I don't like this chapter so much, it was difficult to write. Oh well. Enjoy.
Five days later, Annabelle was stood at Heathrow airport, a thick coat drawn around her figure, shivering slightly from the cold outside and the anticipation inside. The snow had stopped falling days ago, but the temperature still sat just below zero, making it clear to everyone that winter had well and truly set in, and would not be releasing it's icy grip for a while now. She tapped the toe of her boot against the hard floor of the airport's WH Smith's, eyes flickering between drifting across the pages of the magazine she was holding, and impatiently scanning the screen detailing roughly when each flight would be coming in. Kelly had been in the air for just under four hours, so if there were no delays the plane would land within ten minutes. Laying a gloved hand across her stomach, she willed the butterflies swarming there to settle down. She was annoyingly aware of how nervous she was, but unable to think of a good reason why she should be. Driving up to the school for her first day was a good reason to be nervous. So was the night before the Vermeer heist, or her first day as Head Girl. Greeting an old friend was not, even if that friend was Kelly Jones.
"Excuse me…?" A nervous voice at her shoulder tore her attention away from the flight schedule. A slight, pale-looking woman stood behind her, knitting her fingers together anxiously.
"Yes?"
"Do you think you could, uh… your friends… well…" She raised a hand and pointed out to the entrance to the store. Tania and Tara, who had tagged along for the trip, were having a full-blown hockey stick fight, clattering the wooden, makeshift weapons together with fierce cries of "En Garde!" People dodged and ducked to avoid their wildly flailing limbs, giving both them and Annabelle accusing glares. Sighing, she strutted over to them and calmly walked between the two poised sticks, throwing them daring looks. The twins glanced at eachother, then dropped their 'weapons' down to their sides, "Sorry, Annabelle." They apologized in unison "We were just having some fun."
Annabelle had to try and hide her smile from the adorable sisters. They had not changed much from their First Year days, although they had grown considerably, and long, curled locks replaced their infantile plaits, with Tara slowly emerging as the more dominant of the two. The other students noted how truly intimidating the thought of First Years in much bigger bodies was, but although the Twins most certainly ruled the dorm- surpassed in authority only by Roxy- Annabelle knew they were both huge softies at heart. They had remained her friends over the years and were two of the few students who she permitted to call her informally around the school, instead of the 'Miss Annabelle' she was most frequently called (as to not be confused with Miss Fritton). The duo had jumped at the chance to get out of the school and see Kelly again; they had been among her most avid admirers when she was Head Girl.
"It's ok, girls, I just don't want to get thrown out before Kelly gets here" She smiled, "Try and keep the mayhem to a low for a while"
They pouted and nodded, and then Tania spoke up, "Say, Annabelle?"
"Hmm?"
"When Kelly gets here…. how are we supposed to see her?" She asked, eyes wide.
"Well, Tania, we use our eyes and look over at that door over-" She cut off as she turned to look at the arrivals door, and her jaw dropped. "…Buggeration"
During her intervention in the Twin's 'game', a flight had apparently come in and now people were swarming everywhere, luggage dragging along behind them, crashing into other people as they went, twisting and turning like it was some giant obstacle course.
Tania grabbed hold or Tara's arm, "Dear lord, I've never seen so many rushing, annoyed people in one place!"
"Well, of course, you don't look behind you when people are chasing you for stealing things, do you?" Tara mused sarcastically.
"Is this Kelly's flight?" Annabelle glanced around urgently. She pulled a tall gentleman in a business suit to a stop roughly, "Excuse me, did you fly in from Moscow?"
"Uh, yes" He growled, "Watch the suit, will you?" He stalked off and Annabelle threw his back an 'I don't care, I'm a St Trinian' sort of look. Turning to the twins, she said, "Go see if you can find her!" They nodded in perfect unison and took off into the crowds, calling out Kelly's name over the ruckus.
Left alone, Annabelle tried desperately to pick out Kelly's distinctive looks among the throngs of people around her. Once or twice she thought she saw a black bob or a flash of lipstick, but after straining her eyes harder it had turned out to be someone else. She was beginning to get frustrated, wondering if the line of arrivals would ever end, when she felt arms slip around her waist and pull her backwards, and soft words in her ear,
"Hello again, stranger"
It was the tone of voice that she would recognise anywhere. Giving a laugh of joy, she turned slowly on her heels until she came face-to-face, for the first time in over a year, with the one person she missed so desperately from her life.
"It's you… Kelly" She grinned, pulling the older girl into an embrace.
"Last time I checked," Kelly smiled, and then took a step back, "Look at you, all grown up! If someone had told me that posh little new girl was going to turn out like this, I may not have tormented you so much."
Annabelle looked over her old friend with brown eyes; Kelly's hair was now slightly longer and a little unkempt, (in a terribly sexy way) falling just above her shoulders. Her lipstick was still unerringly in place on her full lips, her lashes and eyes still dark and full of mystery. She wore a smart black coat and, despite the weather, a short black denim skirt with black leggings underneath. Annabelle tried to cover up the blush creeping over her face by shaking her curls over her face, "And then I wouldn't have embarrassed myself so much, running around naked for your amusement"
"Tradition is tradition" She smirked.
"So, what happened when they subjected you to those pranks?" Annabelle questioned, suddenly curious.
"That's a story for another time" Kelly laughed, "When there are less people around!"
After being reunited with the Twins, who had greeted Kelly with huge gusto, almost knocking the well-built spy off her feet, the group had left the airport, gossiping and laughing all the way to the car park. Annabelle fished in her pocket for her car keys and halted beside a sleek, black jaguar. With a swift press of the button on the keys, she unlocked it and opened the boot, motioning to Kelly. The twins excitedly clamoured into the back seats while she helped Kelly load her surprisingly small amount of luggage, then made her way to the driver's seat. Kelly ran her fingers down the side of the car, eyebrows raised,
"Nice ride!" She purred. Annabelle tilted her head and gave the Twins a sly wink; she was not stupid enough to pick Kelly up in her pathetic, 'first-time-buyer' Suzuki swift, and had instead pleaded with Geoffrey to let her borrow his posh car using the usual methods (The begging, the puppy dog eyes, the blackmail…) Feeling confident with the compliment, she turned the key in the ignition,
"Ready for your big reunion?"
The cheers that had rung out when Kelly had walked into the main hall were tremendous. Teachers and pupils alike ran over to greet their former leader, smiling and hugging and tugging at her clothes, asking excited questions and just generally enjoying being in the company of an old friend. Annabelle couldn't help but notice, however, how the younger years, First Years in particular, hung back nervously, with confusion plastered over their features, and it suddenly occurred to Annabelle that the legacy that Kelly had weaved was gradually being lost with the generations. It was bound to happen; after all, there were probably amazing former students she would never know about. But somewhere in her stomach she felt a pang at the thought of Kelly being forgotten to the girls of St Trinian's. She smiled softly and brought her fingers to her lips, and blew out a sharp, piercing whistle. The girls stopped their chatter and turned to look at her curiously,
"I can see…" She started, "That some of you are a little confused. Let me tell you a story" She gave Kelly a sideways look, seeing her stifling a giggle, "Of a time when a certain St Trinian's girl stole a priceless painting from London"
The girls had crowded around her, listening intently as Annabelle cleared her throat and began to tell the story of the Vermeer heist. Kelly laughed and threw her head back as Annabelle over-dramatised the trek through the sewers, the wire act over the audience of school challenge, and particularly her own victory over the evil overlord Verity Thwaites. The First Years looked at Kelly and, to Annabelle's delight, even her, with a newfound respect, eyes wide with awe,
"And that's why, girls, St Trinian's is the best comp in Britain!" Kelly finished, raising a fist into the air.
"I may disagree…" Geoffrey sighed, "But I doubt anyone here would give a damn." Everyone burst into joyous laughter, and the group spent the rest of the evening sharing stories of dangerous heists of the past, risky pranks pulled by individuals, and ideas for future mayhem. Annabelle sat against Kelly's side, half-listening to Miss Fritton recount a tale her great-aunt had passed down to her of a war between the sixth formers and the younger years as they bet on different horses in a famous race in a bid to save the school from debt. The cosy warmth made her feel sleepy, but she sourly resisted the temptation to snuggle against Kelly, telling herself that she was just tired and probably would've wanted to lean against Verity, had she been sitting there. And… Wasn't that a repulsive thought? No, in fact, she didn't want to come within a mile of Verity ever again unless she was well armed… and had Kelly somewhere nearby…
Matron gave a stretch, spilling the last drop of her cocktail on the floor, "Time to get the young 'uns off to bed, 'Milla" She whispered softly, nodding to the younger girls who snoozed on the hall floor.
"All of them" Kelly spoke gently, brushing Annabelle's hair off her sleeping face and stifling a yawn. The younger girl had succumbed to slumber barely ten minutes ago, crashing out against Kelly's shoulder.
"That includes you, Kelly." Camilla smiled kindly, "Travelling all day, you should catch up on sleep."
"Sleep?" Kelly tilted her head to the side in mock confusion, "Oh, I remember sleep. I should really try that again."
"Do you need a lift to your hotel?"
"I was going to call a Taxi…"
"Oh, nonsense, no Taxi will come anywhere near this place. Past experiences, you know."
A smile, "Thank you, Miss Fritton."
"Help me carry Anna-bella to the car, dearie? I'm afraid my poor old back's not quite up to it" She groaned, pulling herself upright.
"We could just wake her" Kelly smiled, and the aging headmistress laughed quietly,
"Ah yes, it's hard not to think of her of anything but a child, sometimes. I suppose she'd be quite offended by that. Well, in your own time, dear. I'll start the engine up."
Kelly smiled her thanks once more, and then tapped Annabelle's cheek softly with her fingertips, "Annabelle… Time to go home…" She whispered softly. Annabelle shifted slightly in her sleep and smiled, but remained within its clutches.
"Ah, to hell with this." Kelly sighed, knowing she couldn't make herself wake her when she looked so content. She pulled Annabelle towards her, stood up slowly and made her way towards the foyer, carrying the proud, but now seemingly vulnerable, 19-year-old in her arms, thinking what a funny sight they made. As she made her way outside, Miss Fritton looked over questionably,
"She wouldn't wake up, the lazy teacher" Kelly answered her wordless question with a lie, grinning sheepishly.
All the while, Annabelle slept on, blissfully unaware.
Thankyou so much everyone for your reviews!
I'd also like to specially thank Cardboards for being a 'dearie' and beta'ing this story for me :D It helped a lot, so thanks a bunch!