Party at Silver Spires Read Online Free PDF

flopped back on it together. Sasha and Izzy sat in chairs and I sat on a sofa. Antonia could easily have sat down next to me, but instead she perched on the arm of Sasha’s chair, and when the girls from Mrs. Pridham’s group came in, chattering and laughing, they filled up the rest of the sofa and the other beanbags.
    â€œWell, I hope you feel as though you’re getting to know the layout of Forest Ash,” said Mrs. Pridham, smiling, when we’d quietened down, “and more importantly I hope you’ll soon start to find it’s like a home from home! There’s so much to get used to at Silver Spires, isn’t there? But don’t worry, it won’t be long before you’ll feel as though you’ve been here for years! Now, I always reckon it takes about two weeks to settle in to the timetable and the rules, and that’s when I like to hold a party for all the girls here at Forest Ash.” She beamed round and even Miss Stevenson smiled.
    Why did my heart start to beat faster?
    â€œSo, a week on Saturday, we’re having a getting-to-know-you party, when this common room will be transformed with all sorts of decorations. There’ll be games and delicious food, some of it made by Forest Ash girls, and best of all, you can dress right up in your favourite party outfits!”
    Everyone broke into clapping and cheering at Mrs. Pridham’s words. And I joined in. But inside I was panicking. I didn’t have any party outfits. Nothing in my wardrobe was even the least bit partyish. I didn’t realize we’d need those kind of clothes. And even if I had realized, I wouldn’t have had anything special enough to bring. I was going to stand out for being the least dressed-up person at Forest Ash. What was I going to wear? What was I going to do ?

Chapter Three

    The paper in front of me looked neat and tidy. I’d just finished checking my answers for the seventeenth time, so I stared around, and as I looked, I thought what a lot had happened since I’d first come across this prep room the day before.
    Today had been such an exciting day, right from the very moment I’d woken up to hear Emily telling us all to “rise and shine”. She was in her jamas, leaning out of the window and taking deep breaths.
    â€œShut it! It’s freezing!” wailed Bryony.
    â€œYou’re joking! It’s stifling in here,” said Emily. “I’m going for a walk.” And she’d got dressed and showered in no time at all, then we didn’t see her till breakfast.
    The rest of us had taken our time and hardly said anything. I think we were all feeling a bit nervous, wondering what the day held for us.
    And now it’s eight twenty-five in the evening, and in five minutes’ time prep will finish, and then I’m going to e-mail home.
    I quickly checked my work one last time, but I wasn’t really concentrating. I was thinking back to all the different lessons we’d had. I’d enjoyed every single one of them, and it had been a big relief to find that I was in a class with everyone else from Emerald dorm, but an even bigger relief to find that Suki wasn’t in the same class as us. We’ve not been put in our sets yet for maths, English and science, so I might find she’s in the same set as me for one or more of those subjects, but at least I didn’t have to put up with her loud voice and cold eyes today.
    â€œRight, girls,” came Mrs. Pridham’s voice, breaking the silence, and startling one or two people who were deep into their work. “That’s it! You’re free for half an hour now till bedtime, but remember the rule about not leaving the Forest Ash premises.”
    â€œYou mean we can’t even go outside at all?” asked Emily, and I realized again how much of an outdoor life Emily must have always lived. She didn’t like being cooped up inside at all.
    â€œIf you want to go and