Football Stars Don't Date Cinderella: Part 4
One week later
I flopped facedown onto my bed. Chores were done for now; I only had about twenty minutes before I’d be expected to start supper, and I should use this time to work on my last assignment, but I was just so tired. It looked like another late night of studying again.
“Mina!”
Groaning, I raised my head. “Yes?”
“Downstairs, please.”
I walked down to the kitchen. Maybe there was something specific she and Craig wanted to eat tonight; if she did, hopefully it would include ingredients we already had.
“In here.”
I walked into the living-room to see Claudia sitting in her favourite chair, legs crossed and phone in hand.
“How are your assignments coming along?” she asked.
I blinked. When was the last time she’d asked about my assignments?
“Don’t look so scared. I’m just asking.”
“They’re…they’re going well. I’m finished most of them, and I should have the last one done by the end of the week.” I tried not to sound pleased or proud at that. She would pick up on that in an instant.
Claudia nodded. “Good. Are you familiar with the names Jocelyn and Patrick Ward?”
I remembered hearing those names before, but I couldn’t remember where or the people themselves.
“They’re the cleaning lady and the janitor at Topaz Coast Sixth Form. I thought they might appreciate some help over the half-term, so I volunteered you. Not for all the evenings, though – just Monday, Wednesday and Friday.”
She started casually scrolling through her phone.
I felt sick. She wasn’t going to let me go to the parties. I knew that already, but I couldn’t stop myself from speaking.
“Please,” I said, my voice trembling, “I…I’ve worked hard, I’ve done everything you asked…”
“I can’t have you getting lazy over half-term.” Claudia didn’t even look at me as she said that.
“Lazy? How am I lazy? I do chores and make most of the meals around here; I barely have enough time to work on my assignments and studies! The only thing you ask Craig to do is look after the roses, and even then he only does the bare minimum. How am I the one who’s lazy?”
That’s what I wanted to say. But I couldn’t. I knew what would happen if I did. So I turned my back and walked away, right back up to my bedroom.
All I wanted was to go to the parties – have some fun, eat some autumn-themed food, maybe even have a dance or two – and I shouldn’t have been disappointed that I wasn’t allowed to go, so why was I trying not to cry?
I was far too old for comfort blankets, so I turned to the next best thing. I went over to the tiny dresser, opened the drawer with my T-shirts in it and fumbled around until I found a small velvet box.
Inside the box was a sapphire necklace, one that used to belong to my mother. On my tenth birthday, she had shown me all her jewellery and said I could choose something for myself if I promised to take care of it. I’d chosen her sapphire pendant.
She died in a car accident two weeks later.
I’d never worn the pendant since.
The rest of the jewellery was locked away in the attic; Dad said it would be mine on my eighteenth birthday.
I picked up the heart-shaped pendant and held it carefully. “I miss you, Mum. And Dad.”
Maybe it was time to start wearing the necklace again – under my clothes, of course. Some instinct told me I couldn’t let Craig or Claudia see it.
***
Monday night
The college was almost in complete darkness as Claudia pulled up. The main building was the only place with lights on; I felt strangely reassured by the sight.
“I’ll be back for you around midnight,” Claudia said as I took my seatbelt off. “And when I do, I will ask the Wards just how hard you’ve been working. Do you understand?”
I made myself meet her eyes and nodded.
“Good. You should go.”
I got out and shut the door behind me. Then I walked into the campus, the sound of Claudia’s car driving away in the distance.
Bracing myself, I walked towards the main building as quickly as I could.
Just as I pushed the door open, a figure in a dark blue uniform appeared at the other end of the corridor. She beamed and hurried towards me.
“Mina, isn’t it? Hi, I’m Jocelyn Ward.” Her dark, greying hair was tied up in a bun, and her blue eyes seemed to sparkle. “So, are you ready to get started?”
“Yes.”
I was deliberately wearing the scruffiest clothes I had, and my only pair of trainers. The sapphire necklace was around my neck, safely tucked beneath my T-shirt. I’d seen Jocelyn and Patrick around the college numerous times; they’d always smiled at me, and I’d smiled back but I’d never actually spoken to them before.
“Our helper’s here, Pat!” Jocelyn called as we rounded the corner. A dark-skinned man in a green janitor’s uniform emerged from a door saying STAFF ONLY.
“Hi, Patrick,” I said. “It’s nice to meet you both.”
Patrick’s smile was even brighter than his wife’s. “It’s nice to meet you too, Mina. Before we get started, we’d like to ask you something and we need you to be honest with us.”
The serious note in Patrick’s voice caught me off guard. “OK.” What did they want to know?”
“Do you actually want to be here?”
My jaw dropped. I hadn’t expected that question at all. “I…I…” Of course, the answer should have been yes, but they’d wanted me to be honest and I had a feeling they’d know if I wasn’t.
Both Jocelyn and Patrick were looking at me expectantly.
“No,” I finally admitted. “Not really. But you need help and…”
“Actually, we don’t,” Jocelyn replied firmly. “We never asked Ms Thorne if she knew anyone willing to help. Didn’t you ever wonder why there isn’t a team of cleaning staff at the college?”
That was ridiculous. There had to be a team, there was no way the Wards could clean the entire place all by…
Wait.
This was my second year at the college. Had I seen anyone else in a cleaner or a janitor’s uniform in that time? The only ones I remembered seeing were Patrick and Jocelyn themselves.
“You’re getting it now, aren’t you?” Patrick asked. “There’s nobody on our teams because we don’t need a team.”
He held up a hand. Sparks of magic swirled and danced around his fingers.
“You have magic?” I turned to Jocelyn. “Both of you?”
“Yes,” she replied. “There’s no need to be scared – we aren’t going to hurt you. Truth is, we’re not just the cleaner and the janitor. Mrs Deeley knows about our magic, and she employed us for a different reason.”
“But the cleaning does help,” added Patrick.
Jocelyn rolled her eyes fondly. “When the Head asked us to join the staff, she asked us to keep an eye out for students who need help – and some magic.”
“I overheard the older Reyes kid try to tell Mrs Deeley about your stepbrother tripping you earlier this term,” Patrick remarked, “but since he couldn’t prove anything, she couldn’t do anything. Luckily, your stepmother approached us about you wanting to volunteer over the half-term; it seemed kind of suspicious that you wanted to help during the Three Autumn Nights.”
Jocelyn came to stand in front of me. Her gaze held mine and it was as if she’d put her hands on her shoulders and told me to look at her.
“Mina,” she said. “Do you want to go to the parties?”
I couldn’t lie. “Yes, I do.”
“Then you shall.”