Girls of Edinburgh

Harper Kane

Diana watched Matilda pick at her food. Her heart fell as she watched her sulking sister eat alone. She thought of going over there but thought twice lest 'Ruth the great' had something to say about it. It had only been a few short hours but Diana was already fed up with Ruth. For every witty joke she made, Ruth had an equally snobbish response. Diana made small talk with some of the girls as they ate, but for the most part, could see herself as friends with none. They were all too bland or polished for her liking.

She couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that it was hours later and Tilly was still sulking. She tried to ignore her spoilt sister and focus on the conversation at her table, but her conscience wouldn't allow it. Tilly sat among a group of girls that were huddled together, laughing and chatting amongst themselves, while she slouched and picked at something on her plate. Diana turned to Ruth, decided against it, and instead turned to a girl by the name of Olivia.

"Hey, how does this whole after dinner thing work?"

Olivia, a pleasant little thing, explained to Diana that they had a half hour interval between dinner and dorm time. Diana resolved to try and slap some sense into Tilly.

..

As planned, after dinner Diana stood up to make her way over to where Matilda was.

"Miss Sawyer." Ruth's voice called through the throng of girls.

Diana looked around, wondering what on Earth it could be now.

"You need to come with me to collect your uniforms."

"Do I have to do that right now? I want to speak to my sister for a second.."

"Yes." , Ruth said impatiently. "Madame Kennedy doesn't like to be bothered past a certain hour. It's best to come now while she's available."

And so an unwilling Diana left with Ruth.

Uniforms had, Diana once again, decided to take her leave and head to Matilda's hall.

"Where are you going?" Ruth inquired.

"To visit my sister." Diana answered, her voice giving away just a bit of her frustration.

"You do know we have to be in our dorms by nine."

"I'm aware." Diana walked off before she could say anything more. She really didn't know how she was expected to put up with that girl, a stick five inches up her ass.

She had a little trouble finding Matilda's hall, and by the time she walked through the doors and checked the time, she had twenty minutes left.

Immediately engulfed in a throng of girls, Diana hadn't the first clue where to turn to find Matilda. She asked a few girls but no one seemed to know where a 'new girl with curly black hair' was. Diana decided to just go up and have a look in the dormitories herself.

There were eight dormitories in all Diana found, each rooming twelve girls. She found Matilda in none. Coincidentally, no one knew where she was either. Apparantely, no-one knew who she was. She was told to look in dorm five by a very smiley girl in dorm six, but had no luck. She became agitated. If Tilly didnt have such a rotten attitude, she wouldn't have to be here looking for her, harrassed by the thought of a nightmare dean chastising her for missing a damn curfew.

"Excuse me! Up there!" an unsmiling girl on the ground floor called to Diana as she walked down the stairs.

"Should you be here?" 

Diana hurried down the rest of the stairs, a sheepish look on her face. She wondered if this was some prefect. She wasn't in regular uniform.

"Actually, I was looking for my sister, Matilda Sawyer. Do you know-"