How The Geeks Got Invaded

The Thursday It All Began

I HATE Mondays. Seriously. Not just because it's the first day back and everything. I have P.E (that's PhsEd for you Americans) first, then Art (which i stink at because i can't draw) Biology, then Brass Ensemble at lunch, then GERMAN. (Our teacher's name is Frau Hewson. We call her Frau Hewston. As in Hewston, we have a problem.) Then it's English, which is great because we have Mr Warner and he's funny. His son went to school with Izzy Otley in our class, which means he picks on her but it's entertaining. To top it off, I have Guides after school, so i basically spend the whole day whizzing round.
Tuesdays, by contrast, are great. We have English first and Maths third with Mr Mitchell. Mr Mitchell is awesome. He banters with us and we actually learn things and i sit next to Arushi and Pankhuri with Mathumi in the row across. We're allowed to talk and even though I'm rubbish, i don't mind so much because Pankhuri helps and when she's not making sense i turn round and ask Scarlett, because she's a great teacher. Plus, on Tuesday it's Knit n'Natter at lunch (i am not old, just crafty) where i talk to Antonia. Antonia is awesome. She's one of the few people who are actuallg cool at my school, which means I would normally avoid her, but she's actually really nice.
Wednesdays are music days. I have curriculum Music first with Mr McGee. He's tall and scary and i get particularly scared because I'm the only girl in my form who plays the trumpet and he plays the trumpet. In the middle of the day, there's Drama, which is so much fun. I love acting, even though i know I'll never make it as an actress. I stil, have fun though. Then after school i have my music lessons.
Fridays i basically spend the entire day waiting for last lesson, becasue it's TEXTILES!!! It's the best subject ever, even though our current project is really simple. But the teacher, Mrs Warner (yes, married to my English teacher-so weird) is the nicest teacher ever and i love her dress sense. I want to be a fashion designer when i grow up. I can't draw, so i can't plan my designs well, but life is all about overcoming issues.
Thursday, however, was when it happened. I normally like Thursdays- it's assembly day and Physics first, but then i have Chemistry, which is my best science. The teacher, Mrs Woods, also comes to Knit N' Natter occasionally. Thursday afternoon is best, though, because we have Latin, then English. It was just before Latin when it happened. We had finished lunch early and were slowly making our way to the top floor of the languages building (whose idea was it to put Latin and German on the top floor?) Anna racing the 'unofficial' race to the top, us walking slowly behind her.
Maria was first to the top after Anna, who had already gone into the room. I was behind Maria, Bella behind me, and Edie (short for Edith) and Blessing (short for something i can't pronounce) bringing up the rear. We bumbled into the classroom in our usual careless lump, breathing heavily. (Just because none of us are particularly athletic , doesn't mean all grammar school girls aren't.) I turned to dump my bag on my desk, and paused dramatically.
There was a rather large crowd of short Germans, boys and girls. And Anna was with them. Mr Lodge, our Latin teacher and Form Tutor, was at the front, writing something in a foreign alphabet on the whiteboard. All the Year 9s were standing in the corner, quietly. Too quietly for Year 9 girls. I blinked. Had i missed something? Was there some sort of ritual going on? Were the strange letters runes or symbols of some kind? Did i need to dive in and pull Anna out of a pentagram or something before her soul got sucked out?
Then i looked again, and breathed a sigh of relief. The letters were Ancient Greek. Dimly, i remembered somthing in Tuesday's Notices about Ancient Greek club being moved. Phew. As long as no one was being brainwashed.
Still, the silent girls in the corner were freaking me out. Our Latin room is a Year 9 form room, so normally when we come here at lunch it's full of rowdy girls throwing things or sneakily playing on their phones. I shook my head. My obsession with the supernatural, and a tendency to read more than is good for me, means i see mystery everywhere. I waded to my seat through a sea of tables covered in Year 9 schoolbags, which were actually just big handbags and could hardly fit anything necessary for school in them.
Mr Lodge made a series of squiggles on the board. "This phrase is an idiom, so we can't translate direct- Oh, hello girls!" he says, seeing us. "Are you joining Ancient Greek Club?"
I grinned and shook my head, wading back to the rest of my group, which Anna had rejoined.
Edie was one of the tall ones in our group. Bella, though taller than the exchange students, was tiny. Maria, by contrast, was a giant. Anna and i were just above average height, although still half a head shorter than Maria. Blessing was technically short, but we didn't think of her that way. Edie was between me and Blessing. Edie has browny - goldy frizzy hair, which she straightens every morning to stop it getting out of control. She's incredibly skinny, with not and ounce of extra fat on her. She isn't sporty (it makes me laugh, thinking of Edie being athletic), but she's naturally thin. We mock Edie to death, but we love her.
Anyway, our latest Edie joke was Speedie the Superspy. Speedie (who was Edie, obviously) had a gun which was always by her side (because it was her hands clasped together, thumbs pointing up and index fingers pointing out), her own special variation on the Mission Impossible theme (DON'T get me to play it, your ears will burn) and was the least successful spy in existence. Her current mission was to steal Maria's cookie at lunch. Which she had failed at today.
I moved some handbags so i could sit on the desk. We were all standing in our usual circle, with Edie opposite me, Blessing on her left, Anna next to Blessing, then me on the desk, then Maria, then Bella on Edie's right. "Edie," i said, trying to think of something to talk about, "explain Germans."
Edie scrunched up her face and thought hard. "They eat lots of sausages." she said finally.
We laughed. Edie Explains is another game we play, in which Edie is used as a very bizarre dictionary, with definitions like "They open." for "door" and "you see through them" for "window".
Maria suddenly smiled evilly. This was her "I've found a way to make that comment dirty" face. She then proceded to tell us why that comment was dirty. I'll let you use your imagination.
After we had finished reeling, Maria suddenly did her serious face. "Speedie," she announced. "Your mission is to sneak up on the Year 9s and tell us what's on the board."
Edie grinned and held up her gun. The mission was on.
Dun, dun, da-da-dun, dun, da-da-dun...

"She sneaks down the aisle." Blessing began in her announcer voice. "She makes a right, then a left. She successfully dodges the bags. Now she's past the desk. She's homing in on the target. She's..."
Bam. Right there. Maria facepalmed. I sighed. Bella shook her head. Anna just stood there awkwardly. Speedie had failed her mission. Rather spectacularly. Because Edie, being Edie, had dodged the desk, but not the pile of textbooks on the floor due to Mr Lodge's oh-so-neat organisation skills. She had managed to fall over wonderfully, and...oh god. Oh god.
Somehow, she had managed to faceplant one of the German exchange student's shoes. I groaned and hid my face in my hands. Our friendship group was going to lose any social standing we had left with the Year 9s. I mean, we didn't have much in the first place, but still. Anna was laughing so hard, she might've thrown up. Bella was doing the patronising mum face. Maria-i don't know what Maria was doing. I heard Mr Lodge in the background, saying, "Are you alright, Edith?".
Luckily, Blessing, with her wonderful Blessing-ness, was there to save the day. Living with two teenage brothers means short Germans don't faze you, apparently. She waltzed through the maze of bags and tables to help Edie up, then almost frogmarched her back to the group. I wished i had my hair down so I could hide. We stood back in our circle, and thankfully nothing else happened before lunch.