I hadn’t seen Tia all holidays. ‘How was Queenstown?’ I asked. We walked to school — it was easier to talk that way. ‘Fun. Cold. The winter festival — the best fun.’ Hmm, possibly better than going to Gisborne on a steam train with a grumpy child. Megan had been away too. ‘Went to New Plymouth. It rained.’ Carly had worked at the old people’s home her aunt owned. ‘Not what I want to do when I leave school.’ Ah yes. The work thing. We got our exams back. Every single one of my papers had Well done, Ruby. A great improvement, or a comment like that. Tia read each one to me with a huge grin on her face. Miss Harris told us to have our work placements sorted by Wednesday. Tia asked, ‘What are you going to do?’ ‘Dunno.’ I showed Mum my exam papers that night. She was pleased — gave me a hug — but then she said, ‘It’s such a pity about the reading, Ruby. You’d be able to be anything you wanted if it wasn’t for that.’ Thanks, Mum. Tuesday came and I still had no work placement.
