Schoolgirl Secrets

Chapter Seven: The Vanishing Act

On her way to school the next morning; Jenifer thought how she was going to get out of the George problem with her mother. Several mad theories seemed to have formed in her brain overnight but none of them would be practical. They often involved a serious accident and a chinchilla!

Jane waved madly at her friend from a seat at the back of the bus. Jenifer pushed Miriam into a random chair next to a small boy and rushed down the aisle to sit down next to her friend.

"Did you get out of it ok?" Jane asked.

For a minute, Jenifer looked blank, but she caught on and said,

"Sort of. I managed to convince mum that I had a boyfriend and I was at his house for dinner! It didn't quite work out the way I planned, but anyway, how did you get off?"

"Oh my mum hadn't even realised I was missing! You know what she's like," said Jane brightly. "She was in the shower and she hadn't even realised that Charlie was slowly demolishing his teeth chewing on one of dad's electric drills!"

Charlie was Jane's two year old brother. He was very cute, with a chubby, round face, big blue eyes and puffy blonde hair that stuck up in tufts. The only word he could say was 'gabbage', meaning cabbage. Which was odd, because he hated cabbage...

Jane's mum was a total scatter-brain. She was called Lucy and the clumsiest person Jenifer had ever met. One day Jenifer had come round for tea at Jane's house and Lucy had been wearing her trousers backwards and one of Charlie's nappies on her head! Unfortunately, Charlie was wearing Lucy's sharp hair grip on his delicate bottom and was yelling his head off. Lucy had seemed dead to it and had continued serving peas into the orange juice glasses.

The girls hadn't had the heart to stop her...

The bus stopped with a jolt and Jenifer fell off her seat and onto the floor. She watched all the feet walking out and onto the pavement. She turned herself the right way up and saw Miss Brightlight running as fast as she could towards the school doors. And she wasn't even late. Without stopping to think; Jenifer pelted after her. Jane followed. They ran after her into the school where they crashed headlong into the old caretaker, Bran, pushing his trolley of cleaning props. Bran was known for being a grumpy old Grinch so the girls picked themselves up and scurried away from him into their classroom, forgetting completely about who they were pursuing.

****

Jenifer slammed her tray down upon the canteen table.

"That was the worst morning ever," said Nicola gloomily. Jenifer and her three friends always shared a table together at lunch.

"I know, I know," groaned Jane. "It was so dull, I didn't learn anything."

"I didn't even try," said Tom groggily. "I just stared out of the window until it was over."

"Same here," said Jenifer, slurping her milk with a straw and picking up a sausage roll.

She lifted the roll up to eye level and opened her mouth to take a bite. Suddenly she noticed Miss Brightlight pushing and shoving something through the kitchen door behind the food counter. It was putting up a terrific fight.

"Anything wrong Jenifer?" asked Jane.

Jenifer leaned across and whispered in Jane's ear.

"Look at door,"

Jane looked and gasped.

Nicola and Tom were kissing again and hadn't noticed anything.

"No consideration at all," said Jane grinning. "Now let's catch that teacher."