Spiralling Out of the Shadow (The Spiralling Trilogy) Read Online Free

thoughts.
    ‘ Happy birthday.’ Stephanie’s on-the-verge-of-tears voice echoed through the phone.
    ‘Thanks. It’ s the first one since we met that we haven’t spent together.’
    Oops . Wrong thing to say. Now she wasn’t talking. Sniffles crackled through the line.
    ‘ But hey, I’m sure things will start getting better for you at school soon.’
    ‘Ur gh.’ Stephanie snorted.
    ‘ Would you like to come here next holidays?’ I asked, hoping to cheer her up.
    ‘ Yes.’ Sniffle, snort, sniffle. ‘I’ll ask Mum.’
    ‘ Your birthday is just around the corner. Have you got any plans?’
    ‘ No one to do anything with.’
    ‘Why don’ t you and your mum set up a high tea?’
    ‘ She’s too busy making friends for herself.’
    ‘ Oh.’ Why was Stephanie finding it so tough in Toowoomba?
    A few minutes later I sai d goodbye and reached for a cupcake. The hum of the crowd filled my ears, bringing Mr Biceps to mind. Such a fine sight. The image without essence gave me some distraction after chatting to my depressed best friend.
    I did wonder, like way too often, what it would be like to have a boyfriend. Was it strange that no one in my immediate circle of friends had had a boyfriend? Not Stephanie, or Susie or Janet. We talked about boys all the time. We even checked some out from our brother school, Hill End Boys Grammar, at our combined social events. Mum tells me, “Don’t be so boy crazy.” But it’s not like I go chasing them or anything. Just a little eye candy. There wasn’t anything wrong with a little eye candy, was there?
    Most bo ys target one thing. And I wasn’t into that. Stephanie and I used to talk all the time about staying celibate until we got married. We would dream about our wedding day and how we would save ourselves for that one special person.
    I know it’ s not the coolest thing in the world. At our school, popularity didn’t revolve around having the right boyfriend or wearing the right clothes. That made our school pretty cool.
    ‘ What are you doing over there near the window, love?’ Mum’s voice made me jump. ‘Come over here for some photos.’
    I needed to stop thinking and start enjoying. It was my party after all.
    By dinner I’d made a decision. I’d enjoyed the afternoon off rehearsals immensely. I wanted every afternoon off. ‘Mum, I want to quit dancing.’
    ‘But love, you’ re doing so well this year.’
    ‘ It was Stephanie’s thing, not mine. I want to get into running, or maybe even swimming.’
    ‘How about you j ust see this year out with the school dance studio and then decide over Christmas.’
    ‘ Why?’
    ‘ Because we’ve paid for your classes for the entire year.’
    ‘ So it’s about money?’
    ‘ Attitude,’ she warned, raising her eyebrows at me.
    ‘ And money?’
    ‘ Yes.’
    Great, so I was going to be spinning and twisting my pear-shaped body, trying to get it to move the way Stephanie could get her body to move, for the rest of the year. Stephanie moved like a swan. I moved more like a baby elephant. I could see it now, “Watch out, everybody. The pear shaped elephant is about to dance a solo.” And the crowd would roll with laughter. Maybe I was being too hard on myself. I must have been doing something right. I did get the lead.
     
    *~*~*~*
     
    Later that week, Janet bowled me over on the way to school.
    ‘ Party is on. This weekend at my house. Mum and Dad are away. We can have the party we’ve always dreamed of.’
    ‘ Sounds fantastic.’ I hoped.
    ‘ Who would you invite?’ asked Suzie as she bit a fingernail.
    ‘ You know Suze, everyone,’ Janet said.
    But Suzie was thinking straight. Who would we invite? It may as we ll be a pyjama party if we didn’t invite any boys. We had to balance it out. Good-looking boys, of course. Younger versions of Mr Biceps would be perfect. Just for a little eye candy.
    ‘ Tabbie.’ Janet snapped my attention back to here and now. ‘Are you daydreaming about