12
Fifteen Minutes to Kill
Edwin drew his hand away from the touch-screen, sat back in his chair, and afforded himself a satisfied smile.
All twenty questions answered. He’d finished the test with fifteen minutes to spare.
From the sounds of frantic tapping, Edwin guessed the other kids were still hard at it, and he wondered how Maddy was getting on.
It wasn’t long before he found out.
“Psst!”
Edwin looked round and saw a green head poking round the panel next to him.
“How are you doing?” said Maddy.
“I’ve finished,” mouthed Edwin.
“Me too,” beamed Maddy. “Easy, huh?”
Edwin nodded, and took the opportunity to slide the Tome Terriblis discreetly back into his school bag.
“We’ve got fifteen minutes to kill before the test ends,” said Maddy. “Let’s do some exploring.”
Edwin tried mouthing his response again, but this time Maddy couldn’t understand him. So he leaned closer to her and whispered as quietly as he could.
“We’re still under test conditions. We can’t leave the hall. We’re not even supposed to be speaking to each other. Madame Voltaria will expel us if she finds out.”
Maddy shrugged. “I don’t see her anywhere, do you?”
Edwin peered over his desk, but there was no sign of the Invigilator. He inhaled, but couldn’t smell mothballs either.
“She nipped out a few minutes back,” said Maddy. “Probably gone to powder her nose.”
“In the middle of an exam?” Edwin thought that unlikely.
“Must be her age,” pondered Maddy. “They tend to get problems once they pass two hundred.”
Edwin gawped at Maddy. “You think she’s that old?”
“At least.” Maddy nodded with certainty. “Give or take a decade. She’s had a bit of work done, so it’s hard to be sure.”
Edwin didn’t know if Maddy was joking or not, but didn’t get a chance to ask.
“Come on.” Maddy stood up. “Let’s go.”
“No way.” Edwin shook his head again. “We’ll be expelled.”
“Only if we get caught.” Maddy grinned. “And I never get caught.”
Edwin gasped. “You’ve done that sort of thing before?”
“I might be the brainiest kid in the school, but I’m no goody two shoes.” Maddy grinned mischievously. “And you never learn anything if you don’t push the boundaries once in a while.”
“But you can’t go,” growled Edwin. “It’s against the rules. Come back!”
But Maddy had already left the hall. Edwin hesitated, then sprang from his chair and rushed after her.
“Maddy, you can’t do this! Maddy?”
Edwin peered down the gloomy corridor, but Maddy was nowhere to be seen.
“Boo!” A spectacled face popped out from behind a threadbare tapestry.
Edwin jumped and exhaled a high-pitched yelp.
Maddy laughed. “Scared you!”
“Clever.” Edwin tried to look as if he hadn’t been frightened. “Now let’s get back to our desks before Madame Zombie Eyes shows up again.”
“We’ve got plenty of time,” said Maddy. “Enough to do some serious exploring.”
Maddy headed off down the corridor, but Edwin stood his ground.
“But even if we get back before she does, the other kids might report us.”
Maddy shook her head. “They were too wrapped up in the test to notice. Anyway, we’ll just say we nipped out to look for the loos.”
Edwin wasn’t sure that excuse would stand scrutiny. “Do you think they even have loos in this place?”
“There’s only one way to find out, and that’s by exploring.” Maddy reached out a hand towards Edwin. “Are you coming with me?”
Edwin took an instinctive step backwards.
“You promised to be my friend,” Maddy reminded him. “You said we’d hang out together.”
“Yeah, but I thought we’d be swapping scientific theories and testing each other on Latin grammar.”
“We can do that as we explore. That’d make it even more fun. Now are you coming with me or not? If you were my real friend you’d want to come with me. You are my real friend, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am,” said Edwin. “But…”
Edwin was torn. On the one hand he liked Maddy, but on the other he didn’t want to flunk his big chance to join the Schrunkopf Institute.
Maddy lowered her hand, as though Edwin had given his answer. “I understand. No hard feelings, Bryony. I’ll see you later.”
“Wait.” Edwin called to Maddy as she turned to leave him. “I’ll come exploring with you, but only for five minutes. And we’d better not get caught.”
Maddy grinned. “I never get caught. But don’t forget your schoolbag, you left it in the hall.”
“It doesn’t matter,” said Edwin. “It will be there when we get back.”
“Never go exploring without a bag,” advised Maddy. “Besides, you don’t want to lose that diary of yours. Dare say you’d find it impossible to manage your hectic social calendar without it.”
Edwin knew Maddy was joking, but realised it was probably best not to let the Tome out of his sight. He slipped back into the hall, taking care not to distract the other children, and retrieved Bryony’s bag before re-joining Maddy in the corridor.
“I’m so glad you’re my friend.” Maddy took Edwin’s arm as they set off down the corridor. “We’re going to have so much fun together. Now what do you think of quantum electrodynamics?”