2 May 2012
"Come on Jack! You will be late in a minute! Come on! I have to drive you all the way to Trenaghan before driving to the airport to pick up Mother and Father! So hurry up!" cried Lia exasperated.
"Coming, coming! Can you put my trunk in the car please? Thank you." Jack cried back.
"Ok," Jack whispered into the receiver, "She doesn't suspect a thing. So we'll meet you at about 4:00pm in the Court Yard of the school. Ok, see you there." Jack hung up and then made his way downstairs.
Jack was already dressed in his uniform. He had received a letter in the last two weeks expressing that all students arrive in their uniform.
Lia drove Jack down to Trenaghan High. Lia had left the previous year.
It was Lia's 19th birthday on the Monday and Jack had organised a surprise. Jack had told Lia that they had to be at school on the Saturday, and that their parents wanted Lia to pick them up from the airport on the way home. Their parents had even told Lia the same on the phone as they knew of Jack's surprise. In fact, their parents did not need to be picked up from the airport as Mr Kenninghall had driven them to Trenaghan earlier that day.
They drove up the coastal lane to the school with the sun beating down. Soon they pulled into the Court Yard. Lia switched off the engine and looked about her. She took in the lack of people and coaches and looked sharply at Jack.
"You are sure we are meant to be here today!? It would be just like you to get it wrong! What did the letter say? Let me see it!"
Jack passed the letter to Lia and then...
"JACK" she shrieked, "It isn't today, it's tomorrow you have to be here! Mother and Father will kill you when they find out I had to waste nearly a whole tank of petrol to drive you down here on the wrong day! You should have checked!" Lia finished indignantly.
Suddenly there came the sound of singing and Lia looked up, out of the windscreen. There she saw: Mr Kenninghall, Miss Potts, Chad Roberts, Lisa Burton, Max Zurch, Mark Tyler, Sammie Blake, Matt Baker and her Mother and Father, all singing Happy Birthday.
Lia's jaw dropped and she looked quickly at Jack. Once the song was over Lia and Jack exited the car and Lia was enveloped under a wave of her friends: Chad, Lisa and Max, as they all ran and hugged her.
Jack stood by Sammie, both grinning.
"Well, here it goes to our year in Form 3! How will we survive?" said Jack to Sammie.
"Oh, I think you will cope! You two are a very capable pair! Go upstairs and change!" Mr Kenninghall said from behind them.
Jack raced Sammie up to the dormitories in Lily Croft House. Jack found his name on the list at the bottom of the stairs leading to the Form 3 and 4 dormitories. Jack was pleasantly surprised to discover that Charlie, Daniel and he were alone in a dormitory by themselves, while the last remaining Form 3 boy in Lily Croft House, Jasper Kennings was in with the two Form 4 boys in Lily Croft House, Jay Davies and Harvey Lee.
"What dormitory are you in Sammie?" Jack asked.
"Oh, I've got a room all to myself! I've been in it all summer. You'll find that as we go further up the school we will no longer be in big dormitories altogether, but more separated. You and I more so as we were the first Year Prefects and Daniel and you the first Rocker Prefects." Sammie explained.
Jack thought back to the dormitory the Form 1s and Form 2s had to share on the floor below and realised that he was going to enjoy having a room which he only had to share with Charlie and Daniel. He then asked, "Where are the three Form 4 girls then?"
"Oh, they are in the room opposite mine. Come and look." Sammie explained.
Jack changed and then they went back down. They had a wonderful evening out on the lawns in front of the school; over-looking the sea. But all too soon it was over and Jack's Mother and Father were going home with Lia; and Chad, Lisa and Max were all going too.
The next day Jack was woken by the sound of the bell clanging. He got up and dressed and then went and knocked on Sammie's door. He saw Mark and Matt going down to breakfast; and as Sammie and he walked down they met Miss Potts and Mr Wilkins.
It was a long day and around lunch time Jack decided to go and put all his holiday PREP on his teacher's desks. Sammie came along with him. After doing so, they decided to take a walk around the school and as they came around to the Court Yard they saw the coaches and hundreds of students bustling around. He caught sight of Daniel and Jamie immediately and ran over to help them with their bags. Daniel had grown about six inches over the summer and Jamie wasn't far behind.
As they were entering the Entrance Hall, Jack heard the sound of his name and turned to see Charlie pelting towards him.
They all walked up to Lily Croft House together and Jack showed Daniel and Charlie their dormitory.
After dinner, Mr Kenninghall announced that there would be an Assembly in the Assembly Hall. He requested that the Year Prefects and Rocker Prefects organise their Forms.
So at 6:00pm Jack and Sammie were leading the other Year Prefects and Rocker Prefects in Form 3 to organise their Form. Jack had also taken the initiative to organise the new Form 1 students and get them lined up.
Once all the students were seated silently Mr Kenninghall began. "Welcome back! I hope that you have all had a good summer holiday and are now ready to get back to some hard work."
"We will now announce the school Prefect positions."
"Our Head Boy and Girl are Patrick Freeda and Sue Semmings."
"For Deputy Head Boy and Girl we have Sam Freeze and Louisa Lock."
“Our House Captains are Cathy Lindt and Giles Katling for Cliffort House, Charlotte Cricks and Helen Canded for Red Croft House, Ben Baton and Chrissie James for Trenfort House and Matthew Rawley and Francis Lawrence for Lily Croft House.”
“Our Prefects are Cressie Jensey and Jane Tomkins in Form 7; and Victoria Robinson and Katie Sutton in Form 6 for Cliffort House, Peter Walton and Jo (Joanna) Reep in Form 7; and Craig Petter and Imogen Peck in Form 6 for Red Croft House, James White and Jane Pevernsea in Form 7; and Richard Pole and Sheila Sole in Form 6 for Trenfort House and Henry Walters and Freddie (Fredricka) Hampsfield in Form 7; Mark Tyler and Matthew (Matt) Baker in Form 6 for Lily Croft House.”
“Our Sports Captains are Caboray Cadburg and Charlotte Fawdry; and the Games Prefect is Jason LeeRoy."
“Our Drama, Dance and Music Captains are Wilson Kay and Sarah Kay."
“Our Year Prefects are:- Form 2 - Ricky Jay, Cattie O'Salve and Fred Rapsey.
Form 3 – Jack Richie, Sammie (Samantha) Blake, Timmy Watson and Charlie Cook.
Form 4 – John Jones, Jeffery Peters, Jenny Blacks, Ian Jones, Edward Blake and Enid Nightfax.
Form 5 – Sarah Hepburn, Jessica Freeman, Katie Lease, George McFarlin, Harriet Forgefield, Peter Hewwitt, Jessica Jewson, Sarah Blackford and Hamish Nightfax.
Form 6 – Henry Alaxander, Jason Mehmet, Lewis Deaks, Jane Freeman, Tom Jenner, Lena Phillips, Jennings Forgefield, Freeda Sea, Fred Westly and Peter Westly.
Form 7 – Jason Dononhov, Jenny Jones, Patrick Freeda, Sue Semmings, Lemmit Stevens, Jane Filo, Louisa Westly and Hadley Johnson."
“Our Rocker Prefects are:- Form 2 - Jamie Parker. Form 3 – Daniel Parker and Jack Richie. Form 4 – Form 5 – Form 6 – Mark Tyler. Form 7 – ."
After all the Prefect positions had been announced, Mr Kenninghall instructed the House Captains and Prefects to take the Form 1s up to their dormitories. All the older students were permitted to go to their House Common Rooms until bed time at 10:00pm.
Jack snuggled down that night feeling that this year was going to be his most exciting.
The whole school was woken by the clanging bell. Jack got up, dressed and made his way downstairs where he met Sammie. Daniel and Charlie were with them too. As they came to the Form 1s and Form 2s dormitories they heard a lot of noise and soon came upon a huge crowd.
Sammie called over the heads of the Form 1s to her brother Mark, "Would you like Jack and I to take these Form 1s down to breakfast; and then you can bring the stragglers?"
"Yeah, that would be really helpful if you did. If you take the boys down and I will then go and help Freddie and Francis get the girls down." Mark called back.
That morning they sat through Geography, Maths and French; and then the afternoon was filled with Art and History.
Jack and Daniel were on top form and even Sammie was up with them in Geography. Mr Kenninghall was pleased to see this change in Sammie. She had only been at Trenaghan for two years and yet she was already an asset to the school. The school had worked for both Sammie and Mark. Mr Kenninghall could, even now, see Jack and Sammie as the ideal Head Boy and Girl one day.
Three weeks went by. All classes had now begun in earnest and for Form 3 students the pace was picking up.
The Head of their Form this year was Mr Wilkins, the Maths teacher. He was a kindly old man who had been a pupil at the school in 1941; and now was a devoted teacher. Nevertheless, Mr Wilkins believed in standards and worked all his students to the maximum. But he did recognise a need for student recreation.
So Mr Wilkins called Sammie, Jack, Charlie, Timmy and Daniel to his study after school on Tuesday to put an idea to them. He proposed to take the Form 3 students to the local theatre to see the production there at half term in two weeks. However, there were two conditions: that everyone would get an HP (High Pass) grade in the test in the last week and that the behaviour of the whole Form was impeccable.
So, Jack, Sammie, Charlie, Timmy and Daniel went back feeling jubilant. Sammie called a meeting for Form 3 in the classroom that evening where they relayed the news.
The whole of Form 3 were terribly excited and were all working exceptionally well, when disastor struck.
It was Friday morning and Form 3 was sat in Religious Education with Miss Jenkins. A strict, but fair middle-age
Jack Richie in Form 3 at Trenaghan High • Opuss № I