Night School

‘GoGoGo!’ Jo whispered, and they ran recklessly into the night, reaching out for each other until all three held hands.

By the time they reached the treeline, Jo and Lisa were winded, and they stopped for a moment to catch their breath. Allie was anxious – they were still too close to the school.

‘Which way from here?’ she hissed. Jo nodded towards the right, and Allie motioned for them to move. They continued on at a slower pace.

At first, the woods were almost completely silent, but gradually Allie began to notice rustling noises and the sound of snapping twigs. Reaching out for Jo, she squeezed her hand and nodded in the direction of the sounds. She could see Jo’s white teeth in the darkness as she smiled.

‘The others,’ she whispered.

As they put distance between themselves and the school, people were less careful, and soon they could hear other sounds: muffled giggles, occasional whispered oaths as somebody tripped, fake bird calls followed by more smothered laughter. Allie felt the tension between her shoulder blades begin to ease.

Jo stopped so suddenly that Allie and Lisa nearly tripped over her.

‘We’re here,’ she whispered, and disappeared behind a shrub. Peering around in the darkness Allie couldn’t see a pond – just trees and brush. But she and Lisa followed Jo into a hiding spot.

‘Why are we hiding?’ Lisa whispered.

‘Nobody can know who’s here until midnight,’ Jo said. ‘It’s tradition.’

‘How do you know all this?’ Allie asked.

‘My brother told me all about it when he was here,’ Jo explained.

Jo had a watch with a glow-in-the-dark dial, and the three stood looking at it as the minute hand moved inexorably to midnight.

‘Where’s Ruth?’ Allie asked.

Jo held out her empty hands. ‘She was supposed to meet us either in the school or along the way, so I presume she’s here already somewhere.’ She checked the watch.

‘Nearly,’ she whispered, grinning widely. ‘Get ready.’

Allie could feel Lisa trembling. She longed to comfort her but she was too scared herself. She took a deep breath and looked out towards where she presumed the pond must be.

Am I really going to do this? I mean, who skinny-dips anyway? Isn’t that something that only happens in films?

At that moment, a deep male voice rang out in the silence making her jump. ‘It’s time, kids. Drop trou.’

As Allie and Lisa hesitated, Jo started undoing her shorts, but when she saw that they hadn’t moved she paused and gave them a warning look.

‘You may as well,’ she said. ‘At this point, it would be worse going back without doing it.’

Lisa and Allie exchanged a look of dread. ‘I will if you will,’ Lisa said finally.

Allie could now hear people splashing into water and screaming with laughter. She sighed heavily.

‘Oh, what the hell.’ As she pulled down her tracksuit bottoms, Jo cheered and ripped off her shorts. In seconds they were all naked. Lisa and Allie crossed their arms protectively across their breasts, but Jo grabbed their hands.

‘If you’re going to do it, do it proudly,’ she said, pulling them out onto the path.

In the dark, Allie saw only flashes of skin as people jumped into and out of a pond she couldn’t quite make out in the gloom.

‘On three,’ Jo said, giggling. ‘One. Two …’

They leapt into the dark water, hitting with an icy splash. Allie, who could only barely see the pond in the black night, heard the loud shrieks of laughter around her muffled into silence as she sank below the surface. She was surprised by how deep it was – she’d never been a strong swimmer. As she splashed towards the surface a sudden flash memory came to her: a hot sunny day. She was seven, and Christopher was teasing her for sinking like a stone in the pool. ‘You run like a rabbit, but you also swim like a rabbit …’ he’d laughed while she paddled wildly.

When she came up for air now, sputtering and shivering, she couldn’t see Jo or Lisa anywhere.

‘Jo?’

How had she lost them in seconds? But the pond was crowded with laughing students – none of whom looked familiar. As she thrashed in the cold water looking for a familiar face, Allie grew increasingly panicked. She was alone and naked in a lake full of strangers. Hot tears of fear and shame burned her eyes. Suddenly she realised she was struggling to breathe. She hadn’t had a panic attack in weeks, but now she wheezed three laboured breaths in a row as she fought to stay afloat.

I can’t … breathe …

She went under for just a second, and kicked hard to find the surface again. Under the water, somebody’s foot hit her shin hard and pain shot through her leg. She didn’t cry out – she didn’t have enough air left.