“Adam kissed me.”
“Me too,” alisema Snow White, even though she hadn’t had a go at Belle.
“It’s all water under the bridge now,” Belle insisted. “Let’s just hope our inayofuata R.E teacher is better.”
“I’m not going to miss Mr Frollo one bit!” jimmy, hunitumia declared, lying down on her bed.
“None of us are!” Snow White shuddered. “He did look at me in a creepy way once. I hate him.”
“We all do,” Meg said, putting her arm around Belle and walking her back to her bed. “Anyway, he’s gone now and he’s left a whole lot of trauma behind him. Poor Mr Ratcliffe looked like he blamed himself earlier.”
“Poor Mr Ratcliffe,” agreed Snow White. “He doesn’t deserve this to happen.
“Let’s talk about something else,” alisema Jasmine, shuddering.
Belle suddenly realised that she had something she wanted to tell them. “I’ve got a bit of news for you.”
“Yeah?” Snow White propped herself up on her elbow.
“Adam kissed me.”
“No!” gasped Jasmine, sitting up at once.
“Oh my God!” squealed Snow White.
“When?” asked Meg.
“Earlier today. It was just on my forehead, not a proper kiss, but, well...”
“What did it feel like?” asked Snow White.
“Well, it was soft...and tender...” Belle sighed. “It was magical.”
“Oh, Belle, that’s so romantic!” sighed Jasmine.
“I think someone likes Belle a lot,” teased Meg, sitting up.
Belle blushed. “Well, I was crying; I think he was just trying to comfort me.”
“Please, Belle!” Meg rolled her eyes. “Adam’s been completely different since wewe came along.”
“Has he?”
“Totally!”
Belle knew they were right, to an extent; after all Flynn had told her that Adam liked her. But was like the same as love? Did Adam upendo her? She doubted it. He seemed like the type who was slow to fall. But maybe he did. Maybe.
She woke the inayofuata morning, feeling refreshed. Mr Frollo had gone, her Marafiki were talking to her again and Adam had kissed her. And he had caught her when she fell off the ladder. It felt like things were going right in her life once again.
Since it was Saturday, the only requirement for the students was to attend their usual meals in the canteen, and they had the rest of the siku to themselves. As usual, Belle planned to spend hers in the maktaba and so, after breakfast, that was where she headed.
“Good morning, Belle,” smiled Fairy Godmother, who always addressed the students kwa their first names, unlike most of the teachers and staff. “Back for zaidi books?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Belle replied, cheerfully.
“Well, go on ahead.”
Belle turned and was about to head off towards the bookshelves when Fairy Godmother thought to add “If young Adam comes in here, I’ll let him know you’re here, shall I?”
Belle blushed. “Yes, Ma’am.”
“Oh, hush, dear. You’re in love; you’re displaying all the classic signs of a girl very much possessed kwa Cupid’s arrow.”
“Do I?” Belle looked at her feet. “Does Adam know?”
“Oh, dear, he’s a man! They’re a lot slower than women when it comes to love! He’ll follow, in time, never fear.”
Belle didn’t know how to respond to that, so she simply smiled and went over to the bookshelves. Fairy Godmother organised herself with reorganising the cataloguing system for the library. The room was silent for several hours as Belle found several vitabu and sat down at the meza, jedwali to read them. Presently, however, she heard footsteps. Looking up, she expected to see Adam, but it was Jim Hawkins.
“Hey,” he said, as he passed her.
“Hey,” she said, in surprise.
“Listen, Belle, wewe don’t know if there’s any medical vitabu here, do you?”
She was surprised. “Um, yes, they’re over there in the corner.”
“Thanks.”
Belle was surprised kwa his question. It’s none of your business, she told herself as Jim went over to the medical section and began to bunduki through some of the vitabu there. However, curiosity quickly got the better of her and she went up to him. “Are you, um, looking for anything specifically? I could help wewe find it.”
Jim looked up at her. “No, thanks, I’ve got it.”
“Oh, ok.” Belle hesitated. “Jim, is something wrong? If you’re feeling unwell, wewe should go to Dr Sweet.”
“It’s not me.”
“Oh.” She hesitated. “Do...do wewe want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“Ok.”
She turned away.
“It’s Audrey!” Jim blurted, suddenly, dropped the book and running his hands worriedly though his hair.
“Audrey?” Belle looked up in surprise. “Why? What’s the matter?”
Jim groaned. “I think she’s anorexic.”
“Why?”
“Because she is!” Jim seized the book from the floor and pointed at a page. “It’s all right here! She doesn’t eat! She exercises constantly! She’s prone to fainting from hunger!”
“Oh my God!” Belle exclaimed. “Have-have wewe talked to her about it?”
“No!” Jim groaned again. “I don’t understand why she’s doing this to herself! She doesn’t need to lose weight! She’s killing herself!”
“Jim, Jim.” Belle put her hand on his shoulder. “Calm down.”
Jim took a great shuddering breath. “I can’t let her do this! I upendo her!”
“I know.”
“What am I supposed to do? I can’t let her die.”
Belle thought for a second. “Maybe I should have a word with her.”
“You think that’ll do any good?”
“Maybe a good old girl-talk is what she needs. I can tell her you’re worried about her.”
Jim sighed. “She’s so stubborn. Will she listen?”
“I don’t know, Jim. I don’t know.”
“I can’t let her do this! I love her!”
