Jean sat and gazed out of the school's wide doorway entrance onto the grounds. Somehow, the warm Summer rain that Cornwall seemed to get now and again had arrived without warning. She sighed as she wondered how to possibly fill the holidays. It would certainly be boring without the girls, although hopefully she could have Irene round for a few days, as her family didn't have anything planned. Mother and Father surely wouldn't be long now.
Alicia was staying over the holidays with Matron - at least that was the arrangement for the time being. After the bus had picked up the other girls, the pair of them had gone into the village to buy things for the Summer, and Jean had been trusted to stay at the school with Miss Grayling, and a few girls dotted around the building. As it was the end of term, the busy Miss Grayling was fairly occupied at the telephone.
The commotion from earlier seemed to be resolved. Somehow, after being scapegoated for breaking Mary-Lou's pen, Darrell had found it in her to forgive Gwen and give her another chance next year. Of course, Darrell wouldn't have been put through all of that if Jean had trusted her, rather than "hard evidence". Hopefully this would all be forgotten about by Autumn.
A familiar soft voice interrupted her pondering.
"Jean."
She turned round to her right and saw Sally Hope stood maybe three meters away, looking half at her and half outside at the rain.
"Are your parents picking you up?" She asked.
"Yes" Jean replied, and leaned forwards so as to get up.
"No, it's alright," Sally reassured, and plomped down next to her, grinning at her once she was down.
"Sorry, if I'd known you were still here, I'd…-" Jean started.
"Don't worry" Sally blurted with the biggest grin Jean had ever seen, fully anticipating some sort of apology. "It's only been about ten minutes".
They both stared out into the rain for a few seconds in silence, before Jean broke it.
"I should've believed Darrell…"
"Darrell understands, Jean" Sally responded, turning her head to face Jean directly. "We just have to make sure we trust her more from now on".
Jean glanced at her too, then looked down, exhaling. "We" she thought; "how diplomatic".
"I'm sure she's much happier than Alicia" Sally pivoted, placing her hand on Jean's shoulder.
"Spending the Summer with Matron. If only I lived nearby, I'd visit every few days".
"I think there's a few girls staying, but no-one from our year. And she'll have Ron, as well."
The thought of staying the whole Summer with Matron sent shivers down the girls' spines. They were keen to move on from that thought, and laughed it off.
"You're definitely coming back next year." Jean said blankly.
"Oh…yes" responded Sally, realising it was a question, one she wasn't expecting "Mother wants me to stay here now…" she nearly followed it up with more detail, but left a bit of a pause instead "I'll be here!"
"Well, you know Emily might move to South Tower, so that could...change things" Jean pondered.
This time, Sally exhaled and looked pensive. "We'll have to see."
Jean shuffled and faced Sally squarely. "Things were quite dull before you and Darrell came along" and she followed this with a quick grin.
Sally paused. "Well, there were only six of you!" She paused again. "Even if Alicia was one".
"Well, Alicia got into some squabbles with Katherine. It used to ruin everyone's evening when they fought. Once Darrell arrived, Alicia calmed down a bit"
Sally smiled. Good old Darrell. Now that she thought of it, she and Alicia would probably get on fine next year after the class-court incident earlier. Probably.
The two of them stared into the rain once again.
Jean suddenly started searching in the distance. "My…oh, no. Never mind"
"Your parents?" Sally guessed.
"No" Jean stated "I thought I saw them on the going over the single-car bridge"
Sally scanned the distance for any cars through the trees. It may've been her mother instead, although it was perhaps too early just yet. She noticed that Jean was glancing out into the rain again, clearly deep in thought momentarily.
Jean never gave much away, really. Aside from her helpful nature, there weren't any characteristics that stood out when one thought about Jean. Not that anyone minded - everyone loved Jean. Maybe even Gwen. All the same, Sally wracked her brain to think of any times that Jean had…smiled.
There must've been a few, otherwise all of the other girls would've noticed very quickly, like they had with Mary-Lou's timidity. Most of the other girls smiled and laughed about as often as they breathed - but Jean was very reserved. Even Gwen and Katherine wore grins like badges on good days. But how could she find out for sure?
With no warning at all, Sally tilted towards Jean and wrapped her arms around Jean's far shoulder in an awkward hug. So awkward that Sally had her chin resting just above Jean's elbow, fully watching for a reaction.
Jean spent a split-second in some surprise, then her right cheek rose ever-so-slightly as a flustered smile took hold of her. Sally could see her lips stretch just a little bit and her chin move forwards ever so slightly. But it was the eyes that gave the most away…somehow. They seemed to fill with an embarrassed joy, even from this angle. It was strange how much you could deduce from someone's eyes.
Jean reached round with her free arm and patted Sally on the back. Neither of them were compulsive huggers - this uncomfortable pose certainly felt sincere. A few seconds passed and just as Jean was about to burst into laughter, a familiar car trundled over the single-car bridge maybe six hundred meters away, and sent her into a haste.
"They've just crossed the bridge" Jean rose to her feet slowly, helping Sally gently on to the floor "I'll fetch my trunk, and go to Mrs. Grayling's office"
Sally nodded - almost to herself - as Jean sped away. She picked herself up off the floor and peered outside to the right to see if any cars approached. Undoubtedly, this was an unusual end to term. But at least now, Sally knew that Jean could be in no doubt how much the rest of them cherished her, because she seemed to hate any fuss being made.