6
Hurry Up and Put On Your Trousers
Bryony woke, and rolled over to check her bedside clock. Six thirty. Another hour till the alarm went off. Great.
Then she closed her eyes and fell back to sleep. When she woke again it was five minutes to eight.
Bryony sat bolt upright in bed. Five minutes to eight? How did that happen?
Either the alarm had failed, or she had slept right through it. Whatever the reason, Bryony was surprised that she hadn’t been woken earlier. She was supposed to be catching the bus for the Schrunkopf Institute in five minutes.
Bryony didn’t want to go to the Institute, but knew there was no getting out of it. Especially now she didn’t have the Tome Terriblis…
She’d caught Edwin nosing around her bedroom after supper last night. He claimed he’d been sent by Inglenook to retrieve all the books she’d borrowed from the Wychetts library. Bryony had no choice but to let him take them.
Still, there was some room for optimism. The Tome’s magic spell had worn off after Bryony’s last exam, so there was little chance of her passing the entrance test even if she wanted to. With a bit of luck they might throw her out after ten minutes.
Bryony slid out of bed and stumbled to her wardrobe. She dressed hurriedly, then sat at the dressing table to brush her hair. And there, in the mirror, she saw something that shouldn’t have been there.
It was a face staring back at her. But not her own face. A freckly face framed with a mop of ginger hair…
Edwin!
Bryony looked behind her, but Edwin wasn’t there. Blinking, she turned back to look in the mirror again. This time she saw her own face, no sign of her stepbrother’s freckled countenance.
Thinking she must still be half asleep, Bryony shook her head a few times to clear her mind. Then she gave her hair a cursory brush before dashing downstairs to the kitchen.
Jane sat at the table surrounded by paperwork, but looked up when she heard Bryony enter.
Bryony expected the usual cheery greeting from her stepmother, so was surprised when she received a puzzled frown.
“What are you doing here?” said Jane.
“Having breakfast,” answered Bryony, attempting to pour a helping of cereal into a bowl at high speed. “I overslept. Think the alarm must have failed.”
Jane’s frown deepened. “But I checked your room earlier and it was empty. Bryony said you’d already left for school.”
“Yeah,” snorted Bryony, scooping most of the cereal off the table. “But you shouldn’t believe a word he says.” Then she froze and stared at Jane. “What did you say?”
Jane was about to reply, but then gawped and pointed at Bryony’s legs. “Are you going to school wearing that?”
“It’s a skirt,” said Bryony. “I wear one every day.”
Jane shook her head. “I suppose it’s an end of term joke, hmm? But I don’t see the funny side, and I don’t think anyone else will. Now hurry up and put on your trousers.”
“I don’t wear trousers to school,” said Bryony. “Trousers are out this term. Saffy and Jaz never wear trousers. It’s uncool.”
“I don’t have time for this,” said Jane. “I had to help Bill chisel bits of dried cement from his interview suit. He barely got away on time, and now I’m running late as a result. So please run upstairs and put on your trousers.”
“But I don’t have a clean pair,” pointed out Bryony.
“Then wear the pair you wore yesterday.”
Bryony shook her head. “I didn’t wear trousers yesterday. I just told you, I never wear trousers to school.”
“Very well.” Jane sighed. “If you won’t go upstairs and get them, I will.”
Jane hurried out of the kitchen, leaving a perplexed Bryony trying to work out what was wrong with her stepmother.
It must be the stress of the job. Jane was finding it hard to cope being acting head teacher, and she was cracking up under the pressure.
Bryony’s suspicions were confirmed when Jane returned to the kitchen carrying a pair of school trousers.
Edwin’s school trousers.
“Now put these on.” Jane thrust the trousers at Bryony. “And quickly, so we can leave for school. The traffic will be terrible by now.”
Bryony was about to point out that she wouldn’t be seen dead wearing a pair of Edwin’s trousers, when a sudden thought occurred to her.
“You just said something about us leaving for school. You mean normal school, not that special posh school?”
“For the last time,” muttered Jane, “you are not going to the Schrunkopf Institute.”
“I’m not?” Bryony wasn’t sure if she’d heard Jane right.
“Of course not.” Jane picked up a stack of paperwork from the table. “Now please put your trousers on. I’ll start loading the car up.”
Jane heaved her paperwork out of the kitchen. Bryony stood there, shaking her head with bewilderment.
She couldn’t believe her luck. She wasn’t going to that posh brainy school after all, she was going to normal school with Saffy and Jaz!
And to Bryony, being with her best friends was worth having to wear her stepbrother’s trousers.
Although she did wonder what Edwin might be wearing to school instead.