Laurinda Read Online Free PDF Page B

skirt would be, even if her couture skills were just as good as those of the tailors of Edmondsons, if not better.
    “No one will know the difference,” she said.
    “Old woman,” my father sighed (though in fact he was five years older), “she is not going to have one of your peasant homemade outfits for this school. What will the teachers think of this cheapskate family? They’re already providing her with a full scholarship!”
    Even though he had insulted my mother’s sewing skills and implied she was stingy, Linh, I did not say anything to contradict my father. I was on his side, because he was on mine.

TERM ONE

Dear Linh, On my first day, when I entered our homeroom, I had no idea where to sit, so I headed for the first empty seat I saw, next to a girl with very long hair braided into a plait and a Madeira-cake face flecked with freckles.
    “You’re the new girl, aren’t you?” she asked.
    “Yes – how did you know?”
    “All your clothes are new.”
    I looked down, embarrassed. Not a thread of my new uniform had been in the wash. My shirt had crease lines from being folded in the packet. Around the room, the other girls’ clothes had a lived-in, everyday look. Later, I would see how they chucked their jackets on the back seats of buses, tied their jumpers around their waists, not caring if the sleeves stretched, and hiked up the hems of their summer skirts. No one wore the blue hair ribbons – I was the only one dumb enough to have taken that part of the uniform code seriously.
    The girl next to me was named Katie. “Don’t worry,” she told me, “you look great.”
    I didn’t detect any sarcasm. She was being genuinely kind, and at that moment I learned two things about Katie. By telling me that she noticed my clothes were new, she was honest, but she could also tell the occasional white lie if the circumstances called for it.
    After homeroom, we marched to the Performing Arts Centre for assembly. Years Seven and Eight sat level with the stage, while Years Nine and Ten sat in the raised seating areas. Looking down, I could see a moving blanket of blue and maroon. I had never seen something so ordered before in real life, something so . . . well, uniform. Even though we had a uniform at Christ Our Saviour, we got away with wearing whatever socks we wanted as long as they were white, and whatever shirt we wanted as long as it was blue. Remember how some girls came in with Esprit shirts, while others pulled their socks so high that they looked like tights, Linh?
    Here, every girl in the auditorium had her hair tied back if it was below shoulder length. Here, every girl wore a blazer. Here, every girl sat still, no matter how long she had to wait. If she couldn’t sit still, she was probably told to sit on her hands, as I saw many of the Year Sevens doing. I had been to assemblies before, but this was the model of an assembly. Suddenly, I understood what it was to assemble , just as a few moments before I had truly understood uniform .
    I heard the sound of bagpipes, and everyone began to stand. Then I saw a girl playing actual bagpipes march through the stained-glass double doors of the auditorium.
    Following her were two girls carrying long white flags emblazoned with the Laurinda motto – one in Latin ( Concordia Prorsum ) and the other in English ( Forward in Harmony ). They had more badges and pins on their lapels than a World War Two veteran. Following them were four girls carrying red, blue, yellow and green flags. These, I presumed, were the house captains.
    Finally, the staff of the college marched by, all decked out in black academic gowns. Some had sashes of green or orange, while others had tassels and other scholarly insignia. I recognised Mrs Grey by her red hood.
    When everyone had taken their seats onstage, Mrs Grey stood up and looked around the auditorium. A few students were still quietly talking to each other. Mrs Grey raised her right hand in the air, as if in parody of a bored