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

Chapter Nineteen


  It was only when we went into the main building that we realised where Cathy was taking Mewbellinne to get a new timetable.
  Cathy went first up the stairs, and Mewbellinne followed her.
  "I can't believe her nerve." I whispered to Purla as we followed them up.
  "What do you mean?" Purla said.
  "You mean you haven't guessed where Cathy's taking her to get a timetable?" I said. "Why do you think she offered to bring her up here?"
  "Oh, God!" Purla clapped her paw to her mouth and giggled.
  We all stood at the top of the stairs, smirking, as Cathy led Mewbellinne along the row of offices and stopped outside Greg Mewan's.
  Mewbellinne looked at Cathy.
  "You b***h." she said quietly. We all held our breath to stop ourselves from laughing. Cathy stared at Mewbellinne.
  "What?"
  "You heard me." Mewbellinne said. "Why bring me up here?"
  "To get a timetable from Mr Mewan - he's deputy head of Year 11, and while Mrs Mewberick's away, he's in charge." Cathy said, looking totally serious. "Why are you getting in such a stress?"
   Mewbellinne stared at Cathy. Cathy stared back. Cathy was making it seem to Mewbellinne that she really was making a fuss about nothing.
  "It's only a timetable." Cathy said. "Just go in and get one! What's up?"
  Mewbellinne looked at the floor.
  "Um.... nothing." she said. "I'll, um, get one later, I think."
  "What's the point in that?" Cathy said. "You're standing right outside his office - just go in and get one!"
  Mr Mewan must have heard them talking because he opened the door and stuck his head round.
  "Hello, girls. Something wrong?"
  "I've just brought Mewbellinne up to get a timetable." Cathy said. "She doesn't know what lessons we have when, and she's turning up unprepared all the time."
  "I see." Mr Mewan said. "Well, I've got lots of timetables in my office. Come in, Mewbellinne, and I'll get one for you."
  As soon as Mr Mewan and Mewbellinne disappeared into the office, Cathy turned to face us all and grinned. We were all trying desperately not to laugh. Two seconds later she came out, and Cathy pulled a serious face at once. That made it even funnier, and Tibbicca and Purla hurried off down the stairs without us to try and hide their laughter.
  "Get one?" Mewla asked as Mewbellinne came back over to us.
  "Yes." Mewbellinne said, and we walked off. Thankfully Mewbellinne didn't turn back to look where Cathy was; she was quickly kissing Mr Mewan before she ran and caught up with us.
  By the time we got back outside, there was barely time to run to the tuck shop and grab a chocolate-filled doughnut before PE. We always have to get to PE ten minutes early to allow time to get changed, because we always mess about and have a laugh in the changing rooms, so even though it should take us two minutes to change, it always takes a lot longer!
  Mewbellinne tagged along with us all the way there, trying to start conversations, which no-one bothered to continue with her.
  "I think I shall insist that I sit out because I have no kit with me." she said haughtily, as we went along.
  "Hah - she'll be lucky." Purla hissed in my ear. "It'll be a trip to the sports cupboard, I think."
  I choked on my doughnut. The sports cupboard is the nightmare of all pupils - it's a huge cupboard behind the gym that is full of dirty old gym skirts, t-shirts, rugby shirts, dirty trainers that you can never find a matching pair of, old socks, tatty badminton rackets, dirty footballs, etc etc. It's always a standing joke with us lot if someone forgets a bit of their kit.
  When we got to the PE block, we hurried in out of the cold. We went along through the little door to the changing rooms. The whole place always feels chilly and depressing, but we have been going there  every weekfor years now, so we've kind-of got used to it.
  Mewbellinne was looking round in horror.
  We all got into the changing rooms and put our bags down on the benches. Mewbellinne sat down and put her bag on her lap.
  "I hate these skirts!" Tibbicca said, pulling her little gym skirt out of her bag. "God - what are we, 12? We used to have to wear these in Year 7!"
  "What did you have to wear at your private school?" Tibleau asked Mewbellinne.
  "Much the same." Mewbellinne said.
  She was looking round the changing rooms. She had a worried look on her face.
  Our changing rooms aren't big, but they're divided into two parts - the bit where we get changed, with benches, and the second bit round behind a wall, which is where the showers are. There are a couple of big mirrors on the wall.
  "Morning girls!"
  The door flew open and Ms Hapmew came striding in.
  Ms Hapmew is one of those brisk, outdoorsy types; she never wears any make-up, she wears sports clothes all the time, even to parents' evening, etc, and she's never seen without a whistle swinging round her neck. She doesn't really have much sympathy for you if you're ill, unless you literally crawl into school on your knees and have a note from your mum saying you're on your death bed.
  "Morning!" we all chorused.
  "All ready for a good game of hockey?"
  "Yeah." we all said this with such lack of enthusiasm that Ms Hapmew couldn't help but laugh.
  Cathy was dressed. Cathy has the perfect figure, and even in her tiny gym skirt and white top she looked gorgeous. She's always tanned brown all over, even in winter. She leapt up and leapt round Ms Hapmew with her fists up, pretending to box. We all laughed as Ms Hapmew joined in the joke by swinging for Cathy with one fist. Cathy pretended to have been hit and threw herself on the floor. We all shrieked with laughter.
  Cathy sprung back up.
  "Ms Hapmew, we've got a new kitten." she said. "Mewbellinne." she pointed at Mewbellinne, who was glaring at Cathy because she was showing off again.
  "Hi Mewbellinne." Ms Hapmew went over and gave her a brisk handshake. "Have you got some kit with you?"
  "Um, no, I haven't." Mewbellinne mumbled. "I didn't re..."
  "OK, not a problem!" Ms Hapmew said, smiling.
  Mewbellinne heaved a sigh of relief.
  "Purla, take her to the sports cupboard and get her some stuff out of there." Ms Hapmew added.
  Mewbellinne's mouth dropped open and we all fell about laughing.
  "OK!" Purla finished lacing up her trainers and got up, grinning. "Follow me, Mewbellinne!"
  When we were all changed, we all went outside onto the hockey pitch. There was no sign of Purla or Mewbellinne.
  "She's probably smothered her in a pile of rugby shirts and done a runner." Tibbicca said to me as we went outside, and we both laughed.
  "Right then girls!" Ms Hapmew said, jogging on the spot. We all stifled laughs. Ms Hapmew is so over-the-top with her 'sportiness' that she's like someone out of a comedy programme. "Take a nice brisk jog round the hockey pitch! Go!"
  Whenever Ms Hapmew says take a nice brisk jog, we just take that as a excuse to start running for a few seconds, then slow down and amble along, talking.
Tab, Tibbicca and I started ambling almost straight away. Cathy and Mewla were jogging ahead of everyone else, laughing together about something.
  "There's Purla." Tibbicca nudged me as Purla came running out of the building, laughing.
  "Miss! Mewbellinne's coming in a minute!" Purla called, as she ran over to join us.
  "Thank you!" Ms Hapmew called back.
  Purla joined us.
  "What happened?" I asked. "Did she find some clothes?"
  "Ohhh, yes." Purla grinned wickedly. "The only trouble was, someone had put all the well-fitting things right at the very back of the cupboard, and the things that Mewbellinne could reach didn't fit quite as well."
  "Oh, I wonder what nasty person would have done a thing like that!" Tibbicca laughed.
  "I know. It's shocking." Purla said, biting back giggles.
  A few minutes later, Mewbelline came outside. We all nudged each other and stopped walking. As soon as she got onto the hockey pitch and we all looked at her, we all fell about in hysterics.
  Her gym skirt was miles too big for her, and was almost down to her knees. She had tied the waist up with something which looked like the string off a whistle. Her white t-shirt was muddy and too tight for her. And her trainers - they weren't even a matching pair! One was Nike, one was Reebok.
  "Oooh! SEXY!" we heard someone yell. The boys on the football field had all stopped playing and were all looking up at us, laughing at Mewbellinne. Tom stepped forward and waggled his hips. We all shrieked with laughter.
  "Ok, calm down, girls." Ms Hapmew said. "Haven't you got some football to play?" she yelled down at the boys, and they dispersed, still laughing.
  Mewbellinne looked very embarrassed.
  "Mewbellinne, couldn't you find anything better than that?" Ms Hapmew said, looking Mewbellinne up and down.
  "You wouldn't believe it." Purla stepped forward. "There was nothing decent in that cupboard at all!"
  "Oh dear." Ms Hapmew said. "Oh well, just remember to bring your own next week, Mewbellinne."
  "Don't worry, I will." Mewbellinne said, pulling awkwardly at her huge gym skirt.
  The whole class was silent for a few seconds.
  "Gym knickers!" Purla said suddenly.
  We all burst out laughing. It sounded so funny; she just came out with it!
  "I beg your pardon, Purla?" Ms Hapmew said. "Are you being rude?"
  "No, Miss! I just remembered that I never mentioned to Mewbellinne about gym knickers! I never got her any out of the sports cupboard!"
  "Gym knickers?" Mewbellinne said, looking from Purla to Ms Hapmew and back again.
  "Yes, very important." Ms Hapmew said. "If you don't wear them and you have to bend down to get the ball, all the boys down there will have a splendid view of your knickers."
  The class fell about again.
  "I'd better take her back to find some." Purla said.
  "Yes, go on then." Ms Hapmew said. "But be quick. I want to start the game."

***

  The hockey game was easily the funniest we had ever had. Purla had found Mewbellinne a pair of huge gym knickers which had kept falling down every time she ran, so, of course, Cathy did everything she could not to have Mewbellinne on our team.
  Halfway through the boys' football lesson, their teacher went off inside the building, so all the boys stopped playing and came to the edge of the football pitch to watch us all.
  The funniest moment was when Mewbellinne, who was jumping up and down cheering on her team members, didn't notice that her huge knickers had fallen down round her ankles, and when the ball came her way, she went to run towards it and fell flat on her face. Of course, we all fell about laughing, and the boys hooted and shouted from on the football pitch, but Ms Hapmew gave us all filthy looks and told us to keep quiet, and tried to help Mewbellinne up.
  "I'm OK!" Mewbellinne had snapped, shaking Ms Hapmew's paw off her arm and getting to her feet. "I'm not a weakling! Come on - can we carry on?"
  Mewbellinne actually wasn't that bad a player; she had played a lot at her private school.
  After the lesson, we all went back to get changed, laughing and giggling amongst ourselves.
  "I have to hand it to you, Mewbellinne." said Cathy, as we went into the changing rooms. "You're quite a good player when you can keep your knickers up."
  We all shrieked with laughter.
  Mewbellinne didn't know whether to just smile or to make some sarcastic comment back at Cathy. She stood looking at Cathy for a couple of seconds, as if thinking of something to say. Then she turned away and went to get changed.
  "Are we carrying on with our projects in Geography today?" Purbelle asked, as she pulled her trousers on.
  "Projects?" Mewbellinne asked.
  "Yeah, we've been working on group projects about the Phillipine islands." said Cathy. "I wonder if Mrs Fisher will put you in a group? We've only got a week left, is it worth it?"
  "I should think so!" Mewbellinne sounded most put out. "What am I supposed to do for the next week while you lot are working on your projects?"
  "You could always do some extra hockey practise." sniggered Mewbellan, from the far side of the changing rooms.
  "Yeah - in decent knickers." Purla added.
  We all laughed.
  "Can't you lot ever let a joke go?" Mewbellinne said.
  "Sometimes. It depends how funny it is." Cathy said, going over to the mirror and fluffing up her hair. "You make everything ten times funnier because you make such a fuss about everything."
  "And with good reason!" Mewbellinne began. "You.......
  "Good game today, girls!" Ms Hapmew came breezing in. "Mewbellinne, well-fitting knickers next time, please!"
  We all burst out laughing again.

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