Chapter 36
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"I was born in Cardiff," Jemima told Johnny the next morning as they walked into form room.
"Shocker," he replied, she raised an eyebrow.
"On the 12th February 2000," she continued, "when I was little I wanted to compete in some form of equestrian event at the Olympics. And win. Gold medal for Jemima Anderson of Great Britain."
She smiled sadly.
Johnny considered for a moment, "never really pictured you as a pony girl," he told her, "but you would suit the horse riding outfits."
"Thanks," Jemima replied. "Then once I won a gold medal, I wanted to retrain as a scientist. And win the Nobel prize."
"You weren't that ambitious as a child," he said laughing.
"Yeah," she agreed, "I find it disappointing that I had such low aims in life, I can do so much better than that."
"Jem, that was a joke," Johnny told her.
Before either teen could say more, their form tutor entered the room,
"good morning 9BD," she greeted them, "Johnny Taylor that isn't your seat, please can you return to your original place."
Johnny huffed, and pulled himself out of his seat and dragged himself to the other side of the classroom.
Xxx
"Happy Wednesday," Ari muttered, as she sat down next to Erin for their first lesson of double history.
Erin was doodling, Ari peered over the younger girl's shoulder.
She nearly slapped Erin when she saw what she was writing, over and over and over, again:
Mia Hope Walker
Mia Hope Walker
Mia Hope Barber-Walker
Mia Hope Barber
Mia Hope Walker
Her blood boiled, she clenched her fist, Erin couldn't use that name.
If Mia Hope Rosenberg didn't deserve to live, then Mia Hope Walker didn't deserve it either.
Arietta almost fucked herself when she realised what she was thinking.
Her bitterness and resentment, had pushed its way forward, and...
Oh my god, she thought, pressing her mouth into her hand, I actually thought that, oh my god, god. What sort of fucked up being would do that? She questioned silently.
In her mind she was condemning Erin and Rick's child to death, simply because they were going to get what she never would do.
"Arietta are you ok?" their history teacher asked,
"I feel sick," she told him, before rushing out of the classroom but she wasn't able to reach the bathroom.
Instead she vomited all over the corridor floor.
Xxx
Tyler wasn't in her art class, Tee sighed,
"Miss, I ain't got a partner," Bailey called, the teacher surveyed the classroom.
"Tee?" she asked,
"I don't have a partner either," Tee admitted.
"You two together," she declared, Bailey groaned outwardly, while Tee groaned inwardly.
The two year eights sat facing each other, they were drawing their partners.
Tee was irritated because she couldn't get the shape of Bailey's nose right, AND she was stuck on a table with Bailey who wasn't even speaking. Meanwhile everyone else in the class was chatting, laughing and getting in trouble.
"Good start Tee," the art teacher said, peering over Tee's shoulder, "maybe add some shading."
The art teacher carried on round the table, "Bailey!" she exclaimed, "that's brilliant."
"It's ok," Bailey said, shrugging off the compliment.
"Can I see?" Tee asked, Bailey ignored her.
One of the "cool" lads of the class swaggered over, "nice drawing mate," he said sarcastically, "not bad for a sissy."
"What did you call me?" Bailey yelled, jumping to his face and spinning round to face the boy.
"I called ya a Sissy, cos you are one," he replied.
While the two boys were busy getting in each other's faces. Another boy walked over to the table and very deliberately poured dirty paint water over the drawing.
"DOMINIC!" the teacher roared, "CALLUM! SILENCE ROOM NOW, AND DETENTION AFTER SCHOOL!"
Bailey spent the rest of the lesson doing nothing, just sitting at his desk, staring into space.
Well the bell signifying the start of break rang Bailey was out of the door, Tee finally went to look at the spoiled art work.
She stopped stunned, despite the water marks it was still amazing.
Bailey had made her beautiful.
Xxx
"Are you ok?" Sam asked, it was break time and Ari was wrapped in a blanket, looking scarily pale in the medical room.
Ari shook her head. Sam closed the door behind her and walked over to her best friend, she felt Ari's temperature.
"You don't feel hot," she commented,
"am I bad person?" Ari asked her, looking up at Sam, eyes wide.
"Ari..."
"I wanted to kill her," Arietta said cutting Sam off, "I wanted to wait until she was born, and lying in her cot, and then I wanted to smother her with a blanket."
She looked up at Sam, "then I wanted to take a knife from the kitchen, a long one, a long sharp one. Then I wanted to tie Erin up and stab her, like they stabbed me, in all the right places. So she would know how it felt. How it feels to have your baby murdered, and all possible babies killed alongside her."
"Would you..." Sam said shakily, "would you ever... do it?"
Arietta looked up, "I..." she paused, "I don't know. In that moment I would have done it, but the second after that, I hated that I could even consider putting someone through that, and I felt sick, because I had just imagined killing a baby and wounding the mother, and enjoyed it. Then I was sick. Now I hate myself."
Sam remained silent, if she hadn't known about Ari's past she would have walked out ages ago. But Arietta was her best friend...
"I'm just like those fuckers," Ari cried,
"No," Sam declared, her voice strong, "you would never do that," she spat the word out.
"I could have done that," Ari stuttered,
"no you couldn't have," Sam told her, "because I know you Arietta Rosenberg, and I know you are better than them, and those stupid thoughts. Which are nothing more than chemical reactions in your brain. You are strong, and you are a good person."
"Really?"
"Yes," Sam replied,
"promise," Ari asked,
"promise."
Xxx
"This is really good," Tee said, Bailey looked up from the football which he was kicking repetitively at the wall.
"What you doing here?" he asked,
"I came to talk to you," Tee told him.
Bailey didn't respond, just carried on kicking the ball.
"It was an amazing,"
"so...?" Bailey asked,
"I," Tee paused, "just wanted to say that."
"Ok," he replied,
"I'll go," Tee told him, he just carried on kicking the ball. She started walking away, then turned back. "Why did you make me so pretty?" she asked him.
Bailey caught the ball, and turned to her, "I just drew what I saw," he replied.
"You think I'm pretty?" Tee asked,
"he never said that," Jemima declared, springing out of a bush, "it was you who thought the drawing was pretty, Bailey drew what he saw. Irrelevant of whether he thinks you're pretty or now," she told Tee.
"Oh," Tee said, "ok."
"Right I'll be off," Jemima said, "no point staying out in this weather, it's 4 bloody degrees."
The welsh girl strode off into the distance, "yeah, I'll go inside," Tee told Bailey,
"ok," Bailey replied softly, and soon he was left alone in the cold.
Xxx
"Hey Robbie," the red head girl said, the teen guy sighed and pulled off his headphones.
"Yeah," he replied,
"do you know where Arietta is?" she asked,
"she was sick," he told her.
"Oh," the girl replied, "could you..." she trailed off, Robbie had put his headphones back on.
Xxx
"My Mum suffered from multiple mental illnesses when I was a child," Jemima told Johnny as she sat down at his table.
Johnny looked stunned at Jemima's bluntness, "she died two days after my 9th birthday, drank my science experiment," she paused, meeting Johnny's eyes, "bleach."
"Why can't we to do the bleach experiment?" Johnny asked,
"we're not doing the bleach experiment," Jemima replied immediately.
"Why not?"
"We're not doing the bleach experiment," she snapped, "now get me the Lithium Chloride, or fuck off."
Johnny didn't bother arguing, he just nodded and obeyed the Welsh Girl's wishes.
She was scary when she was angry and he had appeared to have hit a nerve.
Johnny looked stunned, "that's why you..."
"refused to study bleach," Jemima finished for him, "yes," she admitted.
"I'm sorry," he apologized,
"it's fine, I'm not a priority,"
"Jem," Johnny said reproachfully, "you are importa..."
"I know," she cut him off, "but my clients are my priority."
"Your clients!? Who?"
"You," she said, like it was obvious, "Arietta, Tee, Faith..."
"your friends?" he questioned,
"my clients," Jemima told him firmly.
"So am I your friend as well?" Johnny asked,
"I don't have friends," she told him, "I have clients. I used to have friends, now I have clients."
Xxx
The two girls sat in the medical room, Sam had her arms wrapped around Ari.
"I don't deserve this," Arietta said,
"well you have this anyway," Sam told her.
Ari stood up, and started pacing.
"Ari not going to help," Sam pointed, "Ari, Ari, Ari," she repeated, trying to get her friend's attention. "Arietta."
"What?" Ari asked, Sam stood up, walked over to the older girl and took her hands.
"Ari, something like this isn't going to change how I feel about you," Sam told her,
"how do you feel about me?" the Chinese girl questioned, eyes wide, staring at her best friend.
"I..." Sam was interrupted by a knock at the door.
The two girls jumped apart,
"come in," Ari called, the door opened and the red head entered.
"Sam?!" Lana stated surprised, "I didn't know you were together."
"We're not," the two girls replied together.
Lana smiled slightly, she took a step towards Arietta.
"I heard you were sick, are you ok?" she asked now, subtly touching Ari's hand, Sam frowned.
Ari said something in reply, Lana giggled, an annoying, cute, girly, but kind of attractive, giggle.
"Sam, could you give us a moment?" Lana asked, grinning.
Arietta paused looking torn.
"Oh god, I feel..." Ari sprinted out of the room to the toilet.
The bell to signal the end of break rang.
"You should go to class," Lana suggested, "I'll check Arietta is ok."
"No," Sam told her, "she's my best friend, you can tell Mr Durwood that I'll be late to geography."
"I..." Lana started,
"GO!" Sam commanded, voice strong, standing her full height. Lana scuttled away.
About 10 seconds later Ari walked out of the toilets,
"someone was getting territorial," Arietta pointed out, smirking.
"You're my best friend," Sam replied,
"it was hot," Ari told her.
"Were you sick?" Sam asked,
"you really think I felt sick?!" Ari exclaimed, laughing.
"Well I felt sick," the blonde said quietly.
"Maybe it was the gay germs," Arietta said, "maybe you'll be converted by them too."
Xxx
"What you doing?" Rick asked his girlfriend, Erin looked like a child caught with her hand inside the cookie jar. "Erin," he said, she passed him the piece of paper.
On it was a name, the same name with variations, written hundreds of time.
Mia Hope Walker.
"Has anyone seen Samantha Carter?" Mr Durwood asked, Lana said nothing. Immediately Sam walked in, "you better have a good excuse for being late Samantha."
"I was with Arietta Rosenberg in the medical room, didn't Lana Revol," Sam paused, putting emphasis on the name, "say anything?"
"I forgot," Lana replied, smiling sweetly.
Sam rolled her eyes, and walked over to her usual table where Erin and Rick were sat.
"What's that?" she asked peering at the paper.
Her stomach churned when she saw the writing; Mia Hope Walker.
"It must have taken ages to write all that," Sam said,
"I was doing it in history," Erin admitted.
Sam silently realised, that must have been the trigger for Ari.
"Ari's going to be picked up soon," she told them,
"I hope I don't get the bug off her," Erin replied.
"If she infects you," Rick said, "she'll regret it."
Xxx
"So, if I'm your client," Johnny stated, "what are you to me?"
"Welsh," Jemima replied.
Xxx
"Want to hang out tonight?" Tyler asked,
"sorry," Tee replied, "got loads of art homework and I think we've been barred from McDonalds."
Xxx
Jemima's phone vibrated, she pulled it out of her bag, reading the text, making sure the teacher wouldn't notice.
"Who is it?" Johnny asked,
"Melanie," Jemima replied,
"who?"
"The second person who fostered me," Jemima explained, "she had to look after her Dad, and no care home would take him, so she put me back into care. I'm seeing her this Saturday."
"You keep in contact with your ex-foster parents?" Johnny questioned,
"I lived with her till about a month ago," the Welsh girl pointed out,
"I forgot that you haven't been at the dumping ground for that long," Johnny said.
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" she asked.
"It seems like you've always been part of my life," Johnny told her.
"Jemima Anderson, Johnny Taylor do you have something you need to share with the class?" Mrs Wire, their chemistry teacher barked.
"Johnny was just saying that he feels ill," Jemima said, looking concerned.
"Oh ok, you can go," she replied, "the homework will be online."
The two teens departed the classroom, "what are we doing?" Johnny asked,
"Let's rob the school kitchens," Jemima told him.
Xxx
"What if the baby is a boy?" Rick asked,
"it's a girl," Erin told him, unthinkingly, "it's Mia."
"But what if it is a boy?"
"Rick, I am the mother. I know it is a girl."
Xxx
The two teens sneaked into the canteen,
"is this a good idea?" Johnny asked,
"of course," Jemima replied, then she paused, a great idea had struck her. "Could you fake a faint?" she asked him, he looked confused. "If you "faint" then you can collide with this trolley, making a huge noise. The dinner ladies are all stupid, they'll come running. I get into the kitchen, you pretend you felt faint and went to get a glass of water. Deal, ok go," Jemima told him.
"What now?" Johnny asked,
"of course," Jem replied.
Johnny prepared himself, then threw himself into the trolley.
As expected the dinner ladies came running.
And he had no idea how, but Jemima managed to get into the kitchen.
"Are you ok dear?" one lady asked,
"I felt dizzy," Johnny told her, "I was coming to get water."
"I'll get you a glass," one dinner lady said, she got up, went to open the kitchen door but she couldn't. "It's stuck,"
"not again!" another woman exclaimed, then tried, and another, and another.
It was stuck.
Because Jemima Anderson had locked it.
From the other side.
Xxx
The Welsh girl tiptoed into the kitchen.
She surveyed the area, making sure no dinner ladies were left.
She went over to the cookers, and started to pour grease over to work surfaces and floor.
Then she pulled out her tweezers, she went over to the place where the spare hairnets hung, she plucked a hair off the net and started positioning the hairs near the cooking.
She pulled on a pair of plastic gloves, went over to one of the fridges. She started to organize the food, to look as if the food storage could cause food poisoning.
Xxx
"We need to call the caretaker," one of the dinner ladies suggested
Xxx
Jemima emptied the contents of the bag into the brownie mix, then took an identical bag and hid in a nook behind one of the fridges.
She grabbed some of the salt for cooking, and poured an unhealthy amount into the cottage pie.
She went to kitchen door, unlocking it.
Then quickly she grabbed some cling film and laid it on the worktop, she put her first foot onto the cling film, wrapped the cling film onto her shoe so it stuck. Then opened the window with gloved hands, pulled her second foot onto the cling film.
She climbed out of the window, second foot first, then her first foot, which took the cling film with it.
She quickly binned the cling film, ran her fingers through her hair and went into the canteen.
"Johnny!" she exclaimed running into the room, "are you ok?"
"He collapsed," one of the dinner ladies said,
"I shouldn't have gone to the toilet," Jemima said, starting to (fake) fret, "I should have looked after you like Mrs Wire said. Have you had any water to drink?" she asked,
"no," another dinner lady said, "the door jammed."
"Can I try?" Jemima asked,
"it's a waste of time," however Jemima walked over to the door, turned the handle and it opened immediately.
"Oh," was all the dinner ladies said.
Xxx
"What's going on?"
"I'm fucking starving,"
"what is their fucking problem,"
"we have rights,"
"why is the kitchen closed?"
The hallway was crowded with about half the school, the canteen had been shut off, it was lunch and everyone was starving.
Then teachers started arriving.
"Assembly in the hall."
Xxx
The entirety of the school was crowded into the hall, "we have just had a surprise health and safety inspection," Miss Burton said, "and there have been major problems. Meaning that this school is being shut until further notice."
Johnny said nothing, he just looked at Jemima.
She was smiling.
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