Chapter seven eh … this one was a bit longer then I had thought it would be…but still important none the less. We've seen what's happening with Billy and Mandy. And we have also seen the Emergency service men … but what about Victor Lazlo and the rest of the school.

Let's find out.

Chapter Seven

Full Grown Gossip

-Seven thirty-

Victor closed the cafeteria doors behind him, joining the hustle and loud noise of a school full of students in one room. He leant against the doors and shoved his hand into his hair; he was so frustrated and worried. He had left Grim marching up and down the corridor, trying to call his boss, but he had no luck thus far. He threw of his thick jacket and gloves as he realised how warm it was in here. Victor looked up at the students who were making a right mess and having fun, running around and chasing each other with the pillows that the emergency servicemen had provided. The students weren't wearing the thick clothing they came to school in anymore, they were back to just their normal school uniform. The tables had been pushed to the sides and there were thin mattresses set up in the middle. Victor walked over to one of the tables and sat down on the edge of it. He sighed as a group of girls that had been sitting in the middle on their mattresses saw him and quickly shot up and walked over to him in a group. His headache multiplied as the group of about ten students all asked him questions at once.

'Stop!' he yelled. The crowd went silent and watched him, waiting for his next words. He took a breath and finally continued

'One at a time kids.'

The questions came one at a time, but they were still said by random people.

'Is it true that this storm is never going to end?' one girl asked.

'Is it true that some of the school collapsed?' another girl quickly added.

'Will we ever get out of here?' another girl asked. Victor smiled at the concerned students and pointed to each student as he answered there questions.

'No, sort of, and yes' he answered. The students looked on at him and slowly nodded. Victor smiled at the little kids, He loved being a teacher. Then another question was thrown at him by someone he didn't see at first.

'What about Billy and Mandy?' a sweet girl asked. 'People are saying that they're trapped somewhere.'

The group all nodded and Victor's senses shot up. He went to tell the students a white lie, but his conscious caught him before he could, and all that came out was a deep exhale. He had never liked lying to his students; something about lying to something so innocent just didn't feel right to him. This fault had turned against him before and it was only going to do it again. He looked up at his students and gestured to the tables around him.

'Take a seat kids,' he said. The group reacted quickly and sat on the tables around him, the girl who asked the question sitting next to Victor. He took a deep breath and began.

'What I'm about to tell you … well, I would rather you not go around telling everyone in here.'

The students nodded but Victor new better. This was a middle school, and five minutes from now everyone and their mum's would know … but he felt they needed to know.

'Billy and Mandy …' he couldn't piece the words right, 'to answer your question from before, the roof of the gymnasium has partially collapsed … and Billy and Mandy, were in there when it happened.' He felt guilty as the group gasped softly. He straightened his suit and continued.

'Now don't worry, we have lots of emergency servicemen out there that are fully trained to handle these situations and we should have Mandy and Billy out before you know there even gone,' he said in a very gentle voice. The truth was he didn't know how close they were to getting them out; he hadn't had time to check. He had been to busy managing calls from concerned and angry parents.

'Well,' one of the girls began, 'I guess a couple needs some time alone with each other now and then.'

Victor looked at the girl in a confused way as another student interrupted.

'Actually there not a couple,' they said.

'What, really … but I thought they were going to the dance together?'

'They are,' another person piped in.

'Well doesn't that make them a couple?' admitted another.

'You would think so, but apparently not,' the original girl finished. Victor looked on in confusion, what were they talking about. Victor thought that they didn't even know each other. He looked at the girl and asked her.

'Wait a second, what is the story between Billy and Mandy?' he asked, knowing that he would get a wave of chatter and information.

'Well,' one of the center girls said. She took a deep breath and said the whole unbroken sentence in one quick breath. 'Billy and Mandy have been friends for ages and I thought they were together, well actually everyone thought they were, but anyway, when we found out that they were going to the dance together we started to ask questions. Billy and Mandy both deny that they like each other but it's painfully obvious that they do. I mean, they're always hanging around with each other and Mandy's always protecting him and I heard she even rejected Irwin back when they were in primary school just so she and Billy could be together.' The girl suddenly stopped and looked at the Headmaster, not short of breath at all. Victor just looked at her with wide eyes.

"How can she still be standing after that," he thought as he sat there in shock. He slowly opened his mouth and managed stutter out a few words.

'Uh-uh huh' he managed to say. He had gained all the information he needed to know about Billy and Mandy in turbo.

'So … they're kind of close then?' Victor asked, feeling kind of weird talking gossip with a bunch of kids.

'Are you kidding?' a girl burst out. 'Mandy hates it when Billy talks to another girl, and Billy feels about the same when Mandy talks to other boy's.'

Victor nodded as he slowly massaged his chin, feeling his five o'clock shadow.

"So they're close … does this make things better…or worse?" he thought as he looked at the ceiling lights. He looked at the group of girls who were staring at him, waiting for him to say something. He took in a breath and smiled warmly at them.

'So tell me then, what would you have all worn to the dance tonight?' he asked, taking their minds off the matter at hand. He listened on as the girls took turns explaining every little detail about the dance. What they would have worn, who they would have gone with, when they would have danced and to what song. They had the whole night planned and it made Victor glad that he was already married and didn't have to deal with the dating scene. But even with his caring glance at the students, he couldn't help but let his mind wonder back to Billy and Mandy.

"Good thing…or bad thing…"

So that's their situation … pretty laid back, while Billy and Mandy are suffering and freezing. And that's typical Victor Lazlo, always investigating. So now you know what's going on there. Why don't we return to the real story … in the next chapter