Assembly was, as it always was on a Monday morning, long and drawn out. But, having been late, Zhenna had missed much of the bore. She had arrived just in time to hear the announcements for the week. Apart from the cake sale at break, Wednesday the basketball team had a game, Thursday was the drama club's play, Friday the knowledge team would take part in the semi-finals of the Sage Bowl, and Saturday the scouts were having a fundraising breakfast sale at the morning market. Another busy week at school for the students of St.Phillipa's Convent.
The morning periods sped by quickly, thanks to the period before break being halved. The students moved a few desks to the central courtyard, affectionately called the quadrangle, lining them up like dining tables. They brought out tablecloths and vases of flowers, and organised the pastries and baked goods into elegant displays. Fresh fruit juices and teas were also on display.
Several girls stood ready for buyers, the first of whom were free teachers in the staff room, the secretaries, and the principal.
"I need a few hands to go make the reminder announcements to the different classes." Their mistress announced.
"I'll go," Zhenna said, raising her hand.
"Then take upstairs and the admin wing."
"Where's the admin wing?"
"Zhenna..." some of the girls remarked disappointedly.
Zhenna raised her arms questioningly. "I don't know."
"You walk past it every morning. The rooms near the computer lab."
"Oh, that's what's there." Zhenna said with realisation.
"I swear, Zhenna."
"Lisa, go with her, please." Their mistress said, unconvinced.
"Okay."
Zhenna and Lisa walked away from the group. They climbed the short stairway to the main hall, then turned off to the stairwell on the right.
"We can take the stairs down to get to the admin wing and labs after we finish the fifth years." Lisa stated.
Zhenna nodded, and the pair climbed the stairs. To the left of the stairwell on the top floor, the chief mistress had an open office. All students not in the fifth year had to speak with her before embarking on their business on the top floor.
"Good morning, Mistress DuPonte," the girls said in unison as they approached the desk.
"Good morning, girls. What brings you up here?"
"Reminder announcements for the sale in the quadrangle."
"Go ahead."
"Thank you, Mistress DuPonte."
The girls turned around and made their way down the hall. There were five class rooms on the top floor belonging to fifth- and fourth-year students. Zhenna and Lisa stood in the doorway and waited for the presiding teacher to allow them in. The teacher in the third room was Ms. Degenerese; she taught physics and loved to play pranks on younger students.
Zhenna and Lisa stood boldly in the doorway with wide, mischievous grins. Seeing some of the students watch them, they began making funny faces. Ms. Degenerese did not see them as she was reading with her back turned to the door. As Zhenna and Lisa kept up their antics, the older girls burst into laughter. This stopped Ms. Degenerese, who looked around the class, confused. Seeing Zhenna and Lisa in the doorway, she threw the chalk in her hand at them.
"Get in here!" She shouted to the girls. "What are you two doing up here?" Ms. Degenerese asked as she walked back down the aisle, inspecting the students' notebooks as she passed.
"Becaaaauusssee..." Zhenna started, then mouthed 'the cake sale downstairs'.
"Because, what?" Ms. Degenerese asked.
Again, Zhenna mouthed her announcement.
"Little girl." Ms. Degeneres said sternly, squinting through her glasses.
"Didn't you guysseehear what I said?" she asked the class enthusiastically.
The older girls chuckled; some of them nodded, and a few said yes.
"It's not my fault you can't hear properly; you might need to get your glasses checked." She informed Ms. Degenerese.
The blackboard duster flew at Zhenna, who quickly ducked out of the way. "Miss!"
"You're going to get a test after lunch. You alone, not the class."
"Not fair! All I said was that we're having the cake sale downstairs."
"Ok. You can go now."
"Ah, ah," Ms. Degenerese said as the girls turned to leave. "My chalk and duster."
Lisa returned the duster to the teacher's desk.
"The chalk!"
"Miss, you have a box full of chalk; besides, you threw this at me. I don't think you want it anymore, right?" Zhenna asked mischievously.
Ms. Degenerese pushed her glasses up her nose. "You know what? Keep it. You'll need it to teach the class later."
"What?!"
The older girls burst into laughter at Zhenna's misfortune. Lisa grabbed Zhenna's arm and pulled her from the class. "Bye, Ms. Degenerese."
The next class was easier. Mr. Jung didn't let the girls make their announcement, claiming that his class had heard from the commotion next door. In the last class, there was Mr. Boderville, who taught accounting. His students were engaged in a test, so the girls were able to give their announcement quickly and leave.
The sale was a success, particularly Zhenna's cupcakes. Lou-Ann's obsession with Zhenna's cupcakes brought her friends and classmates in droves, who bought the cakes out within minutes.
"Hey Zhenna, are you making cakes for the Scouts sale on Saturday?" Asked Lou-Ann on her second trip to the quadrangle.
"Uh...I'm not sure yet." Zhenna said with a nervous laugh.
"Let me know if you are."
"I will. You know, I can give you the recipe."
"It won't come out like yours."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3YfVRkQqXT
The periods between break and lunch dragged on slowly. To pass the boredom of the French period, Zhenna started writing at the back of her notebook. First, she doodled, then she began drafting a letter to an imaginary friend, talking about the day's events and referencing their previous interactions and discussions. The girl sitting at the desk on her right leaned over her shoulder, watching. Zhenna looked up and gave her a quick smile before continuing to write.
"What are you writing? She said this stuff last week." The girl asked softly.
Zhenna circled a full stop and gave her classmate her full attention. "It's a letter to a friend of mine overseas." She whispered, beaming brightly.
"That's cool," the girl said, pushing her desk to close the two-inch gap between them.
"Kaitlyn, Zhenna! Pay attention."
"Sorry, Mrs. La Croix, I was just showing Kaitlyn the note she missed." Zhenna said defensively.
"You of all people should be paying attention right now; you got this part wrong on the exam. If Kaitlyn has a problem, she can raise her hand."
"Yes miss."
Zhenna celebrated the arrival of lunch as she always did, gulping down her four, four-tier sandwiches within five minutes, then rushing out the classroom door and jumping down the stairs seven at a time, then bolting down the narrow driveway for the court. She could hear them—the sound of balls bouncing on the concrete. She sped up and swiftly navigated a path through the crowd flocking to the tuck shop. Ms. Roche stood on the court with the ball bag as students retrieved and returned the balls one by one.
As she stepped on the court, some of the students called out to her.
"Zhenna!"
"Are you playing today?"
"Of Course!" Zhenna answered matter-of-factly.
"Ms. Roche, Zhenna's staying with us; can we keep the balls?"
Ms. Roche looked at the girls in front of her and shook her head with amusement. "Fine. Zhenna, I'm leaving you in charge of the balls. I want them back at the end of lunch."
"Yes miss."
Zhenna and the underclassmen played to their hearts content, their half-hour lunch break disappearing swiftly and sadly. Luckily, after lunch, Ms. Degenerese had changed her mind about Zhenna's test, citing it as unnecessary additional work for her just to punish Zhenna. The rest of the evening classes passed uneventfully, and soon it was time to go home.
"Zhenna, if you miss another Scouts' meeting for the term, you will not qualify for the Ranger's promotion." Ms. Blackwood said, looking over her glasses.
Zhenna looked around the textiles workroom nervously. Ms. Blackwood was an intimidating woman. Being in her class was uncomfortable already, but being alone with her was terrifying. The woman had a reputation for flaring up at students who missed the obvious or annoyed her.
"I'm not sure I want to be in the Scouts and Rangers anymore, Ms. Blackwood."
"Why not? You've been a scout for three years already."
"I wanted to join the Drum Corps. But I heard that missing the end-of-year camp disqualifies you from being able to join, even if you get promoted to Ranger."
Ms. Blackwood nodded knowingly. "You can still take the promotion and join the corps next year."
"Its fine. Plus, I've already missed meetings for the term. It doesn't make sense to stay. I'll quit."
"Take some time to think about it before you decide."
"...Ok."
"Are you coming to the breakfast on Saturday? A few students have been asking about your cakes."
"I'm not sure yet."
"Well, let me know by Wednesday."
ns 15.158.61.48da2
