Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO On Monday morning the girls loaded fruit and fresh-baked pastries on to their plates. Big vases of white and pink winter lilies decorated the long tables. Scarlett pounced on Olivia and Layla as they sat down next to her. "Have you heard? Lessons are over from now on!" "What?" said Layla. "Yes! Billy said Ms Primrose is about to make an announcement." At that very moment, Ms Primrose, their old, wise headteacher, stood up and held up a hand for silence. The students stopped chattering. "Good morning," said Ms Primrose, her eyes

twinkling in her wrinkled face. "This is a very special week and for most of you it will be your last at Unicorn Academy. The Graduation Ball will take place on Friday evening. It's a tradition that each dormitory decorates one area of the academy and also puts on a show before the ball to demonstrate to the parents the skills that you and your unicorns have developed this year. Lessons are now officially over to allow you to prepare for this." A loud cheer filled the dining hall. Hiding a smile, Ms Primrose pulled out a piece of paper. "Diamond dormitory, you will decorate the ballroom." "Yay!" Billy and Jack, two of the boys from that dorm, fist-bumped each other. "Emerald dorm…" Valentina De Silva and her friends looked up eagerly. "You will decorate the stables." "The stables?" exclaimed Valentina in disgust.

"Yes, Valentina, the stables," said Ms Primrose firmly. She raised her eyebrows and Valentina subsided into her seat with a glare. Ms Primrose continued reading aloud until finally she looked at Olivia and her friends. "This year the girls in Sapphire dormitory have been extra-special guardians, stopping several attempts to sabotage Sparkle Lake and our school. Therefore, I am giving Sapphire dormitory the lake and its surroundings to decorate." Another huge cheer almost lifted the ceiling, with the whole school clapping. Almost the whole school, thought Olivia, seeing Valentina give them a death stare. As Ms Primrose sat down, Valentina started talking angrily to her best friends Delia and Jacinta. "I don't want to decorate the stables! My parents are governors. I am going to demand to swap. I shall see my aunt about this." "She's not swapping with us," said Isabel

firmly. "Not after all those times we've saved the lake. Remember when someone tried to pollute it? Then a while later it froze over?" "And there was the time it nearly flooded the school. And what about those flash flies that mysteriously appeared at the end of the summer? They killed all the leaves on the trees, which almost clogged the lake up," chipped in Scarlett. "So many bad things have happened here this year," said Ava, tucking her chin-length dark hair behind her ears. "And not just to the lake– there was the time the sky-berry bushes all failed and the poor unicorns didn't have any berries to eat." "I'm glad we've been able to help each time," said Layla. Sophia looked anxious. "Who's going to look after things here after we've left?" "Me!" said Olivia. As she spoke, she warmed to the idea. Someone had to keep an

eye on things until the person responsible for trying to sabotage the academy was caught. If she stayed on, then she could help. "If I don't graduate, I'll still be here." "But you are going to graduate!" protested Isabel. "We're going to make sure of it!" chorused Sophia and Ava, linking arms with her as they left the dining hall. On the way out, they saw Valentina talking with her aunt, Ms Nettles, the strict Geography and Culture teacher. Ms Nettles kept breaking off to sneeze into a tissue. "I don't know why Valentina's so steamed up," said Ava. "The stables will be a lovely place to decorate." "And why does Ms Nettles keep sneezing?" said Scarlett. "It's her hay fever," said Layla. "I bet all those vases of flowers on the tables set her off." "I'm sorry, Valentina. There isn't anything I

can do," they heard Ms Nettles saying as they passed. "But, Auntie—" Ms Nettles sneezed again. "No, Valentina. I have tried to help you this year but I cannot do anything about this. Now I really must go and