Night School

‘I know that,’ she said defensively.

‘Well then?’ he said. ‘Should we maybe try not telling people our secrets?’

She narrowed her eyes. ‘So I guess you want me to tell Rachel you’d rather she didn’t tell her father?’

‘Yes, Allie. That’s what I want.’

‘Fine,’ she said icily.

‘Great.’

They sat in silence for a long minute.

‘Did we just have our first fight?’ Carter asked, looking up at her with that half-smile that always made her melt.

‘No,’ Allie said. ‘I’m pretty sure we fought a lot before we got together.’

‘True,’ he said.

‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘whether you like it or not, we now have somebody else to help us if and when we need help. And she happens to be very clever.’

‘That could come in handy,’ he conceded grudgingly.

‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘That’s what I thought.’

He lightly punched her shoulder. She tickled him back and before long they were both laughing. Draping his arm across her shoulder he kissed her temple.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I shouldn’t be so pissed off. It’ll be fine.’

‘It will be fine,’ she agreed, ‘if we make it fine. Somehow.’

‘Which reminds me, I wanted to tell you what I learned today,’ he said.

Even though he sounded serious, she found it hard to focus on his words when she looked into those big dark eyes.

‘OK,’ she said, thinking dreamily: He’s really mine. Voluntarily!

‘Allie, this is important.’

‘Sorry.’ She untangled herself from him and sat up straight. ‘Hit me.’

‘Night School is starting late-night drills again.’

She frowned. ‘What does that mean?’

‘It means we’ve been given really weird instructions. We’ll be patrolling the grounds in shifts all night, every night. Taking turns, so everybody gets some kip.’ He looked off at the trees. ‘We’ve patrolled the grounds before for training purposes but this is different. It’s very intense. They’re telling us it’s a new training project to teach us what they call “protect and defend”. They’re going to stage fake attacks that we have to fend off. They’ve even told us we can take time off from morning classes the day after our night shifts. This has literally never happened before. It starts tonight, and they’ve got us doing training all weekend.’

Watching his face, Allie could see the worry in his eyes.

‘They’re getting ready for Nathaniel to do something,’ she said.

He nodded.

‘I guess there’s no way they’d call the police and ask for help?’

‘Hah.’

‘So … No more sneaking out at night?’ she guessed.

‘Absolutely not,’ he said. ‘The security is about to get intense around here.’

‘OK,’ she said quietly. ‘So he’s coming.’

‘Oh yes.’ Carter’s eyes scanned the horizon. ‘He’s coming.’





TWENTY-SIX


For Allie, that weekend seemed to drag on for ever, slowed by a toxic mix of dread and loneliness. Carter and Lucas were both tied up in Night School, and Katie’s anti-Allie campaign was still underway.

For the first time, she realised how much she’d come to rely on Carter. She rarely saw him, and even when she did there was only time for a quick hug. When she asked him how it was going out there, he said only: ‘It’s intense.’ But his eyes told her everything she needed to know – he was tired. And worried.

She dealt with it all by not dealing with it. She spent most of her time in the library. Next week was the end of the summer term and she had essays to finish and exams to prepare for. In all the excitement of the last couple of weeks, she’d let herself get behind. After all she’d been through this summer, she did not intend to get poor marks.

Rachel was there all day every day so Allie always had someone to work with.

‘Study buddies,’ Rachel liked to say with inappropriate cheer.

But the seeds of doubt Carter planted still lived in Allie’s mind. Did Rachel spread rumours about me? Can I trust her?

Rachel was so supportive and so open and honest about things, it seemed impossible. But Allie knew nothing was impossible.

The librarian’s desk was manned by student volunteers, a fact Rachel observed with raised eyebrows.

‘I guess Eloise is off playing war games,’ she muttered, after the volunteers brought her the wrong book for the third time. ‘I wish she could save it until the term is over.’

‘Did you know Eloise was in …’ Allie gestured vaguely.

Rachel nodded. ‘She’s an old friend of my dad’s. I think he was one of her trainers or something when she was a student. Anyway, Eloise has no secrets from me.’ Closing her book she added, ‘I think, anyway. Who knows any more?’

‘That’s how I feel about everything.’ Allie didn’t meet her eyes.