Alice in the Middle (12 page)

W
hen we got into our room, Alice closed the door behind us. She gave me another big hug. Then we both sat on my bed.

‘Can you ever forgive me?’ she asked.

‘For what?’

I knew what she wanted me to forgive her for, of course, but it seemed like the right answer. And
besides, a little bit of me wanted to hear her say out loud what she’d done. Just so we could get it all out in the open, and over with.

Alice sighed.

‘Where should I start? Can you forgive me for being the worst friend ever? For being the meanest person in the history of the world? For—’

I put up my hand to stop her.

‘First, can you forgive me for telling on you?’

Alice nodded.

‘Of course I can.’

Still there was more I needed to say.

‘I
was
jealous, I’ll admit that. I was really, really jealous of you and Hazel going off on a date together. But I would never have told on you just to get you into trouble. I’d never do anything like that to you.’

Alice nodded.

‘I know. I understand that now.’

I went on.

‘I was just so afraid. I never thought of something simple like that you’d missed the bus. I
thought something really awful had happened to you. I kept thinking of bad things.’

Alice gave a sudden laugh.

‘Are you turning into your mother by any chance?’

I made a face.

‘I hope not. Are you turning into yours?’

Alice made an even worse face, and we both laughed.

Then Alice became serious again.

‘I wanted to make it up with you after the first day. I was all ready to talk to you, and be your friend again. But Hazel stopped me. She told me all kinds of bad stuff about you, and she made it all sound so convincing. I couldn’t resist her. I knew I was being unfair to you, but I couldn’t stop myself. It was almost like I’d forgotten how to think for myself.’

Suddenly I thought of something.

‘You told Hazel stories about my mum. You told all about the environmental stuff. You made her sound even crazier than she really is.’

Alice put her head down.

‘Did Hazel tell you that?’

I nodded.

‘Why did you do that? I don’t mind when you joke with me about that stuff, but why did you share it with Hazel, of all people?’

Alice gave a big sigh.

‘It’s not as bad as it sounds. Honestly. It happened on one of the first days we were here – one of the days when I still thought that you, me and Hazel were going to be friends. Hazel was mocking behind your back, because you don’t have a mobile phone, or an iPod, or any of that stuff. So I told her what your mum is like. I tried to make it sound like your mum is funny. I didn’t mean to make her sound crazy. And then I said that even though your mum’s like that, that you were really nice. I said it wasn’t your fault, and that it didn’t matter. I said that cool stuff doesn’t matter when you’re as nice as you are.’

I made a face.

‘Hazel didn’t mention that bit.’

Alice shook her head.

‘Yeah, I bet she didn’t. But I made a mistake. I
shouldn’t have said anything about your mum. After all, with a mum like mine, who am I to mock anyone else?’

We both laughed again. Then we both stopped suddenly.

‘About yesterday …’ began Alice, ‘… I saw you on the stairs with Hazel. What exactly happened? Did she …?’

I knew what it was that she was afraid to ask. I shook my head.

‘No, she didn’t push me. She was saying all that mean stuff, and I was trying so hard to get away, and I was crying, and I … well I suppose I just fell.’

Alice looked relieved.

‘I was downstairs. I came around the corner, and I saw you tumbling. And I tried to save you. I ran towards the bottom of the stairs. I thought I might be able to break your fall. But I tripped over my shoe-lace, and I fell.’

‘Did you hurt yourself?’

She shrugged.

‘I banged my arm, but it doesn’t matter.’ As she
spoke, she pulled up her sleeve, and I could see that most of her arm was black and blue. It was much worse than any of my injuries.

I touched her arm as gently as I could, and she flinched.

‘But Alice, that’s really bad. You should let someone look at it.’

She pulled down her sleeve again.

‘Nah. It’s fine. It’s only a bruise, and last night, when I knew you were in the hospital, and I knew it was partly my fault, I was so glad that I was hurting too.’

I had to laugh.

‘You are so crazy sometimes,’ I said.

Alice smiled.

‘Whatever. I’m just sorry I didn’t manage to save you.’

Suddenly I remembered.

‘Did you call my name?’

She nodded.

‘Yeah. And I rubbed your arm until help came. In the end it was all I could do.’

Suddenly I remembered something else.

‘Where
is
Hazel, anyway?’ I asked.

‘She had to leave first thing. For her big trip to America, remember? I didn’t even say goodbye to her. I couldn’t. I saw her at the top of the stairs. I knew she’d been bullying you again, and she didn’t even look sorry that you were hurt.’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ I said. ‘I don’t care about Hazel any more.’

Alice stamped her foot, making me smile. She’d never have done that babyish thing in front of Hazel.

‘It
does
matter,’ she said. ‘I was so totally stupid. I actually liked Hazel. I wanted to be her friend. I watched her being mean to you, and I still liked her. How could I have let that happen?’

I shrugged.

‘I don’t know. But like I said, it doesn’t matter. I’ve forgotten about Hazel already.’

‘About who?’ asked Alice, and we both laughed.

Then I remembered yet another thing.

‘What about Lee?’ I asked.

Alice thought for a long while, and then she said.

‘Know what? I didn’t even like him all that much. He was a bit too smart. A bit too sure of himself. He kept telling jokes, and half of them weren’t even funny.’

‘I bet you laughed anyway,’ I said.

Alice looked ashamed.

‘Afraid so,’ she said, in a mock-tragic voice.

We both giggled, and then Alice continued.

‘I just liked the idea of having a boyfriend for the first time ever, you know?’

‘But what about Eliot?’

Alice went red.

‘I made him up. Well, I suppose I didn’t actually make him up. He did exist, and he was totally cute, but he never liked me. He liked one of the girls in my class, and I was jealous. I made up the stuff about going out with him to impress what’s-her-name.’

Neither of us said anything for a minute, and then Alice remembered something.

‘Hey, what about Sam?’

Now it was my turn to go red.

‘What about him?’

‘He likes you. And you like him, don’t you?’

I nodded. No point in lying now.

‘It doesn’t matter anyway,’ I said. ‘I won’t see him ever again.’

Alice sighed.

‘Such a pity. Still, you met him before I met Lee, so when we’re old and grey, you can always say that you had the first boyfriend.’

I smiled. It might not have been strictly true, but it was nice to pretend to be first at something.

Suddenly I looked at my watch. I jumped up.

‘Dad will be dancing jigs downstairs. We’d better pack up quickly.’

Alice helped me to put my stuff back into my rucksack. She didn’t pack her own stuff, she was going to wait on for the camp closing ceremony that afternoon, and come home by bus later. Mum wouldn’t let me stay for the closing ceremony, and in a way, I didn’t mind. I’d had enough excitement over the past few days.

When all my stuff was in my rucksack, Alice reached into the wardrobe, and pulled out the turquoise top. She folded it carefully, and put it on
top of my clothes.

‘You can keep it,’ she said.

I stroked the soft fabric.

‘Are you sure?’

She nodded.

‘Sure I’m sure. Just give it a good wash before you wear it – what’s-her-name had it last.’

We laughed again.

On the way downstairs, we met Sarah. She gave me a hug – a gentle one that hardly hurt my back at all.

‘I’m so glad you weren’t badly hurt,’ she said.

Then she pulled a pen and paper from her sports bag, and wrote down her phone number.

‘Text me,’ she said.

I didn’t reply. As the only girl in the world without a mobile phone, texting would have been a bit difficult. Sarah saw my face.

‘Ooops. Sorry,’ she said. She took back the paper and wrote down her address. ‘Write to me then.’

I nodded. I knew I would. If it hadn’t been for Sarah, things would have been a lot worse for me
that week.

Just as Alice and I got to the bottom of the stairs, Sam appeared. I could feel my face going red, but it didn’t matter, as his skin had suddenly taken on a distinct pink colour.

‘We all thought you were dead,’ he said.

‘I’m not,’ was the only stupid thing I could think of saying.

Sam laughed.

‘I’m glad,’ he said, and suddenly I felt warm and happy.

‘And don’t forget,’ he said. ‘If you ever need me to spit in anyone’s drink, I’m only a phone call away.’

We all laughed, and then there was an embarrassing silence.

‘Er … I’d better go,’ said Sam. He gave me a quick hug, and walked quickly off towards the dining hall.

Alice and I went outside. It was a beautiful day. Mum and Dad and Rosie were standing next to the car, waiting for me.

Alice turned to me.

‘I’ll be home around seven, OK? I’ll call for you then.’

Then she hugged me again. She had tears in her eyes.

Dad shook his head.

‘What are you girls like? You’d never think you’d just had three wonderful long weeks together.’

Alice and I looked at each other and smiled.

‘Have you said good-bye to all your friends?’ asked Mum. ‘What about that pushy girl with the blonde hair. What was her name again?’

Alice and I spoke together.

‘We forget,’ we said, and then we stood in the driveway of the summer camp, and laughed until we cried.

JUDI CURTIN grew up in Cork and now lives in Limerick where she is married with three children. Judi is the best-selling author of the ‘Alice & Megan’ series and of
Eva’s Journey
; with Roisin Meaney, she is also the author of
See If I Care
, and she has written three novels,
Sorry, Walter, From Claire
to Here
and
Almost Perfect
. Her books have been translated into Serbian, Portuguese and German.

The ‘Alice & Megan’ series

Alice Next Door

Alice Again

Don’t Ask Alice

Alice in the Middle

Bonjour Alice

Alice & Megan Forever

Alice to the Rescue

Alice & Megan’s Cookbook

Other books

Eva’s Journey

See If I Care
(with Roisin Meaney)