Struthers and her friends. No time at all.
“As for that priggish Cecily,” Diana says, and I’ve had, I decide, quite enough.
“Cecily is the Head Girl of Fernleigh Manor. I don’t know how you did things in your old school, but here, it’s not done to carp at the Head Girl behind her back.”
Valerie and Diana stare at me as if they’ve quite forgotten I’m there and are none too pleased to discover my presence. In my own study. They take the cake. Little Rosalind is looking at me, too, only without surprise. Her lips twitch, so slightly that I’m not sure I haven’t imagined it.
“I suppose we need to show our loyalty to the school tie,” Diana says, sneering.
“Something like that. Loyalty to our Head Girl, certainly.”
Valerie looks a little shamefaced. “She’s right, Di. Drop it.”
Diana doesn’t seem inclined to drop anything. “I don’t see why I shouldn’t say what I think of her. I can’t abide that hearty, beefy type of girl.”
I gather up my list and my books. “I advise you to think about it whenever you’re around me, then. I am a Senior Prefect. If you insist on acting like a lower former who needs to be shaken into shape, then I will treat you like one. School code of conduct, written out ten times, on my desk by tomorrow.”
Diana opens her mouth to protest. Rosalind touches her arm, and she subsides.
Something drops out of the pile of books in my arms, and I bend to pick it up. It’s a bookmark, carefully embroidered, with a rearing pegasus on it, its wings spread wide. It’s beautifully done. I wonder for a moment where it came from, and then I realise it’s a probably a token from one of the youngsters. Nice kid, to not show any sign of who made it, so as not to be accused of schlooping and trying to win her way into the team by devious measures. I smile down at it.
“What’s that?” Valerie catches my arm to stop me straightening up and peers over my shoulder. “It’s pretty.”
Stupidly, still pleased at the kindness of the present, I tell her.
“Don’t tell me that kind of thing is allowed at Fernleigh Manor,” Diana says. “It’s disgusting.”
“What is?”
She tosses her burnished hair. “Crushes and passions and all that unnatural nonsense. It’s sickening enough, the way the little ones flock around that great clumping—oh, well,” she finishes hastily, before I lose my temper completely. “But to actually encourage them to send gifts and tokens to you!”
“I don’t encourage the babes.” I shove the little bookmark back in the pile. “Anyway, there’s no harm to it.”
“It’s unhealthy.” Diana’s grey-green eyes are bright with malice. “Especially when the object of their affections is, well. You don’t even try to look like a normal girl, do you?”
“Diana!” Valerie seems torn between shock and glee. In her own corner, Rosalind is as pale and tense as if she’s seen a ghost.
I shove my way through the door and let it slam behind me. Poisonous beast! Ruining some lower former’s sweet little gesture like that, turning it into something quite unlike the innocent little show of admiration it is. I don’t see how Miss Carroll could ever expect me to be any influence on someone with a nasty mind like that. The one who is actually having an influence on the school, I decide as I kick at the closed door, is Diana. Valerie wasn’t half so bad until she had Diana dripping her poison into her ear day and night. As for that quiet little Rosalind kid, heaven knows what she thinks of the school she’s moved to, with girls like Diana and Val to judge by. A pit of vipers, surely. No wonder she looked like she was going to be sick.
I catch my breath back, willing my hammering heart to slow. I know, really, why Diana’s spite upset me so much. It’s important not to think about it too much, because thinking about things makes them true.
I need to find somewhere to make up this blasted team list. I head for Frances’ study.
“As for that priggish Cecily,” Diana says, and I’ve had, I decide, quite enough.
“Cecily is the Head Girl of Fernleigh Manor. I don’t know how you did things in your old school, but here, it’s not done to carp at the Head Girl behind her back.”
Valerie and Diana stare at me as if they’ve quite forgotten I’m there and are none too pleased to discover my presence. In my own study. They take the cake. Little Rosalind is looking at me, too, only without surprise. Her lips twitch, so slightly that I’m not sure I haven’t imagined it.
“I suppose we need to show our loyalty to the school tie,” Diana says, sneering.
“Something like that. Loyalty to our Head Girl, certainly.”
Valerie looks a little shamefaced. “She’s right, Di. Drop it.”
Diana doesn’t seem inclined to drop anything. “I don’t see why I shouldn’t say what I think of her. I can’t abide that hearty, beefy type of girl.”
I gather up my list and my books. “I advise you to think about it whenever you’re around me, then. I am a Senior Prefect. If you insist on acting like a lower former who needs to be shaken into shape, then I will treat you like one. School code of conduct, written out ten times, on my desk by tomorrow.”
Diana opens her mouth to protest. Rosalind touches her arm, and she subsides.
Something drops out of the pile of books in my arms, and I bend to pick it up. It’s a bookmark, carefully embroidered, with a rearing pegasus on it, its wings spread wide. It’s beautifully done. I wonder for a moment where it came from, and then I realise it’s a probably a token from one of the youngsters. Nice kid, to not show any sign of who made it, so as not to be accused of schlooping and trying to win her way into the team by devious measures. I smile down at it.
“What’s that?” Valerie catches my arm to stop me straightening up and peers over my shoulder. “It’s pretty.”
Stupidly, still pleased at the kindness of the present, I tell her.
“Don’t tell me that kind of thing is allowed at Fernleigh Manor,” Diana says. “It’s disgusting.”
“What is?”
She tosses her burnished hair. “Crushes and passions and all that unnatural nonsense. It’s sickening enough, the way the little ones flock around that great clumping—oh, well,” she finishes hastily, before I lose my temper completely. “But to actually encourage them to send gifts and tokens to you!”
“I don’t encourage the babes.” I shove the little bookmark back in the pile. “Anyway, there’s no harm to it.”
“It’s unhealthy.” Diana’s grey-green eyes are bright with malice. “Especially when the object of their affections is, well. You don’t even try to look like a normal girl, do you?”
“Diana!” Valerie seems torn between shock and glee. In her own corner, Rosalind is as pale and tense as if she’s seen a ghost.
I shove my way through the door and let it slam behind me. Poisonous beast! Ruining some lower former’s sweet little gesture like that, turning it into something quite unlike the innocent little show of admiration it is. I don’t see how Miss Carroll could ever expect me to be any influence on someone with a nasty mind like that. The one who is actually having an influence on the school, I decide as I kick at the closed door, is Diana. Valerie wasn’t half so bad until she had Diana dripping her poison into her ear day and night. As for that quiet little Rosalind kid, heaven knows what she thinks of the school she’s moved to, with girls like Diana and Val to judge by. A pit of vipers, surely. No wonder she looked like she was going to be sick.
I catch my breath back, willing my hammering heart to slow. I know, really, why Diana’s spite upset me so much. It’s important not to think about it too much, because thinking about things makes them true.
I need to find somewhere to make up this blasted team list. I head for Frances’ study.
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