Wildlife Read Online Free PDF Page B

was hoping for a prime number, but you can’t really ask.”
    His grimace makes it clear that he knows this is a dodgy thing to say, and that he’s relieved he can say it to me.
    Only Michael could be disappointed at not getting a prime number. He has whole books about prime numbers. If I ever see Michael with a dreamyvague smile on his face and ask him what he’s thinking about, the answer is likely to be prime numbers. When I have that look on my face, I am almost certainly thinking about food. Or Ben Capaldi, after last night. Better knock that one on the head.
    If Michael has a worried look on his face, he is likely to be thinking about the complexities of the two-state solution or the nature of existence. If I look worried, it’s usually because I’ve got an awful feeling that I’ve forgotten something very important, or I’ve lost my cell phone or keys or glasses (again), or I’m hungry and not sure when my next food intake is happening.
    When Michael looks relaxed, it might be because he has just completed a long and grueling run, or cracked a long and demanding mathematical equation, or mastered a long and complex piano piece. Me looking relaxed will often follow a nap in yoga, a good dreamy read inside a nineteenth-century novel, or the discovery of my cell phone or keys or glasses.
    As we step out into the alarmingly fresh air, I feel an unexpected heart-tug to home. We’ve spent weeks planning, preparing, buying strange gear, wondering who our housemates will be—now the nightmare begins.

13
    monday 8 october (later)
    Upon arrival, while everyone else was basically squealing with unfettered excitement, I had to try hard not to run screaming down the driveway after the bus, don’t leave me here, please, I made a mistake.
    I tried to ignore the
who’s the new girl?
looks, and instead concentrated on my breathing, and took a calming inventory.
    I couldn’t have caught the bus if I tried.
    Twelve dormitory buildings. Outside, wide, shady verandas; inside, one sleeping area: three bunk beds; one kitchen area: bench, sink, small fridge, big table, six chairs; one bathroom: two sinks, two toilets, two showers, one utility sink; one large walk-in drying cupboard.
    A handful of bigger buildings. One for the teachers who live on campus; one classroom building, includes a library and art room/multimedia studio; one assembly hall/dining hall/students’ common room building, includes music practice carrels; one office admin building, sick bay, teachers’ common room/staff room, counselor’soffice, marked with an
X
on my map. There’s one utility building with boiler, laundry, drying room, food and linen supplies storage, and vehicle bays at the side, and a second utility building for gardening stuff, sports gear storage, canoes, bikes, etc. The principal’s house is the only older building, an original cottage, which has of course been restored.
    A long path snakes from the main assembly/dining building to an enormous, established vegetable and fruit tree garden, the so-called kitchen garden. It’s hedged, so you couldn’t see it from where they unloaded us. One oval, well manicured.
    It is a huge compound on acres and acres of land, and right around the outer perimeter is a large cleared ring road, for fire safety.
    The buildings themselves are nestled artfully in well-designed native plantings, strategically placed shady trees, scented shrubs, and winding paths, and all are oriented toward a large central garden area with plenty of outdoor tables and seating and a few attractive stands of trees. We can study and have lunch there when the weather is fine.
    Everything is built in timber stained and sealed a silvery gray and, in a sprightly touch, doors are crimson to coordinate with the bottlebrush and flowering gum trees.
    Now all I have to do is blend in, zone out, and start crossing off the days on my cell wall.

14
    Of all the things I thought I’d hate about being up here—too much sporty stuff, crap