Thyla by Kate Gordon

Author:Kate Gordon
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Tasmania
ISBN: 9781864718812
Publisher: Random House Australia
Published: 2011-04-01T23:40:20+00:00

‘Ah, Rhiannah! Just the person I was after!’

Ms Hindmarsh poked her head around the door of her office as Rhiannah and I walked back from our breakfast (which was, predictably, wondrously divine, and of which I had partaken, well, at least one too many ‘browns’. I was going to get fat at this rate).

‘Um, why?’ Rhiannah answered, nervously.

‘Nothing to worry about!’ said Ms Hindmarsh, smiling. ‘I just wanted a chat. Would you mind waiting here for a moment? I just need to send a quick email first. It won’t take long.’

‘Sure,’ said Rhiannah.

‘Hi, Tessa,’ said Ms Hindmarsh, turning to me. ‘How’s everything going?’

‘Really well, thank you, Ms Hindmarsh,’ I said.

‘Excellent,’ she said, her blonde curls bobbing as she nodded. She turned back to Rhiannah. ‘I won’t be long, Rhiannah. I promise I won’t make you late to class.’

She stuck her head back inside the door and said, ‘Perrin, thank you for your time. Rhiannah’s here. I’ll have a chat to her on her own in a moment, if that’s okay with you.’

The boy from my first day – Perrin, Rhiannah’s brother – moved past Ms Hindmarsh into the hallway. Immediately, his eyes found mine, and then they scanned over me like a searchlight. I felt my skin prickle.

I liked the boy’s eyes.

I liked his strong, broad chin too, and the way his slicked-back hair showed a hairline that lowered in the middle at the front in a sharp point. I liked the jagged angles of his face. I even liked the small, zigzagging scar beneath his left eye. It was the only thing about him that seemed less than perfectly beautiful, and I think it was the thing I liked best of all.

My thoughts shunted to my own appearance, the one I had seen earlier that morning in the washroom mirror. I remembered the messy crop of hay-coloured hair, the heavy-looking bags beneath my eyes, the pointy nose and too-wide mouth. I wanted to cover my face with my hands so the beautiful boy could not see how plain I was. I wanted – for a moment – to look like Charlotte Lord, with her sleek blonde hair and perfect face. A lady’s face.

Out of the fog inside my mind came a reflection of a younger me, with flowing, wavy hair, and a long pretty dress. I wished I had that dress now. I wished I had that hair.

It was the first time since my accident that I had thought anything of my appearance; the first time I had minded my boyish crop and tired features. It was the first time I had remembered the way my old self looked. Now I yearned to look like a lady. I wished to be elegant and comely. All for this boy. I wanted this boy to notice me and to think me pretty.

I knew that he would not think me pretty as I was.

Still, he was kind. He reached out and took my hand in his. ‘Tessa,’ he said gently, and I felt proud that Rhiannah had mentioned me.

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