• “Hello,” said Shannon Carrol to Paige Hart.
    “Can you show me to my dorm?” asked Paige.
    Shannon nodded. “As your new.”
    “Yes,” said Paige. “I think living here will turn out to be a lot of fun!”
    “Why would it not?” asked Shannon. “This WILL turn out to be like that.”
    “Yeah,” Paige agreed. “I hope so!”
    Summer had came at last!
    “Summer?” asked Paige. “Where’s the art studio?”
    Summer was going to tell her but the door burst open and a tall girl with long blonde hair was standing outside.
    “Who’s this?” she asked. “A newbie, I guess!”
    She laughed and turned to Paige. “I felt like that on my first day but more pretty than you!”
    Paige was little and only nine. She was the youngest in the year, but she was pretty clever!
    “Stop bossing us around, Abigail!” Summer shouted.
    Abigail stopped dead and said:
    “Will you stop this instant?”
    The girls nodded.
    “Yeah,” Paige said. “I hope you stop, too!”
    Abigail shut the door.
    “Please tell me she’s not in our class!” Paige hoped.
    Shannon looked at Paige sadly.
    “Want the bad news or bad news?” she asked.
    “I’ll go for bad.” Paige said.
    “I’ll tell you both,” Shannon said. “Bad because she is in our class, and bad because she’s in the group of spellings as us, and she’ll be boasting all along!”
    Phoebe was in the girls class too, and Phoebe was a very kind girl, but Paige hadn’t even met her!
    Well, thought Paige. What a school!
    You would probably be in a school where you go home and be in the same class, but not in this school! This is a school that’s treated badly, like a half-wit!
    “This school is my birthday treat,” said Paige. “I wish I could have been here after the Christmas break!”
    Huh? thought Summer. No-one knew about HERE at Christmas!
    “Well,” said Shannon. “Miss Linnet hasn’t registered you yet?”
    “No,” said Paige. “Why?”
    “Let me officly welcome you to Charm Hall!” Shannon announced. “Your better off here than Oaklands!”
    “Yeah!” agreed Paige, “I hope!”
    Suddenly, the phone rang.
    “Hello?” asked Shannon as she answered the phone. “Oh, yes! Oh, you’re Paige’s mum? Wait a minute!”
    Shannon looked at Paige. “It’s you’re mum.”
    Paige picked up the phone and her mum was talking.
    “Hello, dear!” she said. “Are you having fun?”
    “Yes. Why didn’t you email me? I’m busy!” Paige said.
    “Sorry, my computer has gone mad.” Paige’s mum replied.
    “Oh,” said Paige. “I’ll send emails to you since.”
    Paige’s mum hung off at the same time as Paige.
    “Well, mum’s computer has broken,” said Paige. “That’s all I found out.”
    “We’ll find a way to fix it,” Shannon said. “As Summer’s mum could do it.”
    “I’m sure we can!” Summer said. “But...”
    “But what?” Shannon asked.
    “My mum got sent to America, so we can’t get her to come.” Summer replied.
    “Oh,” Paige’s face fell. “Poor me.”
    Shannon didn’t know how to cheer Paige up, but they’d think of a plan.
    “Well, let’s tell her a joke to cheer her up!” Summer laughed. “Jokes always do the trick.” Shannon said. “But...”
    Paige couldn’t believe what she saw under her blanket, A CAT!
    “Well,” said Shannon. “Anyone see some food?”
    “No,” said Paige. “But something cool! But trouble.”
    “What?” asked Shannon.
    “A cat,” said Paige.
    “WHERE?” demanded Shannon. “In the bed?”
    Paige nodded. “It looks like the one on the picture of Lavinia Charm!”
    “Her cat was called ‘Velvet’!” Shannon said. “She must be old!”
    Velvet curled up in the bed.
    “A cat?” came a voice behind them. Abigail stood on the doorstep. “VELVET?”
    Velvet did a slow nod.
    “Well,” Abigail said. “VELVET, no cats are allowed!”
    Paige looked at Shannon.
    “You’ve been sneaking through the grounds!” Abigail said. “And you simply found our founder’s cat.”
    Abigail stood still. “Give it here!”
    “No,” Paige said. “We found her!”
    “No,” Abigail said. “Lavinia found it!”
    “NO!” Paige said. “Do sit down.”
    Abigail sat on the extra chair.
    “Now, this is summer time! Anything can happen! And you spoil it all by bossing us around! You talk half as much as I do!”
    Summer looked at Shannon. “Mean me?”
    “No,” said Shannon. “I mean the REAL summer, the season and...”
    “I know what you mean!” Summer laughed.