Thyla - Kate Gordon [38]
The boy from my first day – Perrin, Rhiannah’s brother – moved past Ms Hindmarsh into the hallway. Immediately, his eyes found mine, and then they scanned over me like a searchlight. I felt my skin prickle.
I liked the boy’s eyes.
I liked his strong, broad chin too, and the way his slicked-back hair showed a hairline that lowered in the middle at the front in a sharp point. I liked the jagged angles of his face. I even liked the small, zigzagging scar beneath his left eye. It was the only thing about him that seemed less than perfectly beautiful, and I think it was the thing I liked best of all.
My thoughts shunted to my own appearance, the one I had seen earlier that morning in the washroom mirror. I remembered the messy crop of hay-coloured hair, the heavy-looking bags beneath my eyes, the pointy nose and too-wide mouth. I wanted to cover my face with my hands so the beautiful boy could not see how plain I was. I wanted – for a moment – to look like Charlotte Lord, with her sleek blonde hair and perfect face. A lady’s face.
Out of the fog inside my mind came a reflection of a younger me, with flowing, wavy hair, and a long pretty dress. I wished I had that dress now. I wished I had that hair.
It was the first time since my accident that I had thought anything of my appearance; the first time I had minded my boyish crop and tired features. It was the first time I had remembered the way my old self looked. Now I yearned to look like a lady. I wished to be elegant and comely. All for this boy. I wanted this boy to notice me and to think me pretty.
I knew that he would not think me pretty as I was.
Still, he was kind. He reached out and took my hand in his. ‘Tessa,’ he said gently, and I felt proud that Rhiannah had mentioned me. Then I wondered what else she had told him. I wondered if she’d told him about my memory.
I couldn’t help noticing that he had a copper bangle too. It jumped and jiggled as he shook my hand up and down, and my eyes scanned it for signs of dancing paw prints. But it moved too fast. He opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could, Rhiannah strode between us, forcing the boy’s hand to slip from mine, and said angrily, ‘Perrin, what are you doing here?’
Perrin shoved his hand in his trouser pocket. The bangle was gone. ‘I just came in to make sure it was okay with Ms Hindmarsh for you to go on that big bushwalk,’ Perrin said. ‘You remember the one?’
‘And I said it was fine,’ said Ms Hindmarsh, returning from her office. ‘You know we’re very proud of how you conduct yourself on those walks. And we would never dream of keeping you chained up behind these walls. I just want to check a few things with you, though. Where you will be walking to, that sort of thing, so if anything does go wrong we’ll know where to find you. Would you mind giving me a few moments now?’
‘No, Ms Hindmarsh,’ said Rhiannah. She turned to me. ‘You okay to get to class, mate?’
I nodded.
‘Okay, well …’ Rhiannah looked from Perrin to me and said, ‘Perrin, this is Tessa. Tessa, this is Perrin. Perrin, you can go home now.’
Perrin smirked and said, ‘Well, I think, sadly, I’ll go back to school. Maths is up first, though, so I might drag it out here for as long as possible. I have a note that says I don’t need to be in until recess time.’
‘Rhiannah, now please,’ said Ms Hindmarsh.
‘Seeya, Tess,’ said Rhiannah. ‘Perrin, don’t be annoying, okay?’
‘Yes, sir,’ Perrin drawled as Rhiannah followed Ms Hindmarsh into her office.
I turned back to her brother, feeling my stomach twist. I could not identify the feeling. Embarrassment? Anxiety? Shyness? I wasn’t sure. I was torn between wanting to chat wittily with him – to be funny and pleasing and elegant – and wanting to run as quickly as I could in the opposite direction without saying a word.
Perrin just stared right back at me, the corners of his mouth turned upwards, his eyes glinting and sparkling.
He knew exactly how I was feeling.
He thought it was funny.
For some reason,