Chapter Twenty-Nine
Later that night after the conversation with her mother a lot of noise could be heard in the hall. Mildred and her friends were in there talking and playing card games. There was Mildred, Maud, Enid, Ruby, Jadu, Fenella, Griselda, Merlin and Charlie. As they were playing she saw Sybil in the corridor and jumped up.
"I will be back in a minute guys" she said as she walked out of the room.
"Sybil" she said calling the younger girls name.
"Oh hi Mildred I am glad I caught you, I wanted to apologise on behalf of my sister" Sybil said.
"Oh you don't have to do that it wasn't your fault" Mildred replied not seeing why the girl should say sorry.
"Yes well you won't get one of her so, I am sorry she is so evil"
"Oh Sybil if anyone should be sorry it is me" she said remembering what her mum had said.
"What for?" the girl asked
"I haven't being very nice to you" Mildred said
"I am an Hallow, I don't expect you to be" the girl replied with an smile showing she accepted it.
"No I was wrong, I shouldn't judge you for your sisters actions, I was judged for my mum being Miss Hardbroom and it felt awful, I really am sorry for judging you without knowing you" Mildred replied.
"Don't worry about it Mildred it's fine" the girl smiled "Well I guess I better go finish my work she said as she began walking away. Mildred looked at the girl then at her friends laughing in the hall.
"Sybil" she said as the girl turned back around. "Where is Clarice today?" she asked
"Oh she has come down with this horrible bug, I have been keeping an eye on her and going to see her but she is contiguous so I can't go to much, but that's alright I don't mind being by myself" she said.
"Why don't you come hang with us for a bit" she said pointing to her friends. Her loyalty to her friend was causing Mildred to like the girl already.
"Really...I don't know they don't really like me" the girl said shyly.
"They hardly know you come on I don't want you to be alone all day I want to make it up to you come on she said pulling on the girls arm before she could protest again. Mildred walked back into the room with the younger girl and smiled at her friends.
"Sybil is joining us" she said. She waited for the bad reactions she would get but she was in for an surprise.
Enid and Jadu looked at each other shrugged then everyone carried on talking not seeming bothered or annoyed at the idea. Mildred smiled.
"This is Merlin" she said introducing the first boy with glasses. "And that weirdo there is Charlie" she said with an laugh as he protested and Sybil took an seat between Mildred and Charlie.
"I am not weird" he said as he handed out cards to the new arrival.
"Well you are not normal" Merlin said with a smile at his friend.
They played quite a few games of uno which was rather hard with such an big group but Sybil won again for the fifth time in an row everyone moaned.
"How are you so good at this?" Maud asked
"My sisters and I used to play all the time at home" Sybil replied.
"I have always wondered..how many sisters do you have?" Ruby asked
"5" she said clearly.
As she said it Enid had been taking a drink of water at her reply the shock caused the girl to spit her drink out everywhere.
"Eww" Maud said who was next to her and who had got sprayed slightly by the water.
"Sorry...I just didn't expect that answer is all" she said
"I am so sorry you have to live with five Ethel's" Fenella said
"Oh no there is only one Ethel the rest are quite nice" she replied.
"What are their names?" Griselda asked
"Esmeralda, Ethel I think you all know her, then there is me, then Sindella,, Mystic and then Mona" she replied.
"Who was the first one again, I got lost" Jadu said as the rest of them also looked confused.
"It doesn't matter" Sybil laughed.
"I always wanted a sister you know" Jadu replied
"You can have Ethel if you want" Sybil replied
"Eww no I said an sister not an monster" she said as everyone laughed including Sybil. She was starting to open up more and her personaltity was coming through.
"Do you like cackles better now you don't seem to cry as much" Mildred asked
"Well now I know you lot are not going to bully me, yes I really like Cackles" Sybil said.
"Us bully? The only person we are mean to is Ethel as she deserves it, as for Mildred she couldn't bully an egg" Enid said as everyone looked confused for an second at her expression.
"I kind of feel bad for Ethel even though she deserves it" Mildred admitted
"See this is Mildred for you, she worries about everyone even horrible people" Merlin replied. "She is to nice for her own good"
An while later it was getting late, Merlin had already gone and then Mr Blossom came to tell Charlie they had to go home too.
"Coming granddad" he said as he got up to leave hugging his friends including his new friend Sybil who Fenella and Griselda noticed he hugged for longer.
"Bye girls,Bye Sybil" he said with a smile
"Bye" everyone said as they waved.
"Bye Charlie" Sybil said with a smile as he walked towards the door and left. Then Enid snorted loudly.
"What is so funny?" the younger girl asked
"You, you were totally just flirting with him" Enid said with a laugh
"I was not" the younger girl said
"Sybil likes Charlie, Sybil likes Charlie" Ruby said with a smile
"I do not like Charlie" Sybil said with a smile.
"Yes well the smile says it all" Maud said.
"Oi you lot leave her alone, just because she is in love does not mean you should tease her for it" Gris said with an smirk.
"I am not in love" the younger girl said.
"Ok whatever you say" Mildred said with an smile at the girl. She was glad the girl could take an joke unlike her sister.
There girls stayed like that for an while longer laughing and joking until it got really late and they went up to bed. Mildred smiled it had being an good evening and best of all she had made an new friend. She really liked Sybil and all bad thoughts of her being the same as her sister had gone. Her friends had liked the girl too and it seemed like the beginning of an new friendship. Mildred didn't realise it at the time but her become friends with Sybil was taking away another thing from Ethel, another thing that was slowly destroying the girl.
