Thyla Read Online Free PDF Page B

‘They’re just bogans. Come on and I’ll introduce you to some nice people.’

    Beneath the huge oak tree in the middle of the school’s central square (which is lovely, Connolly. You were right!), I met Kelly, Amy, Jenna, Bridget, Claudia and Inga.
    ‘This is our outside place,’ Charlotte said. ‘Inside, we have our own table in the cafeteria.’
    ‘Does everyone?’ I asked.
    Charlotte laughed. ‘Of course not,’ she said. She waved at the group as we approached and raised her voice slightly. ‘Girls, this is Tessa.’
    None of them smiled with their eyes, and yet they spoke as though they were glad to meet me.
    ‘So, so, so wonderful to meet you, Tessa!’ squealed Kelly, bobbing up and down like a strange, overexcited puppy.
    ‘I hope you’re enjoying it here,’ said Amy, her eyes narrowed and her arms crossed over her chest. ‘You’ve certainly fallen on your feet getting Charlotte as a mentor.’
    ‘Very lucky,’ said Bridget.
    ‘Lovely to have a new girl,’ said Claudia, smiling in a way that seemed warmer than when Charlotte smiled. I decided I liked Claudia the best. She looked somewhat like a very pretty, raven-haired elf.
    Inga I liked less. Her eyes were like sapphires and every bit as hard, and her hair was short and severe and nearly as pale as Charlotte’s. When Charlotte introduced us, she didn’t smile or greet me; she just stood staring, one eyebrow raised as if to say, ‘Do you really think you belong here?’
    I felt like telling her that no, I didn’t. Not really.
    The girls were very pretty, but talking to them for only a few minutes made me feel very tired and inadequate. They all spoke with such plummy accents, as though they had been raised in a manor in England, not a convict town at the end of the world. Charlotte explained that they had all been sent to finishing classes, courtesy of her father. ‘Which is why we stand a mile above the other girls at Cascade Falls,’ she said. ‘This may be an exclusive school, but many of its population would make you believe otherwise.’ She leaned in and whispered, ‘Scholarship students,’ and made a repulsed face. ‘They bring down the tone of exclusivity quite severely!’
    Exclusive. That word seemed perfect for Charlotte and her friends. They were exclusive. They were important. And they seemed to be keenly aware of it. I wanted to like them. I promised myself I would try to like them. But as we walked away from the oak tree and the thoroughbred girls, I found myself feeling slightly, secretly, relieved.
    Then Charlotte introduced me to Rhiannah.
    Rhiannah’s hair was jet black, and her skin was as white as the sheets on my hospital bed. Her eyes were dark, too. Nearly black. And when Charlotte introduced us, Rhiannah’s dark pink lips curled upwards and her eyes smiled too.
    ‘This is Tessa,’ Charlotte said, for perhaps the twentieth time. It felt like the millionth and I was growing tired of the sound of my own name. ‘She’s new. Tessa, this is Rhiannah.’
    Rhiannah wrinkled up her nose and sniffed at the air.
    ‘Is there a problem, Rhiannah?’ asked Charlotte testily.
    ‘No, no, not at all,’ said Rhiannah. ‘I just thought I smelled … something. Don’t mind me.’
    Rhiannah held out her hand and took mine. She shook it up and down. Her grip was strong, but I matched it. ‘Lovely hands,’ she said, still smiling.
    I looked down at them. To my eyes, the fingers look stubby and the fingernails were too short and remained dirty, no matter how many times you and I scrubbed at them. Remember, Connolly? You said they looked like farmers’ fingernails.
    ‘Why are they lovely?’ I asked.
    Rhiannah just shrugged and smiled again. ‘They look like they’re used for great things. You can tell a lot about a person from their hands.’
    I examined my hands more closely. They had wide, square palms, and the fingernails looked tough – as if they could claw through anything. Rhiannah’s were a bit like that,