AH1) Welcome to Arcturus High - Ch5 - Finding the Way

(Josie Sayz: I did it. This is the last, edited, chapter of 'Welcome to Arcturus High', the first story in the 'Arcturus High Chronicles'. Editing this story has been a long time in the making. One new scene has been added, which is crucial to the sixth story. The sixth story would not work without the new scene that I have added. This has been so hard to bring myself to get this finished, but I am very glad, now that it is done.

If you have found this page without reading chapters one, two, three or four, first, you can find it here:
Chapter One: https://josiesayz.blogspot.com/2024/08/ah1-welcome-to-arcturus-high-ch1.html.
Chapter Two: https://josiesayz.blogspot.com/2024/08/ah1-welcome-to-arcturus-high-ch2.html
Chapter Three: https://josiesayz.blogspot.com/2024/08/ah1-welcome-to-arcturus-high-ch3.html
Chapter Four: https://josiesayz.blogspot.com/2024/08/ah1-welcome-to-arcturus-high-ch4.html.)

 

Welcome to Arcturus High

Finding the Way

Caitlyn’s weekend passed by far faster than she had hoped. Following her walk home with Jay, on Friday, she decided against visiting his house over the weekend, to speak to his father about future career options. There was no one in her family that she could discuss this with either, leaving the sinking feeling that she was destined to failure rise into the centre of her chest and race around in her thoughts.

Then there was the whole magic club. ‘It’s the only thing that has felt right about school, since I started,’ Caitlyn thought, as she let out a frustrated sigh. ‘Why does Jay think that Mr Penn’s magic club is bad? Come to think of it, Mrs Eleanor didn’t seem to like Mr Penn’s club either… and Mr Koh didn’t mention it in the induction assembly.’ Caitlyn scratched the back of her neck and lines deepened her brow, as she remained deep in thought. ‘Come to think of it, why does Mr Penn’s magic club seem like a secret?’ Caitlyn forced a swallow. ‘Bert said something to do with Frandadis fruits being dangerous, I think. Is that enough for most people to turn their nose up at the club, so much so that, it’s treated like some big secret or something?’ Caitlyn wondered. ‘But everyone’s happy to watch Mr Penn’s club put on a performance, just like the music club, at the end of term… that seems contradictory. Oh, why is secondary school so complicated?’ she huffed.

Amongst the chaos of her thoughts, Caitlyn did manage to complete her science homework and had begun reading the book that she has found, in the library, for her English homework, ‘The Iron Face Crusade’. Curled up on her bed, leaning towards the amber glow from her bedside lamp, Caitlyn followed the adventure of Detective Dean Franklin, as he slipped on his mask and snuck through the shadows, following close behind a group of smugglers, having overheard their bank heist plot, on the train. ‘I wonder if I can play along, and see if I can figure out who the smugglers are, as Detective Franklin pieces it together?’ Caitlyn wondered, with excitement, as she stayed up past her bedtime to continue reading. ‘It is just like ‘Scooby-Doo’,’ she giggled to herself. ‘At least I have found one thing that is acceptable to like about school… my reading homework, for English.’

 

*

Break time arrived on Monday morning. Folding her arms tight at her chest, Caitlyn’s mind began to wander. Flickers, from Friday, flashed to the front of her mind. Hannah’s rubber duck quacking. A deck of playing cards. A collection of new faces, staring back at her. The chopping board full of odd and unusual coloured fruits. Beth’s daggered glare. Jay’s disapproval. His warning of the magic club and the scary shudder she felt from her best friend. Her stomach swirled. ‘I really enjoyed the magic club,’ Caitlyn reminded herself. ‘And for once, I felt comfortable around Mr Penn.’ The churning of her intestines caused Caitlyn to wince. ‘But it’s not worth losing Jay over it,’ she decided, ‘even if it’s the only thing that’s felt right about this school.’ A grumbled murmur escaped her. ‘But Jay…’ she worried with a melancholy sigh.

A hand clasped on Caitlyn’s shoulder. She shuddered out of her thoughts. “You okay?” Emily asked, at her side. Caitlyn’s organs swirled to the depths of her stomach. “You zoned out for a minute,” Emily told her. “You had us all worried.”

“Sorry,” muttered Caitlyn, looking towards her friends, as they neared the canteen. “I’m miles away,” she added, with a nervous laugh.

“We can tell,” Aisha chuckled.

“You can tell me, if something’s wrong,” Darcia told her.

“Me too,” added Samantha, as Emily hauled open the canteen doors.

“I’m fine, really,” Caitlyn insisted. “Just daydreaming, that’s all.”

Noise blared through Caitlyn’s eardrums. She squinted her eyes, as her mind adjusted to the sharp increase in volume. Glancing around the canteen, hundreds of bodies bumbled about. “I think we’re on break with year eight today,” Emily told them, as they approached an empty table. Darcia dropped into a seat and Caitlyn slid into the chair opposite. As Samantha perched in the seat next to Darcia, Aisha crashed into Caitlyn’s side and squeezed up beside her, in between the two seats, as Emily sat on the end.

“Can’t we use that table too?” asked Aisha, as the four-seater table adjoining theirs was empty.

“It’s kinda table hogging,” Emily warned her.

“So?” sulked Aisha. “We can’t do this every break and lunch for five years.” Caitlyn’s brow puckered and she twiddled with the stalk of her apple, as she looked from Aisha squished between herself and Emily, to Darcia and Samantha.

“We’ll take turns sitting in the middle,” Darcia announced, tugging at the peel of her banana, as a group of year eight boys slid into the table next to them.

Flickering her sight to the three boys, who sat at the adjoining table, Caitlyn felt a warm flutter tingle in her cheeks, as she recognised them. The red headed boy, that sat next to Darcia, was whom she had sat next to in the magic club, in the library, after school, on Friday. Beside him, sat a boy with a dark brown sweeping fringe and next to Caitlyn sat the blond boy, whom Mr Penn had called one of his favourites.

“Hey Caitlyn,” beamed the red headed boy, as he waved at her.

“Hi,” Caitlyn giggled at him, as she waved back. She flickered her sight from Pete, to the boy who sat beside him, before flickering a glance to the blond boy, who sat beside her. As the blond’s eyes met hers, he smiled at her. Feeling her cheeks tingle, Caitlyn dropped her sight down to the apple in her hands.

“I’m Pete, do you remember me?” the red head introduced himself. “We were at Naeniam Exponentia, in the library, on Friday?”

“Yeah,” replied Caitlyn with a nod, looking up at him.

“I went to your primary school too, d’you remember?” he asked her.

“Yeah,” replied Caitlyn, with another nod.

“Good,” sighed Pete with relief, relaxing his shoulders. “If you said no, that woulda been embarrassing,” he laughed. Curling a hand towards her mouth, Caitlyn giggled at him. “These are my friends. This is Oscar,” he said, holding a hand towards the brunet on his right.

“Hey,” nodded Oscar, waving a couple of fingers in Caitlyn’s direction.

“Hi,” Caitlyn mumbled. Her cheeks began to burn, as the boys singled her out, ignoring her friends, sat right beside her.

“And this is Fabian,” Pete told her, pointing to the blond boy opposite him, on Caitlyn’s left.

“Hi,” beamed Fabian.

“Nice to meet you,” Caitlyn replied, feeling her blush brighten even more.

Aisha jabbed her elbow into Caitlyn’s side. “Ouch,” Caitlyn flinched. Snapping her head around towards Aisha, Caitlyn rubbed a hand to her side. “What was that for?” she gasped.

“Aren’t you going to introduce us to your friends?” Aisha asked.

“Of course,” Caitlyn told her, with a nervous laugh. “This is Darcia, Samantha, Emily and Aisha,” Caitlyn told the boys, as she pointed around the table, in a clockwise direction, to each of her friends in turn. “Pete, you might remember Darcia; she went to our primary school.”

“Yeah!” exclaimed Pete, as he grinned at Darcia. “I remember you.” He held up his hand in front of Darcia, to give her a high-five. Darcia’s cheeks turned red, as she placed a hesitant tap on the boy’s hand.

“Caitlyn,” Oscar began, ignoring the rest of the girls. “We wanted to ask you if you’ve thought about joining NE.” Caitlyn’s stomach began to swirl again. Fiddling with the stem of her apple, Caitlyn plonked the fruit down on the table. “Bert’ll be hurt if you don’t,” Oscar added, as Caitlyn forced a smile at him.

Leaning towards Caitlyn, Fabian told her, “NE’s short for Naeniam Exponentia. Saves you trying to pronounce it.” Turning to face him, Caitlyn let out a nervous giggle. As Fabian chuckled alongside her, Caitlyn felt her anxiety flutter away. Warmth prickled into her cheeks, as her glowing smile, from Friday, returned. Reaching out for her apple, Caitlyn took a small bite.

“How d’you guys know Caitlyn?” Aisha blurted out, in a demanding tone. Scrunching the wrapper up, from her of cereal bar, Aisha crunched it in her hands, making as loud of a rustle as possible. All eyes turned towards her.

“Aisha,” Caitlyn sigh, as her shoulders deflated.

“It’s okay,” Pete cheered. “We met in the library, after school, on Friday.”

“Oh,” muttered Aisha and Darcia in unison.

“You never said,” Darcia whined. Lowering her head, Caitlyn shrugged.

“You never asked,” muttered Caitlyn, taking another bite of her apple.

As more questions bubbled between her friends, Caitlyn sank in her seat. The voices, and people became a blur, as her vision fuzzed. Focusing on the deepest rose-coloured spot on her apple, Caitlyn stroked her thumb across its waxy surface. “Are you okay?” she heard Fabian whisper, at her side. Fluttering out of her trance, Caitlyn flickered her sight towards him and nodded.

“You know, Caitlyn,” announced Pete, noticing her attention to his group of friends had returned. “NE’s a lot of fun.”

“You’re Mr Penn’s first new recruit,” Oscar told her. “And he doesn’t let just anyone in.”

“Yeah, he’s taken a real liking t’ you,” Pete added.

“Bert has too,” said Oscar. Folding his arms, Fabian grumbled a hum.

The spiralling returned to Caitlyn’s stomach. ‘The magic club was so much fun,’ Caitlyn reminded herself. Biting on her bottom lip, she flickered a glance from Pete, to Oscar, then Fabian and back to Pete. “I don’t know,” she mumbled, with a sigh. “I did enjoy myself,” she told them. “But…” her voice trailed, as she recalled Jay’s reaction to her talking about Mr Penn’s club. ‘He didn’t even seem to care, when I told him I wouldn’t join. It was like he already hated me.’ Caitlyn hunched her back. Her heart panged.

“But?” she heard Pete repeat.

“A… a friend didn’t want me to,” she told them, flickering her sight from Pete, back to her apple. Her stomach churned.

“Oh,” muttered Pete. His shoulders sank, as he flopped back in his seat. “That’s a bummer.”

“Friends come ‘n’ go,” sang Oscar, with a shrug. “You enjoyed yourself, didn’t ya?” he asked. Looking up at him, Caitlyn nodded. “A real friend wouldn’t mind what club you joined, so longs as you’re not doing’ anything wrong and it makes you happy… that’s all that matters, right?”

‘He makes sense,’ Caitlyn realised. ‘All I want is for Jay to be happy… so why can’t I do something that makes me happy too? I’m not doing anything wrong or bad.’ Listening to Oscar’s reasoning, Caitlyn found her smile returning. ‘It’s only card tricks… and maybe a few stage illusions.’ As the swirling in her stomach settled once more, Caitlyn took another small bite of her apple.

With Caitlyn smiling again, Pete told her, “We meet tomorrow, in the second music practice room.”

“That’s the old building at the back, just before the technology block,” Fabian explained, in a whisper, as he leant towards her. Caitlyn turned to him and nodded. “It’s the only part of the school with a second floor,” he added, hoping to reduce her chances of getting lost.

“Turn up and see what you think,” said Pete, with a slight shrug. “If you change your mind afterwards, at least you’ve given it a go.” Pinching her lips in, Caitlyn nodded.

“It’ll be great if you joined us,” added Oscar.

“And we’ll try to stop Beth from singling you out,” Fabian told her, running a hand across the back of his neck. “I can’t make any promises though,” he muttered, as he prodded the right corner of his mouth into his cheek.

“That’s okay,” replied Caitlyn. “And… erm, thank you for sticking up for me,” she whispered. Dropping her sight to the table, she felt the tingling in her cheeks return.

“It’s okay,” he breathed.

A rattling thudded in Fabian’s chest. His palms dampened. He forced a swallow, as his throat grew tight. Looking to Caitlyn, the tips of his ears began to burn. He shuffled in his seat. Pressing his fist to his mouth, Fabian cleared his throat. “You, erm, you did well, for your first try at a card trick,” Fabian announced, more to the group, than to Caitlyn. “Didn’t she, guys?”

“Yeah,” Pete and Oscar agreed.

“When it was my first time doing a card trick, in front of everyone,” Pete began, as he leant forwards. “I dropped the deck, lost the card I was supposed to show, somehow my belt broke at the same time and my trousers nearly fell down,” Pete explained, with a snigger. Shaking his head, as he laughed at himself, Pete’s face turned red. Caitlyn found herself giggling along with him, as did her friends. “Compared t’ me, you did great,” he assured her.

“And that was after a couple of months training from Mr Penn,” Oscar pointed out.

“What I’m trying t’ say,” Pete went on. “Is… I don’t know about everyone, but when we first started, we knew nothing. Magic just sounded fun. Then Mr Penn showed us the Frandadis fruits and things became even more interesting… but you already have an interest in some o’ the basics.”

“It’s not a proper card trick,” declared Caitlyn, recoiling her hands to her chest. “I don’t know how to do it without looking at the next card.” Her brow puckered. “It kinda feels like cheating,” she muttered.

“But Mr Penn knew what you were doing,” Pete told her. “That’s why he did that huge, fake sneeze. You were doing something that an actual magician knew you were going t’ do.”

“You did better than Pete after he’s had Mr Penn’s training, is basically what he’s trying to say,” Fabian whispered to Caitlyn, with a breathy chuckle, as he leant towards her.

Flickering a glance at his watch, Pete shuffled himself around in his seat, to face Caitlyn more. “If you wanna improve your card tricks, like us, you don’t wanna miss out on Mr Penn’s lessons. And if we’re lucky,” Pete added. “We might even get to saw Beth in half.”

“And even you don’t wanna miss that,” exclaimed Oscar.

“True,” Caitlyn giggled. Seeing the excitement on Pete’s face, Caitlyn wondered, ‘Maybe Mr Penn might use the Frandadis fruits to actually saw her in half?’ The image in her mind of Beth’s agonising scream, at being sawn in half, once she realised that her legs and torso had actually been separated, made Caitlyn laugh out loud to herself.

“Rumour has it, Mr Penn and his magician partner once performed at, the famous, Magic Castle,” Oscar told the group.

“No way?!” gasped Caitlyn as her eyes shot wide. “The Magic Castle?” Oscar smirked.

“You’ve heard of the Magic Castle?” Pete asked.

“Of course,” Caitlyn replied.

“She knows more than she lets on,” grinned Oscar.

“What’s the Magic Castle?” asked Aisha.

“It’s a place where world famous magicians get to perform,” Caitlyn explained, as she turned towards her friends. “You know you’ve made it, as a magician, once they ask you to put on a show there.”

“I’ve heard Mr Penn say he and his partner used to do full stage illusions together too, for huge crowds – not just the little sleight of hand stuff he’s shown us so far,” Pete told Caitlyn. “I tried asking him about it once, but he went silent on me.” Pete frowned, with a shrug.

“Maybe that was a clue,” replied Caitlyn, with a gleaming grin. “Maybe his partner was a mime or something,” she suggested. As Fabian beamed at her, Caitlyn’s cheeks turned a florescent fuchsia. She shot her eyes back to the table, embarrassed by her statement.

“You know, I never thought of it like that,” Pete said, cupping a hand to his chin, with a hum.

“Well, I think Mr Penn’s covering up a big, dark secret from his past,” Oscar declared.

“Nonsense,” scoffed Pete. “The man’s a teddy bear. The only thing he’s guilty of is scaring everyone to death when he shouts.” Caitlyn found herself trembling, as she hugged her hands to her biceps, imagining Mr Penn’s tremendous roar.

As the end of break time for year seven drew near, Caitlyn and her friends clambered out of the canteen table. “Bye Caitlyn!” Oscar projected, as he waved at her, swinging his arm high above his head. Turning back to face the boys, Caitlyn’s cheeks turned an identical glowing hue to the apple she had consumed.

“See you tomorrow!” Pete called as he, too, began waving. “And it was nice meeting your friends,” he added. Shaking his head, Fabian chuckled at his friends. He gave Caitlyn a soft smile. Caitlyn whimpered, as her face grew redder.

Turning away from the year eight boys, Caitlyn raced out of the canteen. “Well, that was embarrassing,” she muttered, pressing her palms into her face.

“Don’t worry,” chuckled Samantha, as she placed a hand on Caitlyn’s left shoulder. “I think they were funny.”

“Yeah, until they made the entire canteen stare at me,” she murmured. Pressing the backs of her hands into her cheeks, Caitlyn was desperate to hide her rosy face.

“It’s fine,” Samantha reassured her.

“Sam’s right,” said Darcia, as she appeared on Caitlyn’s right. “The boys seem like fun!”

“What did we miss on Friday?” gasped Aisha, as the girls headed down the corridor, returning to their geography classrooms.

“Since when did you become friends with all the cute boys?” asked Emily. Shrugging at her friends, Caitlyn’s brow puckered.

“What club did you join?” came the next question, from Samantha.

“And why didn’t you tell me?” Darcia demanded.

“Guys?” gasped Caitlyn, as their questions continued. “It’s nothing,” she muttered, hugging her arms at her chest. “I just went to the library to find a book to read for English,” she said, with a shrug. “I didn’t know Mr Penn was teaching card tricks.”

“Card tricks?!” Aisha exclaimed, scrunching up her nose. “Who cares about card tricks?” Aisha stuck her tongue out, as though the words, “Card tricks,” left a nasty taste in her mouth.

“It was fun,” Caitlyn told them. A breathy laugh escaped her, as the memory of Mr Penn making the rubber duck quack fluttered to the front of her mind. Caitlyn prodded a smile into her right cheek, as the girls trudged up the stairs.

Footsteps thudded above. A girl appeared from the top of the staircase and raced towards them. Caitlyn’s stomach churned and her eyes widened, as the girl dashed past them. ‘I think that was Beth,’ Caitlyn realised, as her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. “It wasn’t all fun,” Caitlyn confessed, as she squeezed her arms tighter at her chest. “There was a girl that didn’t seem to like me. She said I had to do a card trick in front of everyone,” Caitlyn told them, as the spiralling in her stomach that she had felt when she was singled out by Beth, on Friday, returned. “Luckily, I knew one,” she muttered. “But apart from her, everyone else seemed nice.”

“I didn’t know you knew card tricks?” said Darcia, as more of a question than a statement.

“One,” Cailyn corrected her. “I know one card trick… kind of.”

As the girls arrived in the humanities corridor, Caitlyn told her friends, “I like figuring out magic tricks. When you see a magician perform, don’t they always amaze you?”

“Some do,” replied Emily, with a shrug, as they arrived outside their classrooms.

“Not the stupid ones, where they pretend to saw their assistant in half and you can always see the wooden legs sticking out the other side of the box,” Aisha scoffed.

Pressing her face up against the window, in the door, of their geography classroom, Darcia looked to see if their class had been let back in yet. There was no teacher in sight. As Darcia turned back to face her friends, Caitlyn told them, “You’re thinking of the really old magic shows. Magicians don’t do things like that anymore,” with a giggle. “Fine,” Caitlyn sighed, as she could see from the glare on Emily and Aisha’s faces that changing their minds was going to be difficult. “What about tricks where you don’t know how it’s done?”

“All magic’s fake,” Aisha huffed. Folding her arms, Aisha scrunched her face, protruding her nose in the air.

“That’s kinda the point,” Caitlyn laughed. “Magicians try to make their tricks and illusions look real, but that’s all they are: illusions,” she explained. Thinking back to her time in the library, on Friday, Caitlyn told herself, ‘Up until Friday, I would have believed that too.’ Memories of the bowl full of rainbow-coloured berries and the chopping board covered with a collection of exotic and strange fruits, poked a grin in the corner of Caitlyn’s mouth. ‘I’m not sure if I should tell them about Frandadis fruits just yet,’ she warned herself. ‘Maybe Aisha would like them though,’ she reasoned. ‘She did say she likes science experiments and Frandadis fruits are kind of that… and they do real magic. Still,’ she decided, as her intestines spiralled into knots. ‘It’s best I don’t say anything. Bert did say a lot of families are against them and Aisha’s dad is super strict. Emily’s dad’s a teacher here too – what if her family disapproves? I can’t lose all of my friends just because I like card tricks.’ Sighing, Caitlyn wandered over to her classroom door, and stared inside at the empty chairs. ‘I think I’d rather be in lesson right now,’ Caitlyn decided, as the churning in her stomach made her legs tremble, ‘than have anyone ask me another question about magic or Mr Penn’s club.’

“I like it when magicians make flowers appear outta nowhere,” Darcia told her, having noticed Caitlyn’s sad sigh.

“I saw some guy on TV, once, float in the air,” added Samantha, nudging Caitlyn. “No one knew how he did it.”

“It’s just a camera trick,” sulked Aisha. “He didn’t really-”

“That’s the point,” Caitlyn sighed, rolling her eyes. “It’s an illusion.”

“Well, I’m happy for you,” Samantha told Caitlyn. “You gotta teach us how to do all the magic stuff you learn.”

“Yeah,” agreed Caitlyn, with a nod. “Well, I can try.”

 

*

 

As Caitlyn returned to geography, the discussion from break, with Pete, Oscar and Fabian raced around in her mind. ‘They make the magic club seem fun,’ Caitlyn beamed, as the warm fuzz she felt on Friday returned to her chest. ‘They seem fun too.’ The movement of tectonic plates, that was being discussed by her class, failed to filter into Caitlyn’s ears. Her mind was too busy worrying about making the right decision. ‘Oscar’s right… Jay wants me to be happy, I know he does. He gave me my bear,’ she told herself. ‘And I do get a super positive feeling when I’m around everyone from the magic club, including Mr Penn.’ A silent sigh escaped her, as she sank in her seat. ‘If it were that obvious, why do I still feel guilty?’ she wondered, as her heart pulsed a twinge.

No matter how hard Caitlyn tried to concentrate in class, a worrying panic washed over her. Sweat trickled down her back. Her heart rattled inside her ribcage. The roof of her mouth dried. Her palms grew clammy. Thoughts spiralled around in her mind. The thought of speaking to anyone made her inner eyes begin to sting and her throat close up.

As Caitlyn's maths group was dismissed, at midday on Tuesday, Caitlyn raced out of her classroom. Oblivious to the bustle of bodies that filtered into the corridor, Caitlyn kept her head low, as she passed by the other maths classrooms.

“Caitlyn, you okay?” called a male voice. Her ears pricked up. Stopping in her tracks, Caitlyn spun around to face the familiar voice. “Caitlyn!” Artie called, as he jogged a few paces to catch up to her. “You okay?” he asked again, as he appeared at her side.

“Yes, thanks,” she replied. The racing in her mind eased up, as she smiled back at him. “Are you?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “You just seemed a little out of it yesterday, in double English and science,” he told her, as they continued to walk out of the maths corridor. “Miraj was even talking to you in German, this morning, but you didn’t seem t’ notice.”

“Really?” gasped Caitlyn, as her face grew red. “Goodness! I’ve just been deep in thought,” she told him. “I hope Miraj didn’t think I was being rude?” she worried, with lines creasing her forehead.

“Nah, it’s cool,” Artie replied, with a shrug. “Is something bothering you?” he asked.

“Kinda,” muttered Caitlyn, as her brows slanted upwards. A sigh escaped her, as her shoulders drooped.

“You can talk to me,” he told her. “That is, you know, if you want.”

“Thanks Artie,” she beamed back. “That’s really sweet.” A puff of air snorted from Artie’s nose, as his cheeks began to glow. He scratched a hand to his head, to scruff up his hair, in hopes of hiding his flushed face. “I’m just kind of having trouble deciding what the right thing to do is…” Caitlyn told him.

“Okay… you need t’ be a little more specific,” he chuckled. Cradling her books tight at her chest, Caitlyn let out a nervous laugh, as they walked along the corridor together.

“Well,” she began as they passed by the main hall. “I went to the library after school on Friday, to start on homework… and there was a club in there and they let me join them. It was fun and I really liked it.”

“I don’t really see the problem,” Artie chuckled, rubbing a hand to the back of his neck. “You don’t know if having fun and doing something you like is a good thing?”

“No,” she sang, with a giggle, shaking her head. “My best friend didn’t really approve,” she muttered. “He seemed to be angry with me and I don’t really know why. Out of respect for him, I didn’t want to join… but now he’s not speaking to me at all, even though I told him, I wouldn’t join. I’m just confused. Do I join, because I enjoyed it?” she asked. “Or do I stay loyal to Jay, even though he’s distanced himself from me?”

“No offence,” Artie muttered. “But this Jay sounds like an idiot.” Caitlyn sniffed, as she hugged herself tighter. “It’s something you enjoy, right? And it makes you happy?” he asked. Caitlyn nodded. “Jeez, if I had friends an’ they didn’t like it that I play drums or that I didn’t wanna join the school football team, I’d tell them t’ get lost. None a that should matter. So longs as I’m happy and they’re happy, friends can have different interests.” The fluttering inside her that Caitlyn experienced on Friday, whilst at Mr Penn’s magic club, returned.

“Thank you, Artie,” Caitlyn squeaked, with a sniff, as they neared their form room. “I really needed to hear that.”

“I didn’t say anything special,” he muttered, shrugging. “So, what day’s the club?” asked Artie.

“Today,” she replied.

“Then go an’ have fun,” he told her. “In fact, I insist. You go an’ then you can tell me all about it, tomorrow, in tutorial. Whether I’m interested in it or not, I’ll listen to you. And if you don’t like it, you don’t have to go again, but if you do go and you enjoyed it, well, you know, stick with it.”

“Thank you,” Caitlyn beamed, bearing her biggest smile, as they stopped their walk as they reached their form room. “I don’t know what it is about you, Artie, but you’re good at making me feel better about myself,” she said in a soft voice, as she turned to face him. Artie’s ears reddened. With glowing cheeks, he flickered his sight to his shoes, before blushing back at Caitlyn.

“Right,” boomed Mr Shaw, opening the door to his classroom. “Inside now, we don’t want you loitering in the corridor.” Entering their form room, Caitlyn and Artie divided into separation, as Caitlyn sat at the back of the room and Artie took his seat in the front corner of the classroom, by the window.

As Caitlyn took her seat, she opened her reading book, to continue Detective Dean Franklin’s adventures. She flickered open the pages to where her bookmark saved the page, and leant back in her chair, using her bookmark as a reading guideline. Rising from his desk, Mr Shaw spluttered a cough. His eyes grew wide, as they locked onto the book that Caitlyn was reading. He took a hesitant step forward. “Miss Flynn,” announced Mr Shaw. He cleared his throat, as Caitlyn looked up. “Might I ask where you found that book?”

“In the library, Sir,” Caitlyn replied.

“The library?” repeated Mr Shaw, as lines creased his brow. “You mean, our library? The school library?” Caitlyn could sense the sound of disbelief in her form tutor’s voice, which caused her shoulder blades to stiffen. Feeling her throat tighten, Caitlyn nodded. “By Jove!” he gasped, taking a couple to steps towards Caitlyn. “I had no idea the school library stocked any SK McCyanth books. It didn’t the last I checked,” Mr Shaw exclaimed, running a hand across the back of his neck. “So,” Mr Shaw went on, as he held a fist to his mouth, to clear his throat again. “You’re into mysteries, then?” he asked, as his tone turned curious.

“Erm… I’m not sure,” Caitlyn replied, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks. “I am not sure I have read one before, Sir. The only mysteries I was familiar with, before, were in ‘Scooby-Doo,’” Caitlyn replied. Her insides swirl into knots, feeling a little silly about her answer. As if to comfort her worries, a memory of herself and Jay, playing with the action figures from ‘Scooby-Doo,’ creating their own mystery of who stole Jay’s mum’s best sieve, fluttered to the front of her mind. A smile prodded into the right corner of Caitlyn’s cheek and a warm flutter spread from her chest.

“I see,” she heard Mr Shaw reply, fluttering her from her thoughts. “And what made you select this one?” he asked.

“I feel as though it, kind of, picked me,” Caitlyn muttered, with a shy shrug.

“Interesting,” replied her form tutor, humming. “How so?”

“Erm…” Caitlyn hesitated, as she forced a swallow. Her forehead creased, with deep lines. Taking a hesitant breath, Caitlyn told her form tutor, “There were some books sticking out of the bookshelf, in the library, so I tidied them up. I saw two of the same book, but one was poking out. I tried to poke it back on the shelf, but there was something stopping it. I pulled a few books out and this book was flat against the back of the bookcase. I read the back and thought it seemed interesting.” Feeling her heart race, Caitlyn looked up at her form tutor and shrugged. “It was like it was waiting for me to find it,” she added, with an internal smile.

“Arh, I see…” said Mr Shaw, with a nod. His line of sight gazed over Caitlyn's head, as he appeared to be deep in thought. “And, erm, how are you enjoying the narrative, so far?” he asked, returning his sight to her. Mr Shaw tilted his head to the right and glanced down at the portion of pages that Caitlyn had read thus far.

“I really like it,” replied Caitlyn, with a faint smile. “I like that Detective Franklin is analysing everything, as a potential clue, even if it might be a red herring or just a coincidence, so as the reader, I get to try and figure it out for myself, as the story goes along.” A smirk prodded into the right corner of Mr Shaw’s cheek.

“If you find that you rather enjoy Detective Dean Franklin’s adventures, then you might also like the Sherlock Holmes series, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,” Mr Shaw informed her, striding back towards his desk, as three more students entered their form group. Retrieving a book from his desk, Mr Shaw approached Caitlyn's side and showed her the book's cover.

Caitlyn's eyes widened, as she stared at the large hard backed volume in front of her. ‘This is bigger than the ‘Lord of the Rings’ book that Jay was trying to get me to read, with him, over the summer, she gawked. Her eyes lingered on the front cover. The background was a scarlet bricked wall, with the title in a golden, holographic text: ‘Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Series.’ In the centre was the silhouette of a man, in a deerstalker hat, smoking a pipe. A warmth tingled inside of Caitlyn, as she stared at the cover. Her eyes widened and she inhaled a long, slow breath. Something was drawing her towards it. Her eyes stared at the cover, feeling the tingling warmth spread deeper through her body. Caitlyn's lips parted, as she raised a hesitant hand towards it.

“This copy, of course, is my own,” Caitlyn heard Mr Shaw say, bringing her out of her mesmerising trance, with the book. “But, if you are interested in mysteries, I do believe you will enjoy Sherlock and Watson’s adventures.” As more students filed into their form room, Mr Shaw arched his head over his shoulder, nodding at several of the room's enterers. “Start with ‘A Study in Scarlet’ and see how you fare. You might find some of the archaic language a little tough to get into, at first, but trust me… it will be worth it. Arh, but a word of warning,” he noted, with a sudden raised brow. “You might want to skip ‘The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes’ – not one of Doyle’s finest works. I believe he was rushing to give the fanatics one final tale.” Upon hearing Caitlyn's friends, Darcia and Samantha's, voices down the corridor, Mr Shaw leant towards Caitlyn and added, “I would cut that one out, if I were you.”

A puzzled expression remained on Caitlyn's face, following Mr Shaw's last comment, as her form tutor strode back to his desk and began telling Miraj off for folding a paper aeroplane. Looking over towards the boys' table, in the corner of the classroom, by the window, Caitlyn flickered Artie a smile. He smirked back, his ears turning a deep scarlet.

 

*

 

Her stomach spiralled. Scrunching her cuffs around her wrists, Caitlyn clawed her nails into her palms. Her heart rattled in her ribcage. The corridor was silent. As she passed the main music classroom and the music teachers’ office, Caitlyn peered inside the windows. They were empty. Her intestines knotted. ‘Maybe I got the day wrong… or I got the wrong place,’ Caitlyn told herself, as her eyes darted around the music corridor. ‘I did think they said after school on Tuesday… and the music department.’

Looping her thumbs through her bag’s shoulder straps, Caitlyn inhaled a shaky breath. She placed a foot forward. Laughter. She gasped. Straining her ears, Caitlyn squinted, as she focused her attention on the direction that the laughter had sprang from. A door stood between the music office and the keyboard practice room. Nearing it, she raised herself up on tiptoes and peered through the window embedded in the door. A narrow corridor, containing four more cobalt blue doors, lay on the other side. Caitlyn’s hesitant hand hovered towards the door handle. Scrunching her hand into a fist, she snapped it back to her chest. ‘What were you thinking?’ Caitlyn sighed to herself. ‘You can’t go in there. Nobody wants you there. You don’t belong with them.’ Her shoulders drooped. Staring at the floor, she shuffled a step back. ‘I can’t do it,’ Caitlyn told herself. Lines creased her brow. Her chest tightened. A lump formed in her throat. She spun back around on her heels, facing the staircase.

“Hey!” beamed Pete, as he appeared on her left. “Looks like you decided to join us.”

“I, erm,” Caitlyn hesitated, flickering her sight to her shoes.

“Yey! Hi Caitlyn,” cheered Ariel, at Pete’s side, as she waved at Caitlyn. Looking towards them, Caitlyn pinched her lips in. Her cheeks tingled. A third head appeared, from behind them. The blond boy, Fabian, smiled at her.

“You can sit with us,” Pete told Caitlyn, taking a step towards her. “We’ll make room.”

“Erm,” muttered Caitlyn, as she shuffled to the side, to let Pete get to the door. “Thanks,” she found herself saying. ‘Maybe I can do this,’ Caitlyn thought. ‘I can just sneak in with these guys and maybe no one will notice me.’

“I’m so glad you decided to join us, Caitlyn,” Ariel beamed. Caitlyn forced a smile back, blinking several times.

As Pete led the way through the doorway, into the corridor of doors, Ariel placed a hand on Caitlyn’s shoulder. Ariel nudged her head towards the door, encouraging Caitlyn to follow after Pete. With a swallow, Caitlyn nodded. Taking a slow step, she hunched her shoulders and lowered her head, in attempt to hide behind Pete. Behind her, Ariel placed her hands on Caitlyn’s shoulders, as she followed close behind.

The door swung open. Light from a window, on the opposite side of the room, engulfed them. “Sorry we’re late,” Pete sang, as he entered the room.

“Now that you’re all here,” Bert began, as Pete took a seat on the piano stool to his left. “Oh Caitlyn,” he gasped, spotting her. “You decided to join us?”

“Yeah, she came with us,” Pete answered for her. Bert nodded at Pete, then at Ariel and Fabian as they entered the room. Ariel sat on the lap of a girl who was sat near Pete, on a chair, and Fabian scooted up on the edge of the piano stool, beside Pete, dropping his backpack at his feet.

Standing beside Bert, at the front of the room, Caitlyn stared back at everyone. Crammed inside a room, that Caitlyn decided was smaller than her bathroom, at home, twenty pairs of eyes stared back at her. To the left of the door stood an upright, worn oak piano, where Pete and Fabian sat on a two-seater piano stool, facing the rest of the group. Leaning against the piano, in the lower left corner of the room, Oscar folded his arms on the piano’s rim, and began whispering to his friends. Beside Oscar, a girl with sandy blonde hair sat on a chair and Ariel was sat on her lap. Next to them, in another chair, sat a boy, with short, bright, blond hair and another blond stood behind him, both of whom Caitlyn was yet to meet. On the floor, Robin sat cross legged, hugging his backpack to his chest. Behind him sat a boy, on the room’s last chair, with short walnut coloured hair and another brunet boy with scruffy hair stood behind him.

A window stretched the length of the wall, on the far side. Four students lined the window ledge. In the far left corner sat one of the twins, tapping his heels against the wall. At his feet, a blonde girl sat, with her legs curled underneath herself. Next in line, on the window ledge, was the other twin, followed by a girl that Caitlyn did not recognise. Her hair was tied back in a bun and a fiery-orange and a grass-green pencil crayon spiked out of her hair. Hannah, who still wore her rubber duck necklace, sat beside the girl, in the far right corner of the window. Caitlyn smiled at her. On the floor, in front of the girls, sat Caleb and Reuben.

With her back to the door, to Caitlyn’s immediate right stood Bert. Behind him, a scratched rosewood block of wood, leant against the wall. Beside Bert, a boy with a head of curly cinnamon coloured hair, leant back against the wall, with his arms folded at his chest. Between the curly haired boy and Hannah on the window ledge, stood Beth, who was checking her appearance, in a compact mirror.

Shifting her sight from the students surrounding her, down to her shoes, Caitlyn squeezed her left hand into her right elbow. “Everyone, this is Caitlyn,” she heard Bert announce to the room. She felt her cheeks flush, as all eyes turned towards her. Caitlyn focused her attention on Bert, as he told the group, “She’s a Septumiam. She watched us on Friday and Mr Penn asked her to consider joining.” Bert gave Caitlyn a smile. “Now, Caitlyn this is everyone. I will introduce them all in a moment, but first everyone, Mr Penn is running late. Mr Archimedes got rushed to the hospital after slicing open his thumb, who knows how you can do that in a maths classroom, but long story short, Mr Penn is stuck on detention duty. He’s trying t’ get out of it, but in the meantime, he put me in charge.” A chorus of mutters and groans rumbled between the students.

“Of course he picked Bert,” Caitlyn heard the scruffy haired boy grumble, as he slid his hands into his pockets.

“He is his favourite,” mumbled the boy sat in the seat, in front of him.

“Right,” sang Bert, silencing the mutterings and returning everyone’s attention to himself. “Introduction time.” He grinned at Caitlyn. Her heart pounded in her chest. The longer she stood beside Bert, in front of everyone, the louder her heart drummed. Glancing around the room, everyone appeared to be squished.

‘Maybe they’ll all hate me,’ she worried. ‘I’m an extra person taking up extra space.’ She took a hesitant step back, as if it gave people more room. ‘Maybe they don’t want a new member of their group.’ Her heart beat louder. ‘What if I’m not good enough to join them?’

“We’ll start with Novemiams,” Bert said, bringing Caitlyn out of her thoughts. “That’s those of us, in Naeniam Exponentia, who are in year nine,” he added, lowering his voice, as he leant closer towards Caitlyn. “Then we’ll move onto Octoniams, that’s year eight.” Hearing Bert use several strange words made Caitlyn’s brow pucker.

‘Novemiams, nine. Octoniams, eight,’ she repeated to herself.

“This is my best friend, Joe,” said Bert, as he introduced the curly haired boy, who stood beside him. “And you already know Beth,” he told her, gesturing to the girl beside Joe.

As they turned towards the window, the trembling in Caitlyn’s chest eased, as she already knew three out of the four students who sat on the ledge. “You know Hannah,” Bert told her, holding a hand out towards her.

“Hey Caitlyn,” Hannah sang, as she waved.

“Hi,” Caitlyn beamed back.

“Now, this is Alison,” said Bert, as he held a hand towards the girl with pencil crayons in her hair.

“Hi,” muttered Alison, with a smile and a wave. Caitlyn giggled, as she waved back.

“You already know the twins,” Bert announced, gesturing a hand to the next two people sat on the window ledge. “But which is which?” he asked her.

“That’s easy,” replied Caitlyn, with a giggle. “That’s Jamie,” she said, pointing to the boy in the corner. “And that’s Stuart,” she told the group, pointing to the boy sat in between Jamie and Alison.

“What?” came a chorus of gasps.

“How did you know?” cried Stuart. “No one can tell us apart.”

“You’re fraternal twins, not identical,” Caitlyn told them, with a chuckle. “Jamie has a straight posture, a more oval face and a softer voice. Stuart tends to slouch more, has a rounder face and a deeper voice.”

“Not fair!” sulked Stuart, straightening his back, to appear more like his brother. “We even dye our hair black, to make us look more alike.”

“Our form tutor’s known us over two years and even he still gets us mixed up,” Jamie told her. “I’m impressed,” he added, with a grin.

“I’m not,” Stuart muttered, folding his arms and scrunching his nose. “We work hard to confuse people and make everyone think we’re the same. Even Hannah, Ali ‘n’ Judith get confused, sometimes.”

“True,” agreed the blonde girl, sat on the floor in front of Jamie, who swung his legs either side of her shoulders.

“And down here, we have Judith,” announced Bert, pointing at the blonde girl.

“I know you,” said Judith, as she tapped a pointed finger in Caitlyn’s direction. “I sometimes see you walking to school.” A gasp escaped Caitlyn, as her eyes widened.

“You’re the girl with the pretty scarf,” Caitlyn blurted out. Chuckling, Judith rummaged around in her messenger bag. She tugged out a chunk of her scarf’s bright rainbow striped yarn. “Yeah!” Caitlyn exclaimed. “I get so excited whenever I spot you.”

“Aww, thanks,” blushed Judith, with a nervous chuckle.

“That’s all us Novemiams,” Bert informed Caitlyn, as he took a step back. “The rest are all are Octoniams. Again, most of whom you met on Friday.” Caitlyn nodded. “At our feet, here’s Caleb and Reuben,” Bert told her, gesturing to the boys, sat cross legged on the floor, in front of Alison and Hannah. “Ahead, we have Robin, who you’ve met. Tobias is sat on the chair and Rickie’s behind him.” Smiling, Caitlyn nodded at the boys. “Next, is Alex who’s sat down, and his friend Charles is behind him,” Bert explained holding a hand out to two boys with short blond hair. “Next, you already know Ariel,” he said, as Ariel waved at Caitlyn. “And this is Callista,” Bert told her, gesturing to the girl whom Ariel was sat with.

“Nice to meet you,” smiled Callista.

“You too,” Caitlyn replied.

“And you’ve already met Oscar, Pete and Fabian,” Bert told her, as he pointed to the group of boys who congregated around the piano.

“Right,” breathed Bert, placing his hands to his hips. “That’s enough of introductions. Oh, and to anyone who dare question Caitlyn’s addition to the group, she is actually interested in card tricks, and with Mr Penn’s help showed us a little of what she already knows. She’s entitled to be here just as much as all of you.” Hearing a few grumbled murmurs, Caitlyn tightened the grip on her elbow. She dropped her sight to her shoes and shuffled a step back. Her chest trembled.

“Any questions, before we make a start?” asked Bert, as he clapped his hands together and bounced on his toes.

“Yeah, we need a bigger club house,” Stuart complained. “It’s like we’re crammed in the tree house our dad built us when we were kids,” he grumbled. “Not fun.”

“I know,” sighed Bert. “It shouldn’t be for too much longer. Mr Penn’s tryin’ a get Mr Wye to loan us his classroom every Tuesday again. Not much we can do when we don’t have Mr Penn, I’m afraid,” he told the group, with a shrug. “A music practice room is better than nowhere at all though, right?”

As if mocking Bert’s comment, wood clonked. Someone, in the practice room next door, shouted, “One, two, one, two, three, four!” Drumming thudded. A bass line strummed. Chords blared through the walls.

“You were saying?” snarled Rickie, rolling his eyes.

“We’ll be fine,” Bert yelled, over the band rehearsing, in the adjacent room.

“Just pretend you’re at a rock show,” Judith chuckled, with a shrug. “We’re at a free gig, where all the acts are cover bands. It’s not that hard to concentrate when you think of it like that.” Scrunching his nose up, Rickie muttered under his breath.

“Mr Penn’ll sort out the new assistant and secretary iam positions when he gets here,” Bert told them. “And it’s not based on who’s better at magic,” he warned. Turning to Caitlyn, Bert explained, “Each year group has an assistant and secretary person, who the rest of the year group can go to for help on their magic, instead of bothering Mr Penn all the time. Like all teachers, he’s busy enough with lesson planning and marking work, we can’t all be bothering him when we’re confused on a sleight of hand deck shuffle or coin appearance. The assistant and secretary spots are appointed to people who Mr Penn thinks are good listeners or teachers. They don’t necessarily have to be the best at what they do, they just have to be willing to help out their peers. It doesn’t put anyone at better rankings than the others,” he added. “And if you come up with better words than ‘assistant’ and ‘secretary’ feel free t’ let us know. We started off with ‘best’ and ‘second-best,’ but you can take a guess as to how well that went down. We tried ‘head’ and ‘deputy’ before we settled on ‘assistant’ and ‘secretary’. The assistant iam is who you turn to if you want assistance with a trick. The secretary iam is who you go to when you have ideas of something new you want to try; they compile all of the ideas into one list and present them to Mr Penn, usually at the beginning of the club.” Pinching her lips together, Caitlyn tried to conceal a giggle, as she imagined petty squabbles between certain members at the previous titles of ‘best’ and ‘second-best’.

‘That guy, Rickie, seems like one to start an argument,’ Caitlyn noted, sensing his short temper. ‘And Beth seems to hate everyone but Caleb.’

“So, has anyone been practising or working on anything, over the summer, that they’d like t’ share?” Bert asked the group, as he grabbed the block of wood from behind him. Lifting the wooden block, two metal ‘u’ shaped brackets, on the narrow sides, lowered. The metal bars extended, towards the floor. Locking the legs into place, Bert pressed down on the wooden surface. He thudded a hand down on the rosewood, checking the stability of his assembled table. “I’m sure if we think highly of the performance, we’ll tell Mr Penn when he appears,” Bert added, in hopes of enticing a volunteer.

“I’ll go first,” said Rickie, shooting his arm in the air. All eyes turned towards him, as he rummaged around in his backpack. “I just need a couple of things,” he muttered. “I’ve been practising the cup and ball trick all summer,” he boasted, as he bounced back up, with a stack of three white, plastic cups and a crinkled sheet of tinfoil. “I’m a natural.”

“We’ll be the judges,” Bert mused. A cocky grin plastered on Rickie’s face, as he clambered his way to the front. With a nod of his head, the scruffy haired boy smirked at Caitlyn. “Take to the stage,” grinned Bert, as he traded places with Rickie, clambering into the space behind Tobias.

Rickie stood the other side of the foldout table, facing the group. Placing the three cups on the table, in a line, he scrunched the tinfoil up in his right hand. “You, new girl,” said Rickie, nodding his head at Caitlyn, who stood opposite. Her heart flinched. Her eyes widened. “Imma blow your mind. Watch.” Swallowing, Caitlyn hugged her arms to her chest, placing her hands on her elbows. She exhaled a slow, steady breath and watched, as instructed. Rickie scrunched the tinfoil tighter, creating a rough, jagged ball. “Watch the ball,” he told her, as he placed the ball in his left hand and lowered it towards the middle cup. Rickie lifted the centre cup with his right hand, obstructing the tinfoil ball. He lowered the cup. Placing his hands on top of the centre cup and the cup to Caitlyn’s left, he dragged them across the table, switching their places. Grabbing hold of the cup on Caitlyn’s right, Rickie slid it across the table. As the cup traded places with the centre one, Rickie’s motions increased in pace. The cups swivelled faster. White blurs raced around in spirals. Tilting her head, a little, to her left, Caitlyn pursed her lips, as she focused on Rickie’s hand movements.

As the dancing cups swirled to a stop, a smirk etched into Rickie’s face as he asked, “So?” punching his fists to his hips. “Which one’s the ball under?”

“That’s easy,” Caitlyn replied, keeping her lips pursed.

“No, Caitlyn,” she heard Pete sigh, behind her. Ignoring Pete, Caitlyn’s grin grew, as she stared at Rickie’s smug smirk.

“The ball’s in your left hand,” Caitlyn told him, flickering her sight from Rickie’s eyes towards his fist, balled at his hip.

“What?” he muttered, scrunching his face.

“You palmed it before you lowered the cup,” Caitlyn told him.

“Did not,” exclaimed Rickie, puffing out a breath.

“Did too,” Caitlyn replied.

“Rickie, play fair,” Bert warned him. “Open your hand. Show her.”

“Fine,” he grumbled. “But how’d you know?”

“I watched you do it,” she told him, with a shrug, exhaling a laugh. “Also, the ball’s made of tinfoil and it isn’t exactly scrunched up very well. If it were really under the cup, we’d have heard it scratch against the table and the flimsy plastic of the cup.” Shaking his head at her, Rickie snarled his nose, with disgust, as he swiped his cups from the table. “You may have succeeded had you used a foam ball, like the trick’s designed or if you screwed the tinfoil up a little tighter. You moved the cups fast, but I could tell you were hiding something uncomfortable in your hand. You also need to work on your timing,” she added, feeling her heart tingle as she braved to continue. “You palmed the ball before fully lowering the cup.” A chorus of, “Oooowh,” sang out around the room, as Rickie’s face turned a deep scarlet.

“Fine,” he growled. “You win this time, but I’ll get you,” he told her, through gritted teeth. Trudging past Caitlyn, he barged his shoulder into hers. A gasp escaped her, as she staggered back. Pain stabbed in her arm. She gripped it tight. Snapping her eyes shut, she seeped a breath.

Bert’s eyes widened. He leapt back to the front of the room. “Right… erm, Robin, have you got a deck of cards on you?” Bert asked, as he ran a hand across the back of his neck.

“You bet,” nodded Robin.

“Why not refresh everyone’s memory with some easy tricks, whilst I talk to Caitlyn outside for a minute,” he suggested. Robin nodded again, as he clambered to Bert’s side.

As Bert and Caitlyn exited the second music practice room, Bert grabbed the handle of the door, leading into the main music department corridor. “I’m sorry about Rickie,” Bert told her, as he forced a swallow. Closing the door behind them, the two stood beside it. “He’s not good with girls… especially those he feels threatened by.”

“I can see,” muttered Caitlyn, rubbing her left shoulder.

“My bad,” Bert mumbled, with a shrug. “I shoulda known he was gonna be so obnoxious. Good f’ you for figuring it out, though. I didn’t know you had it in you t’ stand up to someone, like Rickie,” he told her, with a chuckle. “That oughta put him in his place.”

“Thanks,” replied Caitlyn, with a nervous laugh. “I think.”

“We’re not all like him, I can promise you that,” Bert insisted. “He hasn’t put you off, has he?” Caitlyn shook her head. “Good,” Bert beamed. “I know it can be a lot to take in, on your first day,” Bert admitted, as he hunched his shoulders. “Meeting that lot an’ in such a small space isn’t exactly pleasant, is it?”

“Yeah,” replied Caitlyn, with another nervous laugh.

“I hope I didn’t embarrass you too much with the introductions,” Bert told her. “It’s hard trying to explain all the basics t’ you, without singling you out – or boring everyone else,” he added.

“It’s okay,” replied Caitlyn, with a shrug. “I think I get it. Naeniam Exponentia is what you call the magic club – Fabian taught me that. Then, Novemiams are year nine, Octoniams are year eight… and is it Septumiams for year seven?” she asked.

“Great,” Bert nodded. “You even nailed the pronunciation. Good job! There’s a bit of Latin mixed in there, which I’m sure you picked up on.” Caitlyn nodded. “We use Naeniam Exponentia, or NE for short, instead of saying magic club, because we don’t want trouble for using the ‘m’ word,” Bert explained. “Oh, and funnily enough Naeniam Exponentia doesn’t even translate properly. Mr Penn asked us all to come up with a magical sounding name for the club. It took a few weeks, but Oscar turned up one day, all excited, saying he’d figured it out. As soon as he said, “Naeniam Exponentia,” we loved it. Oscar claimed it meant tricks and spells, in Latin, or something like that. We liked it. Tricks for the illusions and sleight of hand stuff, and spells for the Frandadis fruits – it sounded perfect… that is until I took to a translating website and discovered that, somehow, he musta mistyped something when he was translating words online, because Naeniam isn’t a word… in any language. We were stupid to blindly trust him and base all of our club year group names on Oscar’s supposed translations, anyway,” Bert sighed. “That’s the name’s backstory.”

“Okay,” giggled Caitlyn. “So, what about years ten and eleven?” she asked. “Would they be Decemiams and Undecemiams? And when do I meet them?”

“Spot on,” Bert beamed, “However, we don’t actually have any. Mr, Penn started the club just for Septumiams and Octoniams, last year. He’s continuing to teach us all this year, but you’re the first he’s added to the group, since we formed last September.”

“Wow,” Caitlyn breathed.

Caitlyn’s bright eyes dropped to a frown. “What’s wrong?” asked Bert.

“Are you guys against outsiders?” she asked Bert. “This isn’t like a cult, is it?”

“No, of course not,” he told her, shaking his head. “In fact, we encourage you t’ befriend as many non-NE members as you like. We’re trying to show the school that magic is safe and fun. Mr Penn’s just wary of who he trusts with Frandadis fruits, they can do some pretty powerful stuff. If they get into the wrong hands, it’ll be more than angry parents at the door,” Bert warned her. “Think law suits. Think fines. Think prison sentencing.” Stepping back, Caitlyn’s brow shot up, as she clutched her hands to her chest. “I didn’t mean to scare you,” Bert told her. He exhaled a nervous breath. “But you saw what the fruits could do, last Friday, right? We did that stuff in controlled environments, with science equipment. If we got the Frandadis juices on our faces, for example, it might cause deformity and who knows how long for. The human body is made up of cells and organisms that are far more complex than a wooden pencil. Imagine the most troublesome kid in your class,” Bert began. “I’m sure you’ve got one, I think everyone does, at some point. You know, someone who can’t help but goof off, throw things across the classroom, draws all over their exercise book, you get the picture. Imagine what would happen if they got a hold of the Frandadis fruits.” Caitlyn shuddered. “Exactly,” he told her. “I’ve got mates who aren’t apart of NE. Most of us do. Not everyone wants to learn the secret behind magic either. They love being amazed and believe we really can conjure a rabbit out of a hat or levitate a body on stage. People like to be fooled,” he told her with a shrug. “Once the secret’s out, and they know how to make a card appear from a deck, or make a coin disappear, it doesn’t appear magic anymore. But, if you’ve got friends that are interested, and trustworthy, I’m sure Mr Penn’ll love t’ meet them.” A warm glow returned to Caitlyn’s chest, as a smile broke across her face.

‘Maybe the girls can learn magic too,’ Caitlyn wondered. ‘It’s something we could all do together. Darcia and Samantha seemed interested. I bet Emily would too, once she sees how cool Mr Penn is. And I bet Aisha would love to experiment with Frandadis fruits; it might change her mind about magic too.’

Clicking his fingers, Bert’s brow shot up, as he slid his hand inside his blazer. “Almost forgot,” he told her. “Mr Penn told me to pass you an exercise book.” Retrieving his hand from his blazer, Bert presented Caitlyn with an A5 sized book. It was identical to the ones she was given in all of her classes, however instead of her tangerine-orange maths book, dandelion-yellow science book, blush-pink English book, sky-blue German book and sea-green humanities book, this one was charcoal-grey. “We all have one,” Bert began. “The name given to each trick, illusion or Frandadis experiment we cover, is at the top of the page,” he told her. “You can fill it in as you see fit. Some of us make notes, others draw pictures. Whatever helps you to remember. There’s no right or wrong answer.” As Bert handed the book over, Caitlyn flicked through the pages. “You can fill it in at your own pace,” he told her. “And don’t worry about filling the whole thing in. No one’s expecting you to catch up with the Octoniams or Novemiams. If it’s too much to take in, just tell me. The guys joke I’m a walking, talking encyclopaedia of magic. My great grandfather’s a stage four warlock; I’ve had this stuff drilled into me since I was this big,” he told her, tapping his hand to his waist.

“What?” frowned Caitlyn, with a giggle.

“That part’s a secret,” he told her with a wink. “Not many in there know I have real magic running through my blood,” Bert told her, as he jabbed a thumb towards the music practice rooms. The lines on Caitlyn’s brow deepened. “I know you know,” he told her, with a chuckle. “You do too, I can feel it. I knew as soon as I met you, before so even. I sensed your magic, before I even knew who you were.” An explosion of fireworks erupted in Caitlyn’s stomach. Her pulse tingled through her limbs. Her eyes widened, as a shaky laugh escaped her. “The icy shudder you get,” Bert told her. “The way you’re drawn to certain people and things… the way no one else seems to understand you, when you explain it.” Swallowing, Bert’s chest trembled, as he awaited Caitlyn’s response.

Caitlyn stared back at him. Her lips parted. The thumping in her chest beat slow and loud. The word, ‘Magic?’ echoed in her mind. Her icy shudder. Knowing that someone’s bad before they are. Sensing that something bad is about to happen. She and Jay being separated. Stuck learning German, instead of French. Mrs Doherty’s sudden personality change. Jay turning against her on the way home. All of these memories spiralled around inside her. ‘Magic?’ she thought. ‘Me? My parents say I’m just being stupid,’ she told herself as her brow creased. Flickering her sight to Bert, he gave her a weak smile, as his brow slanted upwards. ‘Could he be right?’ she wondered. ‘Could he really be magic? Could I really be magic?’

“Has a light ever flickered, when you were over emotional?” Bert asked her. “Like really angry, or really upset?” The corners of Caitlyn’s mouth poked up, as she recalled the light flickering above her head, during her first day in her form room, and before that, in the main hall. “Have you ever wondered why no one else can instinctively feel someone’s presence in the way that you can? Why you’re such a good judge of character? This is our little secret,” Bert told her. “Yours, mine and Mr Penn’s.” Feeling her cheeks tingle, Caitlyn found herself nodding. “It’s usual for the gene to skip a generation or five,” Bert told her, with a shrug, “So Mr Penn and I are happy to guide you, if you want us to.”

“Magic?” Caitlyn whispered, with an excited grin, as her eyes grew wide. “Is that what this is?” Smiling back at her, Bert nodded.

“This really is just our little secret,” Bert repeated. “No one in there knows, about me or Mr Penn.” Caitlyn’s heart flickered. “If anyone else has magic in their blood too, they’re keeping it a secret.” Caitlyn nodded.

“Is it a bad thing?” Caitlyn asked.

“Not if you don’t want it to be,” Bert told her, with a shrug. “Consider it a superpower. Joining NE will help you to keep it under control and use your senses to your advantage. I used t’ be terrible at controlling my anger,” Bert began. “When I was your age, I used t’ get so frustrated, with teachers, that I’d cause light bulbs to shatter all the time.” Caitlyn flinched. “I know,” Bert chuckled. “Mr Penn helped me t’ control it. Right now, I’ve gone a whole nine months and no broken bulbs.” Nodding, Caitlyn found herself laughing back at him. “You seem a lot better than me at keeping yourself calm,” Bert told her.

“I have my ways,” replied Caitlyn, as she rubbed her thumb and fingers between the silky texture of her tie.

Beaming an admiral smile at Caitlyn, Bert nodded at her. “So, what d’ya think? Are you still interested in joining NE?” Bert asked her.

“Yeah,” Caitlyn nodded, eyes wide.

“So, I haven’t scared you off then?” Bert chuckled.

“I should hope not,” boomed a voice, down the corridor.

“Mr Penn!” Bert exclaimed. Caitlyn spun her head over her shoulder, to see the tall man, with a mane of curls, striding towards them.

“Caitlyn, is Bertie, here, bothering you?” asked Mr Penn.

“No, Sir,” Caitlyn giggled, at hearing Mr Penn calling Bert, Bertie. She shook her head.

“‘Cause if he is, I can turn him into a toad for a little while,” Mr Penn mused.

“I think we’re all good,” Bert said, with a nervous laugh. “Right Caitlyn?” Bert’s voice grew high, as he flickered a glance at her.

“Right,” Caitlyn nodded, with a chuckle. ‘I wonder if Mr Penn could really do that?’ Caitlyn pondered. ‘Maybe we could get him to turn Rickie into a toad for a little while.’

“Good,” Mr Penn sang. “Good. I can see you’re going to be quite the asset to Naeniam Exponentia, young lady,” Mr Penn told her, with a grin, as he led the way back into the music practice room.

Beating his hands together, with a thunderous clap, Mr Penn silenced all who were in the room. “Hey everyone! Sorry I’m late,” he told them. “I stole your idea boys,” he said, pointing at the twins. “Bumble Bee pencils. Had the hall screaming with fright in seconds. Everyone ran outta detention in a flash.” Laughter filled the room, as the twins gave each other a high-five. “Great t’ see you all returned,” grinned Mr Penn, looking around at everyone. “Now who’s ready t’ figure out how I do this one?” Slipping a box of cards from his pocket, Mr Penn took no delay in showing the group a new card trick. He skimmed the box across the table and began shuffling the deck from his right hand into his left, as Caitlyn and Bert appeared at his side. “Right, now Bertie, give the cards a cut, wherever you want, and complete the cut,” Mr Penn instructed. Bert leant towards the deck of cards and lifted up a section, placing them down on the table. Taking the other half, he placed them on top. “Good,” nodded Mr Penn. “Now I’m going t’ turn my back. Bertie, if you just take one card, look at it, show it to the group and hide it inside your blazer pocket for me.” Bert nodded, as Mr Penn turned around. Sliding the deck of cards out across the table, Bert pinched a card from the pile. As he neatened the pile with his right hand, he arched his chosen card, the three of diamonds, around the room, so that everyone could see it. Bert looked at the card himself, before placing it in his blazer pocket.

“Done, Sir,” Bert announced.

“Great, now,” said Mr Penn, as he turned around and retrieved the cards from the table. As he began shuffling the cards, he glanced around the room. “Ariel, would you remove your jacket and place it over my arms, covering the cards?”

“Okay,” Ariel replied, with a giggle, as she bounced off Callista’s lap. Slipping her arms out of her faded khaki green denim jacket, Ariel plonked it over Mr Penn’s hands.

“Thank you,” nodded Mr Penn, as his hands shuffled beneath the jacket. “Bert, your card is either black or red. So I’m going to pull a card out that will match the colour, are you ready?” Bert nodded. Mr Penn’s right hand peered out from under Ariel’s jacket and placed a red, king of hearts down in the table. A few people gasped, seeing the red card. “Now that we know your card is red, it is either a heart or a diamond,” Mr Penn told him. “The next card that I pull out, will match the suit of your card.” Bert nodded, as Mr Penn placed the jack of diamonds down on the table.

“Okay,” muttered Bert, with a nod.

“Now to find out if your card is a number card or a face card,” said Mr Penn, as his hands fumbled about beneath the jacket. He placed the eight of diamonds down on the table. Whispers mumbled around the room, as people attempted to figure out what Mr Penn was doing. “The next card will tell me if it’s odd or even,” Mr Penn went on, as he revealed the nine of diamonds. “And I know it’s not any of these cards,” Mr Penn announced, as he placed a collection of odd, red diamond cards down on the table. “The ace, five, seven and we already have the nine of diamonds. So, you picked the three of diamonds, correct?” he asked Bert.

“Correct, Sir,” Bert nodded, as he retrieved the card from his blazer. A thunderous applause built in the room. With her eyes wide, Caitlyn clapped along with them.

‘How did he do that?’ she wondered. ‘He didn’t look at any of the cards. He hid them all under Ariel’s jacket before he got the chance to peep. And he shuffled them, so they were mixed up, right?’ The more she thought about Mr Penn’s trick, the more her forehead puckered.

“As you all try an’ figure out how I did it, Fabian, can I speak with you outside a minute?” asked Mr Penn, as the chatter, in the room, increased.

“What’ve you done now, mate?” Pete sang, with a sigh.

“Nothin,” muttered Fabian, shrugging.

“I just need to talk to Fabian about his chemistry homework,” Mr Penn told the group. “It’s nothing to worry about,” Mr Penn assured Fabian, as he led him out, into the corridor.

Humming to herself, Caitlyn gazed out of the door’s window, watching Mr Penn and Fabian, as their conversation transpired. ‘Could the cards have brail on the back?’ Caitlyn wondered, as she watched Fabian shake his head. ‘Or maybe it’s maths,’ Caitlyn decided, as Mr Penn nodded back at Fabian. ‘I wonder if the cards were in a certain order,’ Caitlyn pondered, as it was now Fabian’s turn to nod. Mr Penn shrugged. ‘If the cards were in order, cutting them wouldn’t do an awful lot,’ Caitlyn decided. ‘Maybe they were all in some sort of order, so by counting along so many cards, he could eliminate the colour and suit?’ Another hum escaped her, as Fabian and Mr Penn returned.

Having sat cross legged on the floor, beside Fabian, Caitlyn watched on in awe as Mr Penn demonstrated to the group how he did the card trick. “So, you see,” he told the group, as he spread the deck of cards out, face down. Placing his finger under the end card that was tucked beneath the deck, Mr Penn poked it up. As it rose and he prodded it over, all of the cards on top of it turned over too. “All of the cards are now in a code,” he told the group, as all of the even number of the same suit were together and all of the odd number of the same suit were together. “It’s a maths game,” he told them. “All you have t’ do is remember the order you’ve placed the cards in.” Beaming back at Mr Penn, Caitlyn nodded, as his explanation made sense. “If I know the top card is the king of clubs and I count down, say six cards and the next card down isn’t the four of clubs, but a two, I know Bert’s card is either the jack, ten, eight, six or four.” As Mr Penn began explaining further, Caitlyn rummaged around in her bag for a pen and began taking notes.

“It’s nice to see someone’s eager,” Mr Penn grinned at Caitlyn, once he had finished explaining how the trick worked on a deeper level. “D’yer reckon you could pull it off?” he asked her.

“Not yet,” replied Caitlyn, with a nervous laugh. “At least, not in the speed that you did.”

“It’s all about practise,” Mr Penn told the room. “Practise. Practise. Practise,” he boomed. “Caitlyn, as our newest member, would you care to volunteer, with another kind of magic?” Mr Penn asked her, holding a small, jar between his thumb and forefinger, with pickle coloured liquid inside. Flickering her sight around the room, Jamie and Hannah gave her a subtle shake of their heads. Caitlyn forced a swallow, as her eyes widened.

“Actually, Sir, I think Rickie should assist you, being as he seemed so eager to show off earlier,” Caitlyn told him.

“Great idea,” Rickie beamed, as he clambered towards the front of the room. A smile crept into the corner of Caitlyn’s face, as Jamie gave her a thumbs up.

“Excellent,” nodded Mr Penn. “Now, Rickie, if you wouldn’t mind just sitting on the table for a minute?” he asked. Nodding, Rickie slid onto the table, facing the group. “Rickie, you have an incredibly easy job, boy. You just have t’ sit there,” Mr Penn told him, as he unscrewed the lid from his jar. “You may feel a slight trickling sensation on your scalp. Now this shouldn’t hurt,” he warned Rickie. “Much,” he added, winking at Caitlyn.

Caitlyn’s eyes widened, as Mr Penn held his jar inches above Rickie’s head. Her heart rapped in her ribcage, as she held her breath. Tilting his hand, Mr Penn trickled a mini waterfall of pickle-green liquid onto Rickie’s head, as he muttered something under his breath. Gasps filled the room as Rickie’s body began to shrink. Caitlyn’s eyes bulged from her face. She clasped her hands to her mouth, as the boy transformed into a toad. The room burst out laughing, as Rickie leapt about on the table, with a croak. “No, no,” warned Mr Penn, scooping the toad up in his hands, before Rickie leapt onto the floor. “We can’t have you escaping now,” he tutted. “Well Caitlyn, what d’ya think? Is it an improvement?”

“Yeah,” she sniggered, nodding. “Can we leave him like that?” she laughed. “He’s much nicer as a toad.”

“It’ll wear off in a couple of minutes,” Mr Penn told them, with a shrug. "No harm done."

Just as she had done on Friday, Caitlyn felt her worries slip away and warmth swirl around her body, throughout her time with the Naeniam Exponentia group. Her shoulders relaxed and she giggled along with them, as the potion Mr Penn had poured on Rickie wore off, over fifteen minutes later. Leaping onto the floor, Rickie’s tongue prodded out of his mouth several times, as he clambered to his feet. “You’ll pay for that,” he growled.

“It’s just a bit of fun Rickie,” sang Mr Penn, with a sigh. “Keep yer shirt on.”

As some of the group slipped on their coats and grabbed their bags, ready to leave, Caitlyn tugged on Bert’s sleeve. “Can I talk to you, before you go?” Caitlyn asked.

“Sure,” Bert shrugged. “Wanna talk now?” he asked, nodding his head towards the door. Pinching her lips in, Caitlyn nodded.

“Caitlyn, I’ll walk home with you,” Ariel called after her. “I see you walking home sometimes. I catch the bus near your house.”

“Thanks,” giggled Caitlyn, with a nod.

“We’ll be back,” Bert told her. “Give us a sec.”

As the door closed behind them, Bert asked Caitlyn, “Is everything okay?” Caitlyn nodded. Flickering her sight to her shoes, her chest tightened, as she inhaled a slow breath.

“You know when you told me to tell you if that shuddery thing I get happens again?” she muttered, shifting her eyes up to look at him.

“It happened, didn’t it?” he replied. Caitlyn nodded again.

“It wasn’t Mr Penn this time,” she warned him. “Well…” she mumbled. Her eyes narrowed, as she recalled the icy shudder she felt as she and Jay left the library on Friday. “Well, it happened twice,” she told him. “On Friday. Once as I was leaving the library, but I have no idea who caused it or why.” Forcing a swallow, Caitlyn rubbed her thumb and fingers between her silky tie, as the light above them began to flicker. “And the second time was on the way home… with my best friend. I’ve never had this feeling around him before. What does it mean?”

“What do you think it means?” he asked her. Caitlyn’s intestines spiralled. Her heart crashed to the depths of her stomach, as she relived the sensation over again.

“I,” Caitlyn hesitated. Dropping her sight to the floor, her shoulders drooped. “It’s bad, isn’t it?” she muttered.

“If that’s what your heart tells you,” Bert muttered, with a shrug.

“But it’s not,” replied Caitlyn, with a squeak. “That wasn’t Jay,” she told him, shaking her head. “It was like he was a completely different person.”

“School changes people,” Bert told her, with another shrug.

“What if I’m right?” asked Caitlyn, forcing a swallow. “What if something is going on? Bert, a lot of odd things have happened since I started at this school. I want to say bad things, but I’ve been warned for being too pessimistic. It’s things that don’t feel natural… like the future’s changed… and… I have a really suspicious feeling that Mr Penn is behind it all.”

“Not this again,” Bert sighed, shaking his head. “Mr Penn appears scary, but I can assure you he’s-”

“Like a big teddy bear,” Caitlyn sighed, rolling her eyes. “I know,” she muttered.

“Because it’s true,” Bert insisted. “Please try ‘n’ stop worrying.”

“I like Mr Penn,” Caitlyn told him. “I really do. It’s just,” an exasperated sigh escaped her. “You know what, forget it,” she muttered, shaking her head. “I should never have told you.” Dropping her sight to their shoes, Caitlyn scrunched her arms tight at her chest.

“Come on,” Bert sang. “Spit it out.”

“When I first met Mr Penn, I got the shudder that I told you about, then me and Jay got separated,” Caitlyn told him. “Then, when I went to see Mrs Doherty about changing form groups, she was really nice and was about to help me, but Mr Penn appeared, and I got that horrible chill and Mrs Doherty just turned on me. Then when Jay met me at the library on Friday, he seemed fine, then I got that feeling again and I spun back around to look at you guys, because I swore someone was staring at me. Since that moment, Jay is a completely different person.” Inhaling a shaky breath, Caitlyn’s throat tightened. “He was angry with me all the way home and judging me.” She shuddered. “He threw sweets at a signpost on the way home. That’s not like him,” she told Bert, with a frustrated sigh. “He’s stopped walking with me to school. He won’t even look at me in the corridor.”

“And you think Mr Penn is behind this?” he asked her.

“I don’t know,” Caitlyn let out a sad sighed. Her shoulders sank, as she felt a sense of defeat, under Bert's confident eye. “When I’m around Mr Penn, I see why everyone likes him. He’s cool and fun, and I want to learn so much from him – all of the tricks, illusions and magic amazes me. It’s just… something, sometimes, feels… off. I didn’t feel it the whole time I was in the library, with you guys, on Friday, up until I left, nor have I felt it today. You said I could come and talk to you about it,” she muttered, poking the toe of her shoe on a chewing gum lump on the carpet.

“I know,” Bert mumbled, with a shrug. “I just don’t know what t’ say,” he told her. “I believe you,” he blurted out, as she looked at him with sparkling eyes and a pout. “I just can’t make sense of it.”

Scratching a hand to the back of his head, Bert let out a huge sigh, before asking her, “Would you have joined the group without your friend, had you been in the same form group?”

“I don’t know,” Caitlyn shrugged. “Maybe not. If Jay and I were together, I wouldn’t be struggling with school as much,” she confessed. “Meeting you guys was kind of a relief. Maybe, I wouldn’t have found myself alone in the library, if Jay and I hadn’t been separated.”

“I see,” Bert nodded, with a hum. “At any rate,” he added, with a shrug. “You can’t change the past. Not without a time machine and a flux capacitor.” Caitlyn burst out laughing. “Glad you got the joke,” he beamed. “Now, let’s focus on the present. You like NE, don’t you?” he asked her.

“Yes,” Caitlyn replied, with a nod.

“And you’ve made friends,” he told her. Smiling, she nodded at him. “Ariel’s an amazing girl and she really seems to like you. If you stick with her and Calli, I’m sure you’ll do just fine.”

“Thanks,” Caitlyn smiled.

The door to the music practice room opened. “You ready to walk home, Caitlyn?” Ariel asked, as she appeared in the doorway.

“Yeah,” nodded Caitlyn, with a smile.

“Hey!” exclaimed Callista, as she gave Ariel a playful push out of the way. “Don’t go hogging the new girl. I wanna get to know Caitlyn too.”

“We meet up next Tuesday,” Bert told Caitlyn. “And with any luck, Mr Penn will have scored us Wye’s classroom.”

“I’ll let you know if we find out anything,” Ariel told her. “Hugs,” Ariel sang, as she threw her arms around Bert. “See you tomorrow, Bert,” she told him, as she turned to face Caitlyn. “Grab your bag,” she told her. “And we’ll walk with you.” A giggle fluttered into Caitlyn’s chest. “I’ll see you all tomorrow!” Ariel called to the Naeniam Exponentia group, as Caitlyn grabbed her bag from the music practice room. “I’m so excited to share everything, I know, with you,” Ariel beamed, as Caitlyn reappeared.

“For once,” Caitlyn told her, “I’m excited too. You guys are so nice and make me feel so welcome that I, actually, don’t mind coming to school anymore.”

“Good,” Ariel cheered. “I’ll help you, Caitlyn, in any way I can. I’m sure, we all will.” A happy giggle escaped Caitlyn, as Ariel and Callista linked arms with her and skipped down the music staircase together.

Watching after them, a warm smile prodded into the corner of Mr Penn’s cheek. “Welcome to Naeniam Exponentia, Caitlyn,” Mr Penn chuckled to himself.

 

The end

- Josie -