched so hard Lottie feared she may draw blood from her palms.
Lottie quivered. ‘Excuse me?’
‘I said –’ Ellie shut the door firmly behind her before repeating more aggressively: ‘you’re a liar.’
Lottie was acutely aware that there was no way out of the room without going directly through Ellie.
‘W-what are you talking about?’ Lottie could feel herself begin to tremble but willed herself to stay composed.
‘You’re not the princess of Maradova,’ snapped Ellie.
Cold droplets of sweat began to build on Lottie’s skin, her stomach knotted inside her and her tongue felt like lead in her mouth. How could she get her to believe this was all a big misunderstanding?
‘Ellie, let me explain …’ Lottie’s words came out shaky and oddly pitched.
Ellie’s face twisted into a humourless smirk. ‘I know that you lied because …’ She paused to move to her bed and started to rummage through her bag, violently chucking various objects and pieces of paper to the side.
Lottie momentarily considered bolting for the door and running all the way back to Cornwall, but before she could finish that thought Ellie had located the item she was looking for and shoved the new-found object in Lottie’s face. It was the diamond-shaped locket with the wolf crest expertly engraved on the surface. Ellie popped it open to reveal a small family photo: a king and a queen with a young girl at their side.
Lottie’s face went deathly pale as she realized who the little girl in the photo was. Lottie turned her gaze back to Ellie, but she already knew how her sentence was going to end.
