For Good

Chapter 6 - Preparations

As Skie looked over at Nikki, a quiet thought nudged at the back of her mind. Something about the girl looked just a bit off. After a few more moments, she suddenly realized what it was.

"Hey guys, I'll be right back." Skie shot a smile to all her friends before making her way over to the younger girl.

"Nicolette, where is your tie?"

Nikki shrugged silently.

Skie fought to stay patient. "You don't know?"

"In my room." Nikki muttered.

"Why aren't you wearing it?"

Another shrug.

"Your tie is part of your uniform, you'll get in trouble if you don't wear it." Skie kept her voice light, but added a bit of an edge to it.

"I don't know." Nikki spoke very quietly.

"You don't know what?" Skie leaned down to better hear her.

"How to tie it." Nikki mumbled.

Skie forced a smile. "I can teach you. Why don't we go to your room and I'll help you?"

Nikki gave a nearly imperceptible nod and led the way to her dorm room. Once there, she opened the door and Skie followed her inside. Nikki went over to her closet and rummaged around for her tie, and Skie vaguely wondered if the girl had actually even tried to put the tie on, or if she simply hadn't bothered.

Nikki silently held up the tie and Skie gave another forced smile.

"Good. Now, I'll show you and you try to copy what I do."

Skie took her own tie off and held it up. "First, you'll want to flip your collar up, so it fits nice and snug. Good. Now, put it around your neck, with the thin end a lot higher up than the thick end."

Nikki obeyed her, though she didn't make eye contact.

"Good. Now, cross the thick end over in front, then behind and in front again. Push it up through the loop in the back and then down through the front."

Nikki copied her silently.

"Good job. Now, just tighten it up and fold your collar down." Skie tightened her tie and smoothed the collar out, then straightened her blazer. Nikki finished with her tie and looked at her silently.

Skie smiled. "Good job, Nikki."

"Thanks." Nikki murmured.

"Now, remember that you'll need to wear your tie every day. If me or any adult sees you without it, you'll be in trouble, ok? I'll let you off this time since it's your first day."

Nikki continued staring at her silently, then nodded once.

"Alright, it's five minutes till classes start, so we should get going. Do you know where your first class is?" 

"Uh huh."

"Alright, see you later then." Skie picked her backpack back up and headed out the door. Once she was alone in the hall, she let out a breath that she hadn't realized she was holding. Jesus, she's going to be a tough one.

"Skie?"

Skie looked up. "Hazel!"

Hazel grinned. "I saw you run off with that girl and wanted to make sure you were doing ok. What happened?" Skie had told Hazel what the headmistress had said, and Hazel had promised to help keep an eye on things.

Skie shrugged. "Not much. I showed her how to tie her tie."

"Anything besides that?" Hazel raised an eyebrow. Skie knew what she was asking.

Skie shook her head. "I didn't want to be too hard on her, it's her first day after all."

Hazel smirked. "Make sure that you don't get too nice. Some kids can be brats if they think they can push you around."

Skie smirked back. "Noted."

At the end of the hallway, they parted ways and Skie headed towards her first hour math class. As she walked, she thought about what Hazel had said. Does Nikki think that she can push me around? That I'll bend the rules for her? Skie wasn't so sure. Nikki seemed like she was a pretty smart kid.

Then again, maybe Hazel's right, and maybe she's just a brat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By some miracle, Skie managed to make it two full days before she had to actually begin her duties. Every time she passed Hazel in the hall (which was at least 4 times a day) the older girl asked a silent question and every time Skie shook her head, Hazel's eyebrows went up just a bit farther.

On Wednesday, however, Skie's luck ran out.

Skie was sitting down on her bed to begin reading her history assignment, and Danielle and Madi were playfully arguing when her pager buzzed. Skie sighed and set her book down, then fished it out. If it's the Headmistress again, I swear. Skie read the message and her eyes widened.

"You ok, Skie?" Dani's voice snapped Skie back to reality

"It's time." Skie tried to catch her breath, but she could feel herself begin to panic a bit. What if I'm not ready?

"Hey, breathe Skie. You're going to do just fine." Danielle came over to Skie and put her hands on Skie's shoulders.

"What happened?" Madi looked a bit concerned.

"Some lower 7ths broke a window. I'm supposed to find out who did it and deal with it." Skie took a few more deep breaths.

"You can do that. That sounds like something Hazel would've done, right? So just try to act like Hazel maybe." Madi shrugged.

Skie considered this. That did seem like a story that Hazel and Lil had told her about Lil and Daisy as first years, and she knew that this situation in general wasn't too unusual. But can I play Hazel?

"You'd better go, just stay calm, you can do this." Danielle grinned and gently pushed her towards the door.

Skie hurried down the hall to room 712, her mind still racing a bit. Maybe she could play Hazel. After all, Hazel's basically another big sister to me, and I've been around her enough that I know what she might do. And she's literally known as one of the best head girls in school history, right? So acting like her is probably a good plan, right?

By the time Skie reached the room, her mind was a bit more settled. Taking a deep breath and allowing her face to become a calm, stern mask, she knocked twice and entered the room.

AN: Sorry this chapter took so long! Throughout the process of writing it, I actually  ended up rewriting my entire plot for this book, but now I actually have a *direction* which is fantastic, so hopefully that means more frequent updates!

I'm really excited for this story, this might just end up being one of my favorites.

Thanks for reading, and please leave a comment! Next up, Skie begins her role as head girl!