Maddox Academy: Grievous Beginnings - Wattys 2022 Shortlister

Chapter Thirty - Impressive Detective Skills

"You're limping. Were you limping before?" Katie asked.

"I think I pulled something on my run this morning," I lied.

"You should go to the infirmary, get that looked at before it gets any worse."

"It'll be fine, it's probably just a tweak."

Katie looked at me but said no more. I wanted to tell her the truth about what Victoria had done but I knew she would want me to go Mrs Maddox and I couldn't risk anyone else being involved. I needed to know what the 'truth' was beforehand. I tried to minimise the limp as much as possible and lie through my teeth if anyone asked about it. Part of me wanted to dig out the pocketbook again, to leave it outside Mrs Maddox's door without my name, but if Victoria got into trouble, I didn't know what she would say or do in retaliation.

Until I figured out what she was talking about, I had to do my best to keep my distance and not find myself either in a room with her or walking down the hall alone. She had proven that she was willing to strike regardless of where she was or who might have seen her. So long as I kept out of her way, I hoped to make it to the presentations alive. It may have been a rather big hope, but I knew she wouldn't actually try to kill me. Even if her track record said otherwise.

We joined Jo in the common room along with a scattered collection of students from other year groups. There was Grace and Betty from fifth year, Emma from mine and a few younger students who were perusing the game cupboard. The three of us took our seats on the floor against the wall, pulling an assortment of textbooks and notebooks from our bags. I had offered to help them study for their O-Levels a few days a week, primarily so I wouldn't be so focused on the project and because Katie had practically begged me.

I didn't mind offering to help, it gave me the chance to do something new. It was better than spending all my time working on the project and after the confrontation with Victoria in the empty classroom, I didn't even want to think about the project for at least a day or two. Besides, I figured I had to pay Katie back for the bracelet somehow and she had suggested tutoring be the best way of going about it. It wasn't going to make up for the monetary value of the bracelet, but it was better than nothing.

"What do you want to go over?" I asked, looking at the spread of notes and books that covered our little section of the floor.

"Everything," Katie said.

"We'll get to that. What about right now?"

"Romeo and Juliet. I don't think we'll have a copy in the exams, and I don't remember any of it. At all."

"You're in luck, we've been doing it in English, and I may or may not have already committed to memory."

"Why does that not surprise me?" She smiled.

"Let's do this. I have choir practice at five," Jo said.

"Why? The concert's been and done."

"Mrs Lemmon wants us to perform something for the seventh years when they leave.

Katie rolled her eyes and pulled her copy of Romeo and Juliet from the pile, flicked through it and then closed it again. I didn't blame her. I always thought studying old texts that no longer held any relevance was pointless when there were plenty of other things we could have been learning. Michael said I was a hypocrite since I loved history so much, but we could learn not to make the same mistakes form history. All Romeo and Juliet taught us was that communication mattered.

Even the economic crash that devastated America was more interesting than a stupid love story that could have been solved with a little bit of communication.