New Girl

by Laura Sieveking

  There was a little bell on the desk, which Violet rang. The school nurse came bundling out of one of the side rooms, her hands full of rolled-up bandages. When she saw Violet, she hurriedly dropped the bandages onto the empty desk.

  ‘Violet, are you OK? Do you need—’ the nurse began as she ran up to Violet.

  ‘It’s not me,’ Violet interrupted forcefully. ‘It’s Ella. She took a ball to the eye.’

  The nurse turned to me. ‘Oh, sorry, Ella, I thought you were here with Violet.’

  Why would Violet need the nurse?

  ‘Let’s get some ice on that,’ she said, ushering me into a chair. Violet sat next to me.

  As the nurse went over to get the ice, Violet said, ‘I hope you’re OK.’

  ‘Thanks. How does the nurse know you already?’ I asked.

  Violet’s cheeks flushed pink. ‘I’ve been down for a headache before,’ she said quickly.

  We sat silently.

  The nurse came back and gently pried my hand from my face. She carefully looked into my eye with a little light before handing me the ice pack.

  ‘I don’t think there’s any need to be concerned about damage to your eye, Ella,’ she said chirpily. ‘It’s just a bruise and it should heal pretty quickly. You might get some darker bruising over the next few days, but if you are in any way worried, please don’t hesitate to come back. Now, I’ll need to fill out an Incident Report, so just wait here with the ice on. Violet, you can go back to class.’

  Violet nodded and then turned to me. ‘You’ll be OK,’ she said, smiling lightly.

  I smiled back.

  ‘I’ll see you later this afternoon, Violet,’ the nurse called out over her shoulder.

  Violet’s smile vanished and she fiddled with her sports cap.

  ‘Why are—’ I began.

  ‘See you later, Ella,’ Violet interrupted as she hurriedly opened the door and jogged off into the sunshine.

  Chapter 12

  I remember when Max, Olivia and I would have sleepovers at Nanna Kate’s. She has a special room in her house just for us—it has two single beds and we put a blow-up mattress in between. There used to be a cot in her room, but then Max got too old for that, so now he sleeps on the blow-up mattress on the floor. We always have the best time at Nanna Kate’s sleepovers. She bakes with us and even lets us crack all the eggs. One time, she made us a treasure map and we had to go all around the house, following her clues, until we got to the treasure at the end, which was chocolate, of course.

  She is also really good at helping us to make surprises for Mum and Dad, without them knowing. One year, right before Mothers’ Day, we decided we wanted to grow Mum some flowers in a pot. We bought the seeds with our own pocket money the day before, and we took them to Nanna Kate’s because she has lots of pots of all different colours and sizes.

  When we showed Nanna Kate the seeds, she frowned and said she wasn’t sure if the seeds would grow into full-sized flowers overnight. Max threw a tantrum and Olivia cried—we really wanted to have the flowers ready for Mum because nobody wants a pot of dirt as a present. Then Nanna Kate told us that plants need love, just like people, so perhaps if we talked to our seeds, played them music and then made a special wish, they might just grow.

  So we decorated the pot with paint and filled it with dirt. We gave each seed a kiss and made a wish before pushing it into the soil and patting it down with our fingers. Then we sprinkled water on top of the soil and put it in the sunshine, while we sang sweet songs to the seeds.

  The next morning, we raced outside to see if our flowers had magically grown. And to our delight, they had sprung up into full blooms of pink, white and purple. Nanna Kate said they were pansies. They looked beautiful and we knew Mum would just love them, which she did, of course, and pansies became my most favourite flower in the whole wide world.

  I only noticed this summer just gone that Mr Rodriguez, who lives next door to Nanna Kate, grows many pots of pansies and has them all over his courtyard.

  I decided maybe pansies weren’t so magical after all.

  It’s funny how things can change when you look back on them. It’s like re-watching a movie from when you were little and realising you missed the point the whole time. I guess that’s just part of growing up.

  ‘Ella?’

  ‘Sorry, what was the question?’ I asked, embarrassed. I’d been gazing at the colourful flowerbox of pansies which hung outside the window.

  ‘Move over to that group there with Saskia, Ruby, Violet and Annabelle,’ Miss Tempest said, irritated.

  I picked up my laptop and carried it over to the other table. I loved English class, but was not too keen on being in a group with Saskia. The classroom had lots of different learning spaces to use for group work. There were little tables low to the ground or higher ones with tall stools. There were beanbags in the corner, or you could even sit at desks with whiteboard surfaces, so you could write your ideas straight onto the table with an erasable marker.

  I sat down and smiled at the other girls in my group. Saskia sat up straight, with her fingers poised over her keyboard.

  ‘Would you like me to be the scribe?’ she asked.

  Everyone shrugged, then agreed.

  ‘So, the task states that we need to come up with a descriptive passage about this image,’ she said, turning her laptop so that we could all see the screen.

  The image showed a rusty gate, flanked by a low, brick wall. Through the gate you could see a winding path of cobblestones, leading into a misty darkness. Bare-limbed trees peppered the scene, with long, spindly fingers reaching out over the path.

  ‘Why don’t we start with a brainstorm of words and phrases that we think of when we look at it?’ I said.

  The others nodded in agreement. Except Saskia.

  ‘Or …’ she said as she flicked her laptop back around to face her. She navigated with the cursor, clicked some files and then turned the screen back around.

  ‘Voila!’ she declared.

  We all leaned in to look at her screen. She had opened a document with a full page description on it. It was entitled ‘The Haunted Lake’.

  ‘What’s that?’ Annabelle asked.

  ‘It’s a descriptive passage I wrote last year. I worked on it with my tutor and it’s brilliant,’ Saskia smiled. ‘I have a whole heap of these things and I can pull them out whenever there’s a relevant topic. And I always get full marks when I hand them in!’

  Ruby frowned. ‘But this task isn’t even about a haunted lake.’

  ‘But look at the language,’ Saskia protested. ‘It’s all about ominous rising mist, the shriek of the owl, the foreboding glow of the lamplight …’

  ‘There’s no lamplight,’ Annabelle interjected.

  ‘It doesn’t matter! You’re missing the point. What I’m saying is that with a couple of quick clicks, we can change this to fit the picture and we’ll have an instant winner!’ Saskia said breathlessly.

  The group looked around at each other with puzzled expressions.

  ‘But what’s the point in just copying your tutor’s old work? Then we won’t actually get to do anything,’ Ruby said.

  ‘Yeah, I want to write it ourselves,’ Annabelle added.

  Violet nodded meekly in agreement.

  ‘Me, too,’ I shrugged.

  ‘The point,’ Saskia said, exasperated, ‘is to get the best mark. This is an absolute guarantee we’ll get the best mark in the class,’ she said, with eyebrows raised.

  ‘I don’t want the best mark if it’s not our work,’ I said flatly.

  Saskia’s face turned from hopeful to angry. ‘I can’t work with you people,’ she said, slapping her laptop shut and standing up. ‘I’m going to another group.’

  I looked at the others in my group as Saskia stormed off. Then we all burst out laughing.

  ‘Quiet, please, and get on with your work,’ Miss Tempest scolded from up the front.

  We smothered our giggles and I opened my laptop. The
screen lit up and I clicked on a new, blank document. Annabelle pulled up the image and we began to brainstorm the words and emotions we felt when we looked at the image.

  Haunting.

  Eerie.

  Mystical.

  Ominous.

  Sinister.

  Grim.

  By the time we finished, we had collected two whole pages of words, phrases and descriptions. We’d begun pulling all the ideas together to make a descriptive passage, when the bell pierced through the air, marking the end of the school day. We agreed to meet later in the dorm study room to finish the task for homework.

  I gathered up my laptop and books and carried them in a small pile in my arms. Grace and Zoe ran up to me as we left the classroom.

  ‘Let’s go via the dining hall and grab our afternoon tea,’ Zoe said.

  Grace and I agreed as we headed down the path, back towards the dorms and the dining hall. When we got to the dining hall, there were piles of muffins sitting in wicker baskets. Some students were eating inside and others were taking them outside to sit in the afternoon sun. We decided to take ours outside and sit on the grass.

  I looked around and saw a few girls walking up the path in their sports gear, holding softball bats. Others carried musical instrument cases as they headed off to afternoon band and music rehearsals. Some girls were sitting in groups on the grass, reading books, chatting or even sleeping in the afternoon sunshine.

  ‘Your eye is looking better already,’ Zoe said.

  I raised my hand to where the ball had hit me in PE. It hadn’t bruised badly at all, thankfully.

  ‘So, how’s your investigation of the thefts going,

  Ella?’ Grace asked, in between bites of her muffin.

  ‘I haven’t gotten very far yet,’ I conceded, as I rescued a crumb from the corner of my mouth with my tongue.

  ‘Got any theories?’ Zoe asked.

  ‘Well,’ I said slowly, pulling out my notebook. ‘I have a hunch that these robberies are happening at night. All of them have been in the dorm except one, and that one was definitely not during school hours because Mrs Sinclair’s office was empty.’

  Grace and Zoe nodded as they peered over my notes.

  ‘I also think,’ I continued, ‘that it’s a Year 7 student. Since all the thefts have been on our floor, except for one, I think it’s obvious that it was probably easiest to access for a girl in our year.’

  ‘So, what now?’ Grace asked.

  I bit my lip and looked up at the tree above me. It’s green and yellow leaves blew gently in the summer breeze. I breathed in the sweet scent of jasmine as I thought.

  ‘Maybe I could do some surveillance,’ I said. ‘That means high-tech spying,’ I added.

  Zoe laughed. ‘We know, Ella. Anyway, how are you going to do that?’

  ‘What if I set up my laptop on the hallstand at the end of the Year 7 dorm hallway? If I turn the computer’s camera on, I can film the hallway overnight. It will show if anyone from Year 7 gets up in the night!’

  ‘What if they’re going to the toilet?’ Grace said, with one eyebrow raised.

  ‘I’ll set it up facing the stairs—if anyone is going to the toilet they won’t come up as far as my laptop. This will only show girls who are leaving the floor!’ I declared.

  Zoe and Grace looked at each other and shrugged.

  ‘It’s a long shot,’ Grace said doubtfully.

  ‘Worth a try,’ Zoe said.

  I knew it was a long shot. The thefts hadn’t been taking place every single night. And if the theft was within a Year 7 dorm room, I wouldn’t catch it on camera. But now the culprit had already broken into Mrs Sinclair’s office, I had a feeling she would try her luck in other places around the school, too. I knew it could work.

  It had to work.

  Chapter 13

  We tiptoed up the carpeted hallway, being careful to keep close to the wall where the floorboards creaked less. I used the soft glow of my book-light to illuminate a path in front of us. The founding headmistresses glared down from their portraits disapprovingly.

  As we neared the top of the staircase, Zoe signalled to me and Grace to gather in close.

  ‘OK, so we’ll set up the computer here on the hallstand,’ she said, gesturing to the small, wooden table with a large, blue vase on top of it.

  ‘We can use the vase to hide the laptop, so it’s not so obvious,’ Grace whispered.

  We nodded in agreement.

  It was unlikely anyone was going to see the computer. It was a dark night and other than a sliver of light from the moon, the hallway was a cool, murky blue.

  Zoe plugged the laptop into a socket behind the hallstand and flipped open the lid. She switched the power button on.

  DING!

  The computer sang a triumphant sound as it powered up. We all madly fumbled to smother the speaker, our eyes wildly darting down the stairs in case Ms Montgomery was patrolling.

  Zoe muted the sound on the laptop and began clicking around the screen. Zoe is a complete computer whiz. She is really good at coding and making movies on the computer. She knew exactly what she was doing.

  Her long, thin fingers danced across the keyboard as she opened and closed programs, adjusted the light and set the camera up for a long night of filming.

  ‘This program I’ve downloaded is especially for surveillance,’ she said quietly, as she tapped the keys. ‘It will allow us to film the whole night, but we can play it back tomorrow in super speed. It will also indicate at which points in the video there is movement or sound.’

  Grace and I nodded.

  Zoe made one last tweak to the placement of the laptop before whispering, ‘Done!’

  Suddenly, we heard a door click shut downstairs.

  We looked at each other with wild eyes and quickly bundled ourselves back up the hallway, running on our tiptoes. We dashed in through our dorm room door, smothering our giggles as we went. We each dived into our beds, trying not to wake Violet, who was gently snoring with her face to the wall.

  ‘We did it!’ I whispered excitedly.

  ‘Let’s just hope it was worth it, and Ms Montgomery doesn’t find the laptop,’ Zoe said nervously.

  ‘It’s well hidden, don’t worry,’ Grace said. ‘And I’ve set my alarm for sunrise so we can go and grab it before anyone else is up.’

  The air grew quiet.

  As I lay there, I heard Grace and Zoe’s breaths slow down, until they were both breathing in a sleepy rhythm. But I was too excited to sleep. What if we caught the thief on camera? I could do an exposé in the Eden Press. That’s a special report that reveals a big scandal. I’d get Junior Journalist for sure and Zoe would get her necklace back. I sighed as my eyes began to get heavier. And I fell asleep with my fingers crossed.

  I slid my tray along the bench and shuffled slowly up the line. I held up my plate for toast and the serving lady behind the counter plopped a spoonful of scrambled eggs on top. I also nodded eagerly for some roast tomato and avocado on the side.

  I pushed my tray along to the end of the serving counter and picked up my knife and fork. Grace and Zoe followed behind me as we hunted for a seat in the dining hall. There was a space down at the end of one of the long tables, so we went over and sat down there.

  Grace’s long, thick, dark hair was loose and damp from her shower that morning. She was still air-drying it and hadn’t pulled it back into her signature French braid. During school hours, we weren’t allowed to wear our hair out, but before and after school hours, on weekends and in the dorms, it was OK to leave it loose. She tucked a segment behind her ear and looked up with her cat-green eyes.

  ‘So, when are we going to check our surveillance video?’ she asked excitedly.

  ‘Shh!’ Zoe hissed. ‘Keep your voice down!’

  ‘Let’s do it after breakfast. We’ve got a good hour before class starts, so we can look over it back in the dorm,’ I said.

  I dusted off a bit of toast which had crumbled onto my school
dress.

  Zoe spooned some cereal into her mouth. Her short, jet-black hair hung messily over her face, as she hadn’t had time to brush it yet. ‘I’ve got the laptop in our room, ready.’

  I nodded excitedly.

  ‘Can we join?’ a voice chirped from behind us.

  Saskia, Portia and Mercedes stood with their trays of breakfast, looking for a seat.

  ‘Sure thing!’ Grace said, making room on the bench for the others.

  The three of them plonked themselves down and began to eat. Saskia already looked completely neat and tidy, all ready for school. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a high ponytail with a white ribbon wound around the elastic. Her blue eyes shone.

  ‘Attention, everyone,’ Ms Montgomery said into a microphone from up the front of the hall.

  The chatter in the dining hall died down.

  ‘I have a few announcements this Wednesday morning, before you all get ready for the day, so please listen carefully.’

  There was a din of clinks as everyone put down their cutlery, ready to listen.

  ‘First, Year 10, remember you have your geography excursion to the wetlands next week. We have emailed your parents a permission form, but please do remind them to send it back if they haven’t already. Year 7, you will have your testing day for class streaming this Friday. We will begin with English at 9.00 a.m. and then you will have a break before maths in the afternoon. These are the only two subjects which will be streamed this year.’

  There was a murmur of dread amongst all the Year 7 girls. I swallowed hard. Friday was only two days away. I’d been so focused on my newspaper report that I’d barely studied for the tests at all.

  Ms Montgomery gestured for silence then continued. ‘Mr Matthews, the school handyman, is coming tomorrow to do some maintenance. He will be repairing the lock on the shower door in the Year 9 dormitory, fixing some things in Mrs Sinclair’s office and installing an extra set of shelves in the common room. If you see any other things around the dormitories that need attention, please tell me today so I can add them to his list. That is all.’