Read Online Into My Arms by Kylie Ladd - Free Book Online

gym fundraiser earlier in the year, a large bunch of balloons jostling between them. He was older than Ben she realised, looking at it closely. At thirty-three, probably quite a lot older.
    ‘So you’re sleeping with the boss, huh?’
    It should have been funny, and ordinarily she would have laughed and made a joke about how it had got her her job. Instead she’d said nothing, and after Ben had left she’d gone and checked on Jess, then sat and stared out the window until Hamish arrived home.
    Despite her attempts, she hadn’t seen Ben again after that until two weeks later when she was at school, standing with 5C in front of the bare grey wall at the side of the tuckshop. They were trying to position the contour drawing, a full-size copy of the design for the mosaic that the class had come up with.
    ‘Move it a bit to the left,’ she told the two boys, James and Hassan, who were holding it up with outstretched arms. They dutifully complied. Skye considered it for a minute, then shook her head. ‘A little higher, I think. Can you reach?’
    ‘Miss Holt, if it goes any higher you won’t be able to see the birds near the top,’ called another boy, Simon, from the watching students.
    ‘Yeah,’ agreed Rowena. ‘They’ll just look like dots.’
    A few of the class nodded their heads. Zia, she noticed, was among them. Skye sighed. She wanted to tell them that the mosaic would look far better further up the wall, where the perspective would be right, but stopped herself. She didn’t like taking direction, be it from Hamish or a group of fifth graders, but it was their project. She’d be gone not long after it was finished anyway. She wouldn’t have to look at it. ‘OK, let’s try it your way. James, Hassan—can you hold up the drawing again?’
    ‘Higher,’ shouted one girl near the front.
    ‘No way! Lower,’ demanded Rowena, glaring at her classmate. ‘And put it back in the middle. It looks stupid there.’
    Hassan started rubbing his shoulder and let the drawing fall to the ground. ‘My arm hurts, Miss Holt,’ he said. ‘I’m not doing it anymore.’
    On impulse, and because he was on her mind, Skye turned to Rowena. ‘Go and get Mr Cunningham,’ she said. ‘He’s part of your class, isn’t he? He can decide.’
    The girl looked dubious but did as she was told. By the time she returned with Ben, 5C had settled themselves on the asphalt to await his verdict.
    Skye felt her stomach turn over as Ben walked towards her. ‘Thanks for coming,’ she said. ‘We couldn’t agree on where to place the mosaic, so we thought you could arbitrate.’ She nodded at James and Hassan. ‘Boys?’
    ‘I can’t,’ complained Hassan. ‘My arm’s too tired from holding it up before.’
    ‘Anyone else?’ asked Skye, but no one raised their hands. ‘Oh, I’ll do it then,’ she said, grabbing one end of the paper. It really was a good design, she thought, looking at it again. The class had depicted their school, but instead of buildings and traffic, their inner-city setting, the foreground was filled with animals and trees. A platypus dived into one corner of the drawing; Zia’s soaring birds flapped across the sky.
    ‘Nice,’ Ben said approvingly as she and James once more hauled the drawing up against the wall. ‘That’s really good, guys. It will look great as a mosaic.’ He narrowed his eyes. ‘Higher, I think.’
    Skye couldn’t resist. ‘That’s what I told them,’ she said, stretching up. James, she noticed, was standing on tiptoes.
    ‘No, even higher,’ Ben commanded. Then, to show her, he walked across and lifted the corner of the drawing out of her hands, momentarily pinning her to the wall. Skye closed her eyes. She could smell the laundry powder in his shirt, feel the warmth from his hip where it nudged against hers. The students dissolved; her body angled itself towards his.
    ‘Mr Cunningham, I can’t hold it now!’ shouted James. Skye felt the paper go slack. Ben moved away and