Chapter 3

The two girls walked down the pavement, advancing the sign that read PRIVET PLACE in elaborately curly letters. Then, Genevieve guided them across the road - it's seemed to be paved in purple coloured stones - and they found the shop, which the signpost read Deirdre's Dress Emporium for the Girls of Great Men.

"Come on, Hilda, let's go in!" Genevieve said excitedly. "I heard that they have cashmere jumpers and scarves - no more cold winters!"

"I don't mean to be rude, but why is it called the Emporium for the Girls of Great Men?" Hilda asked, looking at the sign warily.

"Oh, because this shop manufactures uniforms for Blackwood girls." Genevieve said "And Blackwood girls are daughters of royalty, business tycoons - those sort of men. 'Great' men. It's a bit stupid, really. Just because you're a business tycoon doesn't mean you're a 'great' man." She spat bitterly.

"Whoa, whoa, are you okay, Genevieve?" Hilda asked uncertainly.

"Perfect." Genevieve replied in a deathly, sarcastic voice. "My lovely, business hungry father has sent me to Blackwood Academy for Girls so he doesn't have to think of what to say when he meets me. You know, he actually writes a script of what to say so our meetings don't get awkward or out of control? And that's when he meets me once a month. I don't live with him because he's 'too busy' and, really he wants nothing to do with me. The only thing he gave to me was this clip of a ridiculous amount of money - I need an eighth of that for my school supplies, and our school supplies aren't exactly cheap. Yeah, let's send little Ginevra - he doesn't even remember my name - to this super fancy school so the time I need to see her shortens from a month to a year." She looked at Hilda's shocked face, and warmed. "Sorry for blurting out my frustrations at you. At least I have a father, right? Who is your father?" She smiled weakly.

"I don't know actually." Hilda said, uncomfortably.

"Another Raymond Huang?" She asked, raising a beautiful eyebrow.

"I don't know," she repeated slowly.

"Oh." Genevieve said, realising. "Oh, I'm so, so, sorry!"

"Nah, it's fine. I don't remember him. Or mum. Unlike you, my money is still in the bank. We need to stop off there." Hilda said, quickly changing the subject.

"The bank?" Genevieve asked wearily. "The other side of the street. I thought we would start off here, at the Emporium, then work our way down this long street. Then I deposit most of this money into my bank account and then go back home. You could use my money and pay me back when we arrive at the bank."

"But will I have enough?" Hilda asked fretfully.

"Who's vault are you taking your money from?"

"Emily Spencer."

Genevieve looked alarmed, amazed, awed, but then quickly regained her composure. "Emily Spencer? You'll have enough." As if seeing Hilda's mouth begin to spill out a mountain of question, Genevieve quickly blurted, "Don't ask me anything, I only know that Spencer had a lot of money. Now, let's go get our uniforms!" Genevieve dragged Hilda into the shop, and as they opened the door, a sonata started playing furiously.

"Yoo-hoo!" A girl no older than twenty with a honey-blonde hair yodelled in a squeaky, fake American accent. "It's Deirdre, kids. How are y'all?"

"Um, we're fine, thanks." Genevieve asked skeptically. Deirdre obviously dyed her hair, her had a fake tan and fake eyelashes that were so long it looked stupid. She also wore shocking bright purple lipstick, and she dabbed some of the stuff on her eyelids, too. She had monstrous eyeliner that winged out unnaturally, and her cheeks were so bright that it looked as though she emptied her whole make-up set on them. Deirdre wore crop-tops and leather jackets, denim jeans that were whitewashed and stilettos that were 30 centimetres tall. She was the absolute faker.

"Oh, kids these days, way too polite." Deirdre scoffed. "Come on y'all, kids from Blackwood or stupid devils from the city dump?"

"We're perfectly proper girls going to Blackwood Academy, thanks for asking." Genevieve answered angrily.

"Oh, they all say that. What d'you want from me?"

"We need 5 school blouses, cream, 5 school skirts, tyrian, pleated, 1 school jumper, cream,1 school scarf, tyrian and cream-" Hilda recited.

"Ok, kid, you're a Blackwoodian." Deirdre cut off. "Now, who's who? Most people have already come here, I only have five people who haven't. Are you Tiffany Holmes?" Hilda and Genevieve shook their heads. "Hannah Yaxley?" They shook their heads again. "Rose Waters? Wait, Rose Waters? What type of stupid name is that?"

Suddenly, the sonata started playing again, and this girl with a red pixie cut stormed in.

"Blackwoodian?" Deirdre raised her tattooed eyebrows.

"You bet. Wanna stop talking in that stupid way?" The girl answered, all tough.

"Don't offend my voice! I'm from Rhode Island?" Deirdre protested, but the last bit sounded uncertain.

"I'll eat my skateboard if you're from Rhode Island."

"Who are you, then?"

"Rose Waters. And you're offending my name, you rascal." Rose spat.

"Identification, please! Show me your letter!" Deirdre said angrily, her accent becoming more and more British.

Rose passed her letter on, and Deirdre looked at it closely. "Passed." She sighed, now fully in her normal accent. "Please stand over there so I can measure your height and your waist and chest length for the best fit."

Rose got measured, while Deirdre passed her clothes to try on. Rose vanished behind the Curtin and Deirdre turned to Hilda and Genevieve.

"Ok, you've said you're not Tiffany Holmes or Hannah Yaxley, and Rose Waters has appeared. So there's Genevieve Huang, which is .... You?" She asked, pointing at Genevieve.

"Yep."

"Ok, then there is Bathilda Stone. Bathilda? You're the caveman?" Deirdre asked, astonished, looking at Hilda.

"How do you know?" Hilda asked, distraught.

"Oh, that Willows and about three quarters of the Blackwoodians stormed in, in a huff, about some 'caveman' and some 'ugly interfering Genevieve Huang.'" Deirdre said. "Sounds like they were the baddies, however. Horrible people. Come here to get measured."

Rose was short, while Hilda was moderately sized. However, Genevieve was tall, and required a bit more measuring. Even so, as they tried on tried on their clothes, Genevieve still said that her's was too short and she went out wearing the largest size for the Grade 7.

Rose was waiting for them outside, and they went into the Shop of Stationary.

Inside the shop, baskets set out with identical supplies in every single one of them, and they held all the supplies they needed. Under the baskets, a money collection machine collected the money for the stationary.

Rose, Genevieve and Hilda then went on to the bookstore, where they browsed their textbooks.

"Now!" Genevieve cried. "Now we have bought everything necessary for Blackwood, we can buy some stuff we don't need. Who's getting a pet?" All three girls raised their hands. "I'm getting a Border Collie. I've thought about it a lot and I think I want a black one - there skin is so shiny-"

"Genevieve." Rose said.

"- and they are so beautiful, plus they are really clever and playful! What, Rose?" Genevieve asked irritably

"Let's actually go to Feodora's Animals. Okay?" Rose asked.

"YES!" Genvieve cried. 'YES! YES! FEODORA'S!"

"Why is she like that?" Rose asked.

"I think she wants a playmate. She's been lonely." Hilda replied thoughtfully.

When they went in to Feodora's, they were washed in a wave of cuteness. The shop was set up with the left side for DOGS and the right side for CATS, and they were listed alphabetically. Genevieve ran to the Dogs area and found the letter B at the far left. She dissapereaded in the row.

Rose muttered, "I think I want a Dalmatian." And ran off to the dogs D section.

Hilda hadn't thought about what pet she wanted, but she knew she wanted one that was shy but adorable, and tiny and grey. She wanted a kitten, but she knew nothing about cats. So she decided to start off with A.

She went down the aisle, and their, in the American Shorthair section, was her dream pet. She had a grey tortoiseshell coat and hazel eyes. Just like mine! Hilda thought with a pang. She had a beautiful name to - Uma. I love that name. It sounds nothing like Bathilda, old fashioned and wrinkly. Uma is amazing.

Hilda knew that there might be other ones, but as she quickly looked around to see if there was one she liked more, no one beat Uma.

"Excuse me? Can I have Uma?" Hilda asked the shopping clerk.

"Uma? She is adorable, isn't she?" The clerk smiled.

"Yes! She's the best cat here." Hilda said passionately.

"Sure." The shopping clerk said. She opened the glass cage and gingerly placed the sleeping Uma on her arms. Uma opened one eye, and smiled, closing the eye again and slept on.

"Beautiful." Hilda breathed.

"Hilda!" Genevieve called. She ran up to them, her new dog running along on a leash. "Meet Domino!" Domino was white and black, energetic, and alert. He was still a puppy, and he was really cute. Not quite as Uma Hilda thought to herself. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

"A boy." Genevieve smiled.

"What about Rose's Dalmatian?"

"As if on cue, Rose arrived with her Dalmatian, that they soon found out was named Dahlia.

"Dahlia was perfect. Just like me, she has a flower name, that matches her hair. Well, coat for Dahlia. She has white too, and that is amazing. Also, she's small but fiery, like me, and she's absolutely adorable!"

They walked out, purses considerably lighter than when they had walked in, but excitement at its peak.

"Now, we just have to go to the bank to deposit our money, then we have to go home." Genevieve sighed.

"Not necessarily." Rose said. "Toby and I have always wanted guests over to spend the night, and mum would be absolutely over the moon that friends are over. Let's just make this trip to the bank quick and we can go home."

They quickly advanced to the bank, the sky now turning a beautiful shade of lightest pink.