A Hole in the World Read online

  ‘It’s morning,’ she says, in surprise. ‘But... I’m sure I wasn’t gone that long.’ Deciding to just add that to the list of weird things that happened to her today, she turns to the girl, who is gazing at her, and says, ‘Do you even have a name?’ She prays to whatever deity will listen that the girl doesn’t say no.

  ‘Alexandra,’ the girl says, with an unbelievably radiant smile spreading across her face. ‘I am Princess Alexandra of Calpaea.’

  ‘What.’ Bianca stares at her long and hard for a long moment. ‘Seriously?’ she says, reconsidering a repeat of ‘What.’ ‘You’re... a princess?’

  ‘Yes.’ Alexandra gives her another beaming smile, which is awfully infectious. Bianca finds herself fighting not to smile back until Alexandra says, ‘And you are my Prince Charming!’

  ‘No. No. No, I am not.’ Bianca glares at her, but even that is met with a smile. ‘I’m just a helpful citizen who did the completely crazy thing of saving you!’ She smacks the princess on the unharmed shoulder and turns away, stalking across the street towards her home.

  ‘Await me, my prince!’ Alexandra shouts, running towards her, dress gathered up in her hands, heels clicking against the tarmac. ‘You must bring me to your kingdom for our wedding!’

  Bianca suspects if she was in a cartoon there would be the sound of screeching tires, she stops and turns around to stare at the girl. ‘I’m not your prince. I don’t even have a kingdom! I don’t even have a bank account yet!’ she exclaims. ‘And, oh, god...’ She stares at Alexandra. ‘You stick out like a sore thumb in that dress.’

  ‘Like a what?’ Alexandra asks, innocently, which lends credence to the notion that she’s never felt pain before.

  ‘Sore thumb... Sticking out? Oh. Never even mind...’ Bianca sighs and turns away again, crossing the next road towards her house and wondering, silently, as she heads down the next street and crosses the second road, why it’s her that gets sent to boarding school and her who gets framed for arson and her who rescues a fairy-tale princess.

  She comes to the conclusion it’s just her dumb luck.

  ‘Bianca!’ comes Alexandra’s squeak from behind her and Bianca is suddenly aware that the blonde is following her. She turns around in time to see her walk, blindly, across the road and almost get hit by an incoming Range Rover, which swerves to avoid her at the last moment. As Alexandra stops just before the kerb on the other side, the driver pokes his head out of the window, shaking his fist and bellowing obscenities the princess doesn’t even seem to comprehend, let alone know how to react to.

  ‘Alexandra!’ She runs over, grabs the girl by the arm and pulls her onto the footpath with one hard tug. The poufy sleeve rips, joining the strap. Bianca barely even notices and certainly doesn’t apologise. She’s too busy yelling, ‘You don’t stand in the middle of the road! You just don’t!’

  ‘Road?’ Alexandra seems innocently confused, so Bianca’s anger ebbs slightly.

  ‘This bit here!’ Bianca gestures up and down the street. ‘With the speeding cars and trucks that will kill you stone dead!’ She flails in the other girl’s face for a moment, then manhandles the blonde to walk in front of her, instead of letting her trail behind her like before and undoubtedly get herself killed. ‘Right. I guess you’re coming to my house. Come on.’ She gives her a shove and follows her to her front door. ‘My parents’ll be up soon,’ she says. ‘But, for now, they’re still in bed, so you need to be completely silent, okay?’

  ‘I can do that!’ Alexandra says, horrifically loudly.

  ‘No.’ Bianca puts a finger over her lips and presses down. ‘Totally silent. No noise. Barely even breathe. Okay?’

  Another nod and Bianca groans. This is going to go horribly wrong. She carefully inserts her key into the lock and turns, then she pushes open the door and beckons Alexandra into the house.

  They step quietly into the hall and Bianca takes Alexandra’s wrist again, pulling her, gently, towards the stairs. Every footstep ruffles with the sound of the hideous pink dress, and the lampshade wobbles, dangerously, when the hat collides with it.

  ‘Quietly, now,’ Bianca warns. They ascend the stairs, Bianca’s heart in her throat as she carefully avoids the creaky floorboards, and quietly navigate the landing until they reach Bianca’s bedroom door, which she pushes open. She silently ushers the girl inside and once the door is closed behind them, she flicks on the light.

  ‘Ahh!’ Alexandra exclaims, surprised and pleased by the sudden illumination. ‘Magic!’

  ‘Electricity,’ Bianca corrects, shrugging off her coat and retrieving her phone from her pocket, quickly checking the screen for messages. ‘Not magic.’ No messages, she drops the phone on the bed almost petulantly and sits down on the end, watching Alexandra as she examines the room.

  ‘It appears like magic to I!’ Alexandra exclaims. She navigates the room, examining the posters and the things on Bianca’s dressing table. Unfortunately, the dress keeps catching things and pulling them off shelves, causing Bianca to dive after and catch them as Alexandra explores.

  ‘Can we get you out of that dress, please?’ Bianca says, with a groan. ‘At least for now, so you don’t look like something out of a Disney film?’

  ‘Out of my dress?’ Alexandra questions, gathering the skirts up almost like a defensive shield. ‘You wish to remove me from my frock? It was designed for me by the Royal Seamstress herself!’

  ‘Just for now.’ Bianca gives her a pleading look. ‘You’re gonna have to come to school with me until we can figure out what to do with you or your parents come to fetch you... and if you don’t change your clothes you’ll not only be laughed at, but you’ll also be sent to the headmaster’s office. And then they’ll realise you’re not supposed to be there. If we’re lucky, you can just blend in with one of my uniforms.’ She eyes Alexandra for a moment. ‘You look around my size.’

  If ‘around’ is two sizes smaller and skinny as hell. She’ll just have to wear a belt, Bianca decides.

  And roll the sleeves up.

  If they’re lucky, Bianca’s shoes will fit her, at least.

  ‘Uniforms?’ Alexandra questions.

  ‘Look, just... change. Okay?’ Bianca sighs as she reaches for her school shirts, selecting the one that’s always been a little too small and laying it out on the bed. ‘I’ll...’ She turns back in time to see the Princess stepping out of her dress, revealing long, slender legs and her breasts pushed up by the corset. Bianca gapes at her and turns away again, muttering to herself.

  ‘You need... You need to take off the corset and that, too... I’ll... I’ll give you a bra and stuff...’ She opens one of her drawers and retrieves a pink bra with delicate black lace and the matching knickers, both of which she lays on the bed by the shirt. Lastly she grabs a pair of black trousers and drops them onto the pile.

  ‘You... put these on.’ She points at the clothes and Alexandra nods her understanding. ‘While I... go pee.’ She turns away without looking back at the undressing girl once and leaves the room, heading straight into the bathroom opposite and locking the door behind her.

  *

  Five minutes later she’s still splashing water on her face trying to wake up because, surely, this is a dream. It has to be.

  ‘I’ve rescued a princess from a dungeon and now she’s wearing my bra...’ she mutters at her face in the mirror. ‘I think I’ve finally lost my mind.’

  There’s a timid knock on the door and Bianca unlocks and opens it, nervously. Alexandra is standing outside, the knickers on but the rest of her decidedly uncovered, with the exception of her hair cascading down around her shoulders and over her chest and the really annoying conical hat that’s still on her head.

  ‘Erm...?’ Bianca says, blinking at her face. Her face.

  ‘I know not what I should do with this garment,’ Alexandra says. She holds up the bra and Bianca snaps out of her oh-my-god-naked-princess-in-my-bathroom trance.

  Bianca pulls a face and takes the bra off her. ‘L
ike this,’ she tells her, holding it out with the straps open. ‘Arms through here.’ Alexandra steps into it and Bianca steps behind her, pulling the clasp together. ‘Hands.’ She guides Alexandra’s hands to the catch and helps her to pull it together and make it lock. Her knuckles brush over the smooth skin of Alexandra’s back and it’s all she can do not to just go commit herself to a mental institution on the spot.

  Surely, she’s lost her mind. And if she hasn’t, she will do soon because she’s only human, damn it.

  She takes a deep, calming breath and steps back, moving to stand in front of the princess once more. ‘There.’

  Alexandra looks down at herself. ‘May I ask, what is the function of this constrictive garment?’

  ‘Says the girl in the corset!’ Bianca exclaims. Seeing Alexandra’s confused look, she sighs. ‘It... it keeps your boobs perky and private.’

  ‘Boobs?’

  Bianca pokes the left cup of her bra. ‘Boobs. Breasts. Chest. Whatever. Keeps it perky and it’s so your nipples don’t show and then the boys can’t perv on you. Well, mostly. You’re lucky my bra even fits you.’ She eyes her for a moment. ‘You’re at least one size smaller.

  ‘It is comfortable.’ Alexandra pokes herself on the chest. ‘Boobs?’

  Bianca turns away and lets her forehead hit the bathroom wall. ‘Oh, god help me. I have to take this girl to school with me,’ she mutters.

  *

  Twenty minutes later, Bianca is, insofar as her attire, all ready for school: shirt buttoned, tie draped around her neck and blazer and black trousers on, and trying to tie Alexandra’s tie for her, even as the blonde complains and tries to figure out what the purpose of the tie is.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Bianca says, for the fourth time. ‘I just know we have to wear it, so just let me tie it!’ She pulls the tail through as Alexandra picks up and examines the trousers.

  ‘Put those on,’ Bianca says.

  ‘These are meant for men,’ Alexandra announces, wrinkling her nose and holding out the offending garment towards Bianca. ‘Womenfolk are meant to wear skirts and dresses.’

  ‘I think I just heard a hundred feminists crying.’ Bianca glares at her and finally finishes off the tie. ‘Can’t you just wear the trousers? Is that too much to ask?’

  Alexandra drops them on the bed in disgust. ‘Trousers,’ she says, using the word as though for the first time, ‘are for princes.’ She gestures at Bianca and her trouser-clad legs.

  ‘And princesses!’ Bianca exclaims. ‘Really! Princesses can wear them too!’

  ‘It is not proper and I will not do it!’ Alexandra exclaims.

  ‘Oh... for crying out loud.’ Bianca glares at her, pushes past her and walks across to the wardrobe. ‘I might have a skirt in here somewhere...’ She rifles through the articles of clothing lying abandoned on the base and, after a couple of minutes, comes back with a short, pleated skirt from a few years before. It’s multiple sizes too small for her now – something she’s eternally grateful for, since it stops Julia from nagging her to show off her legs – but will probably fit Alexandra. It’s also black, which fits with the school dress code.

  ‘I dunno if it’ll fit you,’ she says, bringing it back across to the cantankerous princess, ‘but it’s worth a try, I guess.’ She shrugs and moves away to tie her own tie, having paid attention only to Alexandra’s. ‘Now, come on. We need to go downstairs.’

  She pulls the blonde from the room, skirt still clutched in dainty hands, and drags her down the stairs and into the kitchen-cum-dining room. She’s half way across to the fridge when she notices Alexandra just standing there. ‘Are you going to put that on or what?’ she asks, after a moment, gesturing at the small slip of black fabric in Alexandra’s hands.

  ‘Yes, of course.’ Bianca can’t help but track the skirt’s progress as the blonde pulls it on and up her slender legs to sit, comfortably, on her hips. Although the waist size seems to be perfect, the skirt itself barely comes down to her mid-thigh. Alexandra stares at it in disbelief and Bianca just stares. ‘This skirt... It is inappropriate!’

  ‘Do you want the skirt or the trousers?’ Bianca snaps, stalking across and hitting the button on the kettle to boil it, not even bothering to check there’s still water contained within from the night before. Alexandra pulls a face and Bianca knows she’s won.

  She navigates across the room and opens the fridge. She’s about to retrieve food of some description when it occurs to her she has no idea what princesses eat. ‘What do you want? You look like the type to be vegetarian or something.’ Alexandra isn’t forthcoming so she sighs and says, ‘Toast, I think. Toast is usually the lesser of the evils...’ She pulls a carton of juice from the fridge and grabs a loaf of bread from within the breadbin by the sink. When she turns to take it over to the toaster, she notices Alexandra is standing beside the microwave, the damn hat finally discarded upstairs, and looking lost, so Bianca gives her a reassuring smile and asks, ‘Toast okay by you?’

  Alexandra nods, cautiously. Bianca suspects she doesn’t have a clue what toast even is.

  ‘Okay then.’ She retrieves two glasses and pours orange juice into both, then pushes one of the glasses towards the blonde. ‘Drink.’

  Alexandra gives her a wary look, but trusts her enough to pick up the glass and take a hesitant sip. ‘Ahh!’ she exclaims with wide eyes, as the first sip goes down. ‘It is delicious!’

  ‘Orange juice?’ Bianca gives her an unsure look then takes a sip herself. ‘Mm, I guess it is pretty nice. Don’t you have orange juice where you’re from?’

  ‘No.’ Alexandra shakes her head. ‘We have wine and water... But we do not have this orange juice of which you speak. I feel I must ask, now, what else do you have that we do not?’

  Bianca grins and has to resist the urge to start listing the things she suspects Alexandra’s world is bereft of. The Internet and the things contained within spring immediately to mind. But instead of scaring the girl, she says, with an amused look, ‘Now you’re getting interested?’

  Alexandra nods, excitedly, ‘Oh, yes, my prince!’ She claps her hands together and she seems so happy Bianca can’t bring herself to correct her over the prince thing again. ‘I beg you now; show me the delicacies of your world!’

  Six

  ‘Morning, Bianca,’ Julia says, as she walks into the kitchen, yawning and scratching at her ruffled hair, robe wrapped tightly around her. ‘What the hell are you doing?’

  The two girls are sitting opposite each other at the table, the surface laden with every kind of food and drink Bianca could acquire at such short notice. Amongst the spread there’s orange juice, carrot juice, apple juice, pomegranate juice, toast, all kinds of jams and butter to go with it, every type of cereal Bianca could lay her hands on, fried bacon and defrosted waffles from the freezer.

  ‘We’re eating!’ Bianca exclaims, happily. Upon discovering Alexandra’s appetite and desire to try everything, she’d quickly decided to fatten her up so she’d actually fit into the clothes Bianca provided.

  Julia raises an eyebrow. ‘I see.’ She comes over to the table and sits down next to Alexandra and opposite Bianca. After a moment, she turns to the blonde and asks, ‘Do I know you?’

  ‘Mum, this is Alexandra,’ Bianca says. ‘She’s my new friend. We’re walking to school together.’

  ‘Not walking with Scotty?’ Julia enquires, reaching for some toast.

  ‘’Course! I can walk with more than one person, Mum!’ Bianca exclaims. She grins at Alexandra and nudges the jar of marmalade towards her. ‘Try that.’

  Julia raises an eyebrow. ‘I’m sure Alexandra has tried marmalade before, Bianca...’

  Alexandra removes the spoon from her mouth. ‘Never have I experienced such a wonder!’ she exclaims, with wide eyes.

  Bianca looks at her mother with wide eyes. ‘She’s... erm... she’s an exchange student.’

  ‘Where do you come from, then?’ Julia enquires of the blonde.

  ‘Calpaea!�
� Alexandra says, with a big smile.

  Julia smiles, indulgently at her, as though suspecting her of being mentally deficient. ‘I’ve never heard of it. Where is it?’

  ‘Somewhere in Asia,’ Bianca says, quickly. ‘Tiny, tiny place. They don’t get marmalade.’ She glances across at Alexandra reverently nibbling at a piece of toast, wonder filling her large eyes. ‘Or... bread.’

  Scotty chooses that moment exactly to walk into the kitchen via the back door and drop his bag on the floor by the table. ‘Hello,’ he says, with a grin, grabbing the nearest chair, straddling it and reaching for the food on the table. ‘What’s with the buffet?’

  ‘Help yourself, Scotty,’ Julia says, rolling her eyes.

  ‘Don’t mind if I do, Missus W.,’ Scotty replies, piece of toast shoved in his mouth. ‘My mum’s been neglecting me. I’m being starved!’

  ‘Funny, you look well fed,’ Julia responds, with a grin, standing up and walking towards the cup rack. ‘Coffee, dear?’

  ‘Mm, that’d be lovely, ta.’ Scotty turns to Bianca as her mother reaches for a mug for him, then Alexandra catches his eye. ‘Who’s this pretty lady, then?’ he says to her, with a grin.

  Bianca’s eyes widen. ‘You know Alexandra, Scotty!’ she exclaims, overly cheerfully. ‘From school?’

  ‘No, I don’-’ He breaks off when Bianca’s foot impacts his shin under the table. ‘Oh! Alexandra. Of course. Yes. Of course I know Alexandra.’ He stuffs more toast in his mouth, pulls his phone from his pocket and starts thumbing through his text messages.

  ‘So, what lessons have you got today?’ Julia asks, sitting down again and pushing a mug towards Scotty, who accepts it with a grateful smile and fills it to its brim with black coffee. Bianca pulls a face at him, noting, with distaste, that Julia didn’t bring her one and stops Alexandra from reaching for the coffee. The last thing Bianca needs is a caffeinated princess on her hands.

  ‘I’ve got double maths.’ She groans. ‘Then, English, bio and chem...’ She sighs. ‘I miss fencing. I used to have fencing on Mondays.’