Grace

Chapter 13

There was a box outside my room. I'd had to wait outside on the house lawn until my clothes dried before I was allowed in and I was still aching all over and not only did I smell like the river I smelled like sweat too. The last thing I wanted to do was have to figure out why I had a box sat on the floor outside my room. So I didn't. I left it there whilst I went for a shower. To my dismay it was still there when I got back. I sighed and toed it into the room for further inspection.

It was well wrapped in packing tape, my name and the house address was printed on a white label that had the uniform shop's logo on it. I frowned. I had more than enough uniform as it was. With all my rowing stuff I barely had room for my own clothes. I didn't need more school stuff! I sighed and hacked at the tape with my scissors.

Inside there was no note or anything to explain the sudden appearance of more uniform. Supposing I didn't have much choice in the matter I began to robotically hang it, but quickly stopped because whoever had made this hadn't finished it off. I was holding the jacket and it only just hit hip length and you could actually do it up at the front and the neckline was risqué for around here. It was a curved line that would only just cover a full cup bra. Frowning I discarded it to the bed and picked up the skirt. It was floor length and had some embroidery at the waistband which was higher than the other skirt I wore.

"What the hell?" I muttered and looked in the box again to see if there was a note at the bottom.

There wasn't but there was a shoe box. Inside were boots in the same sort of style as my other ones, but only a little passed my ankle and did up with buttons at the side instead of laces. The front portion was also white instead of black.

I looked into the box again to see if there was a note, but all I saw was a hat box.

"Here we go," I muttered and pulled it out.

The hat was much the same as the one I had to where around school, but had some black netting coming down a little way over the eyes. Also in the box was a white material done in ruffles with some white ribbon coming off each side and did up with a hook and eye under the ruffles.

I put it back in the box, well, I sort of threw it in the box, and strode out of my room. I wasn't sure at all where I was going or who I wanted to talk to about this joke of a parcel so I just went across the hall and knocked on Chi's door.

"Grace?" she asked. I nearly asked her why she was so confused as to why I was at her door, but it made sense I suppose. Within the first two days of being here all the other girls had been into each other's rooms, but I hadn't taken part in that.

"Hey. I got a parcel earlier with, like, lots of uniform type stuff in it, only it's not actually uniform. You know anything about that?"

She stared at me in that way of hers that I was already really familiar with and already didn't like. It was the look that came out just before she spouted off something about either Eton idiolect or tradition or else something about Eton I should know but obviously didn't.

"Ok, what now?" I asked and leaned on her door frame.

"Formal uniform," she said.

"Formal uniform? How do you get any more formal than the one we already wear?" I asked.

"With long skirts and ruffles," she said. "Grace, didn't you even look at the website before coming here?"

"No. I didn't want to come here. Not until the interview anyway. I was only doing it to appease Mum and Dad. Then I got fed up of even the thought of Eton in the week between interviews and decisions because Mum did nothing put prattle on about it."