Page 87 - The Mending Season

“You’re new and you never say anything, she’ll believe you,” the girls all around me were saying. I shrugged and bit my lip, and they took my silence for a declaration of solidarity.“Just tell her when she comes in,” pleaded Trish. “And they’ll-”Laura walked in just then, holding Beth’s hand, Mrs Tanner following behind. The class fell silent, except for a few hisses from Trish, Tamz and even Dirusha. They all gave me knowing looks before returning to their seats.“Tell her,”Trish whispered one more time.Mrs Tanner strolled in wearing her usual over-decorated glasses, a knee-length pencil skirt and very high heels. She put her bag on the table and eased into the chair, looking calmer than usual. We stood up.“Good morning, girls,” she said in her deep voice that always sounded like she had just had flu.“Good morning, Miss.”“Is everyone all right?” she inquired, her eyes scanning the class.“Miss,”Tamz spoke first. “I think someone should tell the truth about what happened, Miss.”A few people started chattering. Mrs Tanner held up her hand to calm us down.“What did happen?” she asked, taking off her glasses and stroking her hair. I knew that Laura and Beth must have just filled her in. She was not speaking like someone hungry to hear a story for the first time. She sat back in her chair with­ out taking out her teaching books as usual.Everyone spoke at the same time. “All right girls, I can’t hear you all talking at once.”She looked behind me. “Veronica? Do you want to tell me what happened?”Veronica shook her head but the class waited still. On the other side ofthe class, I saw KB putting Endearmints into her87