On the way to assembly, it dawned on me what Ella was up to.
It was SO obvious. She couldn’t bear that Grace and Olly picked me over her last term, so now she was jumping on the Nancy Rose bandwagon, trying to make all my friends think I’m a terrible person and turn them against me!
It made perfect sense. She had been wanting to get back at me ever since our falling out last term and Nancy Rose had given her the perfect opportunity.
‘Think about it, Grace,’ I said under my breath as we made our way to assembly, the boys walking ahead of us. ‘Why else would she tell Cal that he was a nice guy?’
‘It was a bit strange,’ Grace agreed. ‘The last time she spoke to Cal it was to tell him that his hair reminded her of an erratically blow-dried poodle.’
‘She is out to get me and you HAVE to be on your guard to make sure that she doesn’t turn you against me with her snide remarks. It’s all part of her cunning plan.’
Grace laughed. ‘Don’t be silly, Flick! You know what Ella’s like, she just says stupid things. We know to ignore her. But I wouldn’t worry, I don’t think she’s concocted some genius plan to make all your friends dislike you.’
‘You don’t know Ella like I do,’ I huffed. ‘She can hold a grudge. Did I ever tell you about the time I drank her coconut water?’
‘Um, no?’
‘Boy, was that a drama.’ I sighed, recalling the incident. ‘I thought she wouldn’t mind if I drank her coconut water, but it turned out it wasn’t just any coconut water, it was special coconut water that her mum had had imported for her, and that was the last carton. To this day, I wish I had never touched it.’
Grace blinked at me. ‘What happened?’
‘She was so angry that she uninvited me from a sleepover at her house.’
‘She uninvited you from a sleepover because you drank her coconut water ?’ Grace looked stunned. ‘You’re joking, right?’
‘Sadly not,’ I said, as we took our seats in the main hall. ‘I had to ask Matthew if he could work his head concierge magic and track some down for me.’
‘And did he?’
‘You know his motto, Grace.’ I smiled. ‘Anything is possible at Hotel Royale. He managed to get a whole crate sent in. After I showed up at school with that for her, she bought me a new friendship bracelet.’
‘Wow.’ Grace nodded, looking impressed. ‘All that because of some coconut water.’
‘I’m telling you, Grace,’ I whispered, spotting Ella a few rows ahead chatting to some girls in the year above, ‘this morning was probably just the beginning. She’s probably talking about me right now to those girls. Probably telling them that I’m the worst person in the world and not to go anywhere near me.’
Grace and I both leaned forwards to try and listen in to her conversation.
‘I think,’ Grace began thoughtfully, ‘she’s actually talking about perfume.’
‘Of course! Don’t you get it?’ I hissed, shaking my head at Ella’s back. ‘Perfume is floral! Floral, like roses ! Like Nancy ROSE! She’s tapping into everybody’s subconscious, laying the groundwork so that everyone is thinking about it all the time!’
Grace gave me a strange look and opened her mouth to speak, but then the headmistress, Mrs Walker, arrived and the room descended into hush.
Mrs Walker began reading out the various notices but I couldn’t listen; I was too distracted by the back of Ella’s head. I kept thinking about what she’d said to Cal before assembly and every time I thought about it, I felt a new wave of anger.
She had always been jealous of me, even while we were friends. I remembered how pleased she was when she came for lunch at the hotel with her mum. She caught me serving guests their food because Timothy, one of our best waiters, was teaching me how everything in the dining room works. She had been so quick to spread rumours about me. And even now, when we hadn’t spoken for weeks, she was straight in there, jumping for joy at my public humiliation. Had she ever been my friend at all? Or had she always been lying in wait, secretly hoping that I would screw up? Ugh, I felt so betrayed!
Ella is SO Edmund with the Turkish delight.
I was so engrossed in Ella’s backstabbing that I didn’t hear Mrs Walker call out Cal’s name.
‘What’s Cal doing?’ I whispered to Grace as he stood up and went to the front of the hall.
‘You’ll see,’ she said with a smile.
Cal cleared his throat and he shuffled his feet nervously as the entire school waited for him to speak.
‘I would like to announce that we are launching a school newspaper, which will report on school news and events, as well as including interesting general features and competitions. Uh . . . we will be holding our first meeting after school today for anyone who would like to join the editorial team, and the first issue will be published at the end of term. Yeah. Thanks.’
He scuffled hurriedly back to his seat and Mrs Walker thanked him, emphasising that the newspaper would be an excellent opportunity for budding journalists and would look good on university and job applications.
‘Why didn’t he tell me?’ I asked Grace who gave him a thumbs up when he caught her eye.
‘You had a lot on your mind,’ she explained before adding proudly, ‘I’m going to be an investigative reporter.’
‘I thought you wanted to be a vet when you were older?’ I whispered in confusion.
‘It’s good to have a range of activities and interests on your applications. Veterinary courses are competitive; I have to stand out. It’s not all about grades.’
I sat back in my seat as Mrs Walker read out the rest of the notices, before dismissing everyone for the first lesson of the day. I didn’t get the chance to ask Cal about the whole newspaper thing, so I had to wait until lunchtime when we were sitting in our now-usual corner of the canteen.
Every room I’d walked into since the start of the day had descended into ripples of whispers, so I wasn’t exactly surprised that all the students in the canteen looked up as I came in and then watched me sit down.
‘Do they all seriously believe that I tackled Nancy Rose to the ground over a handbag?’ I sighed, glancing nervously around me.
‘I think it’s a good thing,’ Grace said cheerily.
‘How is it a good thing?’ I asked, baffled.
‘No one will mess with you now. I think most people are genuinely impressed that you took someone down.’
‘I did not take someone down,’ I groaned, lowering my fork and burying my head in my hands. ‘She tried to take the handbag from me.’
‘Technically,
