Blondetourage Read Free Page B

the
evolutionary cool scale. All of a sudden, I feel like
I should be wearing a T-shirt with some kind of
phrase on it myself. Not 'Free Tibet', though, like
George's. More along the lines of 'I so obviously
don't belong here', or 'Watch me make a complete
fool of myself in two guhs or less'. Normal Girl.
Ha! I wish. Normal Girl is something to strive for
where I'm concerned.
    Okay, enough. Take a deep breath. One long,
deep (surreptitious) breath. It's always hard starting
at a new school, right? I frown slightly with this
thought. How would I know? Like I said, up until
now, it's been a long succession of one-on-one. Me
and a tutor. And JJ and a new kitchen somewhere.
Vienna. Tokyo. Somewhere else.
    But I can do this. I know I can.
    I look around the room slowly. Damage control.
That's what I need. And maybe I'm blowing things
out of proportion, because it's not really looking
too bad as things go. Everyone's talking among
themselves now (they could hardly wait for me to
start spewing forth scintillating conversation, could
they?). But nobody is saying anything about Sydney
being tragic. And they don't even mention my truly
tragic pun, so that's a good sign. Maybe I should
say something else? You know, kind of try again?
I decide on what I think might be a Normal Girl
question in the hope of gaining some conversation
control. I clear my throat with a little cough.
    'So, um, what are you guys studying today?'
    George makes a face. 'You don't want to know.
Science, mostly – Biology.'
    I try not to look like it's my lucky day. Biology's
one of my favourite subjects. Luckily, before I can
embarrass myself again by doing something stupid
like gushing about Biology, George continues,
'Don't worry, though, it's just the normal kind. We
don't do special Rich Girls Biology or anything.'
    Toby guffaws again at this. 'Can you imagine?
What would that be like? We'd be spending our
days doing things like developing champagne
where the bubbles never go flat.'
    George snorts in reply, 'How to stop nails
growing so your perfect manicure never gets
wrecked.'
    'A way to keep puppies and kittens small and
cute forever so they'll always fit in your designer
carrier,' Rhys adds.
    I have to laugh at the image this conjures up.
    'Bonsai Fluffy!'
    Everyone laughs at this (phew!).
    'How about spray-on goop that hides cellulite?'
Toby adds next.
    Ashleigh stops the flow of our thoughts with a
shocked gasp. 'Anouschka doesn't have cellulite!'
She takes a quick look at each of the other three
regulars. 'Does Romy?' she focuses in on George.
And, for some reason, she seems excited by this
prospect – that Romy might have a dimple or two
on the old upper thigh area. 'You know, it wouldn't
surprise me. I saw her eating a Snickers bar the
other day. It was a fun size one, but still ...'
    'Ooohhh ... a fun size Snickers bar,' George
snorts again. 'Alert the press on next week's feature
story! Or have you already, Ashleigh? How people
find this stuff interesting, I'll never know.'
    I almost gasp at this. So it's true! Really true!
George really does despise the whole Rich Girls thing. Almost, it seems, as much as I do. I suppress
the urge to run over and hug her to the ground.
And while the guys certainly don't seem to have as
much venom about the show as George does (and
she definitely has more than I do), they're joking
about it at least. That's a start.
    'George, you know you're not supposed to ...'
Ashleigh begins, but is cut off as the tutor enters
the room again.
    Which is my cue to slide off the table and into
the seat next to George.
    'Sorry about that,' the tutor says. 'Hello. You
must be Elli. I'm Ms Hocking, but everyone
here calls me Melinda. You've met the rest of the
students?'
    'Yes, thanks.' I glance over at George and
she gives me a sassy grin back. Instantly, I feel a
hundred per cent better. Like I'm not alone in
the world. Maybe even like I should pop out and
buy myself a new T-shirt. One with a different
phrase altogether. Perhaps one