Taking Off

Chapter 2

After a very silent few minutes, in which the two seethed with anger at having to sit beside one another, the principal finally called them in. Tia breathed in, trying to calm her anger, and followed Elijah, who had become very relaxed all of a sudden, into the room, which was organised in its chaos, with papers stacked everywhere, and bookshelves with the books place haphazardly. They each took a seat in front of the wide, mess-of-a-desk and avoided each other's eyes completely.

"Hello!" Principal Andrews exclaimed. "Welcome to my humble abode – I love my work so much I live here. It's true, it's true! Don't tell anyone, though. Shhh. It's our little secret. I trust you both completely. Of course, I probably shouldn't but if you tell then that'll be a mistake I'll learn from and so goes life. You make a mistake, you learn, you grow, you avoid that mistake in future. Except when the mistake is something unavoidable, like eating cheese-covered-apples...entirely unavoidable, that is," the principal spoke, barely taking a breath. Tia was so confused, she almost looked at Elijah to see if he was following what was going on – but she checked herself just in time. The principal then sat silent for about a minute, confusing the pair even more. Finally, Elijah spoke up.

"Uh, sir...you called us in because you wanted to tell us something. I'm sure that's not it," he said. The principal looked at him, really looked at him. He walked around his desk and sat on the edge, never looking away from Elijah's eyes.

"You're right, that wasn't it. But it was a good life lesson, was it not?" he asked.

"Uh...uh, of course, sir..." Elijah answered, very uncomfortable at the eyes boring into his soul.

"Good, good. Anyway, I shall get down to business," the principal said, returning to his chair. "So, here's the deal. You're both the acting school captains now, right? I'm not confused, am I? That's you both, yes?" he asked. The two nodded, quickly. "Well, then, I don't know if you know this but as the school captains, you have certain responsibilities. Things the school needs you to do. You're the two that have been chosen to represent our school because we know you'll do a good job. Understand?" he began.

"Yes, of course," Tia replied. "We knew that when we took up the position." She hoped he wasn't going to scold them for not getting along and arguing every time they met.

"Yes, well, there's something we need you to do now. And might I say, I wish I was a school captain back when I was younger because I would've loved this opportunity," he said, genuine excitement in his eyes. Elijah licked his lips, anxious to hear this amazing news. Tia was still a little sceptical. "As you know, next week is the last week of school. After that you have three weeks of holidays. If you have plans for the first two weeks, I suggest you cancel them because you won't even be here!" he cried, extending his arms in jubilation.

"What?!" the captains yelled in unison, jumping out of their seats. The principal lowered his arms slowly.

"What do you mean 'what'? Are you not as excited as I am?" he asked, actually confused. Tia gaped at him, incredulous, mouth trying hard to work again.

"Can you please explain exactly what you mean by 'won't even be here' ... please?" she asked at last.

"Oh, uh, yes. Could you please just take your seats again?" he said, not looking very happy now. The pair sat back down. "Well, as part of our leadership program, we're sending you both on a trip with school captains in other schools for two weeks, over the holidays. It'll be leaders from schools around London. You'll be learning important leadership skills and communicating with fellow students, who are just like you," he explained.

Tia's eyes grew round as balls and Elijah spluttered, unable to form a coherent sentence.

"Wait...what?! You're sending us somewhere to meet other students like us over our holiday that is supposed to be a time of relaxation? That can't be fair!" Tia burst out.