I couldn't shake the thought from my mind.

Everywhere I went it seemed to follow me and I couldn't even look at Katie without it rushing to the forefront of my mint and being the only thing I could think of. It became impossible for me to focus on anything, and that's saying something since my attention span had always been bad. With that and the added pressure of the project presentations, it felt as though I spent most of my time spinning the bracelet around my wrist rather than doing work.

My right wrist had been aching continuously and showed no sign of letting up. Katie had suggested I go and speak to Miss Jones after she caught me flexing it, but I knew it wouldn't have done anything. Mum used to get an ache in her shoulder when she got stressed and I figured this was the same thing, it just happened to coincide with an injury. All I had to do was find a way to clear my head and it would stop. I hoped.

Michael's notebook had come in handy a lot more than he would probably ever know. I spent one Friday evening scribbling away in the book, writing down everything that went through my head. By the time I felt some semblance of calm, I had filed almost four pages with nothing but incoherent rambling. Some of it related to my feelings for Katie whilst some were just history facts that I couldn't shake. Both facts I would use in my project and those that were now obsolete continued to swirl around my head. I hoped writing them down would get them out.

"What are you doing?" Emma asked, dropping her bag onto the pool and pulling out an empty ink bottle.

"Writing," I said.

"Anything of interest?"

"Not really."

I continued to scribble in the book, knowing she was watching me from her bed. Since her decision to back Victoria in her second accusation against me, I hadn't spoken to her and I hadn't trusted her with anything. The last thing I wanted was to say something to her and have her go speeding off to Victoria to tell her everything I had said so she could use it against me. Perhaps it was just me being paranoid, but I didn't want anything to do with Victoria, and the included everyone I shared a dormitory with.

"Did I do something?" She dropped herself down on the bed.

"Other than agreeing with Victoria and going along her lies? Nothing. Nothing at all."

She sighed. "I never actually agreed with her, I didn't say anything, Mrs Maddox just assumed. The same with Rose and Barbara. I wanted to tell her the truth. We all did, but Victoria has this way of getting inside people's heads."

"So you'd rather get into trouble then Victoria turn against you?" I closed the notebook and threw it to the end of my bed.

"It's not like that, Felicity. I already have a mark against my name as far as Mrs Maddox is concerned, one more and I'm up before the expulsion panel and out of here. Victoria has something against all of us, that's mine. They don't need me like they need you. You know, the bed you took belonged to a girl called Jane who got on the wrong side of Victoria. Within two days, she was gone."

The dormitory fell silent except for the birds outside. Emma looked at me, her face unreadable. I swung my legs over the side of my bed. Outside, I could hear the girls on the grounds giggling and laughing amongst each other in the afternoon sun. Somewhere out there was Victoria, no doubt lounging on the grass with Dorothy and Louise. If Victoria had something on all of them, I started to wonder if they were really her friends.

"They only go along with it because she has something on them?" I asked.

"Yes. She has this pocketbook she keeps in her blazer pocket. No one has tried to take it from her, so we don't know what's in there. For all we know, it's empty."

On the other side of the room, the door swung open and Katie practically skipped in. She stopped short upon seeing Emma, furrowing her eyebrows and crinkling her nose as though expecting to find me alone but displeased with the results. Her eyes darted between the two of us. I looked at her and waited for her to say something, but her eyes continued to dark between me and Emma. After a little while, it just grew odd.

She walked the short distance down the hall and collapsed onto the edge of my bed, her head hanging close to my legs where she just stared at Emma. Emma looked at me and I shrugged, neither of us sure what to say given the intrusion by Katie and the strange situation we found ourselves with regards to Victoria.

"Did I interrupt something?" Katie asked. Even from upside-down, her eyes darted between the two of us."

"Just some interesting news about Victoria," I said.

Katie sat up and swung her legs around the bed before I even had time to blink. "Like what?"

"It turns out she has a pocketbook where she keeps information on everyone."

"Where does she keep it?"

"Her blazer pocket," Emma said.

"Where's her blazer?"

"In her trunk."

Katie's eyes lit up. Her light brown eyes had some even lighter flecks in them that only appeared when she got excited over something. My stomach did a backflip and that urge from before came back, this time a lot stronger. Every time I had felt that urge to kiss her, it was stronger than the last time and I kept having to bite it back and force it down. I couldn't even look at her without that feeling cropping up.

I watched her as she pushed herself up, a smirk spreading across her face, and tiptoe across the room to Victoria's bed. She moved the bag from on top and place it onto the floor. After undoing the latches as quietly as humanly possible, Katie reached inside and pulled out Victoria's dark blue blazer, peering into the inside pocket. From inside, she pulled out a small black book before shutting the blazer back in the trunk and dropping her bag on top.

With the pocketbook in hand, she tiptoed across the dormitory and sat beside me. She crossed her legs on the bed and started to flick through the book. Every so often, her eyes would widen, and she chewed on her lip as she read through the pages. Emma and I looked at each other. I shrugged and Emma pulled a face, neither of us knowing how to react or what to do as Katie continued to flick through the book at record speed.

"This is interesting," Katie said after a little while.

"How so?" I asked.

"She has notes on practically every student and crossed off those who have left. The Jane girl is in here, so are you and me. There are even pages on the teachers."

"See? We can't do anything because of that book. I'm on my last warning and I don't know who else is, but she can get us all thrown out at the drop of a hat," Emma said.

"But even Mrs Maddox would think something was wrong if an entire year got expelled. If she saw this, Victoria will be in trouble. There's a rule somewhere about keeping information on students without their knowledge or consent. We hand this over to Mrs Maddox; Victoria gets her first black mark and she has nothing against any of us. Mrs Maddox wouldn't use the contents of the book if it breaks a rule. The only downside is getting in trouble for going through her things."

"So we have a double-edged sword?"

"Pretty much. I suppose we could just say we found it, or hand it over anonymously."

"That's a Victoria move, though. I'd rather leave it then be underhanded about it," I said.

"We can use it as a last resort. If she keeps going, at least we have this if all else fails."

Katie closed the book and dropped it onto the pillow. We had just been handed something that could be used against Victoria, but we couldn't use any of it or we'd get in trouble ourselves. If we could use that book against her then we could finally stop her reign of terror over the entire year and the school. Only we couldn't. Either we get in trouble, or we use the same tactics as Victoria.

After a little while of silence, Emma decided to take her leave owing to the mountain of schoolwork she had yet to complete. She left Katie and me on her own as she went to the library in search of something, or someone, that could help her with it. Katie took the pocketbook and flicked through it one last time. She walked across the room and placed the book back in Victoria's pocket, trying to put everything back in place.

The bedroom door opened just as she made it back to the bed and sat down. Dorothy walked in, approached her bed and sat on it. She reached into the nightstand and pulled out a scrap of paper that looked to be completely blank unless her handwriting was just small. Katie and I glanced at each other as she left the room, tucking the paper into her pocket.

"That was odd," Katie said.

"Nothing new there." I paused. "Where's Jo?"

"Choir practice. Again."

They'll be able to know those songs backwards by the time the concert comes around."

"I think that's the plan. Doing it backwards would get them more money." Katie laughed. "Oh, I have something to ask you."

My heart almost erupted through my chest but at the same time, my stomach dropped. In my experience, nothing good ever came from a sentence like that and I almost wished her not to continue. Still, a small part of me was somewhat excited by the question.

"Which is?"

"Dad is cleaning out his office and found a couple of history books he doesn't want. He wanted to know if you'd like them. Well, he asked if I wanted them for study purposes, but I'd never read them."

"Yes, sure." Everything inside me seemed to sink, although it wasn't a terrible question, it wasn't the one I wanted.

"Great, I'll telephone and let him know." She smiled at me. "Also, do you want to go to the concert with me? The village fair will be going on at the same time and it could be fun."

"I don't know. I should work on my project."

"Come on, you've earned the break. I'll even pay for you to play some of the games."

She may have meant well, but I didn't like the idea of being so reliant on someone else to have fun. Back home, I had saved money from babysitting for anything I might have needed or wanted to treat myself with. I tried my hardest to not rely on anyone else for anything, but that had led to my first three months at Maddox being spent inside. Katie and Jo had gone to the village countless times in January and the only time I had gone with them had been because of my uncle.

I felt as though I was missing out all because I didn't have the money to spend as freely as the did. Even if Katie's parents had cut back on her pocket money because of the bracelet, she still had a lot more than I did. All I had was some change from the dress but even that seemed pitiful. It would feel odd going to a concert for charity and not being able to contribute to it in any way.

One thing I didn't want to do was have to rely on someone else for money. I liked the idea of spending the day in the village with Katie, getting to experience my first fair, but money once again became an issue.

"I'd love to, but I won't want to be a pain and have to rely on you to pay for everything."

"How about a deal. You help me study for the O-Levels and you come to the fair with me and allow me to pay for you. Sound fair?"

"Not really."

"Come on, it'll be fun." Plus, we'll be supporting Jo and it'll look good for Mrs Maddox. You know, show her you're a team player and all that."

"Alright, fine. But I'm bringing the change from the dress, I'm not having you pay for everything."

"Deal."

She smiled at me. The same, warm smile that caused my stomach to flutter and every single fibre of my being to tingle. Just the idea of spending time outside of the school alone with Katie filled me with so much joy that I wanted the concert day to be that second. It may have been taking place the next day, but I didn't think I could wait that long.

The supper bell rang and pulled me from my thoughts of what may happen at the fair.

"Come on, I'm starving."

~~~

First Published - August 2nd, 2020