The end of term came all too quickly.
For the final few weeks, we were subjected to countless information about the O-Levels and how they were going to work. The longer our teachers talked, the less attention people paid to what was going on. It got to the point that one of our teachers could have dropped a ruler and scared us all half to death. None of them wanted to test that theory so instead, they just ranted to a room of sleeping fifteen-year-olds and said nothing on the fact we weren't listening.
Mrs Maddox came to me at the start of our final week, declaring that her investigation into Victoria's accusations came up empty. There was no evidence I had done anything, with Katie and Jo baking me up on our trip to the village and even Emma, Rose and Barbara stepping in to say they hadn't seen anything. Despite that, Mrs Maddox said I was on my final warning if I came back next year, but at least I wasn't in trouble.
By the time the last Friday of the year came around, the school was practically buzzing. It almost sounded as though someone had released a swarm of bees into the school and they had invaded every inch of the place. Still, the teachers had given us the last three days before we were due to leave off for packing purposes. However, Katie had other ideas. She had promised a trip down to the last with just the two of us once the presentations were done and, on the Friday before we were due to go home, she acted on that promise.
She had prepared a picnic, courtesy of the kitchen staff, and that morning we had walked beyond the village to the lake. The lake itself was huge. I couldn't see the other side from where we were sitting, and the entire area was surrounded by trees. The leaves and grass were a bright shade of green, the sun bouncing off each individual blade of grass. I could see the reflection of trees in the lake and the small fish that swam about just beneath the surface. It looked like a good placed to go for a swim. If I could swim that it.
We had spread a blanket across the grass and eaten an array of different sandwiches and miniature cakes. It had been one of the best days since I started at Maddox, especially as it was just Katie and me in the summer sun with no one around to disturb us. I wished we could have had that moment before the last day of term. We could have had many other moments together like this if we hadn't been so afraid of telling the other how we feel.
"What does that cloud look like?" Katie asked, gesturing aimlessly to the sky.
"I don't know, a sheep without legs?"
"Flick," she wined.
"It does! Sheep are just clouds with legs. The cloud looks like a cloud, so it's a sheep without legs."
"You are so annoying."
She reached behind her and grabbed the cushion from under her head, turning to face me and smacking me with it. I rolled onto my side, pulling my legs into my chest and forming a very small ball as she continued to whack me with the cushion. When she stopped, I reached out and grabbed my own, rolling back as fast as I could and attacking her back.
Katie shrieked and rolled over, dropping her cushion and trying to crawl away from me. I dropped the cushion and looked at her, watching the way she squinted at me despite the cushion no longer being in my hand. She tilted her head at me, her eyes moving between me and the cushion that sat in front of me. Before I could do anything, she grabbed her own and threw it at me, watching as it hit me square in the face.
I stared at her, shocked that she had just thrown a cushion at me when I had abandoned my assault on her. Rather than say anything, she burst out laughing. The silence that had encased us all day, was broken by Katie's laugh. She collapsed back against the blanket, still laughing, wiping tears out of her eyes.
In the distance, the clock tower chimed.
"We should go. It'll take us almost an hour to get back," I said.
"I don't want to," Katie whined. She had stopped laughing and her cheeks were tinted a little red from the laughter.
"Me neither. I wish we could stay here forever."
"Hm, no one around. No Victoria to annoy us, just the two of us. Alone. Finally." Katie looked at me and smiled, walking the short distance across the blanket to me. She placed her hand on the back of my neck and pulled me close to her, kissing me softly in the afternoon sun. Despite the warm weather, there was no one around to see us. I pulled away.
"What happens next year?" I asked.
"I don't want to think about next year."
The clock chimed.
"Come on. We'll get in trouble."
Katie groaned but stood up. Together we packed up the basket and headed back towards the village, deciding it would be better to take the bus back rather than walk. Even with my protests, Katie paid for my ticket and we were back at the school within twenty-minutes. After a quick supper with Jo, who had had her last choir practice of the year so couldn't join us (and wanted to give us some time alone), we returned to our dormitories to pack the last of our things.
Most of mine were already packed because it never left my trunk, but I did still have a lot of junk that needed throwing out or Mum would tell me off for being untidy. I had empty sweet bags, empty ink pots, broken pens and screwed up sheets of paper all buried at the bottom of my trunk, or on top, or all over. Most of the trunk consisted of junk and by the time it was empty, the bin was full.
The fourth years were in the process of packing up so the clean room that Victoria had managed to maintain all term was slowly being torn apart. Trunks were left in the middle of the room, books dumped on beds or the floor and clothes covering almost every empty space in the room. It was pure chaos, and I loved it. I found nothing better than seeing the look on Victoria's face as the perfect room she had tried to create became overly cluttered and a mess. There had never been a better sight.
"Do you know what you're going to do for next term?" Emma asked as she rooted through her bedside table and pulled out several sweets that were covered in dust.
"I don't know. The idea of coming back has grown on me, but having to put up with her for another year?" I nudged my head towards Victoria. "That'll be the deal-breaker.
"We sort of have the upper hand on that one."
"How so?"
"The pocketbook. She'll have it with her next year and one of us could just casually take it at the start of term and give it to Mrs Maddox. Anonymously, of course."
"You think that would work?"
"How should I know? It makes me sleep better to think about it as a possibility, though." I laughed and dropped a stack of books into my trunk.
The idea of staying had grown on me. Even with Victoria's threat, Maddox wasn't that bad a place. The lessons were harder, the Prep more frequent and difficult and they had more books than my last school could dream of. And then there was Katie. We had gone months before we could admit how we felt, I couldn't just leave and never see her again
We spent the rest of the evening packing and then anything that hadn't been put into our trunks before Miss Jones appeared to wake us up in the morning would be dealt with during a last-minute scramble to finish. The last things to be packed were one of my books and the photograph of Dad and my parents that I kept on my nightstand. They had to go on top, so they weren't crushed or damaged during the car ride back home. I had kept the book to read before bed.
The next morning, I got up extra early to go for my final run around the Maddox grounds. I decided to be a little more adventurous compared to my usual morning runs. Despite starting in my usual spot, I zigzagged throughout the trees and around the entire school building until I heard the clock chime in the distance and knew Miss Jones would be in the dormitory to wake everyone up. Even though it was Saturday, the parents were due to start arriving early in the morning and everyone had to be ready to leave.
I returned to the dormitory just as Miss Jones arrived, pausing at the door to let me in before entering herself. She scoffed at the state of the room, her eyes roaming over the stacks of items that had yet to be packed and the trunks scattered across the room.
"Time to get up! Parents will be arriving soon so hurry and finish packing if you want to eat beforehand," she said.
"Too early," Emma grumbled.
"Pancakes," I whispered. She shot up.
"I'm awake!"
"Good. Come on, dressed, packed and fed before the parents get here," Miss Jones said.
Miss Jones left the room without saying anything more, leaving the fourth years to stumble around half-asleep looking for clothes they hadn't packed and anything they may have left lying around. I changed in the bathroom, brushed my teeth and ran a wet cloth over my face to get rid of the sweat from my run. Once done, I returned to the main room to finish packing. My photographs, books, pyjamas and toiletries were dumped into my trunk and I stripped the blankets off the bed, putting them in the laundry and checking under the mattress for anything I might have left there.
After a quick sweep around the room for anything hidden, I dragged my trunk to the end of the room where it would be taken down to the main entrance later. I left the rest of the fourth years to finish packing and jogged down the stairs to the dining hall. The entire school was a throng of activity with some suitcases in the entranceway, first years crying over losing something or teachers hurrying about making sure everything went smoothly. Chaos reigned in the best possible way.
I entered the dining hall, noticing how it was almost empty due to everyone doing some last-minute packing. Katie and Jo sat in the corner, with Katie balancing a spoon on her nose and Jo looking as though she wanted a quick escape before anyone associated her with Katie. Jo smiled when I sat beside her, nudging a plate of toast and rolling her eyes at Katie.
"Are you ready to go?" she asked.
"Uh-huh. All packed. I hope."
"The last day of term is always crazy. I think some of the younger ones have already gone."
"And some are crying because they lost a pen or something." Katie shrugged.
"Don't talk badly about the small ones, not everyone can be as laid back as you. Although, as usual, you've probably forgotten something."
"A cookie down the back of my bed like last year, probably."
"That's disgusting," I said.
"But a fun surprise when the room gets cleaned."
She laughed and shoved a handful of cornflakes into her mouth. For some unknown reason, she never had milk with her cereal. We finished breakfast with the dining hall never filling up to its usual capacity, most people seemed to still be packing. Parents were arriving in cars when we stepped outside to wait. There were cars lined up along the gravel path with people hauling trunks into the boots of cars and tearful goodbyes being said amongst friends.
We walked across the gravel to the grass and sat down to watch the chaos unfold. I kept my eyes on the driveway, waiting for Michael's car to round the corner. Due to the drive back to London, Mum and Michael would have left earlier in order to make it on time to return home before it got dark. I wished they had the money to stay in the village so they wouldn't have had to be up so early, but it was just one of the many things we would never be able to do.
Cars drove in and out of the gates as frequently as I spun my bracelet around my wrist. I watched Emma go, she gave me a small wave across the grounds as she went, her little sister crying and hugging her friend from the first year. Dorothy and Louise also left whilst we waited, with their goodbye with Victoria almost as pathetic as the first years. Mr Havisham lingered with Mrs Maddox near the steps and I knew Victoria would be one of the last to leave.
After about an hour, I spotted Michael's car on the driveway, pulling up just a short distance from the front door. I exchanged a glanced with Katie and Jo, and we all stood up, brushing off any grass from our skirts. Michael climbed out of the driver's side just as we reached the car. He slammed the door shut just as Mum got out from the other side. Mrs Maddox and Mr Havisham approached us from the steps with Victoria looking less than impressed.
"Ah, Mrs Grieves! I'm sorry we couldn't meet at the presentations, but it was such a busy day," Mr Havisham said. "I am George Havisham, the Head of Governors here at Maddox Academy and might I say what a delight it has been to have your daughter here this time. She has been a real asset to the school."
Michael looked as though he was about to laugh.
"Why thank you," Mr Havisham," Mum said, looking a little taken aback.
"I believe Felicity has a decision to make regarding her position here next year." He turned to me. "You have passed all the relative elements for your scholarship to continue into next year if that is something you like to do."
"I don't see why not. I might as well finish what I started," I said.
"Excellent! You'll receive information in the post regarding next year's term dates and important reminders."
Mr Havisham nodded and walked away with Mrs Maddox following, despite not saying a word to me. Mum looked at me and smiled softly whilst Michael jogged up the stairs to find my trunk in the entranceway. I turned to Katie and Jo, noticing just how surprised they seemed that I had agreed to come back. After everything that had happened with Victoria, I had been reluctant to agree, but I wanted to see what happened with Katie. I couldn't do that if I hid away.
"So, you're staying," Katie said.
"I can't let Victoria chase me off, can I? Amongst other things," I said.
"Next year will be better, we can promise you that," Jo said.
"You better mean that."
"Time to say goodbye, Flick." Mum gestured to Michael as he struggled to carry my trunk down the stairs.
"Have a good summer," Jo said. She pulled me into a hug and released me after a few seconds.
"You too."
"Don't fall out of touch. I want letters, telephone calls and even in-person meetings in London. You're not just disappearing on me," Katie added.
"Trust me, I won't be."
Katie wrapped her arms around my neck and squeezed tightly. I wanted to kiss her, to have a proper goodbye before I went home but with so many people around, that was impossible. Our kiss by the lake would be our last until we could be alone again. She let me go after a little while and smiled lightly. Behind me, Michael slammed the trunk down and walked around to the driver's side.
I smiled at the two of them before climbing into the back of the car, closing the door and looking through the back window. They waved as the car pulled away from the drive, turned around and started back towards the gate. I kept my eyes on Katie and Jo until we rounded the corner.
~~~
First Published - August 2nd, 2020