As the sun sank deeper into the horizon,
The East Wing prepared themselves for editing in accordance with the Dragon's wishes.
After what she had said in assembly,
The majority of them didn't hold out much hope for what lay behind the gym doors.
But Penny,
Being a positive sort,
Had other ideas.
Because she was smaller than everyone else,
There was always a slim chance there would be something decent left for her.
The clock tower chimed and the doors opened right on cue.
Two at a time.
Clothes first,
Then haircuts,
A brusque voice declared.
And so the hustle began.
Adam and William pushed their way to the front in the vain hope of securing the pick of what was on offer.
But they needn't have bothered.
This was nothing more than a collection of saggy boxes from which vomited a jumbled mess in various states of disrepair.
They stood back and took in the scene.
The teachers were eyeing them up from the safety of the gym walls,
While the hairdressing team were huddled in the corner,
Comparing the size of their implements.
Not a scratch to be seen,
Whispered Adam,
Pressing the heel of his shoe into the freshly lacquered floor.
The reflection of a hundred spotlights glared back in retaliation,
So he pulled down his prescription glasses and turned his gaze elsewhere.
And there on the back wall,
Just in time for the arrival of the West Wing,
He saw two navy banners adorned with embroidered crests and golden piping.
Penny read the school motto.
Control,
Order and Ultimate Power,
She said.
That was the sum total of Latin she knew,
And the sum total of Latin she had any intention of knowing.
It took less than an hour for the job to be done,
And comparing the results of what William agreed was a very clumsy hairdresser,
Adam laughed out loud.
They looked ridiculous,
And their new uniform did nothing to help matters either,
Being well-fitting but very tired.
Penny,
Meanwhile,
Had lost even more hair and had to resort to rolling the waistband of her skirt into a huge lump while holding onto her cuffs to prevent herself from disappearing.
She dashed back to find an alternative to the ugly brown lace-ups she was told were the only ones in her size.
But unfortunately for her,
She had factored neither the speed nor the stealth with which a determined principal could move.
What are you doing,
Penelope Darlington?
It was the second time that day,
And now it was all too much.
Please,
Aunty Margaret,
It's only going to get worse if I wear these.
No sooner had she said it than she hated herself.
She had broken every rule she had made and stupidly shown her hand.
Now everyone would know just how weak she really was.
Her brothers looked on.
They were oblivious as to the significance of this outburst,
And quite frankly,
This was rocking the status quo.
Penny could see,
They had had quite enough of trying on clothes.
Nobody understood.
Nobody except,
Of course,
Aunty Margaret.
Put those shoes on and stop making such a fuss,
She hissed,
And Penny forced herself to look at them.
They were ugly.
She hated them and they were the ugliest shoes she had ever seen.
I can't,
She thought to herself.
But she did,
And the moment they touched her feet,
Her dreams of being able to filter into the heavy stream of fast-moving pupils withdrew deep into the pit of her stomach.
Maybe I wasn't born to be that kind of girl,
She said to herself.
The sanctuary of invisibility is not mine to possess.
She'd read that in a book somewhere and she rather liked it.
And so,
Acceptance being the only peace on offer to her,
Penny resigned herself to what was to be,
As a silent tear rolled down her cheek.
Oh,
Here she goes again,
Showing off.
The principal's statement was loud and victorious.
Those shoes will stand the test of time,
Now for heaven's sake,
Stop sulking,
Child.
Then turning to face her audience,
The dragon declared,
She's so over-emotional about everything,
That girl,
Before marching off for maximum effect.
And at that moment,
A new wave of understanding washed over Penny.
You're on your own,
Nothing more,
Nothing less,
That's all there is to it.
So she turned back,
Picked up her old shoes,
And hid them under her jumper.
As the East Wing made their way to dinner,
The lobby was much brighter than usual.
The lights had been switched on for a change and there was an energy that wasn't there before.
It was the West Wing,
And they were claiming the entire space as their own.
Clusters of very loud,
Very well-presented girls made a point of chatting and laughing animatedly,
Whilst various groups of boys gathered around them to snigger as the East Wing passed by.
They did their best to ignore them,
Of course,
But Antonio Sky,
A rather vacant-looking West Winger,
Had other ideas.
Hold on a minute,
I'm sure I've seen them before.
But by the time his West Wing friends had turned,
The Darlingtons were long gone.
They're the kids of that boffin,
You know,
The one in the paper,
The science bloke who got arrested.
Father says he's a left-wing nutter.
But no one was listening.
After all,
Antonio Sky wasn't considered to be the sharpest tool in the shed,
And most of what he said was taken with a pinch of salt.
But trailing far behind the Darlingtons,
Jason McTavish could not believe his ears.
He was hardly in the best frame of mind after what had happened earlier that day,
Though,
And to add a pinch of salt to injury,
His precious hair had just been swept up and thrown in the bin.
His mother would be devastated.
But he soon forgot all about that when someone mentioned jacket potatoes with cheese.
They look like a right rabble,
Scoffed a scrawny but well-dressed West Wing girl as Jennifer caught up with them.
And as the entire West Wing female cohort burst into fits of laughter,
She moaned,
I don't see why we have to have them here anyway.
It was perfectly fine the way it was.
Well,
We better get used to them,
Someone else shouted back,
Because father said those de-fags are here to stay.
