Deerstalker - a Sherlolly story

A Disappearing Act

“Molly, stop it!” Diana Hooper told her daughter. Molly had not even realized she had been tapping foot loudly on the kitchen floor for the last 15 minutes.

“Honey, I know you’re nervous…” her mom began.

“I am not nervous!” Molly blurted, while she dropped her spoon in the half-eaten bowl of cereal in front of her. Her mother frowned.

“I… I mean, it’s just school. It’s not like it can be much different from London,” she said, her voice a lot softer now.

At a quarter to eight Molly was riding her new bike to school. She could smell the rich scent of fallen leaves mixed with recent rain, while the wind softly pulled strands from her reddish brown braid.  This was one of the those things she loved about living here. She did not have to walk through streets packed with people, or ride an overfull bus to get anywhere. From the moment they had moved in, she had fallen in love with this little town. She had spent most of her autumn break reading books on the front porch, exploring the village on bike and playing with her cat Toby. It was as if since she left London, she suddenly had time and space for all the little things that made her happy. As she neared the school building she crossed her fingers that enjoying education there would not completely ruin her positive outlook on her recent move.

Molly parked her bike in front of the brick school building and took of her helmet (Yes, she knew she looked ridiculous in it, but like her mom always said; Chance takers are accident makers.) Like any place in town, the school’s yard was very quiet. She only saw two girls around her age walking to the front door, while chatting excitedly. She decided to follow them and as soon as she stepped inside, she lost all her worries about not finding her way. The administration office, where she had to pick up her schedule, was the first thing she saw as she stepped into the school’s main hall. On both sides of the hall were two corridors with classrooms. In front of her, next to the office where she had to be, stood a small staircase that led up to the second floor.

Molly was about to knock on the door of the office, when a rather stout woman swung it open.

“Molly Hooper! Please come in,” she said excitedly. Her eyes glistening brightly behind bright-pink glasses that matched with her pink cardigan.

Molly was lead into a small office with two desks. The pink lady pulled out a chair for Molly and sat down behind one of the desks herself.

“My name is Janice and I’m head of the administration at this school. We’re very pleased to have you here. Now let me see….” She bent down to rummage through one of her desk drawers.

“Aahh! Here it is,” she pulled out a schedule and handed it to Molly.

“Now if anything on there is not right, you just tell me and we’ll change it.”

Molly, still somewhat surprised to be approached by school staff in such a way, stared blankly at the piece of paper she received.

“Your first class is mathematics in room 108, if you’d like I…” Someone knocked and Janice stood up to open the door. A girl of the same age as Molly with olive skin and tight black curls stepped into the office.

“Oh! What a coincidence!” Janice exclaimed. “Molly, this is Sally. She also has mathematics first period. She can show you the way.”

“You must be the new girl. Molly, is it?” Sally asked, acting very nonchalant compared to Janice.

“Yup. That’s me, Molly. Nice to meet you,” Molly said, trying to put a friendly smile on her face. She suddenly regretted deciding to wear her pink floral sweater. Compared to Sally, who looked like confidence itself in her black leather jacket, she felt like a preschooler playing princess who had somehow gotten lost at the big kids’ school.