Night School

‘Here you go, Bob,’ Carter said, handing the rakes to Mr Ellison.

‘Thanks. You in trouble again, Carter?’

‘Always.’

Mr Ellison had a deep chuckle that Allie liked instantly. She smiled up at him, and stuck her hands into her pockets.

‘I hope we did an OK job, Mr Ellison.’

He smiled at her kindly. ‘It looks great, Miss Sheridan. Thanks for your help.’

As they walked down the path he called after them, ‘Don’t let Carter get you into any more trouble.’

Without waiting for her, Carter strode across the churchyard and then out the gate.

Briefly Allie wondered whether she should try and catch up with him, but she decided against it. Instead she walked at a leisurely pace hoping he’d get far ahead of her.

A few minutes later, though, as she rounded a bend he was standing on the path, kicking a stone. Avoiding his eyes she walked past him quickly, without a word.

‘Allie, wait!’ She could hear him running to catch up with her, but she didn’t turn around. When he reached her he began walking alongside her, backwards so that he could see her face.

‘Here’s the thing,’ he said, ‘I seem to have behaved like an arse again.’

‘No worries,’ she said coolly. ‘At least you’re consistent.’

She was surprised to hear him laugh.

‘OK, I deserve that. I’m sorry I snapped at you. I’m just really sensitive about … some things.’ His eyes darkened and he kicked a rock off the path.

Allie thought about Christopher and how sensitive she’d been about his disappearance.

‘It’s cool,’ she said. ‘I’m over it.’

‘You sure?’ he said.

‘Totally.’

Clearly satisfied, he turned around and walked beside her.

‘Have you recovered from last night, then?’ he asked.

She looked over at him, surprised. ‘How do you know about last night?’

‘Nobody has any secrets at Cimmeria,’ he said. ‘I heard Jo got hurt running in the dark.’

Allie wondered how honest she should be. She wanted to talk about it with somebody, but she was afraid Carter would make fun of her.

‘It was scary,’ she admitted.

‘What exactly did you see?’

‘Nothing,’ she said. ‘I mean, it was too dark. We just heard …’

She didn’t know how to explain it.

‘What did you hear?’ His dark eyes were hard to read.

‘I heard something growl,’ she admitted, ‘like a dog. But I heard footsteps, too. The human kind.’

‘What do you think it could have been?’ she asked. ‘I mean, do people have dogs here? Like teachers or … staff?’

‘No dogs,’ he said shortly.

‘Well, somebody has a dog,’ she muttered. ‘Or somebody growls.’

He stopped so suddenly she nearly tripped into him.

‘Honestly?’ he said. ‘I think it was some of the guys teasing you. Trying to scare you.’

For some reason she hadn’t expected that.

‘Why?’ she asked. ‘That’s stupid.’

‘Because they’re childish,’ he said. ‘And bored. And you’re new. They did it for fun.’

The idea that a gang of boys would make fun of her did seem plausible. And it hurt, though she tried not to show it. As they walked down the path she stared at her feet, swallowing hard. But something about his explanation didn’t ring true. Because what about Jo? She’d been there, too.

As she thought it through, she decided there were only two possibilities. Either the incident had been an elaborate hoax, in which Gabe and Sylvain had both participated. Or Carter was lying to her.

She glanced up at him from under her eyelashes – he was staring straight ahead.

‘You know, Gabe and Sylvain rescued us,’ she said casually. ‘Were they in on it?’

Carter’s mood darkened. ‘Oh, they rescued you, huh? How heroic.’ He turned to look at her. ‘What’s going on between you and Sylvain, anyway? You’ve only been here a few days, but I hear he’s already staking a claim.’

She couldn’t resist rising to the bait.

‘That’s ridiculous. Nobody’s claiming anybody. Sylvain’s just been nice to me. He seems like a nice guy.’

‘Sylvain? Nice?’ Carter scoffed. ‘I doubt that very seriously.’

She glared at him. ‘You know what? Sylvain has been nothing but nice to me since I got here. Unlike just about everybody else.’

Grabbing her arm, he turned her to face him. ‘Just … be careful, Allie. Things aren’t as straightforward in here as they are out there.’

His expression was intense and he looked sincere, but she yanked her arm loose angrily. Before she could reply she heard Sylvain’s silken voice.

‘Allie. There you are. I was just coming to find you.’

He appeared out of the shadows, walking down the path from the school. Carter gave her a warning look and she shot him a glare.

‘Carter. Of course. I should have known you’d have detention today. You always do.’ Sylvain’s tone was light and joking, but there was something serious underlying his words.