Read Online The Circle by Mats Strandberg Sara B. Elfgren - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Mats Strandberg Sara B. Elfgren
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possible reasons why the figure in the black hoody might have been standing on the hill, he wasn’t necessarily stalking her. Rebecka doesn’t believe a single one of them.
‘Are you sure you should go to school today?’ her father asks, over breakfast.
He and Minoo are alone since her mother is at the hospital . Radio voices are reporting on world events. Her mother can’t stand having to listen to the radio in the morning, so her father takes the opportunity to do so when she’s not there.
‘The longer I wait, the harder it’ll be.’
He nods as if he understands, but he has no idea. If she were to stay at home today, rumours would immediately start to circulate. Maybe people would say she’d gone mad. Or committed suicide herself. Then when she finally came back to school, everyone would stare at her a thousand times more than they would if she went in today.
‘Might as well get it over with,’ she adds.
‘Want a lift?’
‘No, thanks.’
Her father looks at her with concern, and Minoo feels compelled to change the subject. ‘Have you made up your mind whether or not to write about it?’
‘We’re going to wait and see how things develop. There might be an investigation into the school’s responsibility in the tragedy. The boy’s parents might demand it. Then we’d find ourselves in a completely different position.’
Minoo is relieved. Mainly for selfish reasons. The sooner everyone forgets about it, the sooner she can go back to being anonymous.
She brushes her teeth and goes into her room to fetch her bag. She glances out of the window and shudders when she thinks of last night. Of the figure standing out there.
Her father waits for her in the hall, his hands clasped over his stomach, which has grown considerably over the last few years. ‘Are you sure you want to go?’
‘
Yes
,’ she answers, instantly regretting the irritation in her voice. She gives her father a hug.
Minoo often worries about him – he sleeps too little, works too hard, and eats too much junk food. Her grandfather, whom she never met, died of a heart attack when he was just fifty-four. Her father is fifty-three. Now and then he and her mother argue about it. These ‘discussions’, as they refer to them, are conducted in low, heated voices that Minoo isn’t supposed to hear, but sometimes her father loses his temper. ‘Save your diagnoses for your patients!’ he snaps.
At those moments Minoo hates him. If he won’t look after himself for his own sake, he ought to for theirs.
‘Ring me if you need anything,’ her father says. Minoo nods and hugs him again, extra tightly this time.
Minoo doesn’t need to hear the hushed voices in the playground to know that they’re all talking about the same thing: Elias. How he did it. The girls who found him.
‘Look, there she is,’ a few older kids whisper, as she walks past.
She pulls her backpack hard against her as she goes into the school. She lowers her head, trying to make herself invisible as she pushes her way through the bustling entrance hall. The entire school has been told to assemble in the auditorium to observe a minute’s silence for Elias.
The looks and whispers follow her. Her ears grow redder with each step she takes. Minoo can’t take it any more. She runs down the stairs to the cafeteria in the basement. At this time of the morning, no one is there except the kitchen staff. She heads for the girls’ toilets.
Only once she has shut the door can she breathe normally. She looks at her watch. If she waits a few minutes, sneaks into the auditorium as the ceremony is about to start and sits at the back, perhaps no one will notice her.
She walks up to a mirror and stares at her face. Is this how Elias was standing before he … did it? She shuts her eyes and opens them again. She tries to see her face from outside, as Max would see it.
It’s become an obsession every time she looks at herself in the mirror.
If my spots cleared up, I
‘Are you sure you should go to school today?’ her father asks, over breakfast.
He and Minoo are alone since her mother is at the hospital . Radio voices are reporting on world events. Her mother can’t stand having to listen to the radio in the morning, so her father takes the opportunity to do so when she’s not there.
‘The longer I wait, the harder it’ll be.’
He nods as if he understands, but he has no idea. If she were to stay at home today, rumours would immediately start to circulate. Maybe people would say she’d gone mad. Or committed suicide herself. Then when she finally came back to school, everyone would stare at her a thousand times more than they would if she went in today.
‘Might as well get it over with,’ she adds.
‘Want a lift?’
‘No, thanks.’
Her father looks at her with concern, and Minoo feels compelled to change the subject. ‘Have you made up your mind whether or not to write about it?’
‘We’re going to wait and see how things develop. There might be an investigation into the school’s responsibility in the tragedy. The boy’s parents might demand it. Then we’d find ourselves in a completely different position.’
Minoo is relieved. Mainly for selfish reasons. The sooner everyone forgets about it, the sooner she can go back to being anonymous.
She brushes her teeth and goes into her room to fetch her bag. She glances out of the window and shudders when she thinks of last night. Of the figure standing out there.
Her father waits for her in the hall, his hands clasped over his stomach, which has grown considerably over the last few years. ‘Are you sure you want to go?’
‘
Yes
,’ she answers, instantly regretting the irritation in her voice. She gives her father a hug.
Minoo often worries about him – he sleeps too little, works too hard, and eats too much junk food. Her grandfather, whom she never met, died of a heart attack when he was just fifty-four. Her father is fifty-three. Now and then he and her mother argue about it. These ‘discussions’, as they refer to them, are conducted in low, heated voices that Minoo isn’t supposed to hear, but sometimes her father loses his temper. ‘Save your diagnoses for your patients!’ he snaps.
At those moments Minoo hates him. If he won’t look after himself for his own sake, he ought to for theirs.
‘Ring me if you need anything,’ her father says. Minoo nods and hugs him again, extra tightly this time.
Minoo doesn’t need to hear the hushed voices in the playground to know that they’re all talking about the same thing: Elias. How he did it. The girls who found him.
‘Look, there she is,’ a few older kids whisper, as she walks past.
She pulls her backpack hard against her as she goes into the school. She lowers her head, trying to make herself invisible as she pushes her way through the bustling entrance hall. The entire school has been told to assemble in the auditorium to observe a minute’s silence for Elias.
The looks and whispers follow her. Her ears grow redder with each step she takes. Minoo can’t take it any more. She runs down the stairs to the cafeteria in the basement. At this time of the morning, no one is there except the kitchen staff. She heads for the girls’ toilets.
Only once she has shut the door can she breathe normally. She looks at her watch. If she waits a few minutes, sneaks into the auditorium as the ceremony is about to start and sits at the back, perhaps no one will notice her.
She walks up to a mirror and stares at her face. Is this how Elias was standing before he … did it? She shuts her eyes and opens them again. She tries to see her face from outside, as Max would see it.
It’s become an obsession every time she looks at herself in the mirror.
If my spots cleared up, I
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