the dangers of ....:::::BoaRdInG ScHooL:::::....

spoilt girls, boys and a teacher bent on revenge.

 

The three of us sat in absolute silence. It was evening; the skies were cloudless and puffs of cool air blew our hair into our faces. There was so much to speak of yet none of us dared to break the fragile tranquility. What could I say? There were so many questions I wanted to ask her. Kristi looked so small and sad. My conscience would not let me bother her. Her shoulders were hunched and she was sitting an almost unnoticed space away from Brenda.

I ventured a look at Brenda. We stared into each others eyes and there was an understanding between us. Brenda squared her shoulders and sighed. Good old Brenda; she was going to ask Kristi, go Brenda go.

“Why didn’t you tell us before?”

             For a split second I stopped breathing. Oh my gosh. That was not exactly what I was wanted her to ask but that’ll have to do.

Kristi turned to us slowly, her eyes flat and her voice dead, “I am sorry, I did not want you to talk me out of it.”

            The both of us are still waiting for a better explanation. She catches my eye and says, “I knew you would hate me Caitlin.” Brenda turned to look at me, “Caitlin does not hate you Kristi, we are all trying to support you but you’re making it, like, really hard.” Yes Brenda, I think, exactly what I was thinking.

            Kristi gets up and walks away without looking back. We start talking as soon as she is out of hearing distance. 

“That girl is so selfish; I mean I just cannot believe she would do something like that,” Brenda says, she has a wicked smirk on her usually charming face.

I smirk, widening my perfectly outlined eyes, “You cannot believe it, girl, it is Kristi we talking about.” 

            We both burst into laughter and several students look our way. I stand up at straighten my grey and blue flair skirt. “Let us look for Tamara.”

            We parade past a bevy of stylish younger girls, who look at us enviously. These are the girls who are going to be just like us in two years. There she is. Tamara is talking to Tony, her boyfriend. Tony sees us and waves. One of his friends says something and everyone around them laughs. Brittany, Tony’s best friend’s ex girlfriend rushes to me and grabs hold of my arm. She chatters endlessly about teachers, classes and the usual. Tamara joins us quickly. Brittany is fluttery and I know that she has something to tell us. I give her my best smile and the four of us walk around the compound arm in arm.

            “I wonder if you know,” she says playing with us. She wants us to grovel for the gossip she is going to share.

So I take on a snobbish tone, “No, we do not know, what is it?”

Tamara sucks greedily on her Popsicle and her lips are turning red. Brittany is popular in her class, but Tamara, Brenda, Kristi and I lead the form.

She answers quickly, “Mrs. Craven lost a baby on Monday it was like two months old. Could you believe it, Mrs. Craven pregnant?”

            Oh my gosh. Monday was when Kristi said that she got rid of her baby, what if…

I turn to Tamara and Brenda; both their eyes are wide with knowledge. Brittany is watching me for my response. “Omigod, who was the lucky man?” I say giggling for effect, stressing on the word lucky. Brittany is taken in. She laughs with us and then lingers for awhile until the awkward silence makes her uncomfortable.

            When she is gone, we talk all at once shouting over each other to be heard. I group of older boys pass by us. They call out to us . It’s Marc and his friends. I stare coquettishly in his face and I swing my hips tantalizingly. He smiles at me and approaches. Despite all that I have on mind; I still can always make room for Marc. One of the most popular boys in the whole of boarding school wants me. Hah Kristi, take that.

            We spoke about insignificant things for a while then Brenda said practically dragging me away, “We have to go to the library, bye Marc.”

I smiled brightly and waved at him. For some reason we walked swiftly as we spoke, even though it was evening and all classes were over for today. There was a sudden urgency in the air. The breeze had stopped and we were constantly mopping at our necks and foreheads.

            “What if somehow the drinks got mixed up, most likely it’s all Kristi’s fault, a usual,” Tamara disliked Kristi ever since she took her place as the hottest girl in the form. In fact, that is why we hate her, because she is gorgeous. Brenda, Tamara and I are good- looking girls but next to Kristi we look dull. She has excellent skin, teeth, lovely brown eyes, designer clothing. The only thing she lacks is a brain in working order. Kristi came to boarding school six months ago and naturally she gravitated towards us and we accepted her, a bit, but we had to be careful. Tamara’s ex- boyfriend Enron had a crush on Kristi. Not a lot of people know this but it was Tamara who started a rumor that Kristi was a s**t. This lowered Kristi's status a lot. After that she was very dependent on us. My friendship with Kristi was a love/ hate relationship.

            I knew that Kristi was okay, but I resented her superiority. So I always kept her one step behind. Then she got pregnant. That scared us all because any weak link in our group could be used against us by other girls like Brittany and Melanie. I was truly shocked. Kristi enjoyed the attention she got from boys but I did not think she was, you know, active. She could not tell us who the guy was, she said, we would not believe her.

“That means it was probably someone’s boyfriend,” Brenda says.

I feel a surge of resentment. “Kristi is such a BS.”

“Boyfriend stealer.”They say in unison. We walk down the street opposite the park, at the end of Raraven Street we find ourselves in front of Ms. Craven’s house. I could never call it a home. It is like a big box with a patch of lawn outside. White with blue awnings it is cold and uninviting, mowing the lawn is a forty something year old man. He is balding but his beard is flourishing. He also looks unwelcoming and rather treacherous like the house. It is not horror film material, but it is not a happy house either. A strong breeze blows dead leaves over my shoes. My hair pores raise and I hug myself. “Let’s go back.” I suggest quickly.

As we head up the street I hear an upstairs window slam close. We all jump and look up just soon enough to see the scarlet curtain pushed back into place. “Freaky,” Tamara says. A stray cats runs across the road in front of us. It is black except for one white spot on its tail.

 When we reach back to our dorm room, we are greeted with more gossip about the mysterious parentage of Ms. Craven’s dead baby. Instead of partaking, I excuse myself and go into the room I share with Brenda. As I lay on my bed thinking my stomach starts feeling queasy with worry. Things never stay secret for long in this school. I might not love Kristi but I could not help feeling sorry for her. Omygod! If Ms. Craven drank it then Kristi must still be pregnant.

Brenda and Tamara bounce in with Kate, Brittany and Melanie. I turn over on my side. I so don’t want company right now. They chat and giggle and gossip and badmouth until I feel sick. Then Brittany says something about Marc and I sit up straight in my bed. Oh no , so not cool. They all look at me and titter behind they manicured fingernails.

“Someone is in love,” Kate singsongs. I don't like Kate Bodington. She is very beautiful with long blond hair and a sexy French accent. She also is very snobbish to less fortunate people. “There he is,” she says pointing at the boys’ dorm balcony. I shrug, pretending not to care. Soon, when the attention is off of me I change into a breezy light blue Calvin Klein spaghetti strap dress that stops right above my knee.

I seize Brittany and we prance over to the boy’s dormitory. Guarding the door is Ms. Whitelly. She starts tall like a sentry and watches us with sharp eyes as we approach. “We are just coming to see Josh and Marc.” She watched us suspiciously and moves aside. We are greeted by catcalls and whistles as we enter the ‘liming area’. Marc is wearing a green tee which brings out his gray eyes. He greets me with a peck on the cheek while we chat I have to keep sneaking looks at Brittany to check up on her and Joshua, her latest heartthrob. Brittany may think she is the queen of gossip but she is so in for a surprise.

There are making out of course, Ew. I ignore them and turn my full attention to Marc which is easy because he is so gorgeous. He looks me square in the eye when he tells me what a beautiful girl I am, how talented, how unique. I drink it all in. Then we kiss. Emotions flood my head making me dizzy. Out of the corner of my eyes I spy Brittany looking at me. I pull away reluctantly. Marc and Josh walk us back to the girl’s dorm. I feel so good walking with that hunk.

We pass Melanie and her boyfriend Ryan making out by the fountain. Ryan is tall, dark skinned and handsome. Melanie is tall (but not as tall as Ryan) and has a sweet doll face. Ryan and Melanie. Handsome and pretty. Ryan is the basketball star in boarding school. I dated him for a while but things did not go far, we are still friends. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back in my room I flip through a magazine, bored. There is a heavy knock on the door unlike any of our friends’ Tamara and I sit up on our beds. Ms. Craven walks in. For a few seconds she stared at us piercingly without saying anything then she clears her throat and says in a shaky voice, “I was just checking on you girls to see if you were all right. I know how girls can get into trouble. Remember I am here if you need to explain anything.” Her eyes are red and I notice that her hands shake and her fingers twitch. She smoothed her grey plaid skirt and nods to herself before shutting the door after her. 

 Tamara and I stare at each other in a mix of fear and wonder. “How much do you think she knows?” Tamara asks. 

“If she knew, we would be in huge trouble already so maybe she suspects but she cannot prove anything.” This is the best explanation I could come up with but Brenda is not sure. “Maybe she is playing with us.”

“Playing with us?”

“Yes, maybe she wants to scare us into telling her the truth.”

            “That Kristi tried to have an abortion. Caitlin this has absolutely nothing to do with us; we are so not like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like Kristi.” Silence reigns as we stare at each other trying to figure things out.

“Kristi is not that sluttish, she likes attention but…”

“But what?” Tamara stares at me annoyed.

“I feel sorry for Kristi; I mean she needs us to be there for her Tammy. What are you doing?”

            Tamara takes out her cell and speed dials someone. “I am calling Brenda; hopefully she will back me up when I say we are out of Kristi’s mess.” I fold my arms and look at Tamara. She smiles sweetly at me. After she hangs up she tells me that Brenda cannot talk on the phone but she is coming. “Finally a voice of reason,” Tamara says as Brenda walks in and settles herself on a hot pink beanbag.

            “What’s going on?” Brenda asks. We both rush to give our opinions then we all take a vote. I feel guilty about my behavior toward Kristi earlier. Brenda and I vote for finding Kristi and supporting her. Tamara is aghast but she relents and agrees to come along. We decided to start in the research library because it is the biggest and it is easy to lose yourself among the avid readers which is what Kristi might want to do. A quick look around however shows that Kristi is not here.

            “Let’s check the garden,” Brenda suggests. We turn around and head in the opposite direction. We walk past the ping pong club and the cheerleaders. We see her before she sees us, sitting by herself on a bench in the garden. A whiff of roses fills our noses, but even a scent so sweet cannot take away our sour feelings. We approach her slowly. When she looks up and sees us I squeak,” hi Kristi. “She smiles and stands up, “I’m sorry for leaving you like that, that was really dumb of me. You all have been really nice about this” and she hugs Brenda and I. Tamara stands awkwardly. “Let’s sit.” I suggest.

            I tell Kristi about Ms. Craven. She and Brenda share a shocked look. She looks as if she is about to cry. She tries to put everything together. “If Ms. Craven lost her baby then I am still…”

“Yes, that’s what we were thinking.” Brenda hugs Kristi.

“I feel sorry for Ms. Craven, “says Tamara.

“We all do.” I say to close the gap that Tamara wanted to widen.

“Do you think she knows it was me?” I mean I sat right opposite to her that evening.”

“We all sat around her.”

“Great. That means she thinks it could be any one of us.” Tamara says this of course.

            I sigh and throw Tamara a look. She shrugs her shoulders and sidles up to me. She uses the palm of her hand to block her mouth as she whispers in my ear, “Why are you picking up for that little w***e?”

“She supposed to be our friend Tammy.”

Tamara sighed and rolled her eyes. “So what are we going to do about this?”

Brenda turns to Kristi. “Do you still want to get rid of the baby?”

Kristi nods quickly. “I have to, if, if my dad finds out about this I'll get like, thrown out and in so much trouble.”

Brenda and I nodded in understanding. We had all met Kristi's dad on several occasions and he was a pain.

            Kristi spoke up again, “I have more pills. It takes four of them and I'll lose the baby.”

“Why didn't you do it in your room, alone?” Tamara wants to know.

            “Remember, the water to the girls toilets had been closed off for the week because of the leak. I had to do it at a time where I could be close to the main bathrooms, close to the dining room. I was so scared and I couldn't wait any longer.”

            Brenda stands up. “Come, lets go upstairs to your room, Kristi.” We hurry to our dorm. Kristi's wall is plastered with posters of her favorite boy bands. Her room is in a mess. Not the usual, I am accustomed to having a maid clean up after me mess sported by most of the rooms in our dorm but someone has seriously thrashed her room. Someone with access to the keys. Kristi looks about in despair and rushes to her dressing table. She opens the top drawer and searches wildly. I already know she won't find what she is looking for. She turns around and sits down on her bed.

            “She found it.”

We all look at each other. Even Tamara seems stunned. Kristi breaks down in tears. She sobs pitifully and Tamara walks over to her and lay her hand on her shoulder. Kristi looks up in surprise.

“hey, if she thinks she can break into your room without consequences, we have to show her she is so wrong.”

I am surprised and excited. “Are you saying...”

“Yes.” Tamara says confidently.

'When?”Brenda wants to know.

“Later while all the teachers are in the lunchroom.”

            Tamara, Kristi and I head down to French class together. Brenda has art instead. In class we sit next to each other, me Tammy then Kristi. We exchange conspirational glances.

 

Reviews

[Max Arnold]

wow! I almost started crying. everyone's just so.. evil. needless to say, I enjoyed it a lot. the only critiques i would have is try to avoid common highschool cliches such as "hottest girl in school" or "good-looking nerd who somehow gets hottest girl in school". and also make sure the dailogue is fresh and free of cliches, and in a highschool story, insignificant dialogue is key. it detracts from believability when the characters are constantly talking about the big news. but very good, and interesting. I for one would like to see more.

[Crawford]

Good writing. Keep writing and rewriting and you will get even better. Remember to keep the language simple, like you were talking to someone. You can read it aloud to check how it sounds. Consider...

"Let us look for Tamara."

"Let's look for Tamara."

Which sounds more natural? Keep up the good work.