| Jenna Hapson had been planning this all week. Emily arrived in school a few minutes before Carol. She sat in her usual seat as far away from Jenna Hapson and co as she could, not wanting a confrontation. She heard a few giggles from the crowd, but decided they were just being their usual pathetic selves. Then Carol arrived and it was registration. The first lesson that day was French; in which a class of 32 was crammed into a room where 28 was a squeeze. Carol and Emily sat together as usual with their good friend Collette just in front of them. To their surprise and great discomfort, Jenna Hapson and one of her nameless faceless followers sat right behind them. For no apparent reason Jenna stood up and walked to the front of the room, absentmindedly knocking Carol's pencil case to the floor. "Well excuse us!" called Emily to the back of the trendy. "Don't worry," said Carol sighing. She leant over to retrieve it, but it was gone. She sat up confused but as Madame Carpentier entered the room she was too shy to make a fuss. Part way through the lesson one of Jenna Hapson's nameless faceless followers asked to go to the toilet. Thirty seconds after she had left the room the fire alarm went off. The class trooped out to the playground with Madame at the lead. While waiting to be let back in, Carol noticed a group of Jenna's followers sneak out from the bushes at the side of the playground. They instantly joined the rest of the gang, and they all giggled in unison. The Head gave a speech on showing your friends your brave enough to stand up for your crimes, not just commit them, and then allowed everyone back into the school. The lesson was long and dull and grammar related. Everybody was pleased when it was over. Carol was very fed up because no one had yet returned her pencil case. Emily picked up her bag and brought it to her lap. She recognized Carol's pencil case immediately. She sighed at the stupidity of the idiots who had thought that funny, and picked it up to return to her friend. She realized that the outside of the pencil case was lined with chewing gum, and was stuck down to her bag. It was disgusting and she was suddenly very very angry and felt very sick. "You stupid Bitch!" she shouted at the smirking Jenna Hapson, and grabbed her stuff and stormed out, followed by Carol and Collette. They stopped in the toilets where they tried to wash away some of the gum, and Carol generally told everyone not to stress. "They're just a load of stupid girls," said the level headed Collette, "You're above them" "That's what everyone says," snapped Emily. "Sorry," said Collette. "No, it was just me being annoying. I�m sorry" Collette gave her a hug to show there were no hard feelings. After a second Carol joined in. Nothing needed to be said; they all knew what each other were thinking. "Look," said Collette "I�m gonna explain to Madame Carpentier what just happened. She's probably really confused." "OK" said Carol. They watched her go, all their thoughts flying through their heads in a random order. Only one stayed. "He's such a sadist!" said Carol. "Yeah he could have taken us away before all that happened," said Emily. They both laughed shyly. "I know," said Carol, "It's half term soon, let's book a holiday." Emily laughed loudly. "No, you can get really cheep ones last minute." "Yeah but you never know where you're gonna end up." "So? Take a chance. I've got something like �300 spare in savings. We could find somewhere for that." "OK" said Em, after a pause "but I can't go above �150." "�200?" "Ok but I wont have any spending money!" To the girls surprise they shortly found themselves on an aeroplane to Cyprus. They were gonna be staying in a four star hotel, but they had to leave the day after they bought the tickets. They were amazed at the hotel - it was beautiful, and the staff were so helpful, though they soon became far less helpful when they realised that the girls had no money to tip. Dinner was not included in the price, so the girls tended to eat at cheaper places, but saved for dinner at the hotel's impressive on the middle day of the holiday. The waiter sat them at a bit of a crummy table, the news of the two broke English girls having spread quickly, and the girls looked around at all the rich people eating their dinner. They noticed a rather bizarre man sitting at an empty table, which should have been big enough for more than ten people. They recognised him instantly but couldn't quite believe their eyes. Eventually Carol whispered "Em, Em, Is that Mike Garson?!" "I'm not sure," she answered, "but there's only one way to find out!" She stood up leaving Carol to look around embarrassed and bewildered as she watched her friend approach her idol's famous pianist. Then she followed her. "Excuse me, are you Mike Garson?" "Who wants to know?" came the answer. "Two of his biggest fans!" Em shot back, trying to look lovable. "Well yes I am," he answered. "Wow," said Carol. "Er, could we have your autograph? We think you're the best pianist in the world." Mike Garson appeared sufficiently flattered by this and obliged. Em and Carol were about to leave completely thrilled when he said, "You don't fancy coming to a party tonight do you? I mean we're running a bit short on women at the mo. David doesn�t have as many groupies as he used to." He laughed. "David Bowie's gonna be there?" "Yeah. He's paying for it." "Are you being serious?" asked Carol, thinking it to good to be true. "Yep. It's in here later tonight. Then it will probably work its way upstairs." He laughed again. "We'll be there." They forgot about dinner and made a hasty retreat to their rooms. Carol and Emily immediately got to work on making themselves look beautiful. Just before they were about to leave, Em decided to ring Collette to tell her the great news. After a few rings Collette answered. Emily said "Hi," and then the phone went dead. "Hello," she said. "Beeep" the phone replied. "That's strange," said Emily, looking at Carol, when suddenly a crash of thunder made them both jump. They giggled at this silly reaction, but suddenly broke off when they heard a crashing at the window. They looked out and saw an owl seemingly trying to get in. There was a knock at the door, which made them both turn. Then the window flew open and the girls screamed and froze. A tall figure appeared at the window, and they both screamed again. They ran for the door and opened it and ran through to where the hall should have been. |