Heywood

Chapter One

Chapter One

                Di slung her book bag over one shoulder and groaned irritably as one of the buckles for the strap decided to die on her and the strap elongated by a ridiculous amount until the bag was down by her knees. She grabbed a piece of toast off of Jules’ plate and stuffed it into her mouth.

                “Hey! What gives, Di?!” Jules glared at Di’s back as she grabbed a piece of jam covered toast from Bee, who had just sat down beside her, and hurled it at Di’s back. Bee slapped Jules’ arm but said nothing and started eating the remainder of her toast.

                Di barely noticed the slight tap as a piece of toast hit her just below her left shoulder blade and removed the toast from her mouth with her free hand, as she slipped her black pumps on by the door of the common room.

                “Sorry! I’ll let you have some of my Special Jam tomorrow to make it up to you, okay? Got a meeting with the Head before this morning’s assembly! Save me a seat, ‘kay?” Di didn’t wait for a reply yanking the front door open. “Thanks, Jules! You know I love you!”

                The heavy front door of Grenville House slammed shut behind her as she rushed out into the early morning sun and speed walked across the green, outdoor dining area between Grenville and the main building. Her book bag bashed against her knee as she walked and the birds were chirping too loudly and happily for that time in the morning. What did they have to be so happy about anyway? School had started again a week ago and Di had had no free time whatsoever since she moved back into Grenville House the day before the first day of term. She had a whole lot of reading to do for English, some refresher work to do for Maths as well as new vocabulary to learn for French. Despite being down about the amount of work she had to do, Di was pleased about one thing.  

                Every year, Headmistress Miller appointed two girls, for Grenville and Drake Houses, and two boys, for Howard and Raleigh, as House Prefects. No one in Grenville had been surprised when Di had been chosen for the job, except for Di herself. She was a straight-A student and a perfect role model for the younger years with her sweet, caring and studious nature. However, Di was an extremely modest girl and had been pleasantly surprised when her name had been called in Monday’s assembly. Di supposed she was lucky everyone in Grenville House was so well behaved. It certainly made them easy to manage

                She pulled the door of the main building open and hurried through the empty halls. The sound of her hurried footsteps on the hard wood floors echoed around her and she squealed slightly as she looked at her watch. She was almost two minutes late! She screeched to a halt outside the Head’s office and took a few seconds- though she cringed at the thought of being any later- to catch her breath and straighten her uniform, before she raised her hand and knocked on the mahogany door before her.

                “Come in,” the Headmistress’ muffled voice called from within the room and Di carefully pushed the door open.

                “Good morning, Headmistress.”

                “Take a seat. You aren’t in trouble. Well, unless you’ve done anything since yesterday that I don’t yet know about!” The plump, middle aged woman before Di snorted and grinned at her own joke. Di let out a nervous, awkward laugh. “Anyway, I called you here this morning to inform you that a new student will be joining Grenville House today. She, like you, is in Year Eleven and I would like you to be at reception at the beginning of lunch to meet her and show her to her dorm. Instead of your fourth period class, I would like you to take her on a tour of the school. Once you have finished, you may spend the rest of the hour answering any questions she may have and just... generally getting to know her I suppose. It’s awfully scary joining a new school!” Again, the Head snorted at something that wasn’t particularly funny.