Brad comes racing around the opposite corner with a big grin and comes to a halt when he sees us. His eyes slowly scan my body, and he continues to walk towards me in a vainglorious manner as his fellow mates pat him on the shoulder along the way and congratulate him as if he’s won a prize. I ignore his egotistic friends and keep my eyes on Brad.
‘Rose, you look drop-dead gorgeous. Everyone was talking about how hot you, Janie and Imogen look today. I came running out to find you straight away,’ Brad smiles and places a hand on my hip. He lowers his lips to mine, giving me a long but soft and gentle kiss. It starts to feel weird, though, as if it could have ended twenty seconds ago. I break the kiss and smile at him.
‘Sorry,’ he says, ‘I just couldn’t help myself. I could kiss you for hours,’ Brad says quite loudly for everyone to hear and winks at me.
I blush, and not just one shade of red, more like fifty shades, feeling quite like the ripe tomato.
Martha scowls and storms off with a hurt look etched on her face. Sandra and Tori scurry after her into the lady’s restroom.
‘We’ll be having lunch together?’ I ask Brad.
‘Of course, I’ll see you at the cafeteria,’ he says, kissing the back of my hand and walking away.
‘I suppose we better get to class too,’ Janie says over my shoulder.
Imogen follows us to our lockers to grab our books, and then we follow Imogen to her locker and enter class together. We receive a couple of wolf whistles as we walk to our seats. I can feel my tail trying to wag with excitement from the whistles. I take a deep breath and try to focus on keeping it still.
Meanwhile, Martha enters the class with her friends with her head held high and approaches our table, slamming her hands down in front of Imogen.
'What do you think you're doing, hanging out with these losers?' Martha sneers, her voice dripping with contempt.
Imogen raises an eyebrow and calmly responds, 'Clearly, I'm hanging out with my friends, Martha. You made it clear I'm not to hang out with you, so I don't see what your problem is?'
'My problem is you are suddenly out-dressing me and friending my enemies to get back at me,' she says.
‘Well, you should have thought of that before you tossed me aside, Martha. You didn’t even ask me if I was okay after what happened that night! So, what I do now is my business and your loss. I will no longer allow you to dictate what I can or can’t do. Be lucky you still have Tori and Sandra, who still obey you at every beck and call.’
Martha's face turns red with anger, and she leans closer to Imogen. 'You better watch yourself, Imogen. You're a betrayer and a loser like them,’ she hisses and points at Janie and me before storming off to her table with her friends in tow.
Janie frowns, ‘I’ll show her who the loser is.’
Miss Higglepots enters the room. Today we are to all give a presentation at the front of the class.
As soon as it’s Martha’s turn, Imogen and I hear Janie whisper, ‘Gravitas,’ as Martha tries to pick up her book, it won’t lift from the table. She tries different ways to pick it up, confused as to why it won’t move.
‘Martha, we don’t have time for any of your shenanigans today. Will you please, bring your book to the front of the class now,’ Miss Higglepots warns.
'You can see I'm trying to lift the book, can't you? There's something wrong with it,' Martha protests, her voice tinged with annoyance and embarrassment.
Janie, Imogen and I snicker with laughter.
Martha scowls a look at us, but we pretend to stare at our fingernails.
'Miss Higglepots, it's them,' Martha says, pointing an accusatory finger at Janie, Imogen, and the others. 'They've somehow glued my book to the table. See for yourself.'
The look on Miss Higglepots face is classic. She raises an eyebrow, her expression sceptical. 'And why would they do that?' she asks, her voice laced with suspicion.
'Because they're jealous of me, Miss,' Martha replies, her tone defiant.
Miss Higglepots approaches Martha's table and gazes at the book.
Janie whispers 'Featherus' under her breath as Miss Higglepots uses both hands to effortlessly lift the book from the table. The book is so light that it smacks against Miss Higglepot's face, much to the amusement of the other students.
'Oops,' Janie whispers, her eyes crinkling with mischief. 'I didn't mean for that to happen,' she adds.
Miss Higglepots sets the book back down on the table with a disapproving frown. Martha cringes in fear but also looks confused as she gazes back and forth between Miss Higglepots and the book.
'I don't understand. I don’t know what's happening right now?' Martha stammers, her voice shaking with uncertainty.
Janie leans over and whispers 'Restoras' under her breath, and suddenly the book is back to its normal weight. Martha picks it up and examines it thoroughly, looking for any signs of glue or other tampering.
'There's no glue,' she whispers to herself, her expression one of bewilderment and disbelief.
‘I understand perfectly what is going on, Martha. You never did your homework and weren’t prepared for your presentation, and also know that your attempt to shift the blame onto your classmates is futile. Last week, you caused quite a commotion when you threw your worksheets around, and now, you have stooped even lower by blaming others for your own shortcomings. But this nonsense needs to stop. 'I don't want to hear any more excuses, Martha. You get an ‘F’ for your presentation. I hope this serves as a lesson for you to take responsibility for your actions and to stop blaming others for your mistakes. You can go straight to the head mistress’s office right now,’ Miss Higglepots says.
‘But it wasn’t me. I know it was them. They did this!’ Martha protests, clenching her fists and stamping her feet.
‘Martha,’ Miss Higglepots says and leans her forehead against her hand, ‘Have you ever heard of the story about the boy who cried wolf? If not, I suggest you read it because if you keep making up these lies, one day, something could happen, and no one will ever believe you. Get to the office now,’ she says, pointing towards the door.
Martha storms furiously out of the room.