The New Girl

by Rowan McAuley

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Copyright Page

  One Wednesday morning in the middle of term, a new girl arrived at Zoe’s school. It was the most exciting thing that Zoe could remember happening for ages.

  Ms Kyle knocked on the door during class. Mr Mack had to stop halfway through a sentence.

  Everyone looked up from their books.

  ‘Don’t mind us,’ said Ms Kyle. ‘I’m just talking to Mr Mack about the new student.’

  ‘Wow! A new student,’ Zoe whispered to her best friend, Iris.

  ‘I know,’ said Iris. ‘And what perfect timing. Mr Mack was speaking way too fast for me to keep up. Quick – while he’s still talking to Ms Kyle – are there two g’s in exaggerated?’

  ‘Shh,’ said Zoe. ‘I’m trying to listen.’

  But all around her the quiet whispers of the other kids were growing into loud mumblings. She couldn’t hear what Ms Kyle was saying at all.

  ‘Settle down,’ said Mr Mack, as Ms Kyle left. ‘All right, you all heard that a new girl is starting today. Her name is Isabelle Sinclair, and she will be joining us as soon as she’s finished buying her books and uniform at the office. I know you’ll all do your best to make her feel welcome.’

  Definitely, thought Zoe. Iris and I will be her best friends.

  ‘Right, then,’ said Mr Mack. ‘Let’s get back to our dictation.’

  Of course, it was impossible for Zoe to concentrate on her school work. Any minute now, Isabelle could walk through the door …

  Zoe wondered what Isabelle would be like. Would she be musical like Iris, funny like Ching Ching, brainy like Holly or shy like Olivia?

  When Zoe had finished her dictation, she started drawing little cartoons in the margin of her exercise book. She doodled all the different ways she thought Isabelle might look. Would she be tall or short? Would she have long hair, or –

  ‘Zoe!’ Iris nudged her sharply in the ribs.

  Zoe looked up and saw Mr Mack looking at her pointedly.

  ‘Nice of you to rejoin us, Zoe,’ he said, dryly.

  Zoe quickly sat up straight and covered her drawings with her hand.

  ‘Sorry, Mr Mack,’ she said.

  Mr Mack was just about to say something else when there was a knock at the door. It was Ms Kyle again, followed by a girl in a new school jumper.

  Isabelle!

  Isabelle Sinclair stood at the front of the classroom, looking coolly at her new classmates.

  I’d be terrified if that were me, thought Zoe. I’d be shivering all over.

  But Isabelle looked totally relaxed, even bored.

  Ms Kyle left the room and Mr Mack turned to Isabelle.

  ‘Well, Isabelle,’ he said, cheerily. ‘Welcome to our class. Would you like to tell us a bit about yourself?’

  Oh, no, Mr Mack! thought Zoe, dismayed. Don’t do that to her!

  Zoe couldn’t imagine anything worse on the first day at a new school. She wouldn’t have known what to say, and she would have blushed and stammered. But Isabelle spoke confidently.

  ‘My family just moved here because my dad got a transfer at work. He’s a lawyer and my mum’s a piano teacher. I don’t have any brothers or sisters, but I have a sausage dog called Banger who sleeps on my bed.’

  ‘Thank you, Isabelle. It’s good to have you here,’ said Mr Mack. ‘Why don’t you sit at that desk today, and we’ll find you a permanent place tomorrow?’

  He pointed to Lily’s desk. She was away sick.

  The bell rang loudly for lunch, and before Mr Mack could say another word, everyone had leapt to their feet.

  ‘All right,’ he called out. ‘Off you go! Just remember to give Isabelle room to breathe, and time to eat her lunch, while you’re busy mobbing her with questions.’

  Mr Mack was right – the class did mob Isabelle. Everyone wanted to speak to her, find out more about her and tell her about themselves.

  ‘See that mulberry tree over there?’ asked Oscar. ‘That’s where Dylan and I climbed out over the school fence.’

  ‘We got in the most massive trouble,’ said Dylan, grinning. ‘They made up a whole new school rule just for us. Now no-one is allowed to climb trees.’

  ‘And the back of that building is the music room,’ said Iris, pointing. ‘We have guitars, a piano, a drum kit, and flutes and everything.’

  ‘And next to the music room is the computer room,’ said Ching Ching. ‘We do computers on Fridays with Mr Campbell. He’s a really good teacher.’

  Olivia giggled. ‘You would say that!’ she said to Ching Ching. ‘You’ve got the biggest crush on him!’

  ‘I so do not,’ said Ching Ching.

  ‘You so do so,’ said Olivia, laughing. ‘You lo-oo-ove him!’

  Zoe was frustrated – she didn’t want to hear all this stuff! She wanted to hear about Isabelle. She glanced over and saw Isabelle looking quiet and serious. Zoe realised she hadn’t seen Isabelle smile once since she arrived.

  By the time lunch finished and they went back to class, Zoe had only learnt two new things about Isabelle – she used to have a white Persian cat called Mash, and her favourite subject was maths.

  ‘Hey, I’ve got an idea!’ Zoe whispered to Iris as they sat down and got their books out for science. ‘I’m going to ask my mum if I can have Isabelle over after school. You can come too, and that way we’ll have her all to ourselves.’

  Iris beamed. ‘Ask your mum tonight, and then ring me. Then I can ask my mum straight away and we can invite Isabelle tomorrow.’

  ‘Perfect!’ smiled Zoe.

  It would have been perfect, too, but Zoe never got her chance to invite Isabelle.

  Zoe’s troubles began on the way home from school. Most of the kids caught the school bus from the main gates, but the bus didn’t go past Zoe’s house. Instead, she walked through the playground to where her little brother, Max, was in kindergarten.

  Usually Max was annoyingly bouncy, as if he hadn’t seen Zoe in a year. But today he slumped against the railings of the school fence as they waited for Mum. It was a warm afternoon and he had his jumper on, but he was still shivering.

  ‘Can I borrow your jumper, Zoe?’ he asked, sounding miserable.

  Zoe was searching in her bag when her mum drove up.

  ‘Hurry up, Zoe,’ her mum called out the window. ‘Can you help Max with his bag? It looks too heavy for him today.’

  Zoe dumped both bags into the car and jumped in behind them. Max dragged his feet over to the car, looking more tired and sad than ever.

  ‘Max!’ said her mum. ‘Your teeth are chattering! Zoe, what’s wrong with your brother?’

  Zoe sighed and shrugged.

  Sometimes it was a pain being the big sister. She wanted to talk to her mum about Isabelle, and whether she could have her and Iris over, but now all her mum’s attention was on Max.

  By dinnertime, Max’s chill had turned into a fever. By breakfast the next morning, he was covered in spots.

  ‘Chickenpox!’ said her mum. ‘How are you feeling, Zoe? Any spots?’

  ‘I’m fine,’ said Zoe, impatiently. ‘I just want to get to school.’

  Her mum didn’t seem to notice that Zoe was in a hurry. ‘Go and get dressed then,’ she said calmly. ‘I’ll have to make a few calls before we go anywhere.’

  Zoe dressed as quickly as
she could while her mum was on the phone. She was just sliding her favourite ladybug hairclips into place when her mum came in.

  ‘Bad news, Zoe,’ she said. ‘I called Dr Ho to get a medical certificate for my work, so I can take time off to look after Max –’

  Zoe nodded.

  ‘And Dr Ho says you’ll have to stay home, too.’

  ‘What?’ gasped Zoe. ‘But I’m not even sick! Please, Mum, I have to be there today. Can’t I – ’

  ‘No,’ said her mum, firmly. ‘You haven’t had chickenpox yet, so there’s about a 90 per cent chance you’ve got it now. Dr Ho says the spots could appear any day.’

  ‘But couldn’t I go until I get sick?’ asked Zoe.

  ‘I’m sorry, Zoe. Even though you don’t feel sick yet, you could still pass it on to others. You can’t go to school. And no visitors, either. It’s just you, Dad, me and Max.’

  Zoe felt like crying. It was so unfair. She was always missing out. By the time she went back to school, everyone would know Isabelle except for her.

  That afternoon, the phone rang while Max and Zoe were on the sofa watching TV.

  ‘Zoe,’ called her mum. ‘It’s Iris for you.’

  Zoe got up slowly. She was surprised to find she was feeling dizzy and cold.

  ‘Hi, Iris,’ she said.

  ‘Zoe, you didn’t call me last night. And then I was worried when you didn’t come to school today.’

  ‘Didn’t Mr Mack tell you? Max has chickenpox, and I probably have it too, so we have to stay home.’

  ‘For how long?’

  ‘At least a week.’

  ‘A week!’ cried Iris. ‘That’s forever.’

  ‘Or longer,’ said Zoe. ‘We can’t leave the house until our spots scab over.’

  ‘Scab over? Gross! How many spots do you have?’

  ‘None yet,’ said Zoe, feeling even worse. ‘Anyway, tell me. How was school? Did you hang out with Isabelle?’

  ‘Yeah, you’ll never guess – Mr Mack put her at our table. She’s sitting next to me!’

  ‘Really? What’s she like?’

  ‘Oh, she’s so funny! You won’t believe what she did! When Mr Campbell came in for computers, Isabelle made this kissing noise, and Ching Ching went bright red in front of everyone!’

  Zoe laughed, but she felt a little sad. She wished she could have been there.

  ‘And then,’ Iris went on, ‘at lunch, Isabelle dared Dylan to sneak out the gates and run to the corner and back.’

  ‘No way!’ said Zoe.

  ‘Yep. And Dylan said he wouldn’t, because he and Oscar got in so much trouble last time they snuck out. So Isabelle went herself! And she didn’t run, either. She just walked out, like it was no big deal.’

  ‘Wow,’ said Zoe, impressed. ‘So Isabelle’s pretty cool, then?’

  ‘The coolest.’

  ‘Oh,’ said Zoe, in a small voice. ‘Good.’

  The next morning, Zoe woke up hoping she’d feel better. But she felt worse – she was all hot and itchy!

  Her mum checked her temperature and sent her straight back to bed.

  It took more than a week for Zoe to get over the chickenpox. The spots were terrible – itchy and sore, and she even had some up her nose!

  At last they dried up, though, and she could go back to school.

  She’d been away for so long, Zoe felt like she was the new girl. Her face was covered in little scabs and she didn’t know what had been going on while she was away. Maybe no-one was into elastics anymore, and she’d look like a loser for wanting to play.

  When she arrived at school she saw Iris standing around chatting with Isabelle. Isabelle had her diary out and they were reading through something together.

  ‘Hi,’ Zoe called, shifting her backpack.

  For a tiny fraction of a second, before saying hello, Iris looked at Isabelle, as if she were checking what she should do. It happened so fast, Zoe almost didn’t see it.

  Almost.

  ‘Hi, Zoe,’ Iris said, carefully.

  ‘Yeah, hi,’ said Isabelle, looking at her watch.

  Iris looked uncomfortable.

  Finally she said, ‘Um, we’re just finishing this table before the bell rings. I’ll talk to you later, OK?’

  Zoe didn’t know what to do. She stood there, feeling every single scab on her face. She was sure that everyone else in the playground was staring at her. She was so embarrassed. She wished she could laugh and pretend it didn’t matter, but it did.

  It hurt.

  Zoe went to the toilets and looked at her face in the mirror. It must be the chickenpox, she thought. Probably nobody wanted to play with a spotty, scabby girl.

  She heard voices behind her, and Ching Ching and Olivia came in. Quickly, Zoe started washing her hands, as though she had just been to the toilet.

  ‘Hi, Zoe,’ said Ching Ching. ‘I didn’t know you were back today.’

  ‘Um, hi,’ said Zoe. She wondered if Ching Ching and Olivia could tell how upset she was, and if they had seen what happened on the playground.

  ‘Hey, you have to talk to Isabelle,’ said Olivia. ‘She’s organised a skipping contest at lunchtime, with proper scores and semis and a grand final and everything. You have to enter!’

  ‘Oh,’ said Zoe. ‘I don’t have a skipping rope.’

  ‘No problem,’ said Ching Ching. ‘You can borrow mine.’

  ‘The bell!’ said Olivia. ‘We’d better hurry. Mr Mack went mental when we were late for class yesterday.’

  Zoe was in no hurry. She had been so desperate to come back to school, but now she was here, she wished she were home again.

  ‘Hey, Zoe,’ said Mr Mack, standing by the door of the classroom. ‘How was the chickenpox? Itchy, I bet.’

  ‘Yes, Mr Mack,’ said Zoe.

  ‘Well, you’re back just in time,’ he said. ‘We’re starting a new project today, and it should be really interesting.’

  ‘OK,’ she said, not really listening.

  They walked into the classroom, and Zoe looked at the desk where she normally sat. Iris and Isabelle were already there, getting their pens and pencils out and giggling about something.

  Zoe took a deep breath and went to sit with them. She didn’t say anything – she felt too shy.

  This is crazy, she thought. How can I be feeling shy in front of my own best friend?

  She hoped that Iris would say something so that everything could go back to normal, but Iris just gave her a little smile when Isabelle wasn’t looking.

  ‘Good morning, all,’ said Mr Mack. ‘Did anyone not do last night’s homework?’

  Mr Mack walked around the room, collecting assignments.

  ‘It’s OK, Zoe,’ he said as he took Iris and Isabelle’s work. ‘I know you haven’t done this one. So,’ he said to the rest of the class, ‘I’m going to start marking these at my desk while you do the maths problems I’ve written out on these worksheets.’

  Everyone groaned.

  ‘What?’ asked Mr Mack, pretending to be surprised. ‘What’s this I hear? Is my class telling me they want more worksheets? Are they complaining I haven’t given them enough maths problems? OK, then. Get on with what I’ve given you. And no group discussion. That means you, Oscar Morgan. If you have a question, raise your hand. Otherwise I want silence.’

  Usually Zoe hated starting off with silent work, but today she was glad to put her head down and not have to talk to anyone. She didn’t want to even look at Iris or Isabelle until they said something nice to her. She hoped she wouldn’t have to wait long.

  When the bell went for recess, most of the girls gathered around Isabelle.

  ‘Who’s in the first round today?’ asked Lily.

  Isabelle pulled out her school diary and opened it to a page of complicatedlooking tables.

  ‘Let’s see,’ she said. ‘We’re up to round two. Lily, you’ll be skipping against Ching Ching and Holly. And then Iris, Olivia and Aysha will be in round three at lunchtime.’

  Zoe ha
dn’t said anything to Isabelle yet. All morning, she had kept her eyes on her work and tried not to notice when Iris and Isabelle whispered to one another. Now, without knowing how she managed to be so brave, she spoke up.

  ‘Can I be in the competition, too?’ Zoe asked.

  Isabelle looked at her.

  ‘No,’ she said. ‘We had the qualifying rounds while you were away. Now we’ve already begun, it wouldn’t really be fair to let you enter in round four or five.’

  ‘But I had chickenpox!’ said Zoe.

  She couldn’t believe her ears.

  ‘Well, we have to be fair,’ said Isabelle. ‘It’s not a real contest unless you stick to the rules.’

  ‘I see,’ said Zoe, in a tiny voice.

  ‘Hey, but Zoe could help us judge,’ Iris said to Isabelle. ‘Couldn’t she?’

  Isabelle thought for a minute and then shook her head.

  ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said, without sounding sorry at all. ‘But only girls who are part of the competition are allowed to judge.’

  Zoe felt small and unwanted.

  How embarrassing. And in front of all the other girls! Now everyone knew that she had been left out.

  Zoe wanted to cry, or better still, to disappear forever. But the bell had rung and Mr Mack was waiting in the hallway to lock the classroom door behind them.

  Zoe got her playlunch out of her bag and somehow managed to walk out to the playground without bursting into tears. She saw Iris by herself, peeling a mandarin beside the bin.

  Now’s my chance, she thought. I’ll go and ask Iris if I’ve done something wrong.

  She hurried over and said in a quiet, uncertain voice, ‘Hi, Iris.’

  ‘Oh, Zoe,’ said Iris, smiling. ‘How are you? I’ve been wanting to talk to you all day.’

  ‘Have you?’ said Zoe, feeling relieved. ‘I thought nobody liked me anymore.’

  ‘Oh, no,’ said Iris. ‘That’s not true.’

  ‘What’s not true?’

  Iris and Zoe spun around to see Isabelle standing there.