Angels & Shadows

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

It was Monday morning following the party weekend. The sun was shining brightly through the music room window where Elizabeth was enduring another class with the obnoxious Mrs Hyde. To be fair though, Elizabeth had noticed that Mrs Hyde's aggression towards her had tempered a little, replaced with a new policy of ignoring her very existence.

"Preferable," she concluded and probably Elizabeth's significant physical changes and newfound confidence had a lot to do with it.

"Perhaps she has become afraid of me?" she wondered.

At least Elizabeth had enjoyed the ten minutes that preceded the lesson. Lovely Laura had not stopped enthusing about the party throughout. She was particularly amused by Laura's statement, "I understand men you see...."

She was referring to the advice that she had given to Elizabeth in the bathroom on how to make it up with Rob, claiming the success as her own.

"Well fair one," Elizabeth thought and her smile broadened.

Then there was Laura's rapture over how wonderful Matt was. You could almost see the stars floating around her head. Finally she had said unashamedly, "By the way Rob ticks every single box that I can think of and then a few more that I shouldn't!"

Elizabeth had blushed openly, much to Laura's delight.

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Rob had planned his moment well. The students were in class, teachers were about their duties and there had been a recent fire drill. Any reoccurrence would be treated as an emergency, which was exactly what he wanted, organised panic! He let himself into the storeroom, spilled cleaning fluid all over the contents and ignited it. The room became an inferno almost immediately and dense smoke spilled out into the empty corridor. Judging the moment, Rob closed the storeroom door to contain the fire and set off the fire alarm. The bells all around the school rang out in unison, it was bedlam. He added to the confusion by screaming out frenzied warnings as he ran through the school banging on the doors. Finally, he positioned himself at the fire exit, nearest to the music room, waiting for the inevitable.

"Fire, Fire! Everybody out!" yelled Rob in a suitably panicked voice.

The normally orderly queues leaving the classrooms were more frenzied, due to the reality of the situation. The classes bustled out into the corridor with their responsible teachers leaving the rooms last after checking that all windows and doors were closed.

The contents of the school spilled out into the quadrangle and made their way chattering and squawking to the fire muster station in the sheltered area, under the trees, in the car park.

The music class streamed past Rob. As Elizabeth caught his eye she immediately read his thoughts and understood what he was doing. She faked losing her shoe and pulled over to the wall so as not to slow the others down. Mrs Hyde elbowed her way past and out into the sunlit quadrangle.

They only saw it for a split second because Mrs Hyde was strategically positioning herself in the crowd. Just as she left the building, and before she blended with the others, the sun caught her alone and out in the open. Mrs Hyde sensed the moment that it happened and turned to face Elizabeth. Her expression could have turned flesh to stone and Elizabeth looked back at her triumphantly. Rob had seen it too, Mrs Hyde was a Shadow!

When the last of the children were out of the building Rob went back in. He fought the fire, bringing it under control quickly, with damage confined to the storeroom only. Ironically it earned him the prestige of being somewhat of a hero for saving the school. Rob Sir accepted the accolade modestly.