Thyla - Kate Gordon [14]
‘He’s a bit of a looker, isn’t he?’ Charlotte whispered in my ear. ‘I don’t blame you for checking him out.’
‘I was doing nothing of the sort!’ I protested.
‘Oh, come on. Perrin is famous,’ said Charlotte. ‘One of the best-looking boys in Hobart. Pity his sister is such a nutcase. I hope she didn’t scare you. I only introduced you so you didn’t get freaked out by her later.’
I shook Perrin’s face from my head. I wanted to tell Charlotte that I didn’t think Rhiannah seemed weird at all. She seemed much nicer than all the ones who didn’t smile with their eyes.
But before I could say anything, the loud noise that had scared me so much that morning quaked through the air yet again. It scared me less each time. I flinched, but I did not cower.
Charlotte clapped her hands. ‘Class time!’ she said. ‘I do hope you have enjoyed meeting my friends, Tessa. They are definitely the most correct people for you to be associating with at Cascade Falls. I hope you will understand now that Erin and Laurel, and Rhiannah and her crowd are, well, not. You’ll thank me later for teaching you this, trust me. Now, according to your schedule, you have maths, with me. Come on. We mustn’t be late.’
I trailed along behind Charlotte as she marched up the long, polished wood floorboards of the corridor towards our classroom, watching as the sun through the windows glinted off her spun-gold hair. I couldn’t help thinking that the halo of light did look very much like a crown.
‘Princess Charlotte,’ Erin had called her.
I wondered then whether the Tessa who came out of the bush, with her matted hair and bruises and the long streaking scars across her back, would have seemed like the kind of girl Princess Charlotte would want in her court.
I wondered if the Tessa from now would be, if Charlotte could see who she really was.
After all, I still had the scars.
As I lay in my new bed on the first night in my new school, the scars came alive.
It was late – around midnight, but my body felt as though it was midday. My mind was alert and my eyes didn’t want to close. There was too much to think about.
What a big, strange day it had been!
The rest of my classes had been agreeable. Some were even informative and interesting. I had kept quiet and attentive and I believed I had made a good impression on my teachers. I even answered a question or two! School, it seemed, was not so odd and difficult after all. At lunch time, Charlotte and her friends had some sort of rehearsal, so I sat by myself in the sun and watched my schoolmates congregate and cluster and move about like a flock of grey pigeons. I enjoyed watching them, knowing I was one of them too. I liked feeling as though I was part of something. Like I belonged.
The evening had gone quite well also. I sat with Charlotte and her friends at dinner and even made some conversation. I complimented the food (and kept my mouth closed when the others ranted about how ‘greasy’ and fattening it was). I remarked that it was a pretty night outside (and stared at my plate as the others complained about the cold). Though they disagreed with my opinions, the other girls didn’t seem angry at me. In fact, Claudia even squeezed my hand at one point and said, ‘You’re doing well, Tessa.’
That made me feel happy. Accepted.
When the conversation turned to fashions and ‘celebrities’, the voices of the girls muted somewhat. I did not understand why ‘leggings as trousers – cool or not?’ was an interesting topic, and I was also ignorant as to why the other girls seemed interested in talking about the romances and scandals of people they didn’t even know. I checked that I would not be missed from the conversation and, once I had concluded that they were too enthralled in a discussion on the physique of a renowned male musician (they called him a ‘pop star