Once Sjin and Sips were out of sight, Lewis scowled. "Okay, Teep! I am trying my best to learn, which is more than what this miserable lot are doing!" Teep nodded in agreement as Ross looked at him sheepishly.
"Sorry mate, I'm not good with languages... Not even English!" He joked, causing another wave of laughter to emit from the group. Noticing Echo again, Teep stood up and held out a hand to her, titling his head questioningly.
"Echo." She smiled at Teep as he nodded, motioning to her and Kim and signing something. When Kim and Echo looked at him in confusion, he glanced back at Lewis, who was having a deep conversation with Duncan. Teep sighed and motioned for pen and paper. Echo reached into her bag and drew out a pen and her notepad, turning it to a blank page before handing it to Teep, who squashed himself in-between them and began writing.
Are you two related? You look like Kim.
"We're cousins actually; Echo just started today. We just had form." Kim replied, a slight hint of exasperation to her voice. Teep looked thoughtful for a moment.
I assume you're sitting with Duncan and the others? If you want to work, stay with Duncan and Kim; if not, sit with Hat Films.
Echo laughed whilst Kim smiled. "Actually Teep... Um..." Kim trailed off uncertainly as Teep looked at Echo questioningly.
"I'm sitting next to Rythian." Echo admitted. Teep immediately froze, the pen in his hand hovering above the paper. He seemed incredibly torn as Echo looked at Kim in confusion.
"Teep and Zoey were Rythian's main friends...Duncan was more his work best friend..." Kim said as Teep nodded slowly, looking sad. He began to write on the paper again.
Did he talk to you?
"Yes. Well, no, not verbally, we kind of just passed notes..." Echo said uncertainly as Kim and Teep looked at her curiously. "We just passed notes to each other. Here..." Echo turned back a page to reveal her and Rythian's conversation. Immediately Teep and Kim huddled over, scanning it quickly. Once they had finished, Teep turned over the page back to where he had been writing.
Have you shown this to anyone else?
Echo shook her head. "No, I was going to now." She watched as Teep and Kim exchanged glances.
"Echo, can you please do us a favour? Don't say tell the others Rythian was writing anything. Just say you talked and mentioned me a bit and being 'seriously misled', please?" Kim looked at Echo desperately as Echo frowned.
"Why? I thought we were all in this?" She asked stubbornly, Kim looking as if she was about to reply. Teep motioned towards them and showed the notepad.
Kim, Simon and I are the only ones who believe Rythian is innocent. Hannah and Ross are unsure but the rest are definitely certain of it. We want to gather evidence FOR Rythian, but the others are purposely looking for evidence AGAINST Rythian. We could really do with those pieces of paper being kept between us. Otherwise anything Rythian says can be misinterpreted... Such as being "seriously misled". I'm surprised he said so much to you in the first place in all honesty. He hasn't talked to anyone for months.
Echo frowned but nodded to them as they both sighed in relief. She really hated secrets though... Especially from her potential new friends.
"What are you all gossiping about over there, hm?" Alex looked up at the three of them as Teep subtly handed back Echo's notepad to her. Kim gave a convincing smirk.
"Teep was just advising Echo if she actually wants to get work done this year, she stays away from you lot!" Alex mimed being shot in the heart, falling backwards onto Ross who yelped as he turned around, glaring at Alex.
"Twat." He muttered savagely, elbowing him hard in the ribs as Kim laughed. Echo was lost in thought though. Surely Alex wouldn't think of Rythian badly...
"So Echo. What's the latest on Mr Murder?" Alex asked, smiling teasingly at her. Echo looked at him, astonished.
"What...?" She began as Ross whacked Alex on the back of the head with his rucksack, causing Alex to omit a cry of pain.
"What the idiot over here means was did you talk to Rythian?" Ross asked gently, casting a concerned look over at Teep and Kim, who nodded in thanks to defending Rythian,
Lewis and Duncan broke off from their conversation at Rythian's name as they looked between Ross and Alex and Teep, Echo and Kim. "Did we miss anything?" Duncan asked quickly as he spun around to face them, Lewis following suit. Echo heard Kim sigh quietly, but sadly, and realised that what she had said about the others was true. She didn't want to but... Maybe she could lie for now.
"Well, I spoke to him and he seemed reasonably alright. Mentioned Kim a lot for some reason and that you guys were "seriously misled" but that you were also nice people. That's it really." Echo smiled as convincingly as she could, managing a small grin. Duncan looked at Lewis.
"So now he's mocking us. We're 'seriously misled' now. Why can't he just come out with it and say he's guilty?!" Duncan raged, pulling his hair between his hands. Lewis narrowed his eyes.
"Maybe it is him saying he's innocent? You know, we're not thinking of it properly..." Ross suggested, not noticing Kim looking at him fondly.
"Yeah, but being misled suggests that someone has misled us, not that what we think is wrong." Alex pointed out, Lewis nodding.
"I actually don't care at this point. He has to be guilty. He's not talking to any of us, not even Zoey..." Duncan began before a voice emerged from behind the sofa.
"Oh, is someone talking about me?" Everyone turned to see a small student in a smart suit, looking completely normal apart from the bright red hair and mushroom earrings she had on. She smiled happily at everyone before she noticed Echo.
"Wow, we have a new addition to the group, I am so rude, I am so sorry for ignoring you, sorry...um... I don't know your name! I'm so bad with new people..." Zoey waved her arms around her, looking desperately for help. Duncan spoke up.
"Zoey, relax. This is Echo, Kim's cousin. She is very nice and she is not offended by you, alright?" Duncan said gently, Echo looking at him in surprise at the level of softness in his voice. Zoey smiled at him before turning back to Echo, panic in her eyes.
Echo smiled at her, trying to mimic the level of kindness in her voice that Duncan had had in his. "Hi, I'm Echo. It's very nice to meet you; I love your earrings!" Echo added as an afterthought in an attempt to relax her. Zoey's eyes light up happily as she bounced over next to Ross, smiling, as everyone else looked at Echo approvingly.
"Really? I love mushrooms, do you like mushrooms? Teep and I love mushrooms!" She said happily as Teep signed back to her in response. Zoey frowned.
"What do you mean 'Lewis is an idiot'?" She asked in bewilderment as everyone but Lewis burst out laughing as Teep continued to sign, Zoey laughing moments later.
"Well, at least he's trying Teep!" She said sternly as Teep looked at her depressingly as he continued to sign. Lewis spoke up sulkily.
"Just because I didn't understand the word 'headteacher' doesn't mean I can't tell when you're being rude to me!" Lewis pointed out as Teep stopped mid-sign, hesitating and smiling innocently. Zoey tutted at them.
"I told you, the pair of you need to practise together more often, you only learn so much from that extra class!" She glared at the pair of them before nodding to herself. "Room eighteen is free all lunch, Simon took the Diggy Diggy Hole Club outside for today's session; go in there and practise. Now." She looked at the both, glaring sternly at the pair of them. Teep looked at Echo and Kim reluctantly.
"Don't worry Teep, we'll let you know what they say about you!" Kim said innocently as Teep subtly winked and walked off, Lewis following afterwards. However, Echo noticed as soon as they reached the double doors, Lewis and Teep nodded to each other before heading off in opposite directions. Luckily, Zoey failed to notice.
"So, why were people talking about me?" Zoey asked sweetly as Ross and Alex started a conversation among themselves.
"Well, actually we were just talking to Echo; she is sitting next to Rythian in class and we were talking about you, Teep and him." Kim looked at Zoey directly as Duncan looked at the floor. Echo noticed with growing interest how Zoey's emotions conflicted for a moment.
"Oh. Right. He didn't mention me, did he?" Zoey asked quietly as Duncan looked up, watching her reaction.
"Nothing." Echo and Kim said at the same time, glancing at each other in surprise. Zoey smiled slightly.
"Did you say you were cousins or sisters or twins? I always wanted a twin; I view Teep and Rythian as my family." Zoey admitted before realising her mistake. "Well, did. I mean, it's very confusing at the moment, what with Rythian ignoring us... Teep and I wanted to try and talk to him, we did, well, do, but the others said..." Zoey trailed off, looking highly upset as she looked at Duncan.
"After I forced him to say stuff, we don't think it's a good idea that any of us talk to Rythian until he's ready." Duncan said firmly, looking over at Zoey who nodded sadly.
There was a moment of silence before Duncan spoke up again. "Well, I'm going to buy some strawberries at the store... Zoey, do you want to buy some mushroom soup or something?" Zoey's expression suddenly changed as she leapt up to her feet, already picking up her bag.
"Yeah, that's a great plan! Do you guys want anything?" Zoey asked as everyone shook their head.
"I don't need anything but I could do the walk." Alex smiled at Duncan knowingly as Duncan looked confused before shrugging. With that, Zoey gave a final wave as Alex and Duncan left, Alex kicking Ross's bag before following. Echo breathed a sigh of relief as Kim looked at her knowingly. A moment of peace to her day. Thank god.