The Wonderground

7 - The History Trip

On Thursday morning three gunmetal grey minibuses, emblazoned with the school's coat of arms and name in silver vinyl decals, were idling in a row on the gravel oval outside the entrance to Reception. Water vapour rose like steam from the bonnets as they thawed.

Lisa Marney stood at the top of the stone entrance steps looking like she would rather be in a Governors' meeting than waiting impatiently in the freezing cold, at 7 a.m., in heels. She looked down at the Year Sevens shivering below her.

"Good morning, everyone. Settle down now, settle down." Her breath clouded as she addressed the class. The headteacher held a transparent acrylic clipboard in her right hand and was chewing the end of a black and yellow pencil between her teeth. "Unfortunately," she called out, "Professor Duff is... unavailable."

A couple of the professor's more eager students dropped their heads in disappointment. Jack Wilson chirped up from the back of the group. "Has he bored himself to death, miss?" he quipped. Several of his classmates sniggered.

"Don't be ridiculous, Wilson," scolded Mrs. Marney. "A personal family matter. Which means, at extremely short notice, you get the pleasure of my company instead."

"You can come sit at the back of our minibus, miss," shouted Jack eagerly.

"Final warning, Wilson," cautioned Mrs. Marney. "Thin ice." She continued. "Professor Duff has instructed that you are to all have a travelling buddy for today's trip. He left me a list." She waggled the clipboard above her head.

Her news was met with a collective groan, but the protestations were quickly tamped down by the headteacher, who fanned her clipboard at the students as if trying to put out a fire.

"Pin your lugs back and no complaining." She beckoned to them, "Everybody gather round."

Charlie listened with mild dread. He had not been looking forward to the trip in the first place. He did not want to get one of the annoying Moss twins or Sebastian and his crap card tricks. After most of the names were read out, he looked around to see who was left. Isla Marney and the ambassador's daughter were still waiting patiently, as were Elliot and Amelia.

"Wood," called out Mrs. Marney. "With Wilson."

Brilliant.

You never know, Charlie wondered. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Maybe not, thought Charlie as he saw Jack's nasty grin. The two new girls were paired together, which meant Amelia had to babysit Elliot.

Mrs. Marney was still talking. "Pair up immediately and sit together on the buses. Remain with your buddy for the duration of the trip. Next stop, the abandoned Aldwych tube station in central London!"

Charlie exhaled with resignation. Ninety minutes in a sweaty vehicle sat next to that big spotty lump.

Mrs. Marney hauled herself up into the first minibus. Mr. Benjamin, the music teacher, who always managed to blag his way on to school trips, was leaning against the second. Mrs. Richardson, one of the mathematics teachers, was already seated on the front row of the final minibus, with a ball of wool and a pair of knitting needles nestled in her lap.

Amelia wandered amiably over to Elliot. "Hey," she said, displaying a perfect set of bright white teeth. "Elliot, right? We were not properly introduced in the swimming pool. I am Amelia McIlroy."

Elliot's face flushed with colour and heat. She remembered. And she knew his name! He wanted to say thank you for saving his life. He wanted to say that she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his entire life. What he managed to say sounded like a bad hand at Scrabble.

"FTWXGLT."

"That is exactly what you said when you were upside down in the deep end," Amelia giggled.