Term-Time Trouble (8 page)

c

Chapter Eight

Mariella's face flushed an angry red. ‘Get away from
me
? But I'm your best friend!'

‘Well, you've a funny idea of friendship, if you ask me,' said Jax mildly. ‘You're always perfectly horrid to her.'

‘I am not!' insisted Mariella. ‘We've been best friends for terms and terms – haven't we, Lola?' She took a menacing step forward. Lola seemed to grow smaller where she stood.

‘Stop it, Mariella,' said Pix. ‘Let's hear what Lola has to say.'

Lola shot a frightened glance at Mariella. Bimi rubbed her arm. ‘It's all right,' she soothed. ‘You can tell us.'

In short, tearful bursts, the story came out. Ever since Mariella had forced Lola to tell her the secret of fairy dust two terms ago, Lola had had misgivings about their friendship. These had become much worse the previous term, when Mariella made her take part in a cruel trick against Twink.

‘I – I didn't want to,' sobbed Lola. ‘But Mariella told me it was only a joke. Then when I found out it
wasn't
a joke, she threatened me. She told me I could never tell anyone, or –'

‘That's a lie!' burst out Mariella, her wings shaking. ‘I never
forced you to do anything! Why, you should be grateful I even let you be friends with me!'

‘Be quiet, Mariella,' said Sooze in a deadly calm voice. ‘We're listening to Lola now. Go on, Lola.'

Lola wiped her eyes, struggling to speak. ‘I tried to break things off with Mariella last term, but she wouldn't let me. She told me that I
had
to be her friend, or – or she'd turn everyone against me.' She hung her head.

Oh, poor Lola!
thought Twink, her wings clammy with horror. And she herself had overheard a similar argument between them! Why hadn't she
done
anything? Shame swept over Twink as she realised the truth: she hadn't bothered because Lola was the sort of fairy you didn't really think twice about. It was like she was hardly there.

Lola took a deep breath and continued. ‘I've been trying to get my mum to send me to another school for ages, but she won't do it. Then when all the pranks happened, that gave me the idea: if she thought it was
dangerous
for me to be here – if someone had it in for me – then maybe she'd let me leave.'

The branch was utterly silent. Mariella stood apart from the others, scowling. But beneath her furious expression, Twink thought she saw something else – something frightened and uncertain.

Lola swallowed hard.

‘So I – I started doing all those awful pranks. I always damaged my own things worse than anyone else's, but no one really seemed to notice. So then I just destroyed my own. I thought if I kept on, then someone would tell Miss Shimmery what was happening, and then maybe she'd write to my mum and she'd come and take me away . . .'

Lola's mouth trembled. Bimi quickly put her arm around her shoulders, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

Pix's red eyebrows drew together in bewilderment. ‘But Lola, how did you do it? You were always in the Common Branch with the rest of us!'

‘No, I wasn't,' said Lola dismally. ‘I slipped out when no one was looking. I knew no one would see that I had gone – no one ever notices me.'

The Peony Branch fairies shared a guilty glance. Lola was right, thought Twink sadly. None of them had noticed her.

‘What about your self-portrait?' asked Jax. ‘Why did you tear it up?'

Lola winced. ‘Because it – it showed me standing up to Mariella. Like I ever really could! I
hated
it! And besides, I knew Mariella would be looking for it, and that she'd be furious if she ever saw it – so I sneaked up here and tore it to shreds during study time.'

She wiped her eyes. ‘But then when I came back to the branch and saw it all in bits like that, I started crying, and I just couldn't stop . . .' Lola trailed off, and swallowed hard. ‘But Jax was so nice! She really was. She sat with me, and – and tried to help.'

Jax's cheeks turned pink with embarrassment. ‘I wasn't
nice
,'
she protested gruffly. ‘I'm never nice!'

Mariella looked sick. ‘Lola, you make out like – like I'm some sort of monster! I thought we were friends. I –' She broke off suddenly and turned away, her wings drooping.

There was an awkward silence. Lola bit her lip, clearly close to tears again.

Twink's own eyes felt hot and prickly. She cleared her throat. ‘Lola, you're right. We – we haven't really paid much attention to you. But we all want to help you now, we really do! What can we do?'

The other fairies murmured assent, drawing forward.

‘I – I don't know,' said Lola. ‘I just wish I could start again, somewhere where no one knows me. But my mother won't let me change schools. And I
can't
stay here, I just can't!' She shot a frightened glance at Mariella.

‘
She
won't bother you again,' said Sooze grimly. ‘You can count on that!'

Lola struggled to get the words out. ‘Yes, but – but don't you see? It would be awful anyway, because now all of you know! Even if you pretended it didn't matter, you'd always be thinking of it – how Mariella treated me, and how I was too weak to stand up to her. I need to go somewhere new, where I can be someone different!'

The fairies exchanged troubled glances. As difficult as it was to admit, Twink knew that Lola had a point. But how could she go somewhere new when her mother wouldn't let her change schools?

‘What if you changed branches?' asked Jax suddenly. ‘Then you'd get your fresh start, and your mother would still be happy because you were at Glitterwings.'

Lola face creased anxiously. ‘But everyone in our year knows that I'm Mariella's friend. They don't know any of
this
, but . . . but what if they were all whispering about me? I wouldn't make any friends!'

‘Well, what if I came with you?' said Jax. ‘
I'll
be your friend. And if anyone has anything to say about you, they can say it to me first!'

Lola gaped at the spiky-haired fairy. ‘Really?' she whispered. ‘You'd really do that for me?'

‘Why not?' grinned Jax, flapping her wings. ‘I had just about decided to stay at this miserable school anyway.'

A relieved smile burst across Lola's face. ‘Oh, that would be wonderful!' she breathed.

Mariella turned slowly around again, her eyes bright with tears. ‘Lola, I didn't know you felt this way,' she said stiffly. ‘And of course if you
want
to go to a different branch, then I won't stop you! But – but – well, I'm sorry,' she finished awkwardly. ‘I suppose – I suppose I wasn't always very nice to you.'

.

.

Lola stood very still, her eyes wide. Mariella's cheeks blazed as she looked at the others. ‘In fact, I suppose I'm not very nice at all sometimes,' she said in a low voice. ‘So . . . I'd like to say sorry to all of you.'

There was a stunned silence. Twink and Bimi exchanged a look. Mariella, apologising! And for once, it sounded like she actually meant it.

Sooze flitted forward and touched Mariella's arm. ‘Well done, Mosquito Nose,' she said softly. ‘I think that's the most sensible thing I've ever heard you say!'

Twink cleared her throat. ‘Listen, everyone, I think we should go to bed now,' she said. ‘I'll go and talk to Miss Shimmery tomorrow, Lola, and see what she says about you and Jax moving branches – that is, if you're sure it's what you want.'

Lola hesitated, glancing at Mariella. ‘Yes, please,' she said. ‘But Mariella . . . thank you for apologising.'

Miss Shimmery sat behind her mushroom desk with her wings folded behind her back, listening carefully. She made no comment as Twink spoke, but her blue eyes looked wise and gentle. She didn't even seem cross when Twink told her about the fairy dust trial.

‘You've had quite a time, haven't you?' she said when Twink had finally finished.

Twink nodded. ‘It was really awful sometimes – especially when we didn't know who was playing all the pranks. And – and oh, Miss Shimmery, we were all so completely daft not to notice how unhappy Lola was!' she burst out. ‘I wish that we had done something to help her.'

‘Poor Lola,' said Miss Shimmery, shaking her white head. ‘I, too, had no idea that she was so unhappy.' She sighed. ‘Never mind, Twink. Perhaps we've both learned something, and can be more observant in future. I'm much more to blame than you are – I never imagined that something so serious might occur when I told you to handle matters on your own. I should have known better, after two hundred years of running a school for young fairies! But I think Lola will feel much happier soon.'

‘Then she and Jax can move to a new branch?' asked Twink eagerly.

Miss Shimmery nodded. ‘Yes, of course. And I'm delighted that Jax has decided to stay. She and Lola may turn out to be very good for each other!'

Twink glowed happily – and then she remembered the dejected slump of Mariella's wings the night before.

‘What will happen to Mariella?' she asked.

Miss Shimmery raised a white eyebrow. ‘Do you have a change of residence in mind for her, as well?'

‘Oh, no!' cried Twink. ‘It's just – well, I know she's not very nice, but – but I think maybe she's learned her lesson this time. She thought she and Lola were friends – I don't think she really knew what a horrible bully she was being.'

Miss Shimmery opened and shut her rainbow wings. ‘You may be right, Twink,' she said finally. ‘But Mariella shall certainly be asked to think about what she's done, and how she can be a better fairy as a result.'

She smiled suddenly. ‘And I might as well tell you, even if you
did
wish for Mariella to move branches, I would most likely say no. In her own way, Mariella is as weak a character as Lola. There are some fine fairies in Peony Branch – you set an excellent example to her, without even realising you're doing so.'

Twink stifled a giggle at the thought of Sooze setting anyone a good example! But perhaps she did help Mariella after all, by not putting up with any of the pointy-faced fairy's nonsense.

‘One more thing, Twink.' Miss Shimmery's eyes were as warm as the sunshine that streamed through her window. ‘You've done an excellent job as Branch Leader. I had every expectation that you would.'

Reddening from the praise, Twink blurted out the question that had bothered her from the start. ‘But why did you pick
me
to do it? Why not Pix or Sooze? I could never work it out!'

Miss Shimmery chuckled. ‘Couldn't you? Think about all that has happened, my dear.'

Twink thought hard, shifting on her mushroom seat – and then all at once the answer came to her. ‘It's because I was so much under Sooze's thumb, wasn't it?' she said slowly. ‘I didn't even know I was, but by being Branch Leader, I had to stand up to her, and – and be my own fairy a bit more.'

Miss Shimmery inclined her head in agreement. ‘And I think you've learned a few things about yourself in the process, haven't you?'

‘Yes, I have,' said Twink in wonder. She knew now that she could take charge if she had to, and make decisions that other fairies would respect. She'd never be swayed by Sooze again – not unless it was something that she really wanted to do!

Miss Shimmery didn't ask her to explain, but looked as if she understood all of this without Twink saying a word. ‘I'm glad. You may go now, my dear. Thank you again for coming to me.'

Later that afternoon, Twink and Bimi flew through the bright summer sunshine, enjoying the tickle of wildflowers against their wings as they skimmed low across the grass. ‘Oh, it's all worked out so well!' Bimi turned a joyful flip in the air. ‘You must be so pleased, Twink.'