After reading what Mr Cotter, or should that be 'Mary' had found on the internet, Kim was confident she had discovered what had changed her from headmaster to school girl and affected 4 other people, two teachers and two students. Now one of 6 Ruby Donaldsons, it seemed she would be that way for 12 hours but would be able to change back to her male self provided they found the 'Medallion of Zulo' as the magical artefact was known.
Jake had described the storage room where she and Gareth, who was evidently male when they entered but female as they left, had hidden (Jake did not want to admit to what they had been doing in the storeroom). She could recall the towel and hopefully the medallion had been tossed on a bench. Kim was keen to get the medallion back in her hands at the earliest opportunity, even if it meant be seen in public once more in a cheerleader uniform. She also did not want Karen Brown joining the long list of Ruby Donaldson doppelgangers.
Kim and Karen moved quickly to the storage room dodging students in the corridors now that the final bell of the day had tolled. Kim was accosted by Maddy, who was puzzled to see her friend Ruby back in the cheer uniform and accompanied by Mrs Brown "What's going on Ruby? We don't have cheer practice this afternoon do we?"
"Can't explain now Maddy" Kim replied and pushed past Ruby's friend. "I need to find something urgently"
Maddy was curious about Ruby's strange behaviour, she had been acting weirdly all afternoon, and decided to follow her friend and the VP.
Kim and Karen hurried to the storage room only to find it securely locked, they did not know that Mr Rosaro had just departed after securing the door. "It's locked!" Kim vented her frustration. "Do you have keys with you?" she asked Karen.
"Not with me. Maybe back in the office, but that lock looks new. It's not the standard lock"
"I'll wait here. You go and fetch the key"
"I'll be as quick as I can. You should keep a look out for Mr Rosaro, he uses this room for his cleaning products. He would have a key for sure" Karen returned back towards the office.
Kim was frustrated but rather than just wait there she decided to look for the cleaner. Now the students were leaving he should be starting the daily clean up. She decided the best bet was the area where the rubbish bins were stored. The cleaner would be emptying bins. One benefit of having Ruby's body was that she could run down the corridors. It would not have been dignified for the school principal to be seen running down the corridors, but a cheerleader had no such problem. She sprinted to the bin area.
There was no sign of the cleaner. Only the garbage truck emptying the industrial bin. Kim ran back to the locked storage room. Karen had yet to return. She literally bumped into Maddy a second time.
"What is going on Ruby? You're acting really weird"
Kim couldn't come clean. She wanted to minimise the number of people who knew about the strange happenings of the afternoon. They were just too embarrassing both for herself and the other teachers. She decided once more to pretend to be the real Ruby. "Nothing you need to be concerned about Maddy, I'm just doing a special job for Mr Jacobs. There's a bit of an emergency"
"I'll help you in that case. Mom's picking me up from school this afternoon but she won't be here for another hour. I was just going to find somewhere to read but helping the Principal seems much more exciting"
Kim had to wait for Karen and Maddy wouldn't go away. Kim just had to run the risk of one more person finding out. She was trying to think of an answer to Maddy's query as to why she had put the cheerleader uniform back on, when she spied Karen returning with a large set of keys in her hand.
They wasted minutes trying all the keys on the lock. None of them fitted. In the end Kim decided to make use of Maddy. "Can you go and find Mr Rosaro. Get him to come back here as soon as possible"
"I'll wait here" suggested Karen. "You both should look for him. Tell him that I need him here urgently" The two girls disappeared in different directions.