“I’ll point to one when I see it.”
They stopped at an enormous two-lane traffic circle. It was complete chaos: two speedy lanes of traffic circled clockwise and exited just as quickly. A truck carrying panes of glass zoomed past. Three buses in a row ringed the circle. Erin gripped her door handle; she couldn’t fathom getting through this spinning circle of death without, well, death. There were no accidents, but drivers waited at every exit—entrance?—of the circle. No signals governed traffic flow.
When Felicity accelerated, Erin squeezed her eyes shut and ducked her head like a turtle hoping to protect itself.
A minute later, Felicity asked, “You all right?”
Erin had missed the circle completely. “That was terrifying.”
“What? The roundabout?”
“Yes, the roundabout. How do you even get into the inside lane? And why is it there? How do you get out?”
Felicity smiled. “Some exits have two lanes. If you know where you need to exit, the inner lane makes sense. The inner lane is sort of express if you need the fourth or fifth road. You’ll get used to it.”
Dubious, Erin focused on the scenery. Houses with painted wooden fences lined the street, and several sets of traffic lights hung ahead. Tall trees filled the nature strip on both sides of the road. Finally, something felt a bit like home.
Felicity turned on the radio and music burst into the car. Christchurch was playing the song of summer from four years ago, when Erin had learned every summer had a song of summer.
“This is Riccarton Road in Riccarton,” Felicity said.
“So Christchurch is behind us?”
“Ahead of us, actually. Riccarton is an inner suburb. We’re heading to Mainland first. I’d like to set you up for school, but we can’t very well buy stationery without knowing your courses.”
“I’d rather not take calligraphy if I can help it.”
Felicity squinted at the road. “Is calligraphy a course in the States?”
“Oh no. I wanted to say I don’t need stationery.”
Felicity said, “Stationery here is pencils and pens and notebooks and things.”
“Oh. Everything is different here.”
Felicity laughed. “Isn’t that the point?”
“Sort of.” Erin couldn’t reveal to Felicity she was mining this experience for college-application gold. “It’s both very similar and very different. I mean, we’re speaking the same language, but everything feels a little off. Driving on the wrong side of the street.”
“Wrong to you.”
“Yeah. Opposite, I guess. Different. And your music! This isn’t even on our radio anymore.”
Felicity turned it up a bit. “I love this.”
“It’s catchy, but it’s four years old.”
“It’s not four years old here. And I’ll still listen to it in another four years. Why throw out a good thing?”
“Because everyone’s listening to new stuff now.” Erin pointed to a road sign. “And all your signs have another language below the English. What’s that about?”
“That’s Ma-ori. We have three official languages: English, New Zealand Sign Language, and Ma-ori. The Ma-ori are our native people who lived here hundreds of years before Europeans arrived.”
“Like Native Americans?”
Felicity furrowed her brow. “Yes. Native New Zealand people. Europeans arrived and renamed the country New Zealand. Ma-ori people still call it Aotearoa, which means ‘long white cloud.’ You’ll hear a lot of Ma-ori: kura means ‘school,’ mahi means ‘work,’ kai means ‘food.’ I’ve always thought the language is quite beautiful.”
Felicity pulled into a gravel parking lot.
“Let’s get you some new things, shall we?”
Erin followed Felicity into a small, quiet shop. Her mouth hung open as she studied racks of plaid wools and bulky V-neck sweaters.
Felicity said, “Hi there. We need uniform for Ilam High. Erin here is on study abroad from the States.”
THIRTEEN
She had no words. Well, one word: uniform.
“Happy to help. I’m Charlize.” The sunny woman sized up Erin. “What are you, about an eight in the States?”
“Six,” Erin said.
Charlize hummed as she slowly pulled pieces from shelves all over the store before leading Erin to the dressing area.
“Sizing here is a bit different than in the States,” Charlize said. “I’ve brought you rough equivalents of the things you’ll need. Have a go and let us know what works.”
Erin nodded.
“You all right, love?”
Another nod.
“You sure?”
“I’m great, thanks.”
Just outside the dressing room, Felicity chatted with Charlize, though they clearly didn’t know each other. For several minutes, Erin negotiated her way through the pile of clothes. An itchy wool kilt in navy, dark green, and royal blue hung below her knees. She buttoned a starched white blouse before pulling on a navy V-neck sweater vest with royal stripes around the arms and neck.
Through tears, she studied her frumpy reflection.
“Let’s see, then,” Charlize said.
Erin wiped her eyes and threw the curtain aside.
Charlize clasped her hands together like a fairy godmother. “A perfect fit. Now, can you tie a proper tie, love?”
“I’ll do it.” Felicity wrapped a tie around Erin’s neck, looped the ends around each other, and tied it gently.
Charlize slipped a royal blue blazer over Erin’s shoulders and instructed her to button the middle button.
“You must be kidding me,” Erin said. “This is a joke, right?”
Charlize smiled. “Of course you’ll have a few options in summer, but this is the winter uniform, love.”
Erin wanted Charlize to stop love-ing her. “Is Ilam a Catholic school? I’m not Catholic.” She looked from Charlize to Felicity.
Felicity touched Erin’s upper arm. “It’s a state school. And all state schools in New Zealand require distinct uniform. I guess you don’t see as many movies of us as we see of you. Everyone knows Americans don’t generally wear uniform.”
“All mufti all the time,” Charlize said.
Erin closed the curtain to her dressing room and eyed her reflection again. An embroidered navy-and-white crest on her blazer read ILAM HIGH.
If anyone back home saw her like this, she would die.
I can’t do this.
Tears welled in her eyes. If she pulled the exit cord, no Columbia. Staying was the only viable option. Perhaps surviving without ripping her uniform to shreds would be her unique factor. Erin steeled herself. Five months. She could do anything for five months.
She dressed quickly and emerged from the dressing room to
