Chapter One: A New Term (Miss N)

“Well girls, here we are,” sighed Mrs Frank as they drove through the entrance to Fernwood High School. Mrs Frank looked at her twin daughters, huddled up next to each other in the back seat. Both born on the same day, brought up in the same home and in exactly the same way, and yet so completely different. On this day, however, Chelsea and Roxanne were both feeling a little sad about being back at boarding school and having to say good-bye to mom and dad after a fun-filled and action-packed holiday at home. On the other hand, it was always nice to arrive back at their ‘second home’ and see their friends and favourite teachers again. They were particularly looking forward to seeing Jade. Her older brother Adam had his two best friends, Kyle and Stuart, to stay during the Christmas holidays and Chelsea had a serious crush on Kyle! Chelsea wondered how Kyle was looking and, more importantly, if he was still single. The twins couldn’t wait to hear all Jade’s news and gossip, she always had plenty to share and she wasn’t one to spare any of the details.

Mr Frank parked the car and unloaded the heavy suitcases out of the boot.
“Why do you girls always seem to have so many bags?” he grumbled. They both rolled their eyes and helped their dad lug their bags down to the boarding house. Mrs Frank followed behind them with her arms full of Roxanne’s sporting gear, from tennis and squash racquets to hockey sticks and kicking boards. Roxy was a sports fanatic! She played every sport that the school offered and she was good at everything. Chelsea, on the contrary, was a real lady and she would much rather spend her time practicing pirouettes in the ballet studio than sweating on the squash court while hitting that silly little ball against the wall. In truth, Chelsea was much more graceful and elegant than her ‘tomboy’ sister.
After dumping their bags in the common room, it was time to say goodbye. The girls couldn’t believe that it would be another three months before they saw their parents again but they knew that it would be a busy term and that the time would fly. They watched with tears in their eyes as dad drove out the gate and mom waved furiously out her window. The two sisters hugged each other and walked back to the hostel to find their new dormitory and to start unpacking.
As they walked back inside, Annie and Charlotte came bounding down the stairs.
“The twins are here!” squeaked Annie in her tiny little voice and gave them both a big hug. Chelsea and Roxanne were much taller than Annie. Charlotte giggled at the sight of the three of them in a lopsided bear hug but she quickly jumped in to join the huddle. The four of them and Jade had been best friends since the day they all arrived at Fernwood High School two years ago and were all placed in Oak House. They had taken no time at all to get to know each other and soon they were inseparable. Everything was always an adventure for the ‘Fabulous Five, or the ‘Fab Five’ as they called themselves!
“So what dorm are we in this year?” asked Chelsea.
“Have you guys already chosen the best beds?” asked Roxanne, raising an eyebrow in accusation.
“Well, um, we haven’t unpacked a thing yet,” said Charlotte, looking nervously at Annie.
“Why not?” asked the twins.
By now Annie’s face had turned pale and she could barely bring herself to tell the twins the shocking news.
“Well, Josephine has just told us that we’re in…the dorm…under the stairs,” said Annie.
“What?” shouted Roxanne, “The dorm under the stairs? You’ve heard the stories about that dorm, there’s no way I’m moving in there! We’re in Grade Ten now, I thought we were supposed to be on the third floor in Dorm Three, the sunny one!”
“That’s what we thought too, but I’m not going to question Josephine!” said Charlotte while Annie nodded in full agreement.
Josephine was the new head of Oak House. She was also the Head Girl and she was very scary. There was no arguing or negotiating with Josephine, that was for sure. The girls knew that they would end up being grounded for two weeks, or under ‘house arrest’ as Jade called it, if they even looked like they had a problem with their new dorm.
“We’ve left our bags outside the dorm and decided to wait for you before settling in,” said Annie. “We thought it would be more fun, and safer, to unpack together. Besides, I’m sure all the rumours about the dorm are nonsense. I think it looks quite cute and cosy, I’m sure we’ll have loads of fun! I don’t remember any terrible incidents that were reported last year, so it can’t be that bad.”
“There was no one in that dorm last year Annie, it was being ‘renovated’, remember?” said Roxanne, sounding very nervous.
“Well,” interrupted Charlotte matter-of-factly, “there are quite a few new girls this year and they need the space, so we don’t really have a choice.”
“Okay then, let’s do it,” agreed Chelsea, trying to sound cheerful. “It will be an adventure, and somehow we’ll make this our best year yet!”
“Where’s Jade, is she not here yet?” asked Roxanne.
“She is actually, but she had a nervous breakdown when we told her about our new dorm. You know Jade, always the drama queen! Her mom took her outside for some fresh air to calm her down.”
The four girls giggled as they thought about Jade and her nervous breakdowns. Annie and Charlotte helped the twins with their bags and the giggling soon became nervous rather than cheerful as they made their way down the first flight of stairs. They followed the dark and gloomy passage towards the back of Oak House, to Dorm Six, under the stairs.