Victoria appeared to get tired of me rather quickly.

Two weeks after the pool incident, she had resorted to sending daggers into my back rather than talking to me. Whatever her reason may have been for it, I welcomed the chance. It felt nice to be able to go about my day without the potential threat of being pushed into a swimming pool or dragged out of bed in the middle of the night. It felt as though I had a sense of normalcy back in my life.

I got into the flow of attending my lessons and spending my free time working on my project. I still struggled to narrow down my topic choice and my notes were still pilling high, much to my own annoyance. Although I tended to live in chaos, this was something that needed to be consolidated if I stood any chance of doing well.

My free time was spent with Katie and Jo, the two of them still exchanging looks and muttering between them, but neither of them would tell me what it was about. I didn't like being left out of things and hated not knowing what they were whispering about; I had the sneaking suspicion it was about me due to the side-ways glances they had sent my way on occasion.

My stomach still fluttered when I was with Katie.

February arrived in a cold chill accompanied by several storms. My early morning running sessions felt more like lessons in learning how-to run-on mud, but they were fun. Mrs Leverton had tried to get me to join in the Lacrosse practice, but that would never happen. Coordination had never been my strong suit and I had a habit of getting injured whenever I did anything that involved it. I was content with running up and down the side of the pitch like a yo-yo.

"You'll take part one of these days, I'm telling you now," Katie said as we walked back to the school.

"No, I won't. Trust me," I said.

"What about when your class moves away from swimming once the weather brightens up? You'll have to do Lacrosse then," Jo added.

"I'll burn that bridge when I get to it.

"Isn't it cross the bridge?"

"Probably."

I shrugged and Katie snorted.

"Did you hear anything from Mrs Maddox yet? About what we told her?"

I shook my head and said nothing. Mrs Maddox seemed to be taking her time. Katie swung her Lacrosse stick over her shoulder, almost hitting Jo in the back of the head with it. Over the past few weeks, I had grown closer to the pair of them and it felt as though I was finally starting to settle into Maddox after several weeks of uncertainty. If Victoria kept her distance until the end of the year, I would have to reconsider the stance on returning.

To my surprise, once things settled with Victoria, I found I didn't hate Maddox nearly as much as I thought I would. The lessons were a little more challenging, it was easier to focus, and their Library contained everything I had dreamed of. Without Victoria getting under my skin, I had started to see Maddox in a new light. Boarding school may not have been as bad as I thought it would be. Still, I had several weeks to go, and anything could happen.

We went our separate ways at the top of the staircase with Katie and Jo continuing upwards whilst I walked down the hall and up the stairs to the dormitory. I had washed, changed and packed my bag all before Miss Jones arrived to wake the rest of the girls up.

"Girls! Wake up!" she said. "Mrs Maddox will be holding an assembly this morning. She expects you all to be in the meeting hall when the bell rings for first lesson."

"Why? We never have assembly," Dorothy said, stifling a yawn.

"It's not my place to say. Get dressed and get yourselves down to the dining hall in good time or you'll be late."

Miss Jones turned on her heel and left the room whilst the rest of the girls stumbled out of bed and started to get dressed. I swung my bag on my shoulder, glancing briefly towards Victoria who offered me a sly smile as I slipped through the door. All those weeks of her ignoring me and she chooses the day of a rare assembly to finally acknowledge my existences. I knew good things wouldn't last for long.

I jogged down the stairs leading from the dormitory and through the hallway, passing the girls who were at Lacrosse practice and those who rose early to go to the Library. There were very few people around when the dining hall first opened for breakfast and that was the time I liked best. Very few people around meant little opportunities to get into trouble and I also knew Victoria would be nowhere to be found for at least another ten minutes. I had never met someone who took so long to get ready in the morning.

Katie and Jo were already in the dining hall when I arrived. The flagged me down when I walked in and pushed a bowl of cereal towards me after I sat down. It seemed that everyone who had arrived at breakfast earlier was already discussing the assembly and just what it may have been about. In the time I had been at Maddox we had yet to have an assembly.

"Why is the assembly such a big deal?" I asked.

"They're rare. The last time we had one was right before the examinations at Christmas and it was only because they had heard rumours that some of the girls were going to cheat," Jo said.

"Our next lot of exams aren't until March so it can't be about cheating. Must be something else," Katie added.

"Like what?"

She shrugged. "It could be anything. Maybe they'll be redoing some of the classrooms or something. A couple of them are known to leak."

"I doubt it'll be that, Katie."

"Alright, what to do you think it could be/"

"No idea."

Jo grinned and Katie flicked a cornflake at her. Regardless of what the assembly may have been about, it certainly got people talking. The dining hall had never been so active before with everyone discussing just what it may be about and why it would be happening in place of our first lesson. It seemed a tad out of place in the grand scheme of things, especially as our March exams were getting closer and lessons meant a little more than an assembly.

The rest of the girls filed into the dining hall with the conversation not moving from the assembly. I had never thought everyone would be discussing the same thing at once and it was quite interesting to see. The only time we ever discussed the same thing at my last school was if someone got into a fight. It would be the main point of conversation for at least a week.

When the end of breakfast bell rang, everyone left their plates on the table and started to file out of the room. I had never set foot in the meeting hall; I didn't even know one existed in the school, so I ended up following Katie and Jo. It turned out that the meeting hall was through a door at the far end of the dining hall. For the past few weeks, I thought it led outside, but no one told me otherwise. Even after several weeks, I still needed a map.

We took our seats near the back of the room with Victoria sitting a little too close for comfort. Katie turned around and glared at her when she noticed but Victoria didn't even flinch. Something told me the assembly had something to do with her.

Mrs Maddox walked to the front of the hall and stood behind a large wooden podium with the school crest on the stand. She placed her hands on the top of it, clasping them together and waiting for the room to fall silent. It took about five minutes for the younger students to notice her standing there and fall silent.

"Thank you, girls. First, I want to say that I hope you are enjoying the start of the term and that you are all working hard in preparation for the March examinations and your independent study projects. Those in Fifth and Seventh year, I hope you have been preparing for your qualification examinations which are only a few weeks away.

Katie nudged me in the side and rolled her eyes. I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

"However, I did not call you all here to discuss the next few weeks of the term. It has come to my attention that there have been several accusations of bullying amongst year groups. As you know, we have a strict policy on bullying, and we will act accordingly. You should be aware that making false accusations of bullying against another pupil will land you in serious trouble. Anyone found making accusations without due course or as a form of bullying themselves will be punished. I should not have to be making this clear to you all.

"Every report of bullying will be investigated by myself and I will find out if you are lying to us. We expect you all to be polite and respectful members of the Academy and society once you leave these halls. If you repeatedly make false accusations or bullying or continue to bully another student, you will face expulsion.

"For those of you who are new to us, the decision to expel a student does not come lightly. You will be bought in front of me, the governors and the head girl to give a statement of defence or an apology about your actions during your time here. It will be up to us to decide whether you are to remain at Maddox Academy.

"I want you all to remember these words. You have been warned. The second lesson bell is about to ring. Make your way to your lessons promptly girls, thank you."

Mrs Maddox stepped away from the podium and a low hush of whispers broke out amongst the students. I glanced towards Katie and Jo. Katie just shrugged her shoulders, but Jo looked worried. Her eyebrows were furrowed together, and her lips moved without any sound coming out as she muttered something to herself. None of us spoke. We simply followed the rest of the girls out of the hall, into the dining hall and back out into the main school.

I followed the rest of my year outside and down towards the swimming pool so I could check in with Mrs Leverton before joining the fifth years in the common room. There was no doubt in my mind that little work would be done, all conversation appeared to surround the assembly. No one understood why Mrs Maddox wanted to talk to us about bullying.

No one but Victoria that is. She spent the entire walk down to the swimming pool whispering to Louise and Dorothy before all of them collapsed into a fit of giggles. None of them seemed particularly concerned with the assembly or what it meant. They either already knew or had figured it out for themselves. I went for the former. Victoria had sat far too close and looked far too happy to be completely clueless.

Something told me I would find out soon enough.

After checking in with Mrs Leverton, I left Victoria and her giggling alone and retained to the main school. When I reached the common room, the fifth years were still all enthralled by the assembly and what it meant. I dropped my bag onto the floor and sat cross-legged beside Katie. She had pulled her knees into her chest and rested her chin on top. It looked as though she was a few seconds away from rocking back and forth.

"Maybe we're reading too far into it. It could have just been a reminder," Jo said.

"Jo, I love you, but I doubt that. When have we ever had an assembly that was just a reminder? The last one we had was about cheating. That wasn't a reminder. She had heard people were cheating," Katie said.

"Katie's right. Someone must have reported something to her, or she'd never have mentioned it," Grace added.

"We told her about Victoria." I paused. "I knew we shouldn't have told me and it explains why we haven't heard anything about it."

"Flick, don't."

"Don't what? We tell Mrs Maddox about Victoria trying to get me to jump into the pool and then I conveniently fall in a week later and then we have this assembly? I told you they would all defend her."

"We don't know that's what happened." Katie took her head off her knees and laid her legs flat against the ground.

"What other reason could there be?"

"Anything! It could have been about the younger years for all we know."

"Victoria was giggling, she knew. She set this up."

"I doubt she's that clever," Betty muttered.

"She's a snake."

I dropped my hands into my lap and let a few strands of loose hair fall in front of my face. Everything about Victoria's demeanour told me all that I needed to know about the so-called surprise assembly. She had managed to flip my story to suit her means, managed to manipulate Mrs Maddox to see only her side of the story, a side full of lies and accusations of bullying that never happened. I had been right to not want to tell the truth. No one would ever believe someone like me.

The room went silent. The only sound being of girls in other classrooms near us and the birds tweeting away in the trees outside. Although I knew they would never admit it, Katie had to have thought the same way. She picked at her nailbed the same way I had often seen her do when nervous and she refused to look at me. I had wondered why Mrs Maddox had said nothing about our conversation with her, even though several weeks had passed.

Victoria must have spent a large portion of that time convincing Mrs Maddox of her version of events and convincing every girl in our year that she was right. She had them wrapped around her little finger and nothing I could say or do would ever change that. Just as I thought things were starting to turn around, that things were changing for the better, this happens. It wouldn't be too long until Mrs Maddox had to speak to me about the accusations.

"If Mrs Maddox was talking about you, wouldn't she have spoken to you by now? Or to Katie and me? We were with you when you told her, we even defended your accusations," Jo said.

"I never should have told her," I muttered. "You two are going to get into trouble because of me."

I grabbed my bag and pushed myself up, swinging it onto my shoulder. Without another word, I left the room.

~~~

First Published - July 7th, 2020