Amy X and The Prim & Proper Princess School: Amy X, #2

By Danny King

The King's Academy for Personal Excellence on the island of Pompolonia is a remarkable school, not only because it is the least accessible in the world but also because it can boast a perfect 100% exam rate. Most Pompolonians learn bottle making at Pomp Comp but those destined for higher things can enjoy the finest education money can buy at 'The KAPE'.

This term, a new student will be inducted. Amy X has been awarded a scholarship by the Queen to make up for the events of last year. The KAPE's Headmistress is aghast. 
The students are aghast. Even her friends at Pomp Comp are aghast. 

Amy has been searching for answers her whole life. She is about to discover that all knowledge comes at a price – especially to those who can least afford it. 

SHORT-LISTED for The Story For Children Competition – Wells Festival of Literature 2017

• Language: English
• Publisher: Danny King
• Release date: Feb 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393276418

Danny King

Danny King is an award-winning British author who has written for the page, the stage and the big and small screens. He lives and works in the city of Chichester and can be found on Facebook at 'DannyKingbooks'.

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Amy X and The Prim & Proper Princess School

(book 2)

Copyright © 2021 Danny King

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photocopying or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Front cover art

Photography and Design: the author

Model: Frankie King

Previously published as Amy X: Mischt Die Schule Auf by You & Ivi, an imprint of Piper Verlag GmbH, München 2021

Quality Control

Every effort has been made to edit and proof-read this book but in the unlikely event that you should spot a typo, please contact me at the below address and I will amend it and add your name to the acknowledgements with grateful thanks.

[e-mail]

1. The Pompolonian Prep School

THE ISLAND OF POMPOLONIA may be small in size but it is large on learning. For as unlikely as it seems, nestled near the summit of this tiny volcanic island lies one of the best preparatory schools in the world. It is, of course, thanks to its splendid isolation, also one of the most exclusive.

The King’s Academy for Personal Excellence (or KAPE as it is better known) takes in only half a dozen students each year but every single one of them goes on to complete their educations at some of the most expensive (and therefore the best) private schools in Europe and around the world.

The KAPE’s induction age is eight and all work and assignments lead up to a stringent examination that must be passed at thirteen. Failure to do so would mean disgrace, dishonour and the loss of the school’s highly prized 100% graduation rate, not to mention the student’s own place at Eton, Le Rosey or Phillips Exeter Academy to name but a few of the elite schools awaiting the lucky graduates.

Fortunately, no student has ever failed to make the grade. Most, in fact, pass with an A+ distinction.

This is the basis behind the KAPE’s world-famous reputation. In fact, if it didn’t take three months to reach the place, the school might’ve been inundated with applications from the pushiest parents in the world.

The headmistress was an impossibly upright and bony woman of disputable age called Miss Wanda Radianski. She was a distant cousin of the King, twice removed, once by the King himself it was said. She didn’t smile. She didn’t laugh. She didn’t eat, drink or sleep (or at least, no one had ever seen her doing such ignoble things). She lived only for her job, sitting in her corner office like a particularly spindly spider that no one dared approach, pouring over syllabuses and classroom reports until she knew them backwards, forwards and from side to side.

Nothing went on at the school that she didn’t notice.

And nothing ever happened without her express permission. Ever.

She was a graduate of the KAPE herself, passing her final exam with an impossibly high A+++ (a grade that had to be specially invented just for her). From here she went on to board at one of England’s finest finishing schools, where it was thought she was not only finished but completely overdone. When she returned to Pompolonia, she took up a teaching position at the school and waited patiently for the then Headmistress to step down.

And so she waited. And waited. And waited.

For 38 long years.

By the time she got the top job, she was almost looked upon as part of the furniture. Not a comfortable sofa or a much-loved sideboard, more an ugly old hat-stand that a distant and deceased relative had bequeathed to the school that no one dared throw out.

But say what you like about Miss Radianski, she was a born headmistress and took the school from strength to strength, consolidating its reputation as one of – if not the – leading prep school in the whole wide world, nay the known universe.

It was a reputation Miss Radianski had thought would last forever.

She was, of course, wrong.

YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS, Your Majesty! Miss Radianski gasped, momentarily forgetting herself in the presence of the Queen of Pompolonia.

I am perfectly serious, Headmistress, the Queen replied. The Queen always liked to call people by their job titles. She found this easier and much more convenient than having to remember their names. Please make all the necessary arrangements and report back to me directly.

"But Your Majesty, this could unbalance everything. Think of our good work. Think of our great reputation. Think of our children!"

But the Queen had thought of all of these things. In fact, she had thought of little else since last year’s Great Race. Pompolonia’s standing had suffered a massive dent thanks to that debacle. Their nation’s pride was reeling. Her pride was reeling. She’d lain awake at night unable to sleep at the shame of it all. How had this happened to their proud society?

Wasn’t it bad enough that a Lowlander had won their beloved race? Worse still, that she had won it at the expense of the Queen’s own daughter, the royal boil otherwise known as Princess Honor. That might have been humiliating but the thing that had really embarrassed the Queen was the Uplanders’ reaction to Amy’s victory. The Princess had been bested, fairly and squarely, but rather than acknowledge the unlikely winner’s crowning achievement, the King and Lord Pinemore had conspired to cheat her out of it.

It brought shame to their name and disgrace to all that she held dear.

But then the Queen had stumbled upon an idea, something to right the wrong and restore the nation’s tattered honour.

But a scholarship, Your Majesty? Surely there must be some other way? Miss Radianski pleaded, wondering whether it would help if she threw herself to her knees. She was prepared to do so if she thought it might make a difference but she didn’t want to grovel for nothing.

I have discussed the idea with the King and Lord Pinemore and they were most enthusiastic, the Queen replied, which basically meant the Queen had shouted louder than the King and Lord Pinemore and had frightened them into letting her get her way.

But Your Majesty, we can’t afford to take on a non-paying student. The school’s budget is stretched to its very limits, Miss Radianski explained.

What difference could a single student possibly make? the Queen scoffed.

All the difference in the world, Miss Radianski shuddered, as though the skies themselves were cracking open and a planet-killing asteroid was hurtling towards her beloved school. I’m very sorry, Your Majesty but this goes against everything I stand for. If you insist on pressing ahead with this ill-advised scholarship then I will be forced to consider my position.

The Queen let out a long and regretful sigh.

Very well, Miss Radianski, as you wish. Your resignation is, with regret, accepted.

Pomp Fact (History):

Pompolonia was named after the founding fathers’ original ship, the SS Pompeii, which ran aground on the island 231 earlier.

2. Pomp Comp

Of course, the KAPE was not the only school on Pompolonia. There was another lesser-known establishment, further down the mountainside for children who could scarcely afford names let alone the writing materials with which to try shaping them.

Pompolonia Comprehensive (or Pomp Comp for short) took in kids from the Lowlands at five and turned them out aged fourteen only slightly more educated than when they’d first been inducted. It wasn’t the kids’ fault that they didn’t learn much at school. It wasn’t even the teachers’. The problem lay with the curriculum, which was set in stone and somewhat limited in scope.

Basically, the school wasn’t there to educate children. It was there to prepare them for their lives to come; therefore Pomp Comp taught only two subjects:

Bottle Making (and filling)

The History of Pompolonia

The bottle making (and filling) lessons were self-explanatory and aimed at preparing the children for their future careers. Pompolonia’s main export was mineral water. It collected as rainwater in the craters of Mount