A Hole in the World Read Free Page A

parents and Topher every day.
Dont. Its fine. Im home + happy. U LIKE SM’s dont screw it up. Im glad to be out of there and didnt get in trouble. Leave it. Talk to u soon.x
    She rereads the text to Angela a couple of times before she sends it, wanting to make sure she was as vehement about her desire not to be sent away again as humanly possible in a hundred and forty characters.
    She yawns and sits up in bed, flicking on the light and looking around the room she’s missed so very much. There are posters on the walls, a few of random boy bands, a couple of female musicians, a few of TV shows and movies she was a fan of before she left four years ago. There’s a cork board by the door, onto which she’s pinned dozens of photos of her and Scotty and her and other friends; friends she’d made in primary school and lost when she moved to high school. 
    She sighs and considers taking those pictures down. Scotty’s the only one she’s friends with these days, the others long moved on from her, finding making new friends in high school easy and leaving her behind easier still.
    Bianca stands up, moving out from under her duvet, climbing off her bed and walking across to the board. Five minutes later, every picture that doesn’t have Scotty in has been ripped cleanly away from the board, leaving the little pins and empty patches of cork behind.
    New start. Beginning now.

Three
    Bianca’s rucksack is heavy, weighed down with school books and lunch. This is something she hasn’t missed; carrying a heavy bag all the way to school every day, but she has Scotty walking by her side with a big grin on his face, so, as far as she’s concerned, it’s a necessary evil.
    Scotty’s babbling about the people he’s made friends with, gesticulating wildly and almost skipping along beside her as he talks. ‘You’ll meet Cory, too. You’ll like him! He’s a laugh. He’ll probably try and hug you when he first meets you, though, so don’t be surprised.’
    She gives him a shocked look and he laughs. ‘It’s fine! It’s just his way! He likes making new friends and you’re the kind of person he likes.  Lewis, though... He’ll go in for a grope if he thinks you’re hot. And you’re totally his type, so you’ll be lucky if your boobs aren’t sore by the end of the day.’
    She pulls her blazer closed over her chest and glowers at him. ‘I don’t think I like your friends,’ she mutters. Four years at a girls’ school has left her unaccustomed to modern boys and their ways.
    ‘Lies, all lies. You’ll love them all,’ Scotty tells her, firmly. ‘Except Lewis, maybe. And Daisy. But no one likes her, anyway. Well, ‘cept Cory...’ He laughs as they turn the corner. ‘Just kidding,’ he says, ‘Daisy’s awesome. Dresses and talks like a slag, doesn’t act like it, though. She’s great.’
    Bianca stops in her tracks and pauses. Scotty’s voice fades out as he starts to talk about the teachers and she turns slowly to look at the wall by her side. The hole is still there, bigger than she remembers. It’s big enough for a girl her size to climb through with room to spare, which is strange, considering it was only just big enough for her when she was little. She wonders, for a moment, what it would take to climb up the wall and into the hole. She wants to. She really, really wants to. She’s not sure why she wants to, but the desire is definitely there.
    ‘Bianca? Earth to Bianca? Hello?’ Scotty waves a hand in front of her face and she refocuses, turning to look at him. ‘Geez, you were out of it!’ he exclaims. ‘What’s up?’
    ‘Just... that.’ She points at the hole in the wall. ‘I climbed in there once... A long time ago.’
    ‘So? It’s just a hole. It’s always been there.’ He picks up a stone from the road and tosses it in through the opening. ‘Nothing special.’
    ‘No, but... it went on forever. When I went in there... there were tunnels and there was a girl screaming.’
    ‘Are ya