Page 1 of The New Girl

CHAPTER ONE

Ruby

Ruby knew it was wrong to hate your brother, but sometimes she did hate Robbie. Like, really really hate him, and then she’d feel guilty about it and sick to her stomach. Hating was bad. She knew that, but sometimes Robbie was hard to love.

Orla walked in front of her on the way to school, talking loudly into her phone. ‘I know ... OMG, like, no way ... I, like, have to get that new fake tan – it’s amazing.’

Ruby thought her older sister sounded ridiculous. She sounded like a fake American from LA, when she was just a stupid Irish teenager. And the last thing she needed was more fake tan. That morning at breakfast Dad had said that Orla looked like she’d been rolled in cheesy Doritos.

Ruby and her mum laughed. Then Orla told her dad that he was too old to know what was cool these days. Dad said he was pretty sure going out with an orange face and body wasn’t in fashion.

Ruby loved having a laugh with her mum and dad, but they didn’t do it much any more. Robbie took up all of Mum and Dad’s time and energy, so they never really had much time for the girls.

And they must have laughed too loudly because Robbie started having a tantrum. He threw his arms and legs around, flung his bowl on the floor and started screaming. Ruby hated her little brother for ruining her precious moment with her mum and dad. Robbie kind of ruined everything.

Orla yapped away on her phone while Ruby dragged her heels. There was a new girl starting in the class today. Miss Ingle had told them the previous Friday. Ruby didn’t want any new girls in her class. She felt anxious around new people. She didn’t want them to find out about Robbie and feel sorry for her or, worse, avoid her like some people did.

Whenever Amber and Chrissie saw her out in town with Robbie, they always crossed the road and pretended they hadn’t seen her. It hurt. It hurt that no one else in her class had a brother with disabilities. No one understood how hard it was and now, some new girl was going to join the class and she’d soon find out about Ruby’s little brother.

When she arrived at school, Ruby hung her coat up in her locker and looked around the classroom for Denise and Clara. They were chatting in the corner. Ruby wandered over to them. ‘Hi, guys.’

‘Oh hey,’ Denise said.

‘We’re just talking about the new girl,’ Clara said.

‘Is she from around here?’ Ruby asked.

‘No!’ Denise said. ‘Not at all. I heard Miss Ingle talking to Mrs Roberts in the corridor on Friday when I was getting my football gear out of my locker and she said something about how Miss Ingle must make sure that her class were extra nice to the refugee girl.’

‘Refugee?’ Ruby paused. ‘Like, from one of those mad countries that people have to run away from?’

Denise shrugged. ‘I guess so.’

‘She’s probably from Syria,’ Clara said. Clara was the girl in the class who knew about everything. Ruby didn’t know how she did it. She had a really small head, but inside was a massive brain full of knowledge. Then again, Clara’s mum was really smart too, and she was an only child. Ruby dreamed of being an only child. The thought of having Mum and Dad all to herself was bliss.

Clara never came to school with no lunch because her mum had been up all night with Robbie and was asleep on the couch at breakfast time, worn out from yet another sleepless night. Clara never had to remind her mum ten zillion times about everything – books, parent–teacher meetings, sports days, Christmas concerts ... Clara’s mum never arrived late or didn’t turn up at all to school events. Clara’s uniform was always washed and ironed and smelt of fresh flowers. Ruby had Orla’s hand-me-down uniform and the elbows on her jumper were almost worn through.

‘Where’s Syria?’ Denise asked.

Clara sighed. ‘Seriously, girls, do you never watch the news?’

Ruby looked at Denise and they both said, ‘No.’

‘You should. My mum says it’s very important to be informed about what’s going on in the world and too many girls are glued to their phones looking at random celebrities on Instagram.’

Ruby was a bit afraid of Clara’s mum, Annabelle. She was very smart and had set up the biggest law firm in town. Annabelle had gone back to work after Clara’s dad died of cancer when Clara was only a baby. Annabelle had worked super hard and now her law firm was the biggest and the best. She was always dressed in navy, grey or black trouser suits and she sounded like a dictionary when she spoke.

Besides, Ruby liked looking at what celebrities were wearing and doing on Instagram. It was nice to disappear into other people’s glamorous lives and get away from her own. She never watched the news because it was full of bad stories and she didn’t want to hear them.

‘So where is Syria, then, Einstein?’ Denise asked.

‘It’s in the Middle East, beside Turkey and Iraq.’

Ruby wasn’t sure where the Middle East was, but her granny had been to Turkey once and brought her back a big box of Turkish Delight. Ruby thought the sweets were gross but had to pretend to like them so she wouldn’t hurt her granny’s feelings. The sweets had white dust all over them and were all squishy and tasted disgusting. Ruby felt sorry for people living in Turkey if that was their best national sweet.

She had definitely heard of Syria and not in a good way. ‘Isn’t there a war there or something?’

‘Yes, a terrible war that has been going on since 2011. There are nearly six million Syrian refugees.’

---