Year 10 At Tibcot - A Mel, Tab, Mewla & Cathy story

Chapter Nine


   I hurried along the corridors as fast as I could without slipping, as the soles of my shoes were still wet from the snow. I fled down to our tutor-room and swung round the door. Nearly everyone was in the tutor-room, talking and giggling in groups. They all looked up as I came flying in.
  "Hey - she's here." I panted. "Now - she's come from a private school is the biggest snob you've ever seen - all she did was stand there and look us up and down and pout at us! She thinks she's it, with her classy boots and shoulder bag! So what we've got to do is take her down a peg or two by not pandering to her every wish to make her feel welcome - treat her like one of us, not a posh snobby madam - you know what I mean?"
  "Yeah!" everyone chorused.
  "Okay." I said. "She'll be here in a minute."
   Five minutes later, the door opened and Cathy came in, pulling a face and rolling her eyes at us all. Purbelle and Mewbellan stifled giggles. Mewbellinne stalked in behind Cathy, and Tab and Mewla came last, trying desperately not to laugh.
  "Everyone, this is Mewbellinne Pearson." Cathy winked at us all.
   Mewbellinne stood, looking round at everyone, not even smiling.
  "Hi there!" Tibbick suddenly got up and slapped Mewbellinne hard on the shoulder, pretending to be friendly. Mewbellinne's bag fell to the floor and Mewlarka giggled.
  "Here - let me." Cathy bent down and picked Mewbellinne's bag up by the flap so that it fell open and Mewbellinne's things went on the floor.
   Cathy pulled the most horrified look, all the time trying not to laugh.
  "Oh - I'm most terribly sorry!" she said. She bent down again and began to put all the things back into the bag. The boys were sniggering at the back of the room.
  "Come round and meet everyone." Tab said. Mewbellinne smiled faintly. It was the first time her pouting mouth had moved.
   Tab walked over to Purbelle's table, where Purbelle, Mewlarka, Mewbellan and Tibbick were sitting.
  "This is Purbelle, this is her best mate Mewlarka, and these are the Johnson sisters Tibbick and Mewbellan." Tab said. "Purbelle is Spanish, you know."
  "Really?" Mewbellinne said. "My Dad hates the Spanish - he calls them greasy daegos."
   Purbelle stared at Mewbellinne.
  "Right." she said, and turned her back.
  "Hiya." Mewlarka said. "I just thought I'd let you know that I won't be mates with you if you insult my friend."
  "I didn't insult her." Mewbellinne said, looking down her nose at Mewlarka. "I just said what my Dad says, that's all."
  "Hi." Tibbick and Mewbellan smiled.
   Mewbellinne looked at them and smiled her faint smile again.
  "This is Tibbicca, this is Purla, and this is Tibleau." Tab said, taking Mewbellinne towards the back, to Tibbicca's table.
   Mewbellinne looked at Tibbicca rather nastily, almost as though she didn't like the idea of someone pretty like Tibbicca being in the same class and perhaps beating her when it came to which boys fancied them.
  "Something the matter?" Tibbicca said.
  "No." Mewbellinne answered. "How long have you been at this school?"
  "Sine I was this high, darling." Tibbicca smiled smoothly, pointing to her knee. "I know and love everybody and everything. Isn't that right, Tom?" she went over to Tom and sat on his lap, and they hugged each other jokingly.
   Purla burst into hysterics. Tibbicca has always been a brilliant actress and she always makes us laugh.
  "Aren't your glasses a little big for you?" Mewbellinne looked away from Tibbicca and focused her attention on Tibleau. Tibleau blushed a little.
  "Don't make personal remarks like that to my mate!" Purla got off the desk and stood facing Mewbellinne, almost as if she was challenging her. "If you ask me, you're too big for your boots! What gives you the right to come stalking in here on your first day thinking you're Little Miss Perfect, finding fault with everybody and everything? Who the hell do you think you are? It would serve you right if no-one wanted to be your mate, and no boys liked you!"
  "Yeah!" everyone laughed, and Purla grinned round at everyone.
  "Thankyou." she took a little bow and sat back down, laughing. Everyone roared with laughter. Mewbellinne looked decidedly uncomfortable, and shifted her folder from under one arm to the other.
  "This is Purbecca, this is Alimew and this is Purlibya." Tab said, going to the next table. Mewbellinne followed sheepishly, and said quiet hellos to the three kittens. The smirked to themselves.
  "And these are my best mates Mel, Cathy and Mewla." Tab said, taking Mewbellinne to our table. "We've been appointed to look after you until you get to know the place."
  "We meet again." Cathy giggled.
  "This is your seat." I said coldly, pointing to the chair on the other side of our desk. I had deliberately moved Cathy's and Mewla's chairs round to Tab's and my side so that we could all sit in a group while the spoilt Mewbellinne had to sit on her own.
  "Do you all sit together on the tables then?" Mewbellinne said, sitting gingerly down and setting her folder down quietly on the desk.
  "Yep - community spirit - bezzie mates, and all that." Cathy giggled, and the four of us hugged each other.
   Miss Mewola came in soon after, and spotted Mewbellinne sitting down.
  "Ah, you're here." she smiled. "Settling in okay? Have you been introduced to everyone?"
  "Yes, thanks." Mewbellinne said. "Everything's brilliant."
   We all exchanged glances. That just proved that Mewbellinne was being nasty on purpose. Otherwise she would have said that people weren't being very nice. That would have made us see that she couldn't help her attitude and that she didn't see that she was doing anything wrong. But no - she said that everything was perfect to hide the fact that she had been nasty and had been criticising everyone and everything ever since she had arrived. That wasn't all bad, however - it got us all off the hook and gave us more opportunity to show her up and knock her corners off. The longer she was nasty to us, the longer we could be nasty to her - as long as she was nasty, she couldn't tell on any of us.
  "Right." whispered Cathy to me. "Time for lesson number two, I think. A lesson in how we behave in class. Biology first, isn't it?"
   When we were all dismissed, Cathy got everyone together and explained what she had said to me. Everyone laughed and nodded. Mewbellinne stood by our desk clutching her folder, waiting for someone to take her up to the lab.
  "Come with us, Mewbellinne." Cathy said, pulling on her jacket and picking up her mini bag and folder.
   Mewbellinne followed us out of the tutor-room, her classy boots clicking on the floor.
   We giggled amongst ourselves as we went up to the lab. This lesson was going to be so funny - we would make sure of that.
   We filed into the lab and hurried over to our desks. We banged our folders down and put our bags down, then went to get some stools. Mewbellinne stood aside, watching to see where she to sit. By the time everyone had sat down, all the tables were full and there were no spare seats. Mewbellinne walked over to us. I saw by the way that she walking that she was trying not to make her boots clack on the floor.
  "Where am I supposed to sit?" she asked, looking round at everyone.
  "Oh, I'm sorry - there don't seem to be any seats." Cathy said innocently. "Tell you what - squash on the end here next to us. But mind - we spread our work out so you'll have to make room for us if you want to sit here."
   Mr Purrleck came hurrying in five minutes later. Mewbellinne stared at him.
  "Is that your Biology teacher?" she asked.
  "Yep - sure is." Cathy grinned. "Hey Sir! Yo!"
   Mr Purrleck stuck his thumb up at us and everyone laughed.
  "What a ragbag." Mewbellinne said. "Our Biology teacher was........."
  "Ah, we have the new kitten today." Mr Purrleck said, spotting Mewbellinne. "Mewbellinne, isn't it?"
  "Yes." Mewbellinne said, fluffing out her long silky hair.
  "What are we doing today?" Mewla called out. "Are we dissecting that EYE?"
   She said this with such emphasis that we didn't know which to laugh harder at - that, or the horrified look on Mewbellinne's face.
  "You dissect things?" Mewbellinne said.
  "Of course." Cathy said. "Blimey - your posh private school couldn't have been much good if they didn't dissect stuff in science!"
  "The teachers did it for us." Mewbellinne's haughty look came back onto her face again. "They said that they didn't want us to be exposed to it."
  "In other words, mollycoddling." Cathy said, bluntly. "God - what can you learn by seeing someone else do it? You have to do it yourself to pick up anything."
  "That's precisely why the teachers did it themselves." Mewbellinne said. "They didn't want us to pick up anything."
  "Duh - I mean knowledge!" Cathy said, pushing her hair from off her cheeks. "God - honestly!"
   Francis and Mewliam were laughing. Cathy turned round and grinned at them, showing off her pearly white teeth.
  "Yes, we are going to dissect that eye." Mr Purrleck said. "I trust we'll have no problems with nausea today?" he looked over at Purbelle and the Johnson sisters, a humourous twinkle in his eye.
  "Not at all!" Purbelle yelled loudly. "We feel fine today!"
  "In that case." Mr Purrleck took the jar from under his bench and stood it on the top of the bench. "Gather round. Mewbellinne, you come and sit at the front so you can see."
   Mewbellinne took her stool and went to the front of the bench, where she sat down, looking at the eye with an expression of disgust on her pretty face.
   We all gathered round behind her.
  "Now." Mr Purrleck got the tweezers and the scalpels out and took the eye out of the jar. "Mewbellinne, since you are the new girl, I thought that you'd like to have a go at this. From what I heard over there you've never had the chance to do any dissecting."
   Tibbick and Mewbellan burst into giggles and clapped their paws over their mouths.
  "Oh, but....." Mewbellinne began.
  "Go on." Mr Purrleck said. "This lot are old hands at it. You have a go now."
  "Yep - old hands!" Cathy said, picking up a scalpel. "I could dissect anything in this room!" and she ran the scalpel down the back of Mewbellinne's neck. Everyone giggled.
   Mewbellinne gave Cathy a filthy look and took the scalpel that Mr Purrleck was holding out to her. We held our breath...........

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