Read Online The Time of Your Life by Isabella Cass - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Isabella Cass
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GOD!' Belle groaned. 'That was so-o-o
embarrassing!'
Cat grinned sympathetically as they sat down in
front of the roaring fire in the common room after
supper. She was used to putting her foot in it and
making a spectacle of herself – it was all in a day's work!
But poor Belle usually conducted herself in a cool and
dignified manner. Being the school laughing-stock in a
full suit of armour was not exactly in her comfort zone!
'Bianca and Mayu told me to look for the costume
with my name on . . .' Belle muttered.
'Yep!' Cat laughed. 'Those two must have thought
they'd hit the jackpot – Belle making a prize eejit of
herself and Cat getting a humungous rollicking from
Mr Sharpe. Two for the price of one!'
Cat was trying to make light of it to cheer Belle up,
but in reality she was quite shaken by Mr Sharpe's
outburst; the thought of letting down the entire school
was much harder to laugh off than her usual blips and
blunders. 'We'll rise above it!' she said bravely, reminding
Belle of the Bianca-proof slogan they'd coined at the
beginning of term. 'And don't worry – everyone will
have forgotten about the armour-thing by tomorrow.'
'Do you really think so?'
'Yeah – no doubt I'll do another of my amazing Cat-turns-up-late-again or Cat-forgets-her-homework tricks, and
give them something else to gossip about.' Cat laughed
her sprightliest am-I-bothered? laugh, but she knew she'd
just lost one of her nine lives. If Mr Grampian hadn't
stepped in, she was sure Mr Sharpe would have thrown
her out of the play then and there. He hadn't even
given her a chance to explain that she was late because
she'd run to ask Miss Candlemas if she could borrow
the string of red glass beads she'd seen her wearing last
week, for her Lady Macbeth costume.
Belle must have detected the wobble in her voice.
'Cat, I know things are getting a bit crazy. Are you OK?'
Cat grinned. 'Yes, of course!' Although deep down
she wasn't so sure. She was so tired her bones ached.
She felt as if she were running on a treadmill that was
going faster and faster – and she couldn't find the
switch to turn it off . . .
'Tell you what you need!' Belle said.
'A body-double? A time machine?'
Belle laughed and shook her head. 'Upekkha.'
'Up-a-what?'
'Upekkha – it's a yoga thing – it means balance, inner
peace. Come to my yoga class with me tomorrow
morning . . .'
Cat wasn't entirely convinced yoga was going to
solve her problems. She didn't need inner peace. She just
needed to run faster or find the off-switch.
'SOMEBODY HELP ME!'
The fake scream was coming from Nick Taggart,
who was racing into the common room with Nathan
and Serena. A group of Year Ten students, including
Ethan Reed and Lucy Cheng, followed. 'I'm a damsel in
distress!' Nick continued, waving his hands girlishly. 'Behold! Methinks a knight in shining armour approacheth!' With that, he threw himself at Belle's feet. The others
drew up armchairs around the cosy fireplace, laughing
at Nick's performance.
Eek! Cat thought. The last thing Belle needed was
Nick winding her up with his court jester act. But to
her astonishment, Belle didn't seem annoyed with Nick
at all. In fact, she was grinning at him as if he'd just
made the wittiest joke in the history of comedy.
'I'll challenge you to a joust if you're not careful,'
Belle quipped, suddenly looking a lot more cheerful.
'You were pretty funny, Belle!' Serena laughed as she
pulled a cape from her bag and started sewing braid
around the hem. 'But how did you get the armour? It
was hidden away right at the back of the stores.'
Before Belle could reply, Holly, Gemma and Lettie
arrived, excitedly discussing the meeting they'd just
had with Miss Morgan and Miss LeClair to check the
fitting of the new pointe shoes they'd all bought during
the half-term holiday; the advanced ballet class would
be starting their en pointe work very soon.
'Lucky Holly,' Gemma teased. 'Miss Morgan says
she's got perfect feet!'
Ethan laughed and made room on
embarrassing!'
Cat grinned sympathetically as they sat down in
front of the roaring fire in the common room after
supper. She was used to putting her foot in it and
making a spectacle of herself – it was all in a day's work!
But poor Belle usually conducted herself in a cool and
dignified manner. Being the school laughing-stock in a
full suit of armour was not exactly in her comfort zone!
'Bianca and Mayu told me to look for the costume
with my name on . . .' Belle muttered.
'Yep!' Cat laughed. 'Those two must have thought
they'd hit the jackpot – Belle making a prize eejit of
herself and Cat getting a humungous rollicking from
Mr Sharpe. Two for the price of one!'
Cat was trying to make light of it to cheer Belle up,
but in reality she was quite shaken by Mr Sharpe's
outburst; the thought of letting down the entire school
was much harder to laugh off than her usual blips and
blunders. 'We'll rise above it!' she said bravely, reminding
Belle of the Bianca-proof slogan they'd coined at the
beginning of term. 'And don't worry – everyone will
have forgotten about the armour-thing by tomorrow.'
'Do you really think so?'
'Yeah – no doubt I'll do another of my amazing Cat-turns-up-late-again or Cat-forgets-her-homework tricks, and
give them something else to gossip about.' Cat laughed
her sprightliest am-I-bothered? laugh, but she knew she'd
just lost one of her nine lives. If Mr Grampian hadn't
stepped in, she was sure Mr Sharpe would have thrown
her out of the play then and there. He hadn't even
given her a chance to explain that she was late because
she'd run to ask Miss Candlemas if she could borrow
the string of red glass beads she'd seen her wearing last
week, for her Lady Macbeth costume.
Belle must have detected the wobble in her voice.
'Cat, I know things are getting a bit crazy. Are you OK?'
Cat grinned. 'Yes, of course!' Although deep down
she wasn't so sure. She was so tired her bones ached.
She felt as if she were running on a treadmill that was
going faster and faster – and she couldn't find the
switch to turn it off . . .
'Tell you what you need!' Belle said.
'A body-double? A time machine?'
Belle laughed and shook her head. 'Upekkha.'
'Up-a-what?'
'Upekkha – it's a yoga thing – it means balance, inner
peace. Come to my yoga class with me tomorrow
morning . . .'
Cat wasn't entirely convinced yoga was going to
solve her problems. She didn't need inner peace. She just
needed to run faster or find the off-switch.
'SOMEBODY HELP ME!'
The fake scream was coming from Nick Taggart,
who was racing into the common room with Nathan
and Serena. A group of Year Ten students, including
Ethan Reed and Lucy Cheng, followed. 'I'm a damsel in
distress!' Nick continued, waving his hands girlishly. 'Behold! Methinks a knight in shining armour approacheth!' With that, he threw himself at Belle's feet. The others
drew up armchairs around the cosy fireplace, laughing
at Nick's performance.
Eek! Cat thought. The last thing Belle needed was
Nick winding her up with his court jester act. But to
her astonishment, Belle didn't seem annoyed with Nick
at all. In fact, she was grinning at him as if he'd just
made the wittiest joke in the history of comedy.
'I'll challenge you to a joust if you're not careful,'
Belle quipped, suddenly looking a lot more cheerful.
'You were pretty funny, Belle!' Serena laughed as she
pulled a cape from her bag and started sewing braid
around the hem. 'But how did you get the armour? It
was hidden away right at the back of the stores.'
Before Belle could reply, Holly, Gemma and Lettie
arrived, excitedly discussing the meeting they'd just
had with Miss Morgan and Miss LeClair to check the
fitting of the new pointe shoes they'd all bought during
the half-term holiday; the advanced ballet class would
be starting their en pointe work very soon.
'Lucky Holly,' Gemma teased. 'Miss Morgan says
she's got perfect feet!'
Ethan laughed and made room on
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