I hadn’t taken my eyes off the door since I’d flumped down into my seat, but when I picked up my pen and wrote down the words Mr Smee was calling out, I began to feel better. Maybe the new girl wouldn’t come. Maybe it was all a mistake. Maybe I didn’t have anything to be nervous about. After all, Jessie’s mum had gotten things wrong before. Once she’d started talking about the principal of the school retiring but it turned out he was just going on holidays for a while. A golf trip, or something.
‘Extra-ord-in-ary,’ said Mr Smee. ‘In-un-date.’ His voice was calm and I did a throat-relaxing thing that Francesca had showed me a few weeks ago. If there was going to be a new girl, she would have come by now. If life was going to get turned upside down today, it already would have happened.
‘O-ver-whelmed,’ intoned Mr Smee. I stuck my tongue out the side of my mouth. Miles laughed at me when I did this, but it helped me concentrate. ‘H’ or no ‘h’? This one was tricky. I wrote it down without the h and then tipped my head to one side to look at it. Nup. I added the ‘h’, took a deep breath, pushed the air out again and squared my shoulders, ready for the next word.
But there was no next word.
Instead, there was a loud knock.
Mrs Barton. From the school office.
In the exact millisecond that the noise hit my eardrums, my brain knew what it meant. I swallowed hard.
Mr Smee stopped talking. And, as if they were all controlled by one remote, every single head in the classroom swivelled simultaneously in the direction of the door.
I could hardly breathe. There were bricks in my chest and my eyes were fuzzy. I blinked a couple of times and shook my head to hear Mrs Barton speaking.
‘Mr Smee and Year Six, you’ve got a new person in your class today. She’s just moved into town and I know you’ll make her welcome.’ She moved aside slightly as she gestured with her arm. ‘This is Stella.’
My eyes cleared just in time to see the silhouette of a girl step out from behind Mrs Barton into the brightly lit doorway. I blinked again and screwed up my eyes. All I could see was someone petite and slim with a gold halo around her hair. Or was that the light? I wasn’t sure.
But it didn’t matter. Because I got my chance to see her properly when Stella walked into the classroom and stood at the front. She seemed very confident, the way she stood, and she kept tossing her hair around.
I got a cold feeling in my stomach.
‘Hi, Stella,’ said Mr Smee. ‘Nice to meet you. Welcome.’ He put the spelling list down on the desk. ‘Where have you come from?’
‘We used to live in Sydney,’ said Stella. Her voice was high and distinct. ‘I went to a much bigger school than this.’ She smiled sweetly. ‘But I’m sure I’ll be fine here.’ She looked around at everyone and twirled her hair with her fingers.
And then, seriously, my eyes nearly popped out of my head for two reasons. First, from where I was sitting in the third back row, I could actually see Stella batting her eyelashes. At Mr Smee! Second, I could see the eyelash batting so clearly because she was wearing black stuff on her eyes. Mascara? I thought. Really?
Makeup? In primary school? I looked around at Ollie and Sam to see if they shared my opinion.
But they weren’t sharing. They were dribbling. And ogling. And practically hanging out their tongues at Stella. I poked Sam in the arm. ‘What are you doing?’ I whispered. But for the first time in my life, I didn’t understand Sam. Instead of laughing with me, he just looked cross at me and wiped his arm.
Mr Smee was talking. ‘We need someone to buddy up with Stella this week and show her around, make her feel comfortable,’ he said. ‘Let’s see. Bianca, sorry, Buzz, you’re on messages this week. That might be a good fit.’ He looked down the classroom. ‘In fact, there’s enough room next to you to set up a new desk for Stella.’
I looked over to see Buzz beaming. I mean, really smiling, like I hadn’t seen her do for ages. I looked harder to make sure. It was the kind of smile she used to make when we were in Year Four and one of our mums offered to take us out for ice creams after school. She hardly ever put that much happiness into her face anymore. What was going on now? Buzz did a tiny, excited wave to Stella, who smiled back and tilted her head to one side. Jessie was also smiling at Stella, mouthing words at her and looking around the room with excitement.
I sat back in my chair and took in a deep breath.
I had a terrible, scared feeling that nothing was going to be right again.
Chapter 9
At lunch, the whole school had gone Stella-mad.
‘She’s so pretty,’ said Holly in Year Two.
‘Do you think I could get her autograph?’ sighed little Max, the kindy dance sensation.
‘Ha ha! You’re in love with her!’ Sam’s little brother pointed at Sam, who blushed redder than I had ever seen before. I raised my eyebrows at him. Be sensible!
Buzz had been with Stella for the rest of class time and the rush of people around the two of them when the bell went was so intense that I didn’t even get a chance to elbow my way through and say hello. Despite my best efforts to make my way in, I was stuck on the outside of the crowd. Even when things died down a little, it was hardly any different. Buzz was firmly and triumphantly fixed in place at Stella’s right elbow and all Jessie could do was keep coming up with new ideas. ‘We should take her to the canteen, Buzz. No. The toilets first. Do you want to see the toilets, Stella? And we’ve got chook sheds and garden beds too.’
‘I’ve got an idea,’ I said, on the edge of the group. But no one wanted to hear it. I might as well have been talking to the walls. No one was listening to me at all. Everyone just kept following Stella, the chattering little girls and the bigger boys, doing stunts and tricks, elbowing and jostling each other, desperate to be looked at.
And Stella didn’t seem to mind a single bit.
From where I sat, I could see a small smile peek out of the corners of Stella’s mouth as she looked around at her new adoring fans. She tossed her head and whispered something to Buzz, who looked around, raised her eyebrows and whispered back.
When the noise levels of the crowd had gotten high enough to annoy the teachers, Mr Bond came out of the staffroom and clapped his hands for attention. All the little girls turned to look at him and the older boys began to fade off the edges of the group.
‘People. Stella is new. She doesn’t need the whole school crowding her. Please give her some space.’
‘Aww,’ came a groan of little voices and Stella shrugged her shoulders. ‘I don’t mind,’ she said. ‘Really. They’re cute.’
Mr Bond raised his eyebrows. ‘No. They need to go and play. Off you go, everyone.’
Almost immediately the pack dispersed and the playground was back to normal. Except that it wasn’t. Because somehow, I was sitting at the Year Six seats by myself. And my two best friends in the whole world, the members of the Smart Girls Club, were standing together, chatting excitedly to Stella. Without me.
I bit into my cheese-and-lettuce sandwich.
‘What’s the matter, Ab?’ said Ollie, plumping down next to me and sticking his elbow in my ribs. ‘You on the outs?’
I pushed him off and rubbed the side of my chest. ‘Ow. That really hurts. You should be gentler.’
‘What? This hurts?’ laughed Ollie and he poked me with his elbow again. ‘What about this?’ He dug his fingers in this time. ‘I thought you were tough.’
‘Of course I’m tough,’ I said, proudly. And I made a face. ‘You try me.’
‘So, a new girl, eh?’ said Ollie. ‘She’s cute.’
‘What do you mean?’ I said. ‘Anyway, I thought you liked Buzz.’ I made air fingers around the word ‘liked’. My words came out more aggressive than I thought they would. Perhaps it was just because I felt protective of Buzz?
Ollie looked uncomfortable. ‘I’m just s
aying she’s pretty and that.’ He sounded defensive.
‘Yeah, well Buzz might not be happy about hearing that,’ I said. ‘I’ve got to protect my best friends, you know.’
‘Sure. Whatever,’ Ollie said. But he looked over at Buzz and Jessie and raised his eyebrows. ‘Best friends?’
I punched him in the arm. My weird, nervous feeling was back with a vengeance now. ‘Of course,’ I said, my voice indignant. ‘Buzz and Jessie are my best friends. Always have been. Always will be.’ Ollie was rubbing his shoulder. ‘Oops. Did that hurt? Maybe you’d better get tougher.’
And I stood up, trying not to show that I was suddenly scared. If even Ollie was noticing that my friends had ditched me, I’d better figure out what was going on—and fast. I shook the crumbs off my uniform and walked across to where the girls were still talking with Stella.
‘So, hi.’ I forced a smile onto my face and started talking. ‘I’m Abby and you’re new. Stella, right? I didn’t get a chance to say hi before, with all the little kids around. Where did you come from and how long are you here for?’
There was a tiny pause and for half a second I wondered if the girls had actually heard what I said. Stella was looking at me with an odd expression on her face. Buzz’s eyebrows were making a tiny ‘v’ on her forehead and even Jessie seemed puzzled. Had I done something wrong? I was talking like I always did whenever I saw my friends. Perhaps I’d better start over.
‘I said hi ...’ I began again but as I did, all three started talking to each other again. Only Jessie seemed aware that I was there.
‘Guys, guys, just wait,’ said Jessie, flapping her hands for attention. Buzz and Stella stopped their conversation, which, from what I could hear, appeared to be about a singer. I recognised the name. He had a song that Buzz was in love with a few months ago. She’d even wanted to perform it for the Show but I’d convinced her to stick to Annie.
‘Stella,’ said Jessie. ‘You have to meet Abby. She’s the other girl in Year Six. Three of us— that’s all we’ve been, until now.’ Jessie turned to me with a big smile on her face and then back to Stella.
And that was when Stella did something really weird. Beginning at the top of my head, she let her eyes fall all the way down to my feet and then back up to my face. And then she looked at me, square in the eyes. It wasn’t a mean look, but it wasn’t a nice look. It made me feel smaller, broader and younger. Another new feeling. I was having way too many of those today, and I didn’t like any of them. When I looked over at Buzz and Jessie with a question in my eyes, they didn’t answer it. It was almost like they hadn’t noticed that anything weird had happened.
And then, just as quickly as it began, the tension seemed to be over. Stella dropped her eyes, gave a big smile and spoke in her clear, delicate voice. ‘Wow, Abby. It’s so great to meet you properly. You’re kind of sitting all the way across the other side of the classroom, aren’t you?’ She looked at Buzz and Jessie for confirmation. ‘I always think that’s so unfair. I think teachers should let friends sit together. Is, like, Mr Smee really mean?’
‘I mean, yeah, sometimes,’ said Buzz. ‘You know.’ She shrugged her shoulders. ‘He is a teacher.’
I frowned. Buzz liked Mr Smee. I’d never heard her say anything bad about him. Why was she starting now? ‘He’s not mean,’ I said. ‘He’s probably the best teacher that we’ve ever had.’
Stella laughed. A tinkly, little laugh. ‘You’ve got a crush on him, Abby, don’t you? Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.’
My cheeks got suddenly hot. My mouth felt dry and my head was confused. A crush on Mr Smee? ‘I do not!’ My voice got louder. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Simmer down. Don’t get upset,’ laughed Stella. ‘Look at you. You don’t need to worry. I’ll keep your secret.’
Jessie stared at me. ‘Are you actually in love with Mr Smee, Abby? I had no idea!’
I swallowed hard. This whole ‘meet the new girl’ thing was not going like I expected. ‘No,’ I said, more defensively than I wanted it to sound. ‘Of course not.’ I shook my head a little, to try to get myself back to normal. I decided to change the subject. ‘Where do you live, Stella? In town?’
‘You’re not going to believe this,’ said Buzz. Her face was triumphant. ‘She’s three doors down from me!’
‘I’m living with my dad for a while,’ said Stella, tossing her head. ‘Mum and I just weren’t getting along. Then she got another boyfriend, who was practically the fifth one in three years, and I got like totally sick of them both, so I said I was going to Dad’s. Even though it meant leaving my group of really close friends behind.’
‘Oh, poor you!’ said Jessie. ‘I couldn’t imagine moving away from my friends, or my mum.’ She looked at Buzz and I, almost with tears in her eyes.
‘Oh, you’re so cute,’ said Stella to Jessie, and smiled sweetly. ‘You’re just the most adorable thing.’ She sighed. ‘Yeah, I miss my friends heaps. They’re like so great. We all get along really well. But I guess you guys will do in the meantime. We probably won’t be as close as I was with my other friends, but it’ll still be great. And Buzz and I live near each other, so we can see each other like all the time after school and on weekends.’
I raised my eyebrows. Buzz, Jessie and I already had the next six weekends planned out. Surely one of us would have to say something. But no one did.
‘I wish I had an option to leave my mother,’ said Buzz, making a face. ‘Seriously, she wants to know everything I’m doing all the time. But there’s nowhere else to go.’ She grimaced. ‘Moving away is kind of like an adventure. I’d love to do it.’
‘Really? Move away from Kangaroo Valley?’ I almost shouted, I was so shocked. ‘But what about all of us and Year Six and the ...’ I almost said the words Smart Girls Club but remembered just in time to keep it a secret. ‘I mean, all the stuff we have planned. All of that. Would you really want to just leave?’
Buzz swiped her hand away with a bored expression on her face. ‘I mean, maybe.’ She shrugged. ‘Year Six is great and everything, but Kangaroo Valley isn’t the centre of the universe.’
‘I know, right?’ giggled Stella. ‘I mean, you guys have such a tiny school and there aren’t any proper shops in town.’
‘There are,’ I said, scrunching my forehead into a frown. What was Stella talking about? We had a post office and a general store and cafés and …
Stella shot me an amused look. ‘Not really,’ she said. ‘You can’t even buy makeup here.’
‘The chemist sells some,’ offered Jessie, helpfully. ‘That’s where my mum gets her lipstick.’
‘Yeah, but I’m not talking about old people’s stuff,’ said Stella. She waved her hand airily. ‘I mean cool makeup. For our age. Next time I go back to Sydney, I’m going to go shopping with all my friends. We go together all the time. I’m going to stock up on thick-lash mascara.’
My face swung to Jessie’s to get her reaction, but Jessie was looking at Stella’s eyes. ‘Wow. That mascara really suits you,’ she said. ‘You have really long eyelashes.’
Stella batted them. ‘Thanks. You’re so cute,’ she said and smiled.
This was confusing. My friends were acting in ways that I’d never seen before. What was going on?
‘I’ve got mascara at home,’ said Buzz. She shrugged. ‘I was thinking about starting to wear it to school.’
Stella looked at her lashes, studying them. ‘I definitely think it would suit you. A lot. It would really add something to your face.’
‘My mum doesn’t even wear mascara,’ I said. ‘She says it’s a waste of time and it makes her eyes water. Plus, she thinks that eleven is too young for makeup.’ I looked again to Jessie for support, but she was still gazing at Stella’s eyelashes.
‘Hey, we should take a photo,’ said Buzz. ‘Stella’s first day.’
Jessie jumped up and
down. ‘Yes! We should!’
I made a face. ‘Yeah, except you’ve got no camera.’
‘Oh, we do,’ said Buzz. ‘I brought my iPod to school. It’s in my bag.’ She ran to the hooks outside the classroom and came back with a small mobile thing with a bright pink cover. ‘Say new girl,’ she sang out, standing right next to Stella and sticking her hand out to fit them both in the picture.
‘Me too,’ said Jessie. ‘And Abby as well.’ She pulled me into the shot and I gave a forced half-grin while Buzz fussed around with getting everything just right to go click, click, click.
Sam ran past and swatted my head. ‘Hey, Abby, don’t break the camera. I’m going to ring the bell.’
I waved my hand at him, trying to hit him back, but he’d gone already. Buzz and Stella and Jessie’s heads were staring at the iPod, making eeeek noises about the photos. And none of them—not a single one—was looking at me.
Chapter 10
On Stella’s second day, she was still the school superstar. Little girls followed her around, medium-sized boys stopped their handball games as she walked past, and Sam was being a total moron, making loud, stupid jokes to make her laugh.
On Stella’s third and fourth day, her entourage of admirers was getting smaller and smaller, and the boys were back to chasing balls around the oval. By the fifth day, everything was back to normal.
Kind of …
What was normal was that Buzz and Jessie were back to hanging with me. What wasn’t normal was that our group of three had expanded to a group of four. Stella was with us the whole time.
And we were doing everything that she wanted to do.
Smart Girls Don't Wear Mascara Page 6
