Read Online Spiralling Out of the Shadow (The Spiralling Trilogy) by Michelle Dennis Evans - Free Book Online

on and the subject changed. I listened with a smile and nodded, commanding my confidence to stand strong for the rest of the night.
    When I saw Mum pull up out the front I said goodbye. My cheeks ached from smiling all night.
     
    *~*~*~*
     
    Janet arrived on time for the end of year concert auditions, but only to watch. Suzie stayed away. For this audition, I attempted another one of Stephanie’s routines. I could never master it when she was here, but now that she’d moved, I wanted to give it a go. Nerves knocked my knees together while I waited. They called my name. I braced myself, took a deep breath and put everything into it.
    As soon as I’d finished I knew I had it. I’d done it again. I’d won the lead spot. I blissfully headed home, letting go of all the issues forever surfacing in my friends’ lives.
    I rang Stephanie to share my excitement, but she wasn ’t there and didn’t return my call. I tried again the next night. No return call. I rang a third time to be told she was out.
    ‘ Argh!’ Talk about frustration.
    The next day when I tried yet again, her mother copped an earful.
    ‘I’ve rung every day. Why isn’t she returning my calls? What makes her think everything there is more important than what happens here? Just get her to ring me back, Okay?!’ I hung up and took a deep breath. Would there be ramifications for that outburst?
     
     

CHAPTER 11
     
     
    ‘Hi Tabbie,’ Stephanie’s voice dripped through the phone, soft and sickening.
    My voice, on the other hand, boomed. ‘Hey, I’ve been trying to ring you all week.’
    ‘ Yeah, had a lot on,’ she whispered.
    Something told me all was not good. I had to suc k it up before I lost control. ‘You’re quiet tonight. Everything okay?’
    ‘ How are you? How’s Sydney?’
    Did she just ignore my question? Things must be really bad.
    ‘Great. That’s what I’ve been ringing you about. I’m dancing lead in the end of the year show, though if you were here, of course you’d have it. But I’m so excited.’
    Hmm . No response. Was she even listening?
    ‘ And then there was the pink rat ... and it was doing cartwheels.’ I paused. She still wasn’t listening. ‘Yes, absolutely, and then the orange poodle joined in, right in the middle of rehearsals last night ...’ I stopped and waited.
    ‘ Yeah,’ she said, with no acknowledgement whatsoever.
    ‘ And I’m guessing you’ve stopped listening because there wasn’t a pink rat or orange poodle at rehearsals.’ It was actually funny. I’d caught her out big time.
    ‘ Oh, sorry, Tabbie. I’m the worst friend.’
    ‘ Forget it. I’m guessing by your quiet demeanour, that you have something to tell me.’
    Her deep breaths funnelled through the phone. Oh no. It hit me. She’d done it with Jason.
    ‘Oh , you did it?’
    Her wh isper of silence told me, yes. ‘Are you annoyed with me?’
    ‘ Why would I be annoyed?’ But really, I kind of was. She was meant to wait. We were both going to wait.
    ‘ Disappointed?’
    ‘ No. Are you okay?’
    ‘ Yes, oh ... who am I trying to kid?’
    ‘ When, how?’ She was a mess and I was miles away.
    ‘ Last Sunday.’
    ‘ Was it good or bad?’ Wow, what’s it like?
    ‘ I don’t want to talk about what happened.’
    It slammed me between the eye s—what if she was pregnant?! The question of contraception was so loose in my thoughts I blurted it out. ‘Did you use something?’
    ‘ Like what?’
    ‘Like, a condom?’
    ‘He had one.’
    So, he was prepared . Most boys are. I couldn’t believe she’d actually done it. She really had changed. But it didn’t change the fact that she was still my best friend.
    My shoulders ached after talking to Steph anie. God, what is it that makes us do crazy things? Gee, what made me talk to God? Her news weighed me down. I wanted to ring her back again and try to sort her out, but instead I changed into jeans and a T-shirt and asked Mum to take me to youth group.
    Shelly stood on the