"Kelly?" Her mother's head appeared round the hospital curtain, "oh, darling. Look at you."
Kelly glanced down at herself; she did make a rather pitiful sight. Her leg was plastered and hung mid air from the ceiling, her arm was wrapped in a sling and an ice pack was tied over one swollen eye.
Still she grinned ruefully at her mother, "hi, Mum."
"I thought I told you to keep your head down." Despite her words, her mother pressed two cool hands either side of her face and tilted her head up. She placed a soft kiss upon her daughter's forehead. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"
"No."
"Kelly..."
"No."
"Really Kelly, don't be ridiculous."
"Would it make any difference Mum?"
For a moment mother and daughter locked gazes. Kelly's was steely. "Fine. But, you are not going back to that school. Safe learning environment my arse!" Her daughter chuckled; she always did when her Mothers carefully hidden cockney accent snuck through her perfect diction. It happened on the rare occasion that she was angry, or frequently less rarely, drunk.
Kelly however had no such qualms about her own cockney tinted brogue. "So where are you going you ship me off to then?"
"Darling I do not ship you off! If I could, I'd keep you at home I would in a heartbeat."
Kelly waved her healthy hand impatiently, "it was a joke Mum."
"Not a very funny one dear." Her mother shook her head softly, sigh falling from her lips. "Your Uncle seems to know of a school, mentioned it to me on the phone just now."
"What is it like?"
"A bit unconventional from what I hear. But then maybe unconventional is just what you need."
Kelly hummed thoughtfully, unsure whether she should be insulted. "What's it called?"
"St. Trinian's."