St Grizzle's School for Girls, Geeks and Tag-along Zombies

by Karen McCombie

  When Toshio moved the spare mattress into Zed’s room this afternoon and TRIED to move Twinkle’s polka-dot dog goat bed out, she was having none of it. She nipped Toshio on the bottom before snuggling herself down on her bed and refusing to budge. For the last few hours she has steadfastly ignored any shooing or attempted bribery-with-food to shift her, and has “Meh!”ed menacingly at anyone coming near.

  “Yeah, sure,” Arch says casually.

  He doesn’t say anything else. Maybe the idea of sharing a room with a sort-of-stranger is making him a bit shy.

  “And are you looking forward to lessons tomorrow?” I say, changing the subject. “Lulu says we can start building a new tree house in the morning. Won’t that be brilliant?”

  “Brilliant.” Arch grins, brightening up. “And hey, after classes, we could go off on our own and make some new mini-movies, couldn’t we?. And then on Saturday we can have the WHOLE day together. Just the two of us. Sunday, too, till Mum and Dad come to pick me up…”

  I smile, though I feel a little niggle of disappointment in my tummy. Making new minimovies with Arch will be brilliant. And I can’t wait to spend time with him, just the two of us. But at the weekend, it IS kind of fun to hang out with everyone here. I was kind of hoping Arch would get a kick out of doing that, too.

  “OK, it’s nearly bed o’clock – let’s head indoors!” Lulu announces, trickling a bucket of water over the glowing embers of the fire.

  There are a lot of disappointed “awww!”s but all the pupils start picking up and packing up whatever stuff is lying around the clearing.

  “You know, you still look weird without your baseball cap,” I tell Arch.

  “No, he looks nice,” says Boudicca, which is practically the only thing she’s said all night.

  “Don’t know about that!” I laugh. “But here, let’s capture a rare hat-free moment…”

  As I wrestle my mobile out of my pocket and get ready for a selfie, Granny Viv rounds up the younger classes and steers them towards the school, Boudicca included.

  “Ready?” I say, and Arch and I put our heads together and smile.

  “Photobomb!” comes a shout, and sure enough – the image on the screen is of me and Arch, with Swan and Zed yelling, arms wide, behind us.

  I start to laugh – of course I do.

  Then I catch sight of the frown on Arch’s face.

  “Why did you have to spoil it?” he snaps at Swan and Zed.

  “What?” says Swan, frowning herself.

  “We didn’t mean to—”

  “Forget it,” says Arch, cutting off Zed’s apology. “See you in the morning, Dani…”

  Arch stomps off towards the big house while I quickly wiggle my feet into my flip-flops and try to figure out what just happened.

  “Sorry, I don’t know what’s got into him,” I apologize to Zed and Swan.

  “It’s fine, he’s had a crazy day,” says Swan, waving the moment away with her hand as if it’s nothing to worry about.

  “But it’s not like him to be like that,” I carry on ten minutes later in the girls’ loos, still trying to figure out my best friend’s strange behaviour.

  “Look, it’s cool, Dani,” says Swan, holding the door open for me as we head back to our dorm. “Like you said, his parents are splitting up. His head’s going to be a mess…”

  It’s sweet of her to say but I still feel muddled. And I’m anxious about Zed and Arch sharing a room. Are they over it, and chatting away happily together? Or is Arch still huffing and pretending to be asleep while Zed gets ready for bed and Twinkle snores?

  “Is it OK if I turn out the light?” asks Swan, hovering by the switch as I reach my own bunk. “I’m pretty tired.”

  “Sure,” I say. “Night…”

  But I’m more wired than tired.

  I reach for my mobile on the bedside cabinet and slide it under the covers. In my duvet cave – with no light spilling out to disturb Swan as she snoozes – I watch Arch’s odd little loo-roll zombie movie again. I guess I’m looking at it with fresh eyes now I know how he was feeling when he made it. No wonder those little zombies look so blank and gloomy…

  I’m just watching it through for the second time when I feel a tiny tug on my pillow.

  “Downboy, you shouldn’t be in here,” I hiss, tossing back the covers.

  But the glow of my mobile screen shows up something that isn’t four-legged and drooling.

  Yikes! I nearly jump out of my skin at the sight of Boudicca standing over me, staring in that strange blank way of hers.

  And now I realize what she reminds me of. I hold up the paused film on the screen, and glance from it to Boudicca and back again.

  Yep, she’s a total ringer for the loo-roll zombie.

  “You scared me!” I tell her, once I get over the shock. “What are you doing here? You’re meant to be in Otters’ dorm!”

  “They do secret whisperings. I don’t like it. I’m sleeping here,” she tells me in her tiny but firm voice.

  With that she calmly trots off to a spare bunk and curls up under the covers.

  “Er, all right, I suppose,” I mumble, hoping I’m not going to have any nightmares about being stalked by starey-eyed zombies, either flesh-and-blood or loo-rollish cardboard ones…

  “Good morning, good MORNING!” Lulu trills.

  Our head teacher’s not here in person – her merry voice is blasting through the speaker above the Fungi dorm door. There’s a speaker in every room.

  As I stretch myself awake I smile, thinking what a shock it’ll be to Arch. I didn’t warn him about our morning wake-up song!

  But then my smile and my stretch fade as I remember my friend’s funny mood last night. I hope he’s in a better one today…

  “Good morning, good morning to YOOOOOOO!”

  THUNKKK!

  The door under the speaker slams open.

  “Girls! Boudicca’s disappeared! AGAIN!” Granny Viv calls out.

  I prop myself up on my elbows, and blink at the vision of red-haired Granny Viv in her bright

  green dressing gown and yellow Minion slippers. She looks like she’s dressed as a traffic light. “It’s not funny, Dani!” she says, misinterpreting my smile. “It’s our job to keep Boudicca safe.”

  “Uh, it’s OK – she came in here again last night,” I say quickly, feeling a bit hurt by Granny Viv’s stern tone.

  “Did she?” asks a yawning Swan from her bunk at the far side of the dorm.

  “I meant to come and tell you,” I explain to Granny Viv, “but I was thinking about Arch and … and … I forgot and must’ve fallen asleep.”

  Granny Viv’s face softens a little.

  “Of course. Sorry to snap, Dani, darling. It’s just when I saw Boudicca’s empty bed in the Otters’ dorm just now, I couldn’t help worrying.”

  “Yeah, it didn’t really work out for her being in there,” I explain. “Maybe she’d be better with the Conkers? They’re more grown-up…”

  “Maybe. I’ll bring it up with Lulu later,” says Granny Viv. “So which bunk is she in?”

  “The one in the middle, on the bottom,” I say, glad that Granny Viv’s apologized.

  And I get it – when people are worried, they snap. Arch is worried about what’s happening with his family so he got a bit snappish last night. He’ll be fine today.

  “Which one did you say?” asks Granny Viv, walking back and forth, frowning. “Boudicca? Boudicca, sweetheart? Are you awake?”

  There are a LOT of bunks in Fungi dorm. Back when the school was old-fashioned and strict, this room would have been PACKED with ten-and eleven-year-old girls. Now it’s home to just me, Swan and our uninvited guest.

  I groggily get out of bed to help.

  “She got into that one… Er…” My voice trails away as I see that the bunk is empty.

  There is no duvet.

  No pillow.

  And no Boudicca.

  “OK, here’s what we’re doing,” says Granny Viv
, switching into Sergeant-Major Mode. “Swan, round up the Otters and Newts and help them search THIS floor. Dani, take the Conkers downstairs and do a sweep of the ground floor – Zed and Arch can help. I’ll get the adults and we’ll look outside…”

  What feels like a nanosecond later, me, Angel, Klara, May-Belle and Yas are thundering downstairs.

  For some reason, Blossom ignores Granny Viv’s instructions and hurtles past us at top speed.

  “You do the classrooms and hall down THAT corridor,” I tell the Conkers. “And me, Zed and Arch will do the rooms off THIS one…”

  While the other girls turn right, I turn left – and see Blossom disappearing into Lulu’s office.

  Just then Zed comes wheeling towards me, already dressed. “What’s happening? Is something wrong?” he calls out.

  I’m about to answer when a voice blasts out of the speakers.

  “BOODICKY! WHERE ARE YOU? COME OUT, COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARE!” Blossom screeches at ear-splitting volume. “BOO! WE MISS YOOOOOO!”

  Arch’s head pops out from Zed’s room, while Twinkle skips by “Meh!”ing loudly, hooves clip-clopping on the tiled floor.

  “Could this place get any louder?” he yells above the racket.

  “We need to find Boudicca,” I say quickly. “She’s gone missing again.”

  “I got that,” says Zed, wincing as Blossom continues with her emergency shouting. “Have you tried the Conkers’ dorm? Boudicca hasn’t been in that one yet, has she? Maybe she’s trying it out for size.”

  “I just asked Angel – they haven’t seen her,” I tell him. “But the Newts and Otters are double-checking… They’re doing the first floor.”

  “How about the tree house?” Arch suggests as he hoicks up his loose PJ bottoms. “She might have gone there for some peace and quiet…”

  He says that kind of longingly and I can’t blame him. St Grizzle’s is about as peaceful as a motorway next to a construction site at the moment.

  “Granny Viv and the other grown-ups are looking in the garden and woods,” I say. “We need to check the dining hall and the kitchen and rooms along here…”

  “Who’s doing the top floor?” asks Arch.

  “Well, no one. That’s just the teachers’ rooms,” I reply. “I think they’d have noticed if a pupil had snuck in with her duvet…”

  “Yeah, but it’s worth a try, isn’t it?” suggests Arch. His messy flop of hair is sticking to his forehead in the shape of a question mark.

  “Go!” urges Zed. “I can search down here! After I grab the stupid microphone off Blossom…”

  Me and Arch take the stairs two at a time. Everywhere is chaos and shouting, but at least Blossom’s been stopped.

  (“BOO! PLEASE COME—Oof!”)

  When we arrive at last on the top floor, we see that someone has beaten us to it.

  A whimpering Downboy is lying flat on his stomach, sniffing madly at a closed door in the corridor.

  “Who’s room is THAT?” asks Arch, expecting it to belong to one of the teachers. But I know it doesn’t. I take a step closer and see that, according to the very antique brass plaque on the door, this room belongs to “Linens”.

  Now I may not be as smart as brainiac geeks like Yas and Boudicca but I DO know that “Linens” is old-fashioned for sheets and stuff. This must be one of those cupboards that servants used to use. Just like Swan told us on Wednesday, during Boudicca’s tour of the school…

  “Good boy, well done,” I tell Downboy as I gently shove him aside with my leg and pull the door open.

  Inside? Well, like Blossom said, it is a bit like a prison cell. But to Boudicca, it’s obviously her newly discovered, secret, one-person oasis.

  Cos there she is, fast asleep, all nuzzled up in her duvet nest like a little baby squirrel.

  “Looks like Goldilocks found the bed she likes best!” Arch grins at me.

  And with that grin, I know I’ve got my funny, sunshiney Arch back. Last night’s moodiness? It was just a blip and today is going to be a GOOD day at St Grizzle’s for sure…

  It has not just been a GOOD day – it has been an EXCELLENT one so far.

  After the excitement of losing and finding Boudicca, Lulu decided that we’d have a Fun Friday and do ALL our lessons together, instead of splitting up into form classes.

  First up, we did tree-house building, where I took a really funny picture of Arch flexing his muscles with his foot on a log. He almost looked like a proper lumberjack, except for the huge Peppa Pig plaster Granny Viv stuck on his poorly knee yesterday.

  Next, it was music, where Lulu persuaded Boudicca to give us a recital on her violin. We all had to try really hard not to laugh, and try really hard to resist sticking our fingers in our ears, when it dawned on us that Boudicca hasn’t inherited her parents’ musical talents…

  For lunch Granny Viv made smiley-face sandwiches, which got EVERYONE smiling, except for Boudicca, who just looked confused.

  And now we’re in our last lesson of the day – art.

  Mademoiselle Fabienne has challenged us to make pictures using food. While we all fiddle with dried pasta, peppercorns and glue, she sits strumming her guitar and singing sad French songs with her eyes closed.

  “Just a normal afternoon at St Grizzle’s?” jokes Arch as he sticks the final piece of macaroni to complete his Eiffel Tower.

  “Sure is,” I say with a smile and a nod.

  Inspired by the ball in Wednesday’s useless getting-to-know-each-other session, I have made a cornflake-scaled Dory which I’m about to paint blue. “How’s yours going, Boudicca?”

  Since Arch gently woke her up in the cupboard, Boudicca’s been by his side practically every minute, his very own little tag-along zombie. She’s sitting as close as can be to him now, so close you could barely slide a piece of food-art-covered paper between them.

  Boudicca doesn’t seem to hear me.

  I go round the table for a peek at what she’s doing anyway.

  “Wow, that is amazing!” I gasp when I see what Boudicca’s made out of egg noodles and raisins. It’s a REALLY good likeness of Vincent van Gogh’s super-famous Sunflowers painting. “Shall I take a photo of it for you?”

  “No, thank you,” Boudicca mumbles, pulling it closer to her.

  My enthusiastic smile melts away and I remember what Boudicca said that first night when she snuck into our dorm – she doesn’t want to have friends. Not unless they’re Arch, it seems…

  TWANNNGGGGG!!

  Mademoiselle Fabienne strums a final, dramatic chord on her guitar.

  “Alors, mes chers!” she calls out. “It is that time! End of school! The beginning of le weekend! Enjoy!”

  With a whoop of hurrahs and a screech of chairs, everyone’s instantly on the move.

  “So, ready to make a mini-movie?” Arch says to me, looking excited.

  “Absolutely! I’ll nip upstairs and get the backpack. Meet me in the entrance hall in two minutes,” I suggest, then hurry off, thinking that I’ll probably be meeting Boudicca in the entrance hall, too, since I doubt she’ll let Arch out of her sight.

  But back to our filming… Me and Arch have been mulling over ideas all day. We haven’t decided on an exact theme yet but we’ve got the location – the area around the new tree house where there’s piles of sawdust that look exactly like weeny-wee sand dunes. Maybe we’ll do a Star Wars scene.

  I run to the dorm at top speed, grab our bag of actors from under my bed and scurry back down the grand staircase just as fast. Whirling myself round the curve of the banister at the bottom, I nearly career straight into Zed.

  “Hey, guess what?” he says, waving me closer like he’s got a secret to share. “Mum just told me that since Boudicca seems happy staying in the cupboard she’s going to give it a makeover, as a surprise.”

  “Cool!” I say, thinking how much Boudicca will love it in there. She’ll probably hide away inside and refuse to come out. We could take turns delivering classwork and snacks at regular int
ervals.

  “Toshio painted it white earlier and moved in a mattress, and your gran is putting Boudicca’s clothes and books and stuff on the shelves,” Zed carries on. “Swan’s in my room – we’re going to make some mobiles of birds to hang up. Do you want to come and help?”

  “Sounds like a great idea,” I say, thinking that the birds Swan painted on her wall are just about the only thing Boudicca seems keen on at our school. “Sure, I’ll help!”

  In that moment – even though I had a backpack of ex-toy actors on my shoulder – it’s like I’ve forgotten Arch is at St Grizzle’s.

  In that moment I’ve started walking off after Zed.

  In that moment it dawns on me that I’m being watched and I turn to see Arch glowering at me from the doorway of the dining room with an angry, hurt look on his face. His little tag-along zombie is staring EXTRA hard at me, too.

  “If you’ve got BETTER things to do than film with me, then that’s fine, Dani. Go right ahead!” Arch rages.

  “No… I didn’t mean…” I bluster.

  “Well, Zed is obviously your best friend now, so, yeah, feel free to hang out with him.”

  “Look, Arch, Zed was telling me about this really cool thing that—”

  “It’s MY fault,” Zed says, interrupting me in his hurry to make things better. “I didn’t know you two had plans. I just thought I’d see if Dani wanted—”

  “Whatever,” Arch says loudly, cutting him off. “Do what you want, Dani. I don’t care.”

  “I want to do our filming, Arch!” I protest, slipping the backpack off and holding it out to him as evidence.

  “Nah, don’t worry,” Arch says in a narky, off-hand way that I’ve never heard him use before. “I’ve got someone else to help me make minimovies. Right, Boudicca?”

  Boudicca opens her eyes wide and nods up at him.

  And with that Arch snatches the backpack out of my hand and leads the way towards the back door and the garden and woods beyond.