Spiralling Out of the Shadow (The Spiralling Trilogy) Read online

  Spiralling Out Of The Shadow

  By

  Michelle Dennis Evans

  Spiralling Out Of The Shadow

  Text Copyright 2014 Michelle Dennis Evans

  1st Edition

  All Rights Reserved

  Editor – Iola Goulton

  Cover Design – Melissa Dalley

  Cover Image purchased from Dreamstime.com photographer -

  Suprijono Suharjoto.

  Layout by Lilly Pilly Press

  This book is a work of fiction set in Australia and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  15+ Young Adult Reading Material

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be

  re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.

  Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Published by Lilly Pilly Press

  [email protected]

  www.facebook.com/LillyPillyPress

  Please take the time to leave a review of Spiralling Out Of The Shadow.

  Your thoughts and opinions are valuable,

  and help the Author on their journey of words.

  Contents

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29

  CHAPTER 30

  CHAPTER 31

  CHAPTER 32

  CHAPTER 33

  CHAPTER 34

  CHAPTER 35

  CHAPTER 36

  CHAPTER 37

  CHAPTER 38

  CHAPTER 39

  CHAPTER 40

  CHAPTER 41

  CHAPTER 42

  CHAPTER 43

  CHAPTER 44

  EPILOGUE

  Aussie Terms

  Spiralling Out Of The Shadow

  For every girl who is a friend to someone.

  Your unconditional love and forgiveness is everything.

  CHAPTER 1

  I missed her like I’d miss my arms if they were removed. I tried to cram at the library, in the park, in front of the TV—anywhere but my room. That was where Stephanie and I always crammed.

  I’ll be fine. We’ll get to hang out again soon. If I could just get this stupid assignment to make sense, then I could start on the other mid-semester assessments. I pushed my tongue to the roof of my mouth hoping to block the tears from forming.

  My best friend had only moved twelve hours north—it wasn’t like she’d died. What was wrong with me?

  Nothing I’d written by the time the sun began to dip behind the mountains was good enough. I shuffled around the house before giving up and returning to my room to sit at my desk. An hour passed and I’d still done zilch. The phone interrupted my useless train of thought.

  ‘Tabbie, Stephanie’s on the phone,’ Mum called.

  I raced downstairs and grabbed our ancient corded phone.

  ‘Hey, I really miss you.’ I blinked to keep my eyes dry.

  ‘Yeah? This town is a hole,’ said Stephanie, the most beautiful, sophisticated and elegant fourteen-year-old I knew. My best friend.

  ‘There’s this English assignment I’ve got to do …’ my voice trailed off and Stephanie’s took over.

  ‘It’s worse than you could ever imagine,’ she said with a wobbly voice.

  ‘Why? What happened?’ I twirled the phone cord between my fingers.

  ‘The boys whistle at me and the girls don’t talk to me.’ She sniffled, then blasted me as she blew her nose.

  ‘Oh, Steph …’

  Seriously, Miss Popular was telling me she was miserable and would never fit in. Apparently co-ed schools were different. Well … derr! Had she really thought it would be the same? Boys = Hormones. Boys + Girls = Distraction and … well everything else that goes with boys and girls mincing their time.

  ‘The worst is in the mornings. When I walk through the gates, the boys’ hoo-haaring irritates me.’

  ‘Why don’t you just smile and say hello politely? That should shut them up.’ Guess I’d have to work out the assignment on my own.

  ‘I’ll try tomorrow.’

  ‘Dance rehearsals are—’

  ‘Tabbie, I’ve got to go.’

  The hang-up-clunk echoed in my ear as a stream of tears flowed. I trudged upstairs into the bathroom to splash my face with cool water. Then I slipped on my running shoes. Mum’s treadmill would have to do.

  The smooth whir of the machine’s belt filled the silence between my steps. A fresh set of tears threatened, but I shunned them away as I turned on Mum’s iPod. Her favourite eighties playlist dried up the tears and freed a smile. After half an hour I jogged straight back to my desk and wrote.

  She’s gone

  It’s sad

  But great

  At times

  I miss her

  But also

  I’ve found delight

  She’s gone

  It’s hard

  Alone, so lonely

  She’s sad

  Me too

  She’s depressed

  I’m not

  But I’m missing her

  Missing much

  Here and now

  It wasn’t exactly a response poem for the short story I’d read, but now that I’d written one poem, I began to think in verse. I imagined Stephanie right beside me. I could smell her fruity shampoo and hear her bite down on a piece of chocolate. I wrote and rewrote until I had a poem worthy of at least a B.

  I cried myself to sleep and awoke with wet cheeks. It was obvious. I was a mess. My ridiculously beautiful and perfect best friend had gone. Moved interstate.

  Where would I be ranked now without Miss Fabulous Dancer Stephanie by my side? I rolled back and forth across the mattress in a sheet-tangled insomnia that went on and on.

  Ouch!

  What was that?

  I pulled the doona off my head. What had I’d crashed into? My floor. Stupid.

  I stretched, checking for bruising from my klutzy fall. Nothing. Not even a red mark to laugh about at school. Tension pulled from my shoulders to my toes. I threw the sheets back on my bed and changed into my sweats and trainers, ready to escape my room.

  The house was quiet, so I tiptoed downstairs and closed the door without making a noise. Our street, though usually quiet, whispered an eerie silence before the sun came up.

  I ran without a plan, pounding my feet in autopilot. I’d be fine. It was only a couple of weeks until I’d be visiting Stephanie’s new home. I stopped at a wall of trees. Miles from home. Heading back, fatigue stripped my muscles. One foot in front of the other. Keep the pace. Breathe. Anything to take my mind off her and the way she’d left me.

  I still had Janet and Suzie to hang with at school but life woul
d be different. The four of us had hung out since the first day of year seven, but Stephanie had been there long before then.

  The house was quiet as I returned home for breakfast. I swirled my spoon around in my cereal, unable to shut off my mind. Stephanie had been there when Fluffball, my cat, died. She was there when we surveyed the neighbours, imposing an investigation on Santa and the Tooth Fairy. I swiped at the trickle of tears and shoved another spoonful into my mouth.

  ‘You’ll be fine, love,’ Mum said as she breezed past me in her dressing gown with a basket of laundry.

  ‘Your mum’s right.’ Dad kissed me on the cheek and tucked a ringlet of untidy hair behind my ear. ‘Have a good day.’ He pulled on his pinstriped suit jacket, jingled his keys and left for work.

  CHAPTER 2

  I wasn’t the only one lost without Stephanie. How could one person leave such a hole? We met at the usual table under the tree overlooking the oval for morning tea. But now there were three instead of four.

  ‘How will I remember all the steps at dance?’ Suzie seemed to shrink into her own skin with each word. ‘I’ve always followed Stephanie.’

  Janet pulled a file from her pocket and began shaping her nails. ‘Everyone else will get a chance to dance lead now, hey?’

  That’d be right. Janet was probably happy about Stephanie leaving.

  ‘It’ll be fine.’ I swallowed the thickness in my throat. ‘We’ll all be fine.’

  Stephanie had been our lead dancer. She was the star of every show. Everything revolved around dance. If I had a choice I’d rather hang out with my friends. Most of the time, I’d prefer to just go for a run. Dancing was just something I followed my friends in to.

  After lessons finished for the day, I trekked across the school grounds to dance class. It had only been a couple of weeks and Stephanie’s shadow still drew me along the same path. But now I was alone. I warmed up as I waited for our teacher to arrive. Suzie and Janet’s voices preceded them, distracting me.

  ‘I don’t know why I’m here,’ Janet whined like a cat. ‘I don’t want to compete in front of other schools.’

  ‘But you’re such a great dancer.’ I stood up and moved towards them.

  ‘It’s all changed this year. I preferred when it was just us girls,’ Suzie said, glancing around the room through her lashes.

  ‘But you know what Miss Skinner said. She wants to add partnered routines. Just think—there might be some really hot guys come and join us soon.’ I hoped, anyway.

  ‘Anything would be an improvement on the boys we’ve got now,’ Janet said in a low voice, looking towards Joey as he walked through the doorway.

  I had to agree—the two boys who had come into our after school dance program weren’t the blokiest of boys. Janet ignored them in class and Suzie blushed whenever they danced near her, especially Joey. I might have a long wait hanging out for someone hot to join us.

  Miss Skinner breezed through the door. ‘Right, everyone. If you could all move outside, I’ll call you in one by one to audition.’

  An audition without Stephanie seemed wrong. She lived to compete. I sat on the brick wall, listening to magpies warble in the gum tree, waiting. One by one, our teacher called us in. My imagination ran off on a tangent. What would it be like to dance lead? It would be pretty cool to dance in the spotlight for a change. Even though I knew I wasn’t the best, everyone would have agreed, something inside urged me to prove them wrong.

  After my name was called, I stood in front of Miss Skinner and her assistant, Miss Ray. Standing alone, I checked my centre was balanced and took a deep breath to calm my shuddering heart as I waited for the music. When the beat bounced off the walls I burst forward into a split leap, then steadied myself before spinning into a pirouette. It was an old routine that I could do without thinking, one that Stephanie and I had danced over and over. Choreographing something new hadn’t crossed my mind.

  Miss Skinner stopped the music when the song was nearly finished. I heaved for breath as I skipped towards the door. Miss Ray called Janet next. She stormed in, glaring straight ahead as we passed. If she didn’t want to be here, why was she?

  After everyone had auditioned, Miss Ray grabbed our attention with a wave of her hand at the entrance of the building.

  ‘You can all come back inside,’ she said in a lyrical tone.

  Miss Skinner stood in front of the mirrored wall. Every inch of her spoke to the world, “I’m a dancer.” My shape was all wrong to ever have that appearance.

  ‘We won’t keep you in suspense any longer. Today was about finding the lead dancer for the upcoming competition.’

  I rocked from my heels to toes willing her to spill the details.

  ‘Congratulations … Tabbie.’

  Oh my goodness! That was my name. Me. I couldn’t believe I got it. Did I even want it? Oh my goodness!!

  I turned to my friends, wanting to share my excitement. Suzie’s face mirrored the wooden floor planks. She flung her school bag over her shoulder and stormed out.

  Janet mouthed, ‘Who cares,’ as she flicked her hand.

  Sometimes her “attitude much” was too much. Perhaps they were both hoping to be picked. Maybe one of them should have been picked. They were better dancers than me.

  My heart raced as I hurried towards home with extra bounce. I had to speak to Stephanie and tell her.

  I pushed the front door open and went to pick up the phone, but it rang before I reached it. It was Stephanie.

  ‘I have to tell you—’

  ‘Are you packed?’ she cut me off.

  ‘Nearly.’ I could tell her about winning the lead when I got there. ‘I can’t believe it’s only a few days away!’

  ‘I know. I’ve got to warn you, this place is abysmal.’

  ‘I can’t wait to see you.’

  My thoughts flicked back to Suzie and Janet. They were all talk about The Royal Easter Show. It would be the first I’d ever missed. Steph and I always went. This year I was giving it up to visit her.

  ‘Yeah,’ Steph said in a whisper. ‘You coming will be the only good thing that’s happened since I left Sydney.’

  ‘What if you could come and stay here and finish school at Hill Top Private?’ I’d suggested before I realised what was coming out of my mouth.

  ‘Tabbie, you’re a genius,’ she said, her voice high pitched. ‘See you soon,’ she gasped, like she was jumping up and down.

  It was time to pull on my excited face. Stephanie sounded homesick and depressed. I was about to embark on a new mission of “Cheer up Stephanie.”

  CHAPTER 3

  I climbed aboard my flight to Queensland, checking the rows as I shuffled down the aisle, and oh my goodness! Sitting in the seat next to mine was the hottest guy. His citrusy scent hit my nose. A shiver ran through my body. Not that I was interested. I didn’t want a boy distracting me from school. Right now, all I wanted was to have fun with my friends.

  I glanced at him again as he turned the page of his Business Review Weekly magazine. He smiled, pushing together his crow’s feet. Hmm, at least ten years older than me. This man was the ultimate in gorgeousness. He clipped up his seatbelt nudging me with his bulging bicep.

  My tongue died in my mouth. I couldn’t think of a thing to say as I slid past him. I sat in silence and began to turn him into the perfect man. A gentleman who always opened the door. A man who was strong enough to fight off a lion, yet soft and sincere inside. A man who was polite and caring. A man who could focus and chase his dreams.

  Touchdown. Bounce, bump, bounce.

  Yikes! Bad timing. I was busting to go to the bathroom. Our less-than-smooth landing brought me smash-bang back to why I was on the plane and why I was landing in Brisbane. This week was all about best friend visiting duties.

  I thought about the last conversation I’d had with Stephanie. In hindsight, I’d been swept away in the moment. My suggestion for her to come live with us was probably one of the craziest, most harebrained ideas I’d ever
had. I mentioned the idea to Mum before I flew out and she also seemed thrilled with the idea.

  ‘Well of course she could stay with us,’ she’d said. ‘We can offer her Peter’s room now that he’s planning to go to Melbourne.’

  My brother’s room had been pretty much empty since he met Phoebe, his new squeeze.

  I exited the plane and left Mr Biceps behind, expecting to see Stephanie waiting for me. I’d imagined we’d scream, ‘Hello!’ wave our arms and do a couple of leg kicks, something Stephanie liked to do in public to let everyone know we were dancers. But no. No one was waiting. I followed the signs to the baggage carousel, drifting along with the other travellers. Alone.

  Where were they? With my phone wedged between my shoulder and ear, I looked up. The phone slipped off my shoulder and I only just caught it before it crashed to the floor. Standing beside me was the perfect Mr Biceps.

  Stephanie’s voice snapped me back to reality. ‘Tabbie, are you in?’

  ‘Yes! The plane just landed. This is so exciting. Are you here?’

  ‘We’re caught in traffic. I’ll ring again when we’re closer.’

  ‘Who else is with you?’

  ‘Just Mum. April’s at a friend’s house and Dad’s working.’

  I threw the phone back into my handbag and swung around to watch Mr Biceps walk away. Content that I’d now burnt his profile, front on and rear image into my memory, I dragged my bag off the conveyor belt, then bumped my way through the crowd and out into the sunshine.

  My mobile buzzed.

  ‘Hi Tabbie. Do you want us to come inside or are you out already?’

  ‘I’m outside.’ I waved to a sea of cars lined up, searching for their bomb of a family car. ‘I can see you.’

  They pulled up in front of me. Stephanie jumped out and opened the back door of the car. We embraced. Her body trembled against my arms but when she pulled away her face gave no clues. Diane opened the boot, dumped my bag and said a quick hello before she jumped back into the driver’s seat. She was like that.