Thyla - Kate Gordon [41]
‘Lycanthropy,’ I answered, before Laurel could even open her mouth (and I suspect that if she did open her mouth, she would not have given the same answer). I didn’t mean to speak out of turn, and I’m not quite sure where the word sprang from. I couldn’t remember hearing Mrs Bush say it.
I could tell by the look on Mrs Bush’s face that she was less impressed with my answering than she was annoyed at the fact I had answered in Laurel’s place.
‘Sorry, Mrs Bush,’ I said, quickly. ‘I know you asked Laurel, but I’m really not feeling well.’
‘Do you need to go to the sick room, Tessa?’ asked Mrs Bush.
My scars gave another twang and I nodded.
‘Okay, then. There’s only five minutes or so left of class, so you may go. Have a good read of the symptoms and folklore of lycanthropy as your homework tonight, and also their basis in science, ready to give me a full report tomorrow. I hope you feel better.’
‘Thanks, Mrs Bush,’ I replied. I gathered up my books and left the classroom, giving Laurel a grateful smile as I walked past. She grinned back.
‘Miss Simpson, focus, please,’ said Mrs Bush, and I saw Laurel roll her eyes and slump further down in her seat.
By the time I left the classroom, I had already decided I would not go to the sick room. I had been lucky to avoid it the day of the ‘period’. I knew that the nurses there already knew about me. You had asked Ms Hindmarsh to inform them so that if I did need medical attention, they would be, as you said, ‘up to speed’. I wasn’t afraid to tell the nurses about my scars. I was afraid that there might be some other student there in the sick room as well: one who might overhear our conversation, or catch a glimpse of my back as I showed the nurse.
I decided instead to go straight to the washroom and have a look at my scars myself, to see if they really were growing. Everyone else would still be in the classrooms. I would be alone. It would be the perfect time for me to examine my back in private.
I shrugged my thick wool blazer from my shoulders, enjoying the rush of cool air that took its place. I really could not understand how all the other girls endured the shirts and blazers – and sometimes even jumpers as well – every day. They all complained that it was cold, that winter in Hobart was torture.
I liked the cold. It made me feel alive. Being stuck inside, in the cloying, stifling heat made me feel as if I was slowly suffocating.
It was better in the washroom, though, which (when there were no running showers filling the room with steam) was the coolest place in the school. And it was better with my heavy clothes off.
After my blazer, I removed my shirt. Then I unhooked my bra (a contraption I hated, but which you said I must wear to avoid pain when running or playing sport. I did try physical education without it one day. You were right.).
I kicked off my shoes and peeled off my socks. The feeling of the cool tiles against the soles of my feet was Heaven. I padded slowly over to the mirror and, just as slowly, turned around.
What I saw made me gasp, made my face burn, made my heart flutter like the wings of a thornbill.
My scars had changed. Back at the hospital, when I had first been shown them, the scars had been pale pink lines across my back. They had been thick and long, and had looked as though whatever caused them had been painful – but they had just looked like scars.
Now they weren’t pink any more. They were black.
And they were much thicker and wider, and raised about half a centimetre from the rest of my skin. They didn’t look like scars any more.
They looked like stripes.
But still the sight of them didn’t scare me. Not after I got over the first shock. In fact, they looked to me almost … beautiful.
I ran my hands over them, letting my fingertips ride over the bumps and ridges. It felt good. The fine hairs on my back stood up as my skin goosebumped with pleasure. My stripes liked to be touched. I smiled. Though I should have been afraid or worried for my health, I wasn’t. In the cool silence of the washroom, with my fingers caressing my transformed