Ivy and Scarlet: The last letter

High hopes

The bell rang for the end of History. I stood up and walked towards our dorm room, as my schedule said it was an open period. Then I noticed that all the other girls were heading outside. Of coarse! Today we chose what sport we had to do. I followed them and quickly found Anna in the crowd. She was slightly taller than most of the girls. "Hi Anna." I whispered. "What sport are you going to do?" Anna looked panicked at my question."I don't know. I can't do any sport!" She sounded so worried. "Really?" I said. "That's okay. You can try something new, and who knows, maybe you're good at it." It sounded like something that Scarlet might say. I felt a slight pang of homesickness. Anna gave a small smile but didn't look very motivated. I didn't blame her, really.

A few teachers stood spread out on the sports field, holding  clipboards. In the middle of all the girls a truly terrifying woman stood. She wore a black dress that looked a few sizes too big and her face was thin and foxlike. Her chin was jutted out in a way that suggested she thought everyone on this field was beneath her. As the last of the girls walked onto the field, talking loudly, she shouted: "SILENCE!!! Talking will not be tolerated!" Silence spread across the field. You could have heard a pin drop. 

She slowly walked towards the teachers. As she walked, something jangled in her many pockets, and she tapped a cane on the ground.

 "As many of you know, I am Miss Fox." She did not talk loudly. She didn't have to, everyone was listening. "When I call your age group, you will come forwards and enlist in a sport. We have swimming," A large teacher near the front waved, "hockey," the short haired miss next to her waved, "ballet," I snapped my head back and forth, trying to find the teacher. A strawberry blonde woman waved halfheartedly near the back, as though trying not to be seen. She looked so pale and delicate, like a china doll. I instantly liked her. She kept a cane by her side like Miss Fox, but she was leaning heavily on it as if she might fall over without it. I wondered how she would teach us ballet if she had an injury. Would she sit the entire time? Maybe she just had a bad knee or something, so she just walked funny when it was cold.

"... our duty.....responsibility, is it not?..... keep our bodies fit and healthy!  .... young ladies...." I was zoning out again. I had missed the last few sport options, but that was fine. I already knew what I was choosing. Anna tugged on my sleeve. "Ivy? Do you think I should try swimming?" I nodded before immediately getting distracted.The first few girls had gone forwards to choose their sport. It would soon be our turn. Most of the girls chose hockey. Swimming seemed to be avoided completely.I looked at the girls in a daze. Before I knew it, I was being ushered to the front.

 I realised how vulnerable I was. Everyone could see me, as I was one of the first ones to walk towards the teachers. If I slowed down that would draw attention to myself, and if I walked any faster I would stick out like a sore thumb. I bent my head and tried to be unseen. Scarlet calls this shadow walking, because when I do this I might as well be her shadow so invisible and forgotten am I. I shadow-walked all the way to the red-blonde ballet teacher. "New student?" She asked, smiling gently as she handed me the sign up form. I nodded and scribbled my name on it. "Well, I'm Miss Finch." A few other girls crowded around us, growing more as the girls ages were called. I craned my neck. Anna really did choose swimming, it seems. She walked a bit later than me, I realised that she must be a few years older. I had just assumed she was the same age. I guess that would explain the slight height difference.

When the final girl had chosen her sport, Miss Fox walked into the centre of the field. "Alright, sport practice will be this time next week. For now, go back to your dormitories. A reminder: tomorrow we go to Rookwood village. Please get your letters approved by me before you post them." She gave a pointed look to Penny, before clapping her hands. "Chop-chop!" We all scattered.

Later that evening, Anna and I were hanging around in Room 9, her room. She was writing a letter to her ma and her sisters, and we were going to take it to be approved together. "How many m's does tomorrow have?" She asked me, biting her pen. "One," I told her. "It has two r's." She looked confused but wrote it down. "Do you think I did the right thing, choosing swimming?" Anna asked."I mean, I can't do ballet for the life of me, and I don't even know how to play chess. But it's still spring and it's soooo cold." I thought about it. "It may be chilly now, but swimming will end in the winter, so November you won't have any sport." This cheered her up. "I'll be fine with that," she said happily, finishing off her letter. "Come on, let's go get this approved!"

Miss Fox was thankfully not in her office, so we asked a nice teacher called Mrs Knight instead. She stared at our letters for a few minutes before deciding that it was alright. Anna asked her why they had to be approved a few times, but Mrs Knight pretended not to hear her. We walked back to her room, hopeful and excited to send our letters the next morning.

"I can't wait to hear from ma again," Anna said. "Pa is often busy, so she writes and tells me what he's been up to too." She looked at me. "Who are you writing to?" I smiled. She was in a talkative mood. "My sister, Scarlet." I said. "We're twins." This made her clap her hands in delight. "Wow, I wish I had a twin. Is that like having a sister that can read your mind?" "Yes, almost. Only, I do the mind reading. We are exactly alike, it's like I am her reflection," Anna frowned. "Why are you the reflection? Was she born first? Are you like opposites?" she wanted to know. Oops. "No reason." I said. "It's just an expression." I felt like I had revealed too much. Yes, Scarlet and I were opposites. I just didn't want the whole Rookwood to know I was the shy twin.