A Hole in the World

by Robbins, Sophie

  ‘You told them?’ Bianca snaps at Scotty.

  Scotty throws his hands up. ‘I didn’t mean to!’ he exclaims. ‘It was just... Daisy said she acted like a total princess and I... may have slipped.’

  ‘Scotty!’ Bianca exclaims.

  ‘I’m only human!’ Scotty exclaims. ‘I’m not used to keeping secrets! And... it’s only Cor and Dais.’

  ‘It’s not true, though, right?’ Cory says, still snickering. ‘I mean; she’s a fairytale princess? Really?’

  ‘I am Princess Alexandra of Calpaea!’ Alexandra says, smiling happily.

  ‘Oh, this is priceless!’ Cory laughs, clapping his hands together. He turns to Scotty. ‘Mate, your friends are nuts.’

  ‘Shut up.’ Scotty glares at him.

  ‘I can prove my claim to be naught but the truth!’ Alexandra announces, standing up. She turns her face up to the sky, takes a deep breath and shouts, ‘Nissa! Nissa!’

  ‘Alexandra,’ Daisy hisses, grabbing at her skirt and trying to pull her down, ‘people are staring!’

  ‘You really can’t do this,’ Bianca says, quickly, ‘especially not if you want to blend i-’ She breaks off, eyes widening as a dot of light appears in the air before Alexandra, expanding and brightening until it gets to be bigger than the group.

  The four students flinch away as the light explodes, but Alexandra stares into it as it transforms into a tubby older woman, who appears to be floating about two meters off the ground.

  ‘This,’ Alexandra says, grandly, ‘is my Fairy Godmother, Nissa.’

  ‘Are you crazy?!’ Bianca hisses. ‘You brought her here?’

  ‘Only we are able to see her,’ Alexandra replies, smiling up at the Fairy Godmother hovering above. ‘Thank you for heeding my call, Nissa.’ She does a little curtsy before the woman in the air.

  ‘At least act normal!’ Scotty hisses, grabbing her by the back of the blazer and dragging her down to a sitting position.

  ‘That’s... that’s...’ Cory points up at Nissa in bewilderment. ‘Where are the strings?!’

  ‘Strings?’ Alexandra asks, confused.

  ‘There have to be strings!’ Daisy says, standing up and walking around the Fairy Godmother, waving her hands through the air surrounding her. ‘How are you doing this?!’

  ‘Magic!’ Alexandra exclaims, with a smile.

  ‘What do you need, child?’ Nissa enquires, reaching out and tucking the blonde’s hair behind her ear as Daisy sits back down. She casts her gaze around, and then breaks out in an enigmatic smile. ‘Ah!’ she shouts. ‘Your Prince Charming came for you!’

  ‘I am afraid not, Nissa,’ Alexandra says, regretfully, but Bianca can tell she doesn’t believe her own press. ‘The one who pulled me from that dreadful place is this maiden.’ She gestures at Bianca, who flushes and looks at Scotty, who’s snickering.

  ‘Shut up,’ she hisses at him.

  Daisy leans over. ‘Doesn’t ‘maiden’ mean a female young or unmarried virgin?’

  ‘Shut up,’ Bianca repeats, as the group begin to laugh.

  ‘This is not funny, children!’ Nissa exclaims. They fall silent. ‘If Alexandra does not find her Prince Charming, she will be doomed to remain alone for all eternity!’ She turns back to the girl in question. ‘Are you positive it was not your Prince who rescued you?’

  Alexandra casts her eyes down. ‘She insists she is not a prince. She is adamant that she is merely a girl in the right place at the right time.’

  Nissa looks across at Bianca. ‘You are sure?’

  ‘I’m no Prince Charming, ma’am,’ Bianca says, quietly.

  Nissa sighs, dramatically, floating up another couple of inches, then down a foot. ‘In that case, I do believe I must inform the kingdom. They will send out search parties for your retrieval.’

  She moves to click her fingers, but Alexandra catches her hand. ‘Tell them... Tell them not to be too hasty, Nissa, please.’

  Nissa smiles and clicks her fingers, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

  ‘So,’ Cory says, quietly, still in shock, ‘you really are a fairytale princess.’

  Alexandra just smiles casually at him in response.

  *

  The rest of the day passes mostly without incident, thanks to Alexandra’s presence being covered up now not only by Bianca and Scotty, but also Daisy and Cory. Cory and Daisy also seem to have taken it upon themselves to protect the girl from bullies, teachers and, in Cory’s case, spiders, although Bianca suspects that’s more of his own phobia than Alexandra’s.

  The walk home is uneventful, although punctuated by Bianca and Scotty yawning at regular intervals even whilst Alexandra bounces like a five year old on a sugar high.

  They say goodbye to Scotty on the corner, Bianca with a hug and Alexandra with a shy smile and wave, and the two girls sneak quietly into the house, so as not to alert Bianca’s parents to Alexandra’s continued presence.

  ‘So, when are you going to be taken home?’ Bianca asks, breezily, as she and Alexandra walk into her bedroom. She drops her bag on the bed, shrugs out of her blazer, hanging it up in the wardrobe, unbuttons the top couple of buttons of her shirt and tosses her tie over the chest of drawers, then joins her bag by flopping face-first into the pillows.

  ‘It could be any time!’ Alexandra says, with a smile. ‘It could be now... or not for a year!’

  ‘A year?!’ Bianca squeaks, raising her face up from within the pillows. She takes a breath. ‘Okay,’ she says, after a moment, sitting up and tucking her feet beneath her, ‘if you’re going to be stranded here for that long... I guess I should teach you how to fit in with normal society and not let many, many people know you’re a princess from some faraway land called Calpol.’

  ‘Calpaea!’ Alexandra exclaims.

  ‘The point still stands.’ Bianca gives her a weak glare.

  Alexandra grins, excitedly. ‘Show me how to live!’

  Bianca smiles. ‘Let’s start with the iPod,’ she says, with a smile, walking across to her iPod dock and guiding Alexandra by the hand to follow her. ‘You like music, I gather?’

  ‘Music is surely the most beautiful thing to permeate the air!’ Alexandra exclaims.

  ‘I’ll take that as a yes.’ Bianca says, rolling her eyes. She holds Alexandra’s hand in her own and directs the blonde’s slender finger towards the buttons. ‘Press this button to turn it on,’ she says, pressing down on the menu button, ‘and slide your finger like this to navigate the menus.’ She slides her finger around in a gentle circle and Alexandra gives her an amazed look.

  ‘This is wondrous magic!’

  ‘Not magic. Just an iPod.’ Bianca laughs and scrolls down, still using Alexandra’s finger. ‘Here, we’ll go for a random song, okay?’ She presses the centre button down on ‘Shuffle Songs’ and Alexandra jumps back a couple of paces as the beginning beats of John Barrowman’s version of Uptown Girl fills Bianca’s bedroom via her iPod Dock.

  ‘That is miraculous!’ Alexandra exclaims, staring around in disbelief.

  ‘Come on.’ Bianca guides her back across to the iPod with a smile. ‘I’ll show you how to choose your own songs.’

  Eight

  ‘What are you doing?’

  Bianca pauses in front of the mirror and turns around to face Alexandra, who has walked into the bathroom and perched on the side of the bath. She’s watching Bianca with obvious curiosity, the kind Bianca is growing slowly accustomed to seeing on the other girl’s face.

  Bianca looks down at the eyeliner in her hand, then across at Alexandra. ‘I’m putting makeup on. Don’t your people wear makeup?’

  Alexandra shakes her head silently, slipping her hands between her knees and leaning forwards a bit to peer at Bianca. ‘What is the purpose of this... makeup?’ she enquires.

  ‘Um... well...’ Bianca turns away from the mirror to lean against the sink, almost perched on the cool ceramic object. ‘We use it to enhance our features... like, eyeliner makes your eyes pop, as does eye shadow an
d mascara makes our eyelashes look longer. Lipstick and lip gloss makes our lips more attractive.’

  ‘Attractive?’

  ‘Kissable. It makes you want to kiss someone more if they have lip gloss on.’ Bianca flushes a bit as Alexandra eyes her and her mouth, thoughtfully.

  ‘I would not need this... lip gloss,’ Alexandra announces, after what seems like a lot of thought. ‘I would be content without.’

  Bianca blushes hotly and turns away again, supressing the rising heat in her cheeks with a cough. ‘You don’t wear lip gloss?’ she says. ‘Your lips are that colour naturally?’

  Alexandra smiles and nods. ‘Oh yes,’ she says.

  Bianca sighs, jealous. Alexandra’s lips look soft and plump and slightly shiny without needing help from cosmetics. It’s not really fair.

  ‘What is this?’ Alexandra is at her side, retrieving her foundation and eyeing it curiously.

  ‘It covers up blemishes, makes your skin look smoother.’ Bianca takes it off her and opens it up. ‘Here.’ She starts applying it to Alexandra’s face, careful not to put too much on, and then follows with eyeliner, shadow, mascara and a small, thin layer of light pink lip gloss. She doesn’t need it really, not like Bianca, but it never hurts to give it a try.

  When she’s done, Alexandra has a small amount of blue eye shadow on her eyelids, matching and bringing out the colour of her eyes. Bianca turns her, gently, by the shoulders towards the mirror and points.

  ‘How very peculiar...’ Alexandra says, touching her face and examining her eyes. ‘This is a strange practice. You do this every day?’

  Bianca shrugs. ‘Sometimes,’ she says. She grabs a makeup wipe from her makeup bag and starts wiping at Alexandra’s face. ‘You don’t need it though,’ she says. ‘You look gorgeous without makeup.’

  It’s Alexandra’s turn to blush and Bianca can’t help but smile as she gently removes the makeup.

  ‘You don’t need makeup either,’ Alexandra says, quietly.

  Bianca smiles and keeps on wiping.

  *

  ‘Should we not be attending school?’ Alexandra enquires when Bianca leads her by the hand in the opposite direction from the high school. ‘I believed it to be mandatory.’

  ‘So is skipping a day once in a while,’ Bianca replies as she takes a right and slips down a small, almost hidden path. ‘It’s a rite of passage for a teenager.’

  ‘I see...’ Alexandra hurries after her as she takes a few more turns, going past small cottage-like houses and climbing over a stile. ‘Where is it you are taking me?’

  ‘You’ll see.’ Bianca helps Alexandra over the stile and they carry on across the grass. The tall blades tickle at the blonde’s knees and the dew clings to her skin and shoes. She doesn’t seem to mind, though, instead just running after Bianca, carefully avoiding holes in the ground.

  ‘I used to come here all the time as a kid,’ Bianca tells her, ducking under a fence and into another field. ‘I still do as a teenager but it’s not the same. Ever been to a park?’

  Alexandra shakes her head and grabs Bianca’s hand again when she loses it. ‘What is a park?’ she enquires.

  ‘It’s a place with fun things to do. Ever been on swings? A roundabout?’ More shaking of Alexandra’s head follows and Bianca sighs. ‘You’ve been repressed,’ she informs her. ‘Come on.’

  They walk for the next five minutes in silence and then Bianca leads Alexandra into a small copse of trees. They duck under a few branches and keep walking until they emerge into a clearing.

  The clearing is a playground. There’s a set of swings, some climbing bars, a roundabout, a sandpit and a seesaw. The playground is surrounded by a fence, which Bianca slips through and pulls Alexandra with her, and the main gate at the opposite side leads onto a small residential road.

  There are a few parents with small children playing, but not too many. Bianca offers a lady she recognises a wave and a smile and gets the same in return, then turns to Alexandra and says, ‘Tadah!’

  Alexandra looks confused. ‘This is a playground?’ she enquires.

  Bianca nods. ‘Yes,’ she says. ‘Come on.’ She leads Alexandra directly across to the nearest swing set, pushes her down on one and sits on the next one along. Within seconds, she’s swinging. Alexandra looks even more confused.

  ‘Swing,’ Bianca says, grinding to a halt. Alexandra reacts with a furrowed brow and a lame attempt at swinging without moving her legs or kicking off.

  ‘Here.’ Bianca climbs off her own, walks around behind Alexandra and pushes her.

  Alexandra squeals – loudly – and clings on for dear life. ‘Oh my!’ she exclaims as Bianca pushes her hard and she flies upwards. ‘This is...’

  ‘Fun?’ Bianca suggests.

  Alexandra looks like she’s thinking of a whole other word, but then the swing starts to slow down and Bianca sits back on her own.

  ‘Kick off like this,’ Bianca says, walking her swing back and letting go. She stops again when she sails backwards. ‘When you’re swinging, bend and straighten your legs. Watch me.’

  She swings higher and higher, leaning back on the way down and straightening her legs, tucking them up and leaning forwards when she swings back up. ‘See?’ she says, scuffing her shoes against the ground to stop.

  Alexandra shakes her head. ‘I do not see the appeal of this undertaking.’

  Bianca laughs. ‘It’s fun, Alexandra. Just try it for me. Come on.’

  Alexandra sighs and Bianca watches, amused, as her first three attempts at getting any kind of momentum fail grandly. Her fourth, however, results in her swinging back and forth without any problems or complaints.

  ‘Ooh!’ she exclaims as she swings higher.

  ‘Liking it now?’ Bianca says, smiling.

  ‘Oh yes!’ Alexandra shouts on her way past. ‘This is exciting!”

  The amusement grows. ‘I wouldn’t say exciting,’ Bianca says, ‘but it is fun. All kids do it in our world.’ She gestures at the children on the next swing set, some pushed by their parents, others just swinging happily by themselves.

  ‘What, may I ask, is the round thing?’ Alexandra enquires when she slows down a bit.

  ‘Come on, I’ll show you.’ Bianca climbs off her swing and offers Alexandra her hand. The blonde seems reticent to leave her new toy, so Bianca promises, ‘We’ll come back. We have all day.’

  Alexandra beams and accepts Bianca’s hand, following her across to the roundabout and climbing on with Bianca’s assistance.

  ‘Hold on tight and try and keep your eyes on the centre,’ Bianca says, finding the idea of cleaning up Alexandra’s vomit unattractive.

  Alexandra nods her understanding and Bianca kicks off. The roundabout spins, faster and faster as Bianca shoves her foot against the ground. Alexandra squeals, happily, and clings on to the roundabout with one hand and Bianca with the other.

  Bianca almost misses the subtle vibration of her phone in her pocket and when she checks it she can’t help but smile.

  Wtf where r u ur missing skool! Txt me! Tell me u didnt die or get eaten by a dragon or sumthing

  ‘I may have forgotten to tell Scotty where we are,’ Bianca says, with a smirk, as she texts Scotty back. ‘He’s worrying.’

  We’re skiving @ the park! Wont be in 2day teaching Alexandra about swings & roundabouts. xx

  The roundabout has slowed down so, gingerly, Alexandra pokes her toe off the edge and makes it spin again. Bianca giggles as it goes faster and clings on to Alexandra.

  By the time the roundabout stops spinning again, both girls are so dizzy they stagger together clambering off and drop to a heap in the grass, laughing hysterically.

  ‘The world, it spins!’ Alexandra exclaims.

  ‘I’d like to think you already knew that,’ Bianca says.

  *

  ‘Here.’ Daisy hands Alexandra a cup of jelly and a spoon and the blonde accepts it with a smile.

  ‘You didn’t have to skip too,’ Bianca says, as she tucks
into the tuna sandwich Scotty brought her.

  ‘You kidding?’ Scotty says. ‘My choices: double maths and two hours of sex education, with a nice pop quiz mixed in, or spend the day with my favourite girl and her princess.’

  ‘What’s your excuse?’ Bianca aims in Cory’s direction.

  ‘As far as I care, you don’t need an excuse to skip school,’ Cory says.

  ‘Actually, you do,’ Scotty says, ‘but we don’t care. That’s the difference.’

  ‘We’re probably going to get in trouble,’ Daisy muses as she pulls long strands off a cheese string. Alexandra watches her, curiously, so she feeds the princess one, laughing when she gobbles it up from below.

  ‘Probably.’ Bianca lounges back in the grass. ‘But I don’t care. It’s been worth it. You know she’s never been on a swing before today?’

  ‘Blasphemy!’ Scotty exclaims.

  ‘Exactly! I had to teach her how!’

  ‘Alexandra, you are a strange one,’ Daisy says.

  Alexandra grins. ‘Swings are fun,’ she says. ‘When I return to my land, I will make it so every village has a set!’

  ‘Now, that’s a law I can get on board with,’ Daisy says. She grins and leans against Cory’s shoulder. She’s shivering slightly so he takes off his blazer and drapes it around hers. ‘Thanks,’ she says.

  ‘No problem.’ Cory smiles at her, she smiles back and Scotty snorts.

  ‘It’s too cold to be out here anyway,’ Cory muses, goose bumps rising on his now bare arms.

  ‘Yeah.’ Bianca shivers.

  ‘What else hasn’t Alexandra done?’ Scotty enquires.

  ‘There’s a list,’ Bianca replies.

  ‘Hmm...’ Daisy sits up. ‘There should be.’ She pulls her homework diary out from within her bag and clicks the top of her pen. ‘Let’s make one. We can list things Alexandra hasn’t done or tried and then we can introduce her to them.’

  ‘Cinema,’ Cory suggests immediately. ‘I bet she’s never seen a movie. We could take her to see the new Harry Potter.’