Chapter 5
My words were followed by chilled silence. I glared at the note. Who would write such a thing? I crumpled up the paper and shoved it into my pocket before ripping open the door to our room.
“Who do you think would have done it?” Denaé whispered once we were inside. I set my skates down beside my bed and sat heavily down at the vanity. “I am not sure,” I replied, picking up my hairbrush and combing my fur. “We can ask around at dinner tonight,” I suggested.
I glanced up in the mirror to see Amy sitting on her bed with a sick expression, her eyes unfocused. “Hey,” I called. “It will be alright,” I told her. She looked up, unsure and troubled. “Why is someone upset with me?” She asked quietly, looking down again. “I didn’t hurt anyone, and it’s only the second day!” Denaé went and sat beside her confused. Poor Amy took things like that very hard. “We know, Amy!” She soothed, rubbing the fox’s back. “Some animals are just jealous or… bad-mannered.” She clarified.
That was when the warning bell went off. It was time for dinner. We quickly changed into better clothing, (our other clothes were wet from the snow) before leaving for the cafeteria.
We sat down together at a vacant table and waited for the clearance to get our food. Most of the tables were already full, so as we sat, I scanned the room for any suspicious individuals.
“We are assuming the note was written by someone from the skating competition, which makes perfect sense as that is what the note is talking about,” Denaé said, rubbing her ear. I nodded. “Who left the rink first?” I asked, turning to Amy. She looked at me and blinked a few times fast. “Oh. I believe it was Raven. Evica and Casella stayed for hot chocolate for a while.” I furrowed my brow and scanned the cafeteria, looking for the furtive fox. She was sitting alone at a table near the back corner, looking down at her phone through the tendrils of her purple hair that fell over her face.
“Once we get our food, I am going to eat quickly and ask the skaters about the note,” I informed my friends, still looking at Raven. She noticed my stare and looked slightly up at me, her head still down. We glared like that until she broke away and continued scrolling on her phone. That was when we heard the sound of one tapping on a mic. We turned to see Marie waiting for us to give her our attention. Once the cafeteria was quiet, she began to speak.
“Good evening, students.” She began. She looked very tired. “I would like to inform all of you that the Jamaaliday school break is to begin in two weeks.” She paused with a slightly irritated expression as all the students went “yay.”
“I expect you all to do well on your work until the holidays, and if we see any slacking or if you have any leftover work, do not think you are getting out of it for you will be required to finish all extra assignments during the break.” She paused this time as some of the students went “aww…”
“On the first day of the break, as you all know, there is a skating competition. It shall be held in Mt. Shiveer on the skating rink. Busses shall bring you all to the festival the day before and we shall all be sleeping in the Hot Cocoa Hut.” She voiced to us. “Now no more delay. Tables one to three may line up for dinner.” We were table six so we waited until the second round was called.
Today was pea soup, crackers and buttered bread. I poured some of the soup into my bowl and grabbed some crackers that I put on my plate. We sat back down after quickly grabbing some juice, and began our meal.
I stirred my soup, blowing on it to cool it off. “Amy,” I said to get the fox’s attention. She looked up. “Do you have any suspicions?” I asked her. She twisted her mouth. “Well,” she began. “Raven left quickly at the end, and she is very quiet and concentrated.” Amy shrugged. “She may be trying to ensure her victory.” I nodded thoughtfully, taking a eating a spoonful of the thick, delicious, warm soup. “Anyone else?” I asked. Amy tapped her chin with the end of her spoon, looking into space. “Casella got mad at me for bumping into her, so she could still be ticked off about that.” The lilac vixen told us. “Mind you, she was in my area of the rink from doing her ridiculous number of spins at a dizzying speed.” She sniffed.
I quickly finished my dinner, now that it was cooled off, before informing my tablemates that I would be quickly asking around about the note.
I stood up, pulling the paper from my pocket, and walking to where Raven was still on her phone. She saw me approaching, but continued looking at her phone, obviously not interested in a conversation. Well too bad for her.
“Hey, Raven.” I began, sliding over to her. I showed her the note. “Do you know anything about this?” I asked. She made quick eye contact before shrugging. She slouched slightly, turning a tiny bit away. “You have never seen it before?” I asked. She shook her head, turning her shoulders a tad farther away from me before taking a bite of bread. I sighed and turned to look for Casella. She was sitting with Evica and the other “cool kids.”
I walked over to them and their jubilant conversation suddenly halted. There was silence as I stared down at them and them at me.
“What do you want?” Rune asked, not in a rude way but also not overly friendly. He was nicer when he wasn’t around Evica.
I held up the note, and they all just gazed at it. “Have any of you seen this note before?” I asked. Casella narrowed her eyes. “Are you suspecting us of something, Isis?” She hissed. I smiled sourly at her. “Yes I am, Casella.” Evica rolled her eyes.
“It was left on our dorm door, obviously intended for Amy.” I said. One of them coughed. Casella glared ferociously at me, her pink and white panda tail fluffy. “I absolutely did NOT write that! I am not a coward.” She growled, her eyes glittering. “I don’t leave stupid notes like that around.” She huffed. Evica joined in. “Stop annoying everyone, Isis and deal with your own problems.” She growled, turning away and continuing her dinner. They all chimed in their “ya’s” before continuing their eating like Evica.
I sighed and turned away, going back to our table. I informed my friends about what happened. So far, Raven and Casella were the main suspects, one, because Raven won’t talk to us and looks distrustful and two because Casella seemed really suspicious and avoiding the question. The rest of the animals at that table were rude but not in a suspicious way.
We soon finished and cleaned up our spot. We walked back through the giant academy to our rooms where we changed into our pajamas and brushed our teeth, too tired to bother with any herbal tea. We combed our fur and climbed into bed, not quite ready to sleep, but to begin relaxing.
We were talking about apple and pumpkin pie when I felt my phone buzz. I answered it. “Hello?”
“Hey Isis!” Astron said cheerily. “Good news. I will be back in class very shortly! About four or five days I think.” He said. I smiled. “Ah splendid!” I cried. He laughed. “I can't wait to see you all again! It had been way too long.” I agreed. He sighed but quickly perked up again. “I just wanted to keep you guys updated! Plus I was super excited to tell you I would finally be coming in a few days.” I nodded, and then he asked, “So what’s up with you all right now?” I made the motion of barfing to express my disgust and annoyance for our current problem, and told him about our jealous skater issue. He listened intently, making occasional mmm sounds. “Well I say probably ignore it for now and don’t worry, Isis. As long as no one is getting hurt, it’s okay right? Just be sure to give Amy extra hugs to make her feel better. It’s not her fault” He instructed caringly. I nodded with a smile. “Alright.” We all sat in silence, thinking, before I remembered I had a quiz the next day. “Ah.” I sighed. “I am sorry, I should probably go because I have a first aid quiz tomorrow.” Astron replied happily, “Oh no don’t worry about it! You all get a good sleep. See you all soon!” I hung up and set my phone aside, yawning and sliding under my covers.
“What’s that about?” Amy whispered, sitting up. “Astron will be returning in a few days.” I replied, yawning again. She made an excited sound before laying back down.
We drifted slowly into sleep. The activities of the day swirled through my brain until I couldn’t keep track of them anymore. I fell through the still gloom into the far away land of deep, dark sleep.
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The girls have begun discussing their suspects. Do you have any suspicions so far from the evidence? Tell me in the comments below! <3
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*Please note this book is written by Nop62, and all rights go to them! Cutey simply uploads this.