Chapter Sixty-One

Arcadia Middle was not, contrary to the name, the same school as Arcadia. They were in fact two different schools run by the same group of administrators but set on two separate campuses.

While Arcadia was a huge sprawling campus with multiple buildings, a large gymnasium and lots of outdoor areas, Arcadia Middle was...

Tattletail looked around at the huge sprawling campus with multiple buildings, the large gymnasium and all of the outdoor areas. Yep, it was a nice school. A glance over towards Big Sis showed that she was on full alert, eyes roving over all of the sisters, but especially Cheshire and Pop.

Cheshire’s eyes were still a little red around the edges and Tattletail knew that under her puffy-cheeked pout her bigger sister was stewing in a whole lot of resentment. It was way too easy to read her body language, especially with her tail whipping from side to side behind her.

“Try to be on your best behaviours,” Big Sis told them as she stepped up to the front door of the school building and opened it up.

The big corridor that ran through the school had a bunch of doors to different classrooms along its sides, some of them decorated with colourful arts and crafts. There were rows of hooks too, with backpacks hanging off them and shoes in little cubbies beneath.

It was early enough that classes had only just started a few minutes ago. Some of the backpacks were still swaying, and the scrape of chairs being moved around was just a bit louder than the voices of teachers in their classes.

There was a woman standing in the middle of the corridor wearing a polka-dot dress that looked very old-fashioned. She had a huge smile on her face and her eyes lit up when Big Sis led them into the lobby area. “Hello, children,” she said in a smooth voice just brimming with excitement.

She looked like the ideal of what a teacher should be, and Tattletail instantly hated her.

But she couldn’t do anything about that, not yet.

No, Tattletail, as the smartest sister, had hatched a devious plan that was absolutely guaranteed to work; just like how her last plan had worked more or less perfectly.

It was a simple plan, which meant that its chances of succeeding were even higher. First, she would support Big Sister all the way, reaping good feelings and additional headpats. Then, when they finally entered the school she’d just... let the others be themselves.

She eyed the building, taking in the reinforced walls, the multiple security doors and the many cameras tucked into the ceilings. It was practically a small fortress.

It wouldn’t take her sisters more than a week to bring the place down.

In the meantime, all Tattletail had to do to climb to the top of the pack was be a model little sister. “Hello!” she said to the teacher lady. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The teacher perked up. “Likewise!” she said. “Miss Hebert, ah, that is, Miss Hebert the eldest, I was hoping to discuss a few things with you? Merely some... paperwork.” Her eyes had lingered on Tattletail’s very fluffy tail, then on Cheshire’s ears which were flat on her head.

“I thought you would give us all a tour,” Big Sis said. “As a group, I mean.”

“No worries. I brought one of our model students to help,” the teacher lady said before stepping to the side and sticking her head in a nearby classroom. “Miss Biron, they’re here.”

The girl that came out of the class was about the same age as all the sisters, with long brown hair and surprisingly muscled arms hidden under the vest of her uniform. She was smiling, bright and cheerful, until she scanned the crowd of sisters.

Her smile almost dropped before it returned, but now it was just a little bit off, like when Big Sis asked who ate all of the ice cream and everyone had to pretend it wasn’t a group effort that let them eat the whole tub.

“Come along Miss Hebert, I’m certain Miss Biron will take good care of your siblings,” the teacher said as she urged Big Sis into an office.

“Right,” Big Sis said as she followed her in.

The sisters all looked at each other; Tattletail met Pop’s eyes, then the teleporter faded away.

“Did... did she just use a power?” the Biron girl asked.

“Nah,” Tattletail said with a growing smile. “You’re just seeing things.”

“Someone using powers like that would be a... stretch, wouldn’t it?” Alice asked.

Tattletail felt a tiny twinge in the back of her head at that. She was pretty sure the pun hadn’t even been on purpose.

“I... I think we should start the tour,” Biron said.

“Why?” Cheshire asked. “We know that this is a stupid school already. Ain’t need to walk around it to know that much.”

“Because we were asked to?” Biron tried.

“Stupid school filled with stupid bootlickers,” Cheshire added.

“Aww, come on, Artemis,” Tattletail said, putting some emphasis on Cheshire’s fake name. “Let’s follow Biron here around for a bit, see the whole vista the school has to offer.” She smiled at the suddenly very tense girl ahead of them.

It was a good smile.

Alice gave her a funny look, then started walking. Remedy and Crochet, both a little more reserved about the whole school thing, followed after her. “This school has a lot more space than I thought it would,” Alice commented idly.

Tattletail was still not sure if Alice had caught on, but at least Remedy and Crochet were giving their tour guide some pointed looks.

That was enough for her. If the other sisters knew that there was trouble to be had at Arcadia Middle, then they would react exactly as her plan called for.