Thyla Read Online Free PDF Page A

wanted to be liked. I wanted to be successful at this ‘school’ business. I wanted to make you proud of me.
    Suddenly, the wooden doors behind Charlotte sprang open and two giggling girls burst through.
    One of the girls had quite dark skin, and another word joined the collection in my mind: Aboriginal .
    She had very large eyes, shaped like round hazelnuts, and her cropped curly black hair was streaked with sunlight.
    The other girl was very pale, with ginger hair and cheeks like two bright red apples. Her eyes were green and they were glimmering wickedly.
    When the girls saw us standing there, they stopped abruptly and ceased their giggling.
    ‘Sorry, Ms Hindmarsh,’ said the short one. ‘We were just, um, getting some fresh air before class!’
    From deep inside the building, a voice echoed towards us.
    ‘Laurel Simpson! Erin Mijak! Come back here!’
    Ms Hindmarsh put her hands on her hips and stared at the girls, eyebrows raised.
    ‘Ummm …’ said the dark-skinned girl. ‘Maybe we should just, errr …’
    She looked behind her at the man with the messy, tawny hair and crumpled tweed suit who was rapidly approaching down the hallway, and then turned back to Ms Hindmarsh.
    Another word popped into my head: surrounded.
    The two girls seemed to deflate, their chests sinking, their faces becoming weary.
    The short girl sighed and said, ‘I’m sorry, Ms Hindmarsh. We got in trouble in the breakfast hall for making, um, rude things. Out of our pancakes.’
    ‘We just wanted to see if we could do it!’ the other girl blurted. ‘I mean, we’re getting really good with our mashed potato sculpture, and we just wanted to see if we could do it with pancakes, too, and it started off with just rabbits and angels and things, but then … it was my fault. I wanted to see if I could make a pen–’
    ‘Okay, enough, girls!’ Ms Hindmarsh said, quickly. Her voice was a little bit harder than when she had been talking to me and Charlotte, but it still wasn’t unkind. ‘We have a new student here,’ she said, putting a hand on my shoulder. It felt warm. ‘We should be showing her what upstanding young women we have here at Cascade Falls. Do you think you’re doing a very good job of that? Laurel?’
    The red-haired girl shook her head, and her corkscrew auburn ringlets bounced and danced.
    ‘Erin?’
    The other girl said, ‘No, Ms Hindmarsh. I’m sorry. It really was all my fault.’
    ‘I don’t really mind whose fault it is. It won’t happen again, will it?’
    ‘No, Ms Hindmarsh. I promise it won’t,’ said Lauren. ‘Just, please, please, please don’t give us another detention! We’re already in detention until the middle of next month!’
    I looked up at Ms Hindmarsh’s face, and was surprised to see that she seemed to be trying not to smile. Her eyes were glittering, and the corners of her mouth were twitching up and down.
    She looked behind the girls at the man in the tweed jacket, who was now standing in the doorway, hands on hips. He looked very, very cross. ‘What do you think, Mr Beagle?’ she asked.
    ‘Well, I think the more time these two have in detention, thinking very hard about actions and consequences, the better! The way they behave is dreadful. And dangerous. They need to be more vigilant . Yes, more detention is just what they need.’
    ‘I think they are already ashamed enough, don’t you, Mr Beagle? To have acted in such a way in front of a new student?’
    I looked at Laurel, and she gave me a small grin. One that looked anything but ashamed. I smiled shyly back.
    ‘You’re the boss,’ said Mr Beagle grumpily. He turned to me and said, ‘Welcome to Cascade Falls,’ and then marched quickly back down the hallway.
    Above me, seemingly from nowhere, a deafening noise blared out. The noise shocked me and I cowered, squeezing my eyes tightly shut. It sounded like some angry animal, threatening to pounce.
    Ms Hindmarsh squeezed my shoulder. ‘Sorry, Tessa, I’m afraid Miss