Thyla by Kate Gordon Page A

and Erin were funny.
    ‘Are you like us?’ asked Erin, while Laurel attempted to cease her giggling by pressing hard on her mouth with the palm of her hand. ‘Are you a bit rebellious too, Tessa?’
    I shook my head. ‘I’m not rebellious. I just needed some air.’
    ‘Well, that is disappointing,’ Erin replied. ‘For a minute there I thought we’d found another girl who thinks Cascade Falls is bullshit.’
    I felt myself blushing at Erin’s coarseness. ‘Um, how do you mean?’ I asked feebly, feeling foolish for my embarrassment.
    ‘You know: stupid, posh, wanky school that gets all its money from big business capitalism and churns out girls whose only goal in life is to marry posh, wanky capitalists. You know, the sort of school where girls who are as dumb as half a chicken can get to be prefects just because of who their daddies are. That sort of thing. Bullshit,’ Erin said, shrugging.
    ‘So, why do you go here, if you feel like that?’ I asked.
    ‘Scholarships,’ said Laurel and Erin at exactly the same time.
    ‘Lord’s Trust scholarships. Would you believe we’re actually pretty smart when we put our minds to it?’ said Laurel, tapping the side of her head. ‘You know there were only a few of us who got picked to go here from Scottsdale Public. What was it, E? Five of us in the beginning? The other girls couldn’t hack it, though, and they were always getting in trouble for breaking curfew and stuff. Like, you reckon we’re bad, you should’ve met them! They were the kind of bad Cat Connolly wished she was. But they didn’t do it properly , like we do.’
    My ears pricked up at the mention of Cat, but Laurel didn’t share my fascination. She went back to talking about the other girls. ‘They made a big show of themselves, and drew attention to themselves,’ she said, rolling her eyes. ‘And they went to the same places every time they sneaked out, which is the most important thing not to do. Always keep ’em guessing. Always stay one step ahead. Then you don’t get caught. I was kind of glad when they left – gave us Scottsdale girls a bad name! Anyway, so they took off, never to be heard from since.’
    ‘They still haven’t heard from them?’ asked Erin.
    ‘Yeah, but it was Kelly Jones and Sally and Heidi Pritchard, remember?’ She turned to me. ‘The Joneses and the Pritchards aren’t, like, the best of families, if you know what I mean. They’re kind of rough, and there’re heaps of kids in both the families. Dad said Mick Jones and Graeme Pritchard both got letters from the girls saying they were heading up to the mainland. Reckons Mick and Graeme were just happy to have the extra kids off their hands.’
    ‘Our parents aren’t like that,’ said Laurel. ‘Well, apart from your dad and his tigers.’
    ‘Your father has tigers?’ I asked Erin, my eyes wide. She laughed.
    ‘Nah, mate. Not real tigers. Tassie tigers. He reckons he sees ’em sometimes, even though they’re extinct. Reckons it’s only white men who think they’re extinct ’cos they’re not in touch with nature like we are. He used to come home all freaked out from the bush and talk about seeing tigers, big as men, running around. Yeah, I know. Completely bonkers. I think he’s getting better, though. He hasn’t “seen one” since right before I came to Cascade Falls – not that he’s told me about, anyway. Hey, actually, the last time he saw one was with Mick Jones and Graeme and your dad, remember?’ she said to Laurel. ‘Isn’t it funny that we ended up being the kids who got sent here?’
    Laurel laughed. ‘Mr Lord probably reckoned he was doing us a favour, ’cos our parents were so barmy. My dad reckons he never really saw one, though. He was just backing up your dad ’cos they’re mates. Our parents are all Van Diemen Industries labourers,’ she explained. ‘But most of the parents in Scottsdale are. Mr Lord picked us because we’re super-smart. Kelly and Heidi actually were as