A short while later, and Emilia was sitting alone, leaning back on the bench, eyes closed, hand to her head.

She only straightened up when she heard movement, footsteps coming her way.

Emilia sat up, smiling at Gloria who approached.

‘Here’ she said, offering Emilia food and drink.

Emilia took it gratefully, pulling the straw off the carton and stabbing it.

She finished the orange juice in a few seconds.

‘Slow down’ Gloria scolded, ‘you’ll give yourself indigestion.’

‘You’re right’ Emilia said. ‘I’ll try to remember that.’

She tore the packet of the sandwich open and started eating. It was tuna, and it was tasty.

Gloria sat beside her on the bench.

‘This is tasty’ Emilia noted, before glancing up at Gloria. ‘Nothing for you?’

‘Nah, I’m not in the mood for anything.’

‘You should eat regularly’ Emilia told her in a teasing voice. ‘It’s not good for you to skip meals.’

‘You’re one to talk’ Gloria retorted; her expression amused. ‘You should worry about yourself more.’

‘You’re probably right.’

Emilia continued to munch on her sandwich. The two sat in silence for a time, Gloria watching the gardens around them while Emilia finished her tuna.

When she did, she let out a heavy sigh, feeling content.

‘That’s better.’

Gloria smiled at her.

‘Thanks’ Emilia said.

‘No worries.’

Emilia paused for a moment, before glancing away.

‘What’s up?’ Gloria asked her.

‘I was just thinking, you don’t mind doing gymnastics with me, do you?’

‘Of course not. Why? Are you not enjoying it?’

‘It’s not that’ Emilia frowned. ‘I was just wondering. I’ve done gymnastics before, I’m not very good though’ she trailed off, speaking now as if to herself. ‘I did it a lot when I was young…anyway. I would love to do kickboxing, but um…. I can’t compete professionally anymore…even if this school offered kickboxing lessons.’

‘Why is that?’ Gloria asked.

‘I uh…. was told it’s something to do with…. what was it again…? It’s unfair to the competition, the fact I have a false leg I mean.’ She paused. ‘Or was it something about poor balance…?’ she added as an afterthought. ‘It’s not important.’

‘Oh, that’s a shame. I’m really sorry to hear that. You must miss it.’

‘I do’ Emilia smiled, perking up now. ‘I have wonderful memories of kickboxing class. Such wonderful friends, especially this one girl who was built like a tank. She kicked my ass every single time I faced off against her. I admired her so much, and wanted to be strong like her, I so badly wanted to win a fight against her one day, but I never got the chance.’

‘Is that because you….’ Gloria glanced down at Emilia then, ‘…you know.’

‘Lost my leg? Yes, sadly. It was never the same after that, it took me months to recover and by the time I was able to leave the hospital, the girl in my kickboxing class was gone.’

‘Gone?’ Gloria echoed nervously.

‘She didn’t die or anything’ Emilia chuckled, waving her away. ‘No, as far as I understand, her father got a new job and her family had to move away or something.’ Emilia paused, swallowing then, eyes becoming distant. ‘I felt really sad that we could not fight again. I think of her from time to time, even now. I wonder how she’s doing. Does she have a partner, is she married? Does she have any children, what is she doing for work?’

Gloria watched her silently for a few moments before speaking.

‘Was she older than you then?’

‘Only by a few years. She excelled in school because she was academically brilliant. She was always better than me at literally everything, chess…. maths…. even poetry, which I love so much.’

‘We all have someone we look up to’ Gloria smiled.

‘Well… yeah, I guess that’s right.’ Emilia paused. ‘I wonder who she looked up to.’

‘What was her name?’ Gloria asked.

‘Noah.’

‘Noah?’

Emilia chuckled lightly as she began to reminisce. ‘Yeah. That was her nickname anyway. She was also an incredible magician. I remember we went swimming together once, the whole class. She was in the shallow part of the pool when she called us over. She parted the water like Noah. It was amazing. I knew it was a trick, there were other tricks she did too, but that one was the most impressive. I never figured out how she did it. And of course, a magician would never reveal their secrets. I’m glad at least that I finally found out why she had that nickname. I never knew what her official name was. I think she said something like that it was too old-fashioned and didn’t suit her. It was her grandmother’s name…. or something.’

‘You want to hear something weird?’ Gloria offered. ‘The nurses made a mistake before I was born. They thought I would be a boy. My name was supposed to be Brian. Ha ha, thank God I was born a girl, I don’t like that name at all.’ Gloria shook her head, scrunching her nose.

‘So where did you get your name from?’ Emilia asked. ‘I mean… why was that name chosen?’

Gloria shifted uncomfortably now, looking away.

‘Well….’ she began reluctantly. ‘The doctor actually named me, I know it sounds kinda bad towards my parents but…she was a friend of the family, and my parents hadn’t thought of any girl names because they thought I would be a boy. So, the doctor suggested Gloria, and my parents both liked it.’

‘Why did the doctor choose Gloria? Do you know?’

She laughed then. ‘Yeah. I did ask some years later when I became aware of all of this. Let me see if I can remember.’ Gloria pursed her lips then, frowning at the ground as she gathered the thoughts to her.

‘Yes,’ she said at last. ‘I was named after someone called Gloria Pall, who was born in the 1920’s. During the war she worked as an aircraft mechanic. Then later became a model, then an actress, and in her later years an author. I think my parents were hoping that I will be as successful as her someday’ Gloria finished with an awkward laugh.

‘You have every chance to be as successful as her someday, even to surpass her’ Emilia replied, staring down at her phone now. ‘Oh wow, she’s really pretty. It says here that she frequently dressed in shades of purple………she was married twice, had one son……she died of heart failure at the age of 85…oh…. I’d love to die of heart failure at 85 years old.’

‘You say the strangest things sometimes’ Gloria said, leaning towards Emilia, looking over at the screen of her phone at the pictures. ‘Oh yeah, she is pretty. I love that hairstyle. Maybe I should try that style out. I love the hairstyles back in those days. It would be cool if it came back in fashion again.’

‘Maybe it can start with you.’

‘Oh, I don’t know’ Gloria squeaked excitedly, holding her cheeks with both hands and blushing slightly. ‘It would be such a big change, and I don’t know if it would suit me.’

‘I still think you should try it out. You might love it; it could be a new look for you. Remember, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take…Wayne Gretzky…’

‘Are you quoting people again?’

‘Yup’ Emilia replied smugly.

‘Ok, so who is Wayne Gretzky?’

‘A Canadian ice hockey player’ Emilia replied simply.

‘You know so many random facts’ Gloria sighed.

‘And useless ones too. Did you know that the colour you see when you open your eyes in a pitch-black room is called ‘eigengrau,’ or how about the fact that cats can’t taste sweet things because of a genetic defect? Oh! How about the face that your fingernails grow faster on your dominant hand? Or that a ‘jiffy,’ is about one trillionth of a second. Apple seeds contain cyanide. And crabs walk straight forwards when they’re drunk……. ok…that last one was a joke.’

Gloria only shook her head at that. ‘I’ve really never met anyone like you.’

‘That could be both a compliment and an insult…which is why I like it so much…statements like that are open to interpretation.’

Gloria could only shake her head again.

‘Anyway…’ Emilia went on, ‘I wanted to mention something earlier…I kinda got side-tracked though…’

‘Ok?’

‘I wanted to ask you about the activities in this school’ Emilia began.

‘Go on.’

‘Well,’ Emilia furrowed her brow. ‘How difficult is it to create a new club?’

‘New club?’

‘Maybe that’s the wrong word. I mean like an activity. Like gymnastics. This school even has horse-riding. I’m sure its wouldn’t be so hard.’

‘Maybe not’ Gloria pondered, staring at the sky. ‘What did you have in mind?’

Emilia raised her head slowly, pausing for a moment before speaking.

‘Fencing.’

‘Fencing?’ Gloria echoed. ‘Why fencing?’

‘Why not?’

‘Well,’ Gloria glanced away, scratching her head, uncertain of how to proceed. ‘What made you choose fencing over other…um…other activities?’

‘Well, I’ve been considering several different options for a while now.’

‘You have?’ Gloria smiled. ‘You never said anything about it before.’

‘I didn’t want to bring it up without having an idea that was fully formed.’

‘What are you talking about?’ Gloria raised an eyebrow sceptically. ‘We could have discussed it together.’

Emilia just shrugged wordlessly.

‘Anyway’ Gloria said, elbowing her playfully in the side, ‘stop stalling. Hurry up and tell me. Why fencing?’

‘I saw it on TV some years ago, and something about it stuck in my mind. I love the look of the costumes, and the swords. It’s so graceful and elegant. It’s how I imagine swans would fight.’

‘Fighting swans’ Gloria mimicked. ‘I’ve never seen such a thing.’

‘Fencing is said to increase focus and concentration, as well as the powers of observation. It also helps to develop your discipline.’

‘Oh really.’

‘I believe learning such skills can improve one’s performance in many other aspects of their life too’, Emilia added.

‘I don’t doubt. So, you want to learn fencing.’

‘Yes. But I don’t know how to go about it. Perhaps…perhaps…’ Emilia trailed off.

‘Perhaps we can speak to the headmistress?’ Gloria suggested sweetly.

‘Yes’ Emilia mumbled, but her tone of voice suggested that she was only partly listening.

‘You’re not busy right now, are you?’ Gloria said. ‘You don’t have any plans? No classes for a while?’

Emilia smiled at that, glancing to her, sensing her intention.

‘Let’s go speak to Anna’ Emilia smiled.