Year 10 At Tibcot (summer term) - A Mel, Tab, Mewla & Cathy story (may add to original book)

Chapter Two


  I can't say we got much sketching done. Mr Thomson might have known that letting us all sit out on the grass in a big group on a lovely hot day was a big mistake. I don't think there was one member of the class who wasn't covered in grass from the numerous grass fights that broke out. Mr Thomson was sat under a tree not far off, doing some marking. He knew that we weren't getting much work done but I think he was enjoying the nice day too much to worry too much about it.
  About half way through the double lesson, Mr Thomson said we could have a break (not that there was much difference!!) so we all put out things down and lounged (more than we already were) on the grass.
  Mewbellinne had sat down with Alimew, Purlibya and Purbecca and they looked thoroughly annoyed. Purbecca came over to us. She squatted down next to Cathy.
  "Honestly - I don't know how much more of her I can put up with!" she said in a hushed voice. "She's done nothing but slag off most of the class all morning!"
  "Just tell her to shut up or you'll floor her." Cathy said, turning over onto her back and holding up her paw to shield her eyes from the sun. "Damn it I need my sunglasses."
  "Me? Floor her?" Purbecca said. "That sounds more like one of your lines, Cath. She's taller and chunkier than me, I don't think saying that would get me anywhere."
  "Well if she says anything else let me know." Cathy said. "I'll sort her out."
  A Year 8 came walking over to the group and went to Mr Thomson. She said something and he looked over at us.
  "Cathy, come here a minute." he said. Cathy, looking faintly surprised, got up and wandered over. Mr Thomson said something to her and she nodded.
  "But don't be too long." he called after her as she walked away.
  "I won't." she said.
  "What's up?" I asked as she came over.
  "Apparently Mr Mewan got a report from Miss Mewola that someone in our class has been smoking." Cathy said. "And he wants to see me about it."
  "Oh, in that case we'll see you this afternoon." Tab smirked. Cathy pretended to punch Tab, who fell back on the grass, giggling.
  "I'll see you in a bit." Cathy said. "I'll see if I can convince him to sort it out amicably." and she grinned. She wandered off.
  "Where's Cath going?" Purla asked, from over by the tree where she, Tibbicca and Tibleau had sat down.
  "Mr Mewan wants to have a chat with her." I said.
  "Have a what with her?" Tibbicca said cheekily, a grin on her face.
  We laughed.
  "Well at least we can have some peace while she's gone." Mewbellinne piped up.
  "Mewbellinne, why don't you just get off Cath's case for once?" Tom suddenly spoke up. We all looked at him in surprise. Usually the boys never bother to speak up on us girls' bickerings and disagreements.
  "I'm not on her case." Mewbellinne said. "She's been mean to me ever since the start of the year and she gets away with everything she does and I just don't think it's fair, that's all."
  "Well I don't think it's fair the way you act!" said Tom. "You were rude to nearly everyone the first day you got here and you haven't changed since that day!"
  "Oh shut up Tom." Mewbellinne said in disgust.
  "Yeah, you know I'm right." Tom turned his back on Mewbellinne. "Just leave Cath alone."
  We all looked at him in amazement.
  "What?" he grinned, seeing us all goggling at him.
  "Well, erm, we're just not used to seeing you stick up for one of us." Tab grinned.
  "Well, I suppose you're all alright really." Tom said. "A man has to do these things sometimes, you know?"
  "Yeah, whatever." Tab laughed, and lay down on the grass again.

***

  We had finished our break and were drawing again when Cathy came back. She grinned at us.
  "What happened?" Purla and Purbelle came shuffling over on their bottoms to see what Cathy had to say, as we had told them why she had gone to see Mr Mewan.
  "Did you actually get any talking done?" Tab grinned.
  "Oh shut your face." Cathy grinned back. "Well, Mr Mewan said he'd sent for me because he'd had a complaint that someone in our tutor-group had been using the yard out the back for sneaky smoking, and that no-one would own up. He said that if the culprit or culprits were to go to him and own up, he would be lenient on them." Cathy said.
  "You didn't blackmail him to let us off then?" Purla smiled.
  "Blackmail? Honestly, I don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about." Cathy said. "When has the word blackmail ever been associated with me?"
  "Most days." Tibbicca said.
  Cathy smiled.
  "Anyway." she said. "If you two go up to see Mr Mewan at lunch today he'll just give you a lunchtime detention and just please make sure that you don't do it again or else it'll be more serious." Cathy said. "He's only doing this because I'm his friend and you're my friends. It's wrong and he could get into serious trouble for it. So please don't let me down."
  "We won't." Purla said. "Thanks, Cath. "Well go down the field or something next time."
  "Right." Cathy said, and picked up her paper and pencil. "Oh! Who's rubbed grass all over my picture?"
  I think Tom might have got away with it if he hadn't snorted with laughter.
 
***

  After Art we had break, and after that we had PE, so we all went to the tuck shop to get some food.
  "Chocolate-filled doughnuts all round, I think." Cathy said, hurrying over to the queue.
  When we had all bought doughnuts, we set off down to the PE block and sat down on the grass there to eat. The sun was getting really warm now and we were quite looking forward to PE. Rounders is quite fun; we get to play on the grass, and it's not quite as serious or heavy-duty as netball or hockey or any of the other things we do. And there's always an opportunity for hilarity when Cathy and Mewbellinne are present.
  "Oh my God - look!" Cathy suddenly grabbed my arm and pointed. "Look!"
  "What? Where?" I said.
  "Over by the bike sheds!" Cathy said. "Look!"
  We all looked.
  "It's Mewbellinne!" Cathy knelt up and laughed. "And oh my God - she's with a boy!"
  "It's Matt Purrwell!" Tab said. "I recognise the trainers! Oh my God - Mewbellinne is getting off with Matt!"
  "What a loser!" Mewla said. "I always thought Matt was quite nice - now we know he has no taste at all!"
  "We already knew that, didn't he used to fancy Mel?" Cathy grinned. I punched her.
  "I wonder how long that's been going on?" Tab mused.
  "Watch this." Cathy said. She got up and yelled. "OI! MEWBELLINNE! STOP GETTING OFF WITH YOUR BOYFRIEND AND COME ON! WE'VE GOT TO GET CHANGED FOR PE!"
  Mewbellinne looked round and saw us and looked thoroughly annoyed. We all collapsed with laughter.
  "Come on." Cathy giggled, pulling us to our feet. "Let's go and change."
  We all stumbled into the PE changing rooms in a giggling group. The other girls were already there and Tibbicca looked up in surprise as we went in.
  "What are you lot up to?" she said. "By the look on Cath's face you've just done something bad."
  "We saw Mewbellinne getting off with Matt Purrwell by the bike sheds." I said. "So Cathy got up and yelled to her to stop getting off with her boyfriend and I think the whole school heard."
  Everyone burst out laughing.
  "Oh come on." laughed Cathy. "That was just a situation screaming out to be seen by everyone."
  "Matt Purwell, eh." Purla said. "Who'd have thought he'd go for Mewbellinne. I thought he had better taste than that. And didn't he used to fancy Mel?"
  Cathy and Mewla burst out laughing.
  "That's just what we said!" Mewla said.
  We all started to get changed. It's so nice now that the hot weather is here - we can wear our white t-shirts and tiny gym skirts without freezing to death. Tibbick and Mewbellan started a water-fight while we were getting changed and pretty soon most of us joined in so we were all a bit soggy. Cathy got most of it down her top so it went fairly see-through and we could all see her bra, which caused much amusement.
  Mewbellinne came in and stopped when she saw us all flinging pawfuls of water about. Thankfully we were all round by the showers so it didn't look too bad to any teachers who might come in.
  "Thanks, Cathy, for shouting out for everyone to hear." Mewbellinne said coldly.
  "Oh, don't be daft, Mewbellinne." Cathy said, in her don't-care tone. "No-one heard."
  "Yeah, there might have been someone in outer Mongolia who didn't quite catch it." Mewbellinne said.
  "The trouble with you is that you take everything too seriously." Cathy said.
  "And the trouble with you is that you don't take anything seriously." Mewbellinne retorted.
  "Oh, just get stuffed." Cathy said, and stormed out of the changing room. Most of us followed her.
  Ms Hapmew wasn't on the field when we got down there, so we just all sat or lay down on the grass to wait for her. The boys were a little way over waiting for Mr Banmew to come and take them for football, and they wandered over to see us.
  "Haha - you're all wet!" Mewbile laughed. "Hey - I can see Cathy's underwear! Everyone - I can see Cathy's bra!"
  All the boys laughed. Most girls would have turned away or told them to stop looking, but Cathy didn't care; she just sat where she was and laughed with them.
  "She's such an exhibitionist." Mewbellinne said quietly to Alimew. "No shame."
  Cathy heard her.
  "It's underwear, Mewbellinne." Cathy said. "What's the big deal?"
  "You just don't care, do you." Mewbellinne said.
  "It's a bra. We all wear them." Cathy said. "The only thing is that you can see some of mine because my top's wet. It's not the end of the world. It's not going to kill us all."
  "And we don't mind." Tom grinned.
  "Boys!" Mr Banmew appeared on the field. "Over here please! Stop harrassing the girls!"
  We all laughed.
  "I think it's the other way around!" Mewfal grinned as the boys went over to start their football game.
  "Morning girls!" Ms Hapmew came jogging onto the field not long after. I stifled a giggle. Even though we have had her for three years, we still find her amusing. She is completely over the top with her 'sportiness' - she's like someone out of a comedy programme. She always wears sports clothes, even to parents evening, etc, and is never seen without a whistle hanging round her neck.
  "Let's do some jogging on the spot, please!" she said, starting to jog. "Knees up! Come on! Purbelle, put some effort into it please!"
  "It's all the f**s - they're making her short of breath." Tab said to me, but in a loud enough voice for Purbelle to hear. Purbelle elbowed Tab as we jogged. This made Tab overbalance.
  "Purbelle - stop messing about and put some effort in!" Ms Hapmew said. We all giggled.
  After we had jogged for a few minutes, Ms Hapmew put us into teams for rounders. I was on the fielding team, as were Cathy and Mewbellinne, which I don't think she was too happy about. Tibbick was bowling.
  Purla was the fielder that stood behind the batting team, and she kept making funny faces behind people as they lined up to bat. This put Tibbick off bowling, and Mrs Hapmew ended up getting very cross with the fielders, so we all stood at our posts very solemn-faced, even though we were all dying to laugh.
  Mewbellinne was as hopeless as ever, and we were all getting rather ratty with her. Even Ms Hapmew had to tell her to stop staring around the place and concentrate on the game.
  The ball went rolling past her post and Tibbicca started to leg it round the outside of the posts. We all stood and watched, thinking that any second Mewbellinne would run for the ball. But she didn't. I turned round and saw Matt Purwell and some other boys walking along at the top of the field, looking down at our group. Mewbellinne was staring up at them, probably hoping to catch Matt's eye.
  "MEWBELLINNE!" Cathy screeched. "For God's sake get the damn ball you idiot!"
  Tibbicca raced round and scored the winning rounder as Mewbellinne set off across the grass to get the ball, which had rolled quite a way away.
  "I don't believe it." Cathy was fuming when Mewbellinne came back. "What planet are you on, Mewbellinne? You're there trying to catch your boyfriend's eye while the other team are winning! I just can't believe you were doing it. I hope to God you don't get picked for Sports Day, that's all. You're a bloody nightmare!"
  "Cathy - less of that language please!" Ms Hapmew said sharply. "I won't tolerate swearing in my class. Mewbellinne, if I catch you not paying attention to a game again you'll be in serious trouble. I saw everything that happened and I'm not pleased. Go in and change, everyone."
  "She really is the limit!" Cathy was still fuming when we were getting changed. Mewbelline wasn't there with us; we assumed Ms Hapmew had kept her back to have a word with her. Cathy stuffed all her PE kit away, scowling all the time. "I hate her, I really do! Imagine if she gets picked for the rounders team for Sports Day! She'll be too busy looking round the crowds for admirers to see that the other team are winning by a mile!"
  "I have to agree with you, Cath." Purla said. "But that doesn't excuse the fact that you've just stuffed all your PE kit in my bag instead of yours."
  Cathy realised what she'd done and laughed.
  "Sorry mate." she grinned. "I'll stop having a fit now." she took her clothes out and put them in her own bag. "Come on - lets get to Tech."
  Mewbellinne came through the door as we all left.
  "Cathy, I'm sorry I didn't pay attention in the game today." she said. "I..."
  "It's nothing new, Mewbellinne." Cathy said coldly. "You're like it in every game, always looking round to see who's watching you. I just hope to God you don't have to play on my team on Sports Day because if I catch you not paying attention you'll find the damn ball in your face." and she pushed past Mewbellinne and stormed off.
  When we got outside we all burst out laughing.
  "God it must seem like all I ever do is be mean to Mewbellinne." Cathy said.
  "She deserves it Cath." I said. "All you do is speak the truth. Rather bluntly, all the same..."
  "That's me." Cathy said. "I say what I think. What's the point of always beating round the bush and trying not to offend anyone? If I kept saying 'sorry Mewbellinne, I'm not being mean but would you mind...' blah blah blah she'd just carry on the way she is. And have you noticed how she never reports any of this so-called meanness? It's because she knows I'm right really."
  "You are." Tibbicca said.