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cushions you could arrange for your own comfort. She missed the projects that could consume hours of your time on presentation alone before you felt they were impressive enough to submit for assessment. Their classroom at Drabville Elementary had been a welcoming place with every available surface displaying their dioramas of the solar system and models of the pyramids. Milli envied Finn and Fennel, who were still there, having been held back a year to allow them to catch up on all the things they’d missed during their years with the Lampo Circus. Milli was finding thetransition to senior school difficult, and although she was growing accustomed to St Erudite’s culture, she really had to wonder about the pedagogy (a word she had recently learned from Ernest) behind some of its practices. How could poorly heated, Spartan classrooms be conducive to learning? And how ludicrous was it that access to students’ lockers was barred other than at break times, which meant you had to remember to collect what you needed for several lessons in a row. And that meant you had to remember what those lessons were. Often there wasn’t the time to be searching for timetables (sensible Ernest had taped a copy of his to the inside of his locker door). Milli was forever picking up the wrong folder or leaving behind her Mathemat. For the life of her she couldn’t see why most of their classes couldn’t be held in the one room, where they could have assigned desks to store their things in. And how hard could it be to fit pegs to the walls to hang up the blazers that barely fitted inside their minuscule lockers?
    Apart from the physical challenges of life at St Erudite’s the students seemed a far lesscohesive group. There were the twelve prefects with shiny badges pinned to their lapels, teachers who strode through the halls with their academic gowns fluttering behind them, and students grouped into factions based on skill or sophistication. Milli was fascinated by the seniors; the boys with their easy humour and shirts only half tucked and the girls with their manicured nails and glossy smiles. Once a boy called James Woods (Woodsy to his friends) who was the debating captain had given Milli a cheeky wink after catching her staring. She had flushed deeply and had become so disoriented she had to be led away by a baffled Ernest.
    But the sudden decline in status was perhaps the most difficult change to come to terms with. Both Milli and Ernest had achieved what can only be described as a profile at Drabville Elementary. They were always the ones who took the lead, whether in debating, chess or school theatrical productions. At St Erudite’s the competition was tougher; they had to prove their worth all over again. Milli tried out for a couple of sporting teams but found she lacked the required speed and agility. Ernest auditionedfor the end-of-year production of Macbeth and was seriously miffed when he was cast as Banquo’s son, Fleance, a character who spoke two lines in the entire play. Ernest wasn’t used to being upstaged by older boys with booming voices and greater ‘stage presence’. As for debating, both children had been placed in a beginners’ team full of stuttering students so nervous they kept getting their palm cards out of order.
    St Erudite’s Academy was also very focused on the upholding of tradition. Teachers were always impressing upon students the importance of adhering to the rules. ‘Without rules,’ one ancient master was fond of repeating, ‘there would be anarchy, and you know what would happen then, don’t you? Civilisation as we know it would crumble.’ He always doubled over when he said this, as if he himself were on the verge of crumbling. Wearing the correct uniform was also reinforced constantly, especially when public appearances were required. Milli had improved significantly in this department, with some assistance from her mother, but it still struck her as a dreadful waste of time. The