It was unusual for silence to fall upon St Trinian's. On any normal day, classes would be rowdy, free periods more so, and you could always count on the first years to be in the thick of some madcap scheme involving smoke clouds, funny smells, or deafening explosions. It was very unusual indeed for silence to fall upon the school.
That day, there were no classes. Every girl and teacher was congregated on the grass beside the fountain. The only sounds puncturing the meeting were the occasional sniffles from younger students. Kelly Jones stepped forward, to the edge of the grave. She had been dreading this moment; the moment she would have to find the words to make the world right again. The fact is, there was no making it right. A horrific accident had claimed the life of one of their own.
Drake's parents had been expecting a boy, but the name had stuck when their daughter popped out into the world. She had been a miracle, conceived by accident, both parents believing they were infertile. They had loved her fiercely until a drunk driver ended their lives when Drake was four.
Her life hadn't been easy after that, but she'd never allowed her spirit to be broken. She smiled beautifully and laughed loudly in spite of the string of tragedies her life had been before St Trinian's. She'd never talked about it; she never wanted to dwell on a painful history. She had been all about making new, happy memories. And now here she was, under six feet of dirt in a wooden box. The final tragedy.
Kelly felt disconnected as she spoke about Drake. She was barely aware of herself standing there. She knew her mouth was moving but couldn't feel it. She heard as though the sound was coming from the opposite end of a long tunnel. Quiet, with a hint of an echo. She was only vaguely aware of the words she was saying, all eyes fixed on her. Almost all eyes.
Andrea didn't want to look at Kelly. She was angry. She knew it wasn't fair, it wasn't Kelly's fault Drake was dead. It wasn't Kelly's fault there were no words that could bring her back. Somebody had to try to help everyone through this, and Kelly as head girl had stepped up. But that didn't change the fact that Andrea was angry, and she needed to blame somebody.