"Won't you tell me what's upset you?" Miss Honey asked as she took both of their hardly touched dinners and dumped them in the trash. The walk home had been a very silent one, and neither of them had felt like eating.
"Nothing." Matilda mumbled. Jenny sighed as Matilda continued to stare off in any direction that wasn't Jenny.
"Is it about switching classes tomorrow?"
"I'm over that." came the mumbled reply.
Well if it wasn't that, Jenny thought as she bit her lip. It had to be…
"Who told you?" Jenny asked, admitting defeat. She had been trying to keep her emotions in check all day, so Matilda wouldn't suspect, but the truth was, Jenny didn't feel… anything. She didn't know what to feel. Maybe she was still in shock? Miss Honey had been told her aunt had been found in her car at the bottom of a cliff, and all Jennifer had wanted was to ask when they could move Matilda to year five.
"Hortensia," Matilda said, finally looking up. "She said it was on the news this morning. She was happy and expected me to be happy, but I-" Matilda hid her face in her hands.
Miss Honey reached down and picked her up before sitting on the bed. "It's okay to feel sad when someone dies, even if it's not someone we like very much." She could feel Matilda shake her head. "What is it then? Won't you tell me?"
"Angry," Matilda said with a sniffle after a minute of silence. "I feel really, really angry." Miss Honey didn't respond, but instead began to stroke Matilda's head. "She was supposed to go to jail! She was supposed to pay for everything she did! Everything she did to you! Now there's nothing! No case! No trial! Now people are going to mourn her as if she was this great person and no one will know the truth!"
"Matilda," Jenny whispered softly, "Think about today. Did it look like anyone was in mourning? And as for what she did to me," She shrugged. "I have you, and now I have the knowledge that no one is going to try and take you away from me. The whole trial thing was never about seeking justice or revenge, Matilda, it was about keeping you safe. You're all that matters to me, sweetie. Knowing my aunt is six feet underground is just the cherry on top. Relieved, yes, that's how I feel about all this. Just…relieved." Miss Honey finished, speaking the last part more to herself than anything.
"Do you think she did it on purpose?" Matilda asked after the two had embraced for some time.
"You mean like drove off the cliff on purpose?" Miss Honey asked. Matilda nodded. "No." Miss Honey said firmly. "I don't think she killed herself. I don't think it was us she was running from either."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't think it was the threat of me testifying that made her pack up and run. The more I think about it, the less sense it makes. She had a natural talent for turning things back around on me. She could have made anything I said sound like a lie."
"Then why leave you the house?"
"Huh? The house?"
"Yeah, in her note. She said you could keep everything if you dropped the charges." Matilda said, counting it off on her fingers. "The brat, the money, the house."
She hadn't even thought of the house, but now that the Trunchbull was gone, she supposed it really did belong to her now.
"I have a house." Miss Honey said, feeling stunned. "We have a house."
Matilda smiled. "So what are you going to do with it? Sell it? Burn it to the ground?"
"We're going to move in of course!" Matilda's smile fell.
"Move in? Why would you want to live there?"
"Matilda, are you serious? Look at this place, we can't keep living here. You're going to need your own room, your own space."
"Mom, I don't think it's a good idea. That house holds so many bad memories for you." Matilda insisted.
"Not all of them are bad." Jenny said. "Before it was the Trunchbull's, it belonged to my father, Magnus. There are things of his still in the attic, I think. And think of all the new memories we can make. It doesn't have to be a horrible place."
"Mom," Matilda said with a grimace. "If you want a bigger place, won't you consider selling it and starting over someplace else?"
"I'd have to get it ready to sell," Miss Honey said while biting her lip. "It would take time, and a lot of hard work."
"I can help." Matilda said, before a dresser began to slowly wobble and shake before rising ever so slowly into the air. "Matilda's Psychic Moving Service is open!"
"Put it down!" Jennifer said firmly.
"Matilda's Psychic Moving Service is closed until further notice."
"C'mon, it's a big day tomorrow, go get ready for bed, and we can read for an hour or so before lights out."
…
"Matilda, wake up! MATILDA!" The young girl gasped as she opened her eyes. The room spun for a moment before coming into focus. "I said we need to get moving!" Matilda slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She looked over at the clock and nearly let out a shocked gasp. She had never slept in this late before! "Hurry, go get dressed, no time for a bath."
"Uhh," Matilda said. "I…need one." She could feel the cold dampness against her skin, and, oh gosh, down her legs too.
"A shower then, a really fast shower! Can you reach the knobs?"
"No, but I can use my-" she started to say, but Miss Honey cut her off.
"No powers! I don't want you exhausting yourself. Get in the bathroom, I'll start the shower for you." She heard the water running before she had even managed to get to her feet. She pulled her nightshirt off and threw it on the bed, before making her way to the bathroom. Before she even knew what was happening, she heard the ripping of tape and felt herself getting lightly pushed towards the bathtub. "Get in, we have to be out the door in less than ten minutes. I overslept too!"
"Can't I use the toilet first?" Matilda mumbled, still feeling herself pushed towards the tub.
"No time!" Miss Honey said in a panic. "Get in." She felt herself get lifted and set under the stream of water. "Pee in the tub." she called over her shoulder before frantically pulling out clothes from their dresser.
"Uh, no." Matilda complained before Miss Honey set an outfit for her on the closed toilet seat lid.
"Then you'll have to wait until you get to school." Matilda felt something slimy get poured on her head before feeling hands roughly begin to scrub.
"What? But I-"
"Then just go before I finish washing you."
"Not with you watching!" Matilda protested, shifting from foot to foot.
"Matilda, we don't have time for this! Privacy is for those who get out of bed on time, this is your last chance." Jenny said as she maneuvered Matilda's head back under the water.
"Fine," Matilda grumbled after spitting out a mouthful of water as Jenny spun her around and began scrubbing her back with the loofah. It was the closest thing to privacy she was going to get, Matilda realized and with a defeated sigh, she relaxed, thankful for the lack of additional noise. She was halfway done when she felt herself get spun back around. Matilda let out a yelp of surprise and covered herself with her hands.
"You're fine." Jenny said sounding exasperated as she plucked one of Matilda's arms away and began to cover it in suds. "Are you done? Is it safe to wash the rest of you now?"
"Yes." Matilda mumbled.
Two minutes later Matilda heard the water turn off and felt herself get wrapped in an already damp towel. She reached for her clothes and froze.
"I stopped having accidents during the day." she said, seeing the pull-up on top of her clothes.
"Yes, and you've been doing great, but just in case. Your new teacher doesn't let students leave class between breaks, but I'm hoping he'll make an exception since you're five, and not ten, but if he doesn't, and you can't hold it. No one has to know."
Matilda didn't like the sound of this, but stepped into it anyway and pulled it up her hips, before letting her dress fall over it.
"You can't see it, right?" she asked as they ran out the door.
"Not unless you're looking for it."
"That's not a 'no'" Matilda said in a panic.
"You're fine, I'm just joking." Miss Honey said, "I promise."
By the time they got to school, Matilda's stomach was a mess of butterflies. What if this wasn't such a good idea?
"You'll do great, Mr. Trilby will be there to explain everything to your new teacher, and I put some extra you-know-what's in your backpack. When you let out for the day, just meet me in my classroom, and you can tell me all about it on the way home, okay?"
Matilda let out something between a whine and a "okay."
"Don't be nervous, you have friends in their remember? Go on, don't be late, but give me a hug first."
Matilda stopped at the door that said Year 5 and gulped. Mr. Trilby wasn't there. Was she supposed to wait outside for him? Go in and wait? Was she supposed to meet him in his office and then walk in together? If she didn't enter the classroom in the next minute or so she'd be late. Why did her stomach have to hurt now?
Matilda braced herself and pushed open the door. It felt as if a sea of faces had turned to stare at her. She gulped.
"Can I help you?" A man's voice asked. Matilda turned to find a silver haired man wearing black rimmed glasses, and a beat up suit sitting at a large desk.
"I-I'm new." Matilda managed to get out.
"Well, I can assure you, this isn't where you belong. If you go down to the office, I'm sure they can help you find your class." The teacher said, fake smile plastered to his face.
"Uh, no, I'm not new to the school." Matilda said.
The door crashed open with a loud bang, and all heads turned to see Hortensia panting. "Made…it…" she said, but as she was about to head for her desk she spotted Matilda and froze. "What are you doing here, squirt?"
" Good, you know each other now. Take her down to the office, she says she's new. She's lost." the teacher said.
"Matilda's not new." Hortensia said with furrowed eyebrows. "She's in Miss Honey's class."
"Then take her back where she belongs." came the bored reply.
"Was there something you needed?" Hortensia asked more quietly.
"I'm new to the class." Matilda managed to get out this time. "I was moved up."
"You know this is the year five classroom, right? Are you looking for year two? I know sometimes young kids can get them confused." The teacher said sounding doubtful. "And we don't typically promote students mid-year."
"About time you finally got out of Miss Honey's class, nerd." Hortensia said. "C'mon, year two's this way."
"I'm not in year two." Matilda said, feeling a bit annoyed. "You're Mr. Larson, yes?" But before he could answer, there was a knock on the door and another figure appeared. Matilda breathed a sigh of relief as Mr. Trilby poked his head in.
"Oh good, you are here already. I'm sorry I'm late." he said as he entered the room. He turned to Mr. Larson and said. "I'd like you to meet your new student starting today. This is Matilda Wormwood."
Matilda could see Hortensia gawking at her, but it was nothing compared to the look on Mr. Larson's face.
"You're joking." Mr. Larson said after a moment of silence. He looked from Mr. Trilby to Matilda, then back to Mr. Trilby.
"I am not." Mr. Trilby said with a mischievous smile on his face as he rocked back and forth on his heels. "Let me know how it goes after today." and with that, he left leaving Matilda to face the silent stunned crowd.
Mr. Larson silently looked her up and down a moment. "How old are you?"
"Five." Matilda said quietly.
"Jesus, what was he thinking?" He said pinching the bridge of his nose. "You two know each other?" He pointed at Hortensia, who still seemed frozen to the spot in shock.
"I'm her babysitter." Hortensia answered. Matilda frowned as giggles erupted from the class. She thought they were friends.
"Babysitter." Mr. Larson mumbled. "Jesus, okay, umm just take a seat next to her and, Brittney, move over, go take the empty seat by Bruce. We're having a quiz today, but don't worry about it, Madeline."
"It's Matilda, and I'd like to take it, if that's okay."
Mr. Larson shrugged. "You can, umm, read right?"
"It's all she ever does." Hortensia said. "C'mon, I'll show you where we are in math."
"Babysitter!" Matilda hissed after taking a seat. "I thought we were friends."
"I meant it like, I know you." Hortensia said.
"You know who else knows each other? Friends."
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, friend" Hortensia said with a bit too much emphasis on the last word. "I can't believe you're in my year. I thought you meant you were skipping A year, not all of them!"
"I helped you with your math homework, why would you think I'd be in year two?"
"Because you're five! Who puts a five-year-old with kids twice their age?" Hortensia said as she opened up her math textbook. "The quiz is on this chapter. Like he said, you don't have to do it if you're not familiar with it."
Matilda glanced over at it and frowned.
"Still want to take that quiz? You don't look happy to see the work." Mr. Larson said. "If it's too hard, just let me know."
"No, it's not that. I'll do it." Matilda said. Mr. Larson shrugged again and began handing out papers. "Books away. It's time."
Matilda let out a disappointed sigh as she looked over the quiz. She had expected year five work to be…harder. She had done this chapter almost a month ago. Not only that, but she had even done this same quiz as a worksheet. She rubbed aimlessly at her stomach which had begun to ache as she filled in the answers. Once she had finished, she looked around the room. Everyone was still working. What was she supposed to do now? Could she pull out a book and read? She looked up and saw Mr. Larson smirking at her.
"Everything okay? Are you stuck?" he asked, coming over to her.
"I'm done. Can I read?" Matilda asked. She saw Mr. Larson frown.
"The sides of your paper are blank. Where is your work, you need to show your work."
Matilda frowned. She had never been told to show her work before. "I do it in my head, not on the paper."
"Well I need to see it on the paper, so I know you're not cheating. For all I know you're using a calculator." Matilda shrugged and began writing out the equations. She didn't like it. It was so much slower than just doing it in her head, but at least it gave her something to do. Ten minutes after she had finished writing it all out, he called for them to pass their tests forward before working on the next chapter. She pulled the book out Mr. Trilby had given her and got to work, making sure she wrote out the equations.
"Miss Hortensia," Mr. Larson called. "Could you please explain to me why the girl you babysit scored higher on the quiz than you did?" The class erupted into giggles. Matilda glanced over at Hortensia. She couldn't help it. Payback had presented itself on a silver platter.
"That's because I'm her tutor." Matilda said with a smile.