Rascal Roots — What Moving On Looks Like Special

Ace rushed clumsily through the huge, empty halls of the Appleblossom Institute.

Whirlwind’s gonna kill me, he thought worriedly, almost running into a wall as he skidded around a corner. His footsteps echoed through the lonely corridors.

As he ran, he checked his watch.

I’m gonna be a little late… but it’s not the end of the world. Right?

Doubt clouded his mind as he staggered through the mazes of the boarding school’s hallways.

He turned another corner, skidding to a halt before a pair of grand mahogany doors that lead to the assembly hall.

Ace slipped through them as quietly as he could as he did not want to disturb the graduation ceremony.

Rows and rows of filled chairs in perfect arrays faced the stage, on which the headmaster Mrs O’Neil was giving the introduction of the ceremony.

The graduating students sat in the three front rows. The girls wore silk robes of maroon and yellow, the boys in navy and green.

Ace snuck through the aisle, spying a head of wavy, platinum hair in the audience, knowing well who it belonged to.

He shuffled down the row and claimed the empty seat beside her.

”You’re late,” Whirlwind hissed at him.

“I know, I know,” he whispered back. “Traffic.”

”The one time I ask ya t’be on time…”

”Calm down, will you? It’s not the end of the world.”

”This is Rosie’s grad, Ace! The least you could do is arrive on time like a normal person.”

Her harsh Cockney accent sliced through the silence in the air.

On Whirlwind’s right was her older sister Firefox and her younger sister Ocean, who paid no attention to him, watching the ceremony.

“And now, our graduating students,” Mrs O’Neil said.

Whirlwind slapped Ace, diverting his eyes to the stage.

As the headmaster announced the names in alphabetical order, Ace hissed, “You said there’ll be lunch, right?”

”C’mon!” Whirlwind snapped back. “This is one o’the most important nights o’ Rosie’s life n’ all you can fink about is food?”

”What? I’m starving.”

”You’ll be quiet n’ like it.”

Ace rolled his eyes, putting his arm around her shoulder.

“Roselyn Elementé,” Mrs O’Neil said.

“Rosie! Woohoo!” Whirlwind yelled as her youngest sister came onto the stage in her shiny robe. She clapped the loudest as the audience applauded, watching Rosie take her diploma and hold it up in the air with a smile.

As the valedictorian gave his speech, Ace looked at Whirlwind in boredom.

She returned with a knowing look, pulling something out of her pocket with a small sigh.

It was a British chocolate bar, one of his favourites that she had imported from England.

Ace laughed slightly as he took it. “Thanks.”

As the end of the ceremony rolled around the corner, the students started to get restless, shifting in their chairs.

“Students, please rise,” Mrs O’Neil said.

They all stood up to attention, buzzing with excitement.

“Please move your tassels from right to left.”

They did so.

“Congratulations, Evergreen and Appleblossom Institute graduates!”

Everyone cheered as the graduates threw their caps into the air triumphantly, hugging and high-fiving each other.

All the guests and graduating students were in the dining hall, talking and enjoying refreshments presented neatly on the buffet tables.

“Congratulations, Rosie!” Firefox hugged her youngest sister. “I knew you could do it.”

”You were the best one up there,” Ocean smiled.

“Nice goin’, Rose!” Whirlwind grinned, ruffling Rosie’s blonde hair. “Knew you had it in ya.”

”Thank you, guys,” Rosie laughed. “It means a lot that you all got to be here.”

”Aw, of course. We wouldn’t miss our lil’ sister’s grad.”

”I’m glad you are here too, Ace,” Rosie said to her sister’s boyfriend. “I know you and Whirlwind are busy nowadays, so it means a lot to me.”

”No problem, Rosie,” he hugged her. “You’re practically my little sister.”

”I had to give him a kiss and a Double-Decker bar to get him here,” Whirlwind rolled her eyes, making Rosie laugh.

As the mixer came to an end and guests started to leave, the staff and waiters began to clean up the dishes and leftovers. Soon, no one was left there except the four sisters, Ace and all the working staff.

Mrs O’Neil approached them.

“Congratulations on your graduation, Roselyn,” the pear-shaped lady said to Rosie with a smile. “I must say, out of the whole graduating class, you were my favourite.”

”Wot about me?” Whirlwind stepped forward with a grin. “Was I your favourite o’ my class?”

Mrs O’Neil frowned at her. “No.”

Ace rolled his eyes. He was trying to smuggle all the leftovers into his backpack.

“What are you doing?” Ocean hissed at him. “Ooh, O’Neil’s gonna be so mad at you—“

He handed her an éclair.

She narrowed her eyes, saying no more as she accepted the pastry and took a bite out of it.

“Whirlwind, we’re twenty-two years old now,” Ace whispered as they tip-toed down the hall. “We’re not the Institute troublemakers anymore.”

”It’s not troublemakin’,” she rolled her eyes. “I just want t’leave a lil’ gift for Mrs O’Neil.”

”What’s the gift?” He frowned, grabbing her arm to stop her.

Her eyes drifted over the ceiling as a sly grin spread over her face. ”Not tellin’.”

Whirlwind and Ace sneaked through the Appleblossom Institute, which was now completely empty after the graduation. Even Whirlwind’s three sisters had left.

They came to a mahogany door with a golden plaque reading:

MARCELLA O’NEIL

HEADMASTER

They slid into the dark office, their only light coming through the cracks in the blind over the window.

“This isn’t a good idea, Whirly,” Ace whispered.

“Since when were you the goody-goody?” Whirlwind frowned. “C’mon, I want the last laugh. Wot’s O’Neil gonna do, gimme detention?”

His eyes soon adjusted to the dark and he watched the fair-haired figure of Whirlwind walk carefully through the office to the grand desk, revealing a cardboard box.

She put it on the tabletop.

“There,” she whispered. “Let’s get outta ‘ere before we’re caught.”

Their heads snapped around at the sound of footsteps in the hallway outside.

“Rozzers!” Whirlwind snapped. “Duck n’ cover!”

She grabbed Ace’s wrist and yanked him behind the desk, the two crouching behind it in hiding.

They held their breath as they heard the office door creak open.

Mrs O’Neil’s simple black heels walked over the green carpet to the filing cabinet on the opposite wall.

She opened a drawer with a metallic clank, sliding in a file before closing it again.

To his dismay, Ace felt the tingly feeling of a sneeze crawling up his nose.

Whirlwind glared at him in alarm.

As he was about to spray, she slapped her hand over his mouth suffocatingly tight.

They heard Mrs O’Neil sigh and watched her feet walk closer to the other side of the desk.

“What’s this?” The woman said.

A brief shuffling sound scuffled on the table top above their heads as she picked up the ‘gift’.

Ace, beginning to feel faint, grabbed Whirlwind’s wrist and released her vice-like grip over his mouth. He did not let go.

She grinned with a child’s mischief as she heard Mrs O’Neil open the box.

The headmaster shrieked, dropping the box at her feet.

The two saw a big, warty toad jump out and approach her.

Seriously? Ace mouthed with a frown to Whirlwind.

Duh, she rolled her eyes. Last laugh, remember?

The two flinched when Mrs O’Neil leapt up onto the desk in fright, less than a foot above their heads.

The woman was freaking out, but paused when she saw the Appleblossom Institute’s former blonde delinquents crouching behind her desk.

“Chelsea Elementé!” She glared at Whirlwind, then looking at Ace. “Ace Ramirez!”

”H-hey,” they laughed sheepishly.

Whirlwind got up and took the toad in her hands, putting it back into the box.

“You did this!” Mrs O’Neil snapped, getting off the table. “I should’ve known! There was no way you were going to go through a whole afternoon back at the Institute without resisting a prank.”

”Who didn’t see this one comin’?” Whirlwind shrugged.

The headmaster growled at them. “I spent two whole years having to put up with your tiring shenanigans. I thought I’d never hear the names Elementé and Ramirez ever again.”

”Yet here we are,” Ace flashed a grin at Whirlwind.

“You two are so lucky that I am no longer your headmaster, or else you would have three weeks of cleaning the bathrooms! You, Miss Chelsea, are too destructive.”

”Hey, they don’t call me Whirlwind for nofink.”

It was Mrs O’Neil’s turn to grin. “I may not be able to five you detention, but I can have security come throw you out.”

The three stood in silence for a moment.

Ace and Whirlwind looked at each other slowly.

Suddenly, they bolted out of the office and ran as fast as their legs could manage down the hall.

“Hey! Come back!” Mrs O’Neil yelled behind them, pulling out her phone to dial security. “Code purple! I repeat, code purple! Ramirez and Elementé are trying to escape, they left a damn toad in my office! I need someone to get them!”

”I don’t think she liked your present,” Ace puffed as they ran side by side through the labyrinths of the Institute, trying to navigate their way out of there.

“So ungrateful!” Whirlwind laughed nervously, her long legs striding powerfully down the hall. “She’ll ‘ave the whole force on us in a minute!”

Ace could hear thumping footsteps behind them and glanced behind.

Three burly men in security uniforms were pursuing them, slowly but surely closing the gap in between.

“Maybe less than a minute,” he panted.

”No matter, we’re on our way out!” Whirlwind muttered back.

They took a sharp left turn into the main hall, the open doors to the outside world wide open. They could see the Institute gardens stretching forward to the road where their white pickup truck was parked.

Whirlwind looked back to see the security guards less than ten feet behind them now as they dashed down the hall.

She got an idea, taking a muffin out of Ace’s pocket that he had smuggled from the buffet tables.

She tossed it behind her, watching one of the guards trip over it and take the two others down with him.

“Nice one,” Ace breathed, slowing down slightly.

“Don’t stop, they’ll be up again,” Whirlwind snapped at him.

They dashed out of the Appleblossom Institute and into the sunlight, sprinting through the peaceful gardens and out onto the gravel road.

Whirlwind leapt into the driver’s seat and Ace scrambled around to the passenger seat as she hastily turned the key in the ignition.

She slammed her foot in the pedal and the truck tumbled down the gravel road and over the green hills as fast as its engine could allow, just in time for the security guards to narrowly miss them.

“That was too close, Whirlwind,” Ace whispered, grabbing the overhead handle. “Spies in training do not get caught for sneaking toads into headmaster offices!”

”Oh, shut up,” Whirlwind rolled her eyes. “All I wanted was t’show O’Neil that I’m not outta touch wif my rascal roots.”

”You can’t do that anymore. You’re a good guy now—don’t waste your efforts on pranking teachers.”

”Wotever.”

As Ace caught his breath, he glanced at his phone when it lit up with a text message:

All spy trainees to HQ.

“The boss wants us at HQ,” he said.

“Awright,” Whirlwind sighed. “And not a word o’ this to anyone.”

”Don’t you worry,” Ace rolled his eyes, “It’s not like anyone knows about your criminal record.”

”Yeah, they do.”

He glared at her.

“Oh, sarcasm. Got it.”

He shook his head, chuckling.