Night School

Allie thought she didn’t look happy. But I’m probably projecting.

By Friday, though, she’d had enough. After her last class ended she stormed down the hall to Jo’s room, knocking perfunctorily before shoving the door open.

Jo sat on the bed reading a fashion magazine. ‘You could knock,’ she snapped.

‘I did. And you could not be a bitch,’ Allie replied.

Sighing heavily, Jo returned her attention to the magazine, flipping the page with a sharp, irritated crack.

‘Look, Jo,’ Allie said, leaning against the desk, ‘we need to talk … Now.’

‘Fine. Talk.’ Jo kept flipping pages.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

‘What can you remember about what happened up on the roof that day?’ Allie asked.

Jo’s normally sunny clear blue eyes were like chips of ice. ‘I can’t remember much, but I know that somehow I ended up nearly dying.’

Involuntarily, Allie glanced at Jo’s hands where plasters still covered the tips of two fingers.

‘It’s the not remembering that’s the problem here,’ Allie said. ‘Because I do remember. I remember everything. And what I can’t figure out is why you never once came to me or Carter to ask what happened.’

Jo closed the magazine with exaggerated patience and looked at her.

‘I didn’t come to you because I don’t trust you, Allie,’ she said. ‘See, the thing is, lying in my bed in pain with my hands wrapped up in bandages for a week, I had plenty of time to think about everything. And I realised that I have no idea who you really are or where you come from. All I know is what you’ve told me. And I also know that ever since we met everything’s just fallen apart.’

Colour flooded Allie’s cheeks and she stared at Jo in disbelief. ‘Are you telling me you think what’s been happening here is my fault?’

‘Think about it, Allie,’ Jo said. ‘Isn’t it your fault, at least a bit? It seems to me bad news just surrounds you. Maybe Katie’s right. Maybe you really are crazy.’

Her tone was venomous and her words stung. For a moment, Allie was speechless.

Jo was supposed to be her friend.

But then she lifted her chin and fixed Jo with a hard stare.

‘You want to know what happened on the roof, Jo? Fine. I’ll tell you. You drank half a bottle of vodka and you danced on the roof. You danced. You threw yourself around like a drunken fairy. You didn’t know where you were and you didn’t care who you took down with you. Both Carter and I risked our arses to save you that day. And right now, I’ve got to say, I’m kind of regretting that.’

Jo tried to speak but Allie talked over her. ‘If you don’t believe me, for God’s sake believe Carter. You’ve known him for years. Or believe Jules, she’s been trying to talk to you. Just don’t believe people who are only using you to get at me. Because that’s kind of pathetic.’

Her face red with anger, Jo threw the magazine at her. As it fluttered across the room Allie caught it easily.

‘What I’m regretting right now is that I ever thought I could be your friend.’ Jo spat the words out at her. ‘Now get out.’

Fighting back tears, Allie stumbled down the hallway towards the sanctuary of her own room.

I will not let them see me cry.

But at that moment, Rachel stepped in front of her with an armful of books. She took one look at Allie’s face and grabbed her hand.

‘With me,’ she said firmly, pulling her back into her room.

Dropping the books on the desk she sat down on the bed beside her. ‘What happened?’

And that was all it took.

Her body shaking with sobs, Allie told her about confronting Jo and how she’d reacted. She added in the things she’d overheard Katie saying (although she left out the bit about being on the window ledge clinging to a wall at the time).

Rachel held her hand and listened, occasionally tutting sympathetically, but mostly just letting her pour out her heart.

‘I just don’t understand how she could say these things to me … or about me,’ Allie said finally, as her sobs lessened.

Rachel waited for the tears to stop before responding.

‘Jo has … problems,’ she said diplomatically. ‘She’s fragile. Her home life is not … great. But she’s good at heart. We all know that. She’s being manipulated by Katie and her gaggle of hags to believe this rubbish about you. But that’s not much consolation, I know. It hurts – I just wish there was something more I could do.’

She handed Allie a box of tissues. ‘I think she’ll come around. And when she does she’ll be sorry she said those things.’

‘Is this the reason you never really hung around with Jo and Lisa before?’ Allie asked, drying her eyes. ‘Because Jo’s a little, what did you call it? Fragile?’

Rachel hesitated before replying. ‘I had my own … encounter with Jo’s group a long time ago. Do you remember how I told you once Lucas was the guy friend I could never date?’