Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter of this story by TVstarDTWKS, we were both really pleased that people enjoyed it :')
Well, now it's HedgieX writing this chapter, after hours of physics revision I'm kind of brain-dead, so I hope it's okay...
It took her until around lunchtime to clear up the mess.
When she'd finally crawled around under the desks retrieving scattered pens, she threw all of the screwed up balls of paper into the bin, then set about cleaning the graffiti from the cracked window.
Most of the paint washed away from the glass, but one message had been written in permanent red board marker. Go back to where you came from Miss B.
She sat down in the middle of the carpet, her hands wrinkly from the water she'd been using to wash the windows, and stared at the writing. She wondered why it bothered her so much. They were just kids, just mucking around.
"Nicki."
"Oh, hi," she jumped up. Her hair was tangled and her top was covered in paint. She suddenly felt self-conscious. "Are you alright?"
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?"
"If you like."
Tom moved towards her, "Why didn't you come and find me? I would've helped you clear up. Michael told me it was a right mess earlier."
"It's okay."
"But..."
She turned away so she didn't have to look at him. "It's fine. Honestly, it doesn't even matter. It gave me some peace and quiet, to think about things."
"Go back to where you came from, Miss B," Tom read. It seemed to bother him too, but for completely different reasons; he crossed his arms over his chest. "That sounds targeted, like they were meaning to upset you. Do you have any idea who did this?"
"No."
"Nicki..."
"I don't know, Tom," she snapped.
"Okay."
"Sorry."
"No, no. It's fine," he moved across to the window to stand beside her. She didn't move away this time, so slowly he raised a hand and touched her shoulder. "I'm sure it was just a joke, like you said. But we will find out who did this, Nicki. They won't get away with it, I promise you."
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, "Thanks, Tom."
"It's okay. Any time. Are you coming down for lunch, anyway? If we hurry up, there might be some chips left over."
"Oh, yeah, it's chip day."
"I thought I was the only person who got excited about the food here. The kids certainly don't," Tom joked, glad to see a smile on her face, "So, are you a curry sauce kind of girl, or perhaps gravy drizzled over the chips?"
She took her jacket from the back of her chair, and zipped it up to cover the paint. Tom stayed looking out of the window until she'd finished brushing her hair and re-applying her make up, then they both stepped outside.
Nicki locked the door to her classroom and turned to look at Tom, her expression completely neutral. "No. I don't have anything with them. I'm plain like that."
She walked away, leaving Tom to follow. He shook his head, wondering what was so wrong with wanting baked beans on top of your chips.
XxXxX
"I think someone in this room already knows what I'm going to say now," Michael told his students sternly, standing on the stage and peering down at the hundreds of faces staring up at him, "This morning, Miss Boston's classroom was broken into by someone, and a lot of damage was caused."
There were a few gasps and a few smirks. Everyone began to talk at once, shouting down the rows to each other.
"Silence," the head teacher screamed, "This is criminal damage. It isn't a joke, it's hurtful and it's dangerous, and you could be prosecuted for it. So if anyone here has anything to do with it, or knows anything, I want you to come to my office before tomorrow morning and tell me."
"The punishment will be much greater if no-one confesses," Tom continued, standing next to Michael, "Either way, we will find out who it was eventually."
Tom watched Nicki at the back of the hall; she was leaning against the wall, looking pale and upset. Well, he supposed he'd be upset if someone had broken into his classroom.
But she'd barely talked at lunch, and just picked at her chips, even without beans or gravy or curry sauce. When he'd offered her a chocolate biscuit, she'd looked as though she was going to be sick all over him. He wondered what was really going on, and why she didn't trust him enough to tell the truth.
Michael clapped his hands, "Right, thank you. You can all go."
The children stood up and began to file out of the room. Everyone was staring at Nicki as they passed her. Shona and Rhona moved towards her with concern etched on their faces, but she turned away, and they shrugged and followed their class from the room. They couldn't help if she wouldn't let them.
"Is something going on with Nicki that you know about, Tom?" Michael asked.
"No," he shrugged, "Why?"
"She seems... she seems upset."
"I would be upset if someone ruined my classroom."
"Yeah, but..."
Tom shook his head. He didn't want to talk to Michael about Nicki – he felt as though he was betraying her when she was already vulnerable. "I'll talk to her; I'll go back to the staff room now and make her a coffee. She'll be fine – don't worry."
"Okay," Michael said.
They both stepped towards the stairs. Just as they reached the bottom, they heard a scream, and looked up to see all of the students in the room moving to the edge of the hall. Kyle and his gang were running across the hall, pushing everyone out of the way, waving things in the air above their heads. Nicki was running after them, her eyes filled with tears, trying to stop them.
"Nicki?" Tom gasped.
"Tom, they've got..." she began, her voice trailing off as she disappeared past them and rushed out of the hall into the corridor. She left behind her a shocked silence. Tom and Michael exchanged glances.
Tom didn't understand what was going on. But he knew certain things: a) Nicki had lied to them when she'd said nothing had been taken from her room. b) The things that had been stolen really mattered to her. c) The culprits were Kyle and his gang.
"I take it all back," he muttered, "You should be very, very worried right now."
"Mm," Michael sighed, "My thoughts exactly."
XxXxX
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