Night School

‘After Jo … you know. Lucas didn’t seem surprised.’


‘Yeah, well. He wasn’t,’ Rachel said dryly.

‘But why is everybody – why is Lucas – still her friend?’

‘You’ve met her,’ Rachel said. ‘Ninety-nine per cent of the time she’s the sweetest, kindest girl you’ve ever met. People forgive her the one per cent. Besides, she’s one of them.’

‘One of them?’ Allie asked.

‘You know, her family’s wealthy, her parents went to school here, some of them knew her when she was little. She’s Cimmeria all the way,’ Rachel said.

As Allie sat still for a moment, thinking, a somewhat horrible thought occurred to her.

‘What do you know about me?’

Rachel looked doubtful. ‘Are you sure you want to know?’

Allie nodded. ‘I can take it.’

Obviously uncomfortable, Rachel thought carefully before answering.

‘OK, I know very little about you and I consider what I do know to be unsubstantiated.’ She paused, looking apologetic. ‘But here goes. The name Sheridan is unfamiliar to everybody, so you’re not legacy unless it’s on your mum’s side. You’re an only child as far as everyone knows. Your parents have government jobs of some sort. You grew up in south London. You have a criminal record. Your parents sent you here as punishment. You’re on scholarship. You found Ruth’s body.’

Allie swallowed hard. When it was all reeled off like that …

‘God, I sound like such a loser.’

‘Hey, I didn’t mean it that way.’ Rachel looked worried. ‘I don’t really know much about you. I don’t think you’re a loser.’

Allie considered this, then shot Rachel a challenging look.

‘What about you?’

‘What about me … what?’ Rachel said, puzzled.

‘Tell me the gossip about you.’

Rachel smiled. ‘Fair enough. OK. Let’s see. Rachel Patel, daughter of Rajesh and Linda Patel. Born in Leeds. Father Asian, mother not. Father was a scholarship student at Cimmeria, now an international security expert; works for a couple of governments. Top secret stuff. On the Cimmeria Board – very influential. Rachel has one sister, Minal, who is twelve. Rachel’s mother has two PhDs – overkill if you ask me – and runs a private medical research firm not far from here, where the family has a palatial home on several acres. Rachel has perfect scores in most things, especially science, and wants to be a doctor when she grows up. OK?’

Allie smiled, but her eyes were serious. ‘OK.’

They were even.

Jo didn’t show up in biology Monday morning.

Unable to handle not knowing what was going on, Allie stayed after class to ask Jerry where she was.

‘Jo broke The Rules quite seriously, as you know, Allie.’ He took off his wire-framed glasses. ‘So she’s been given what we call in-house suspension as punishment.’

‘What’s that?’ Allie asked.

He wiped the lenses with a clean white handkerchief. ‘It means, once she’s released from the infirmary, she must stay in her room. Her meals and classwork will be brought to her there, but she cannot take part in any normal activities.’

Allie twisted the hem of her white shirt around her fingers as she considered his words. ‘How long will she be … suspended?’

Jerry perched his glasses back on his nose. ‘Just a week, as long as she abides by the restrictions, keeps up with her work and doesn’t break any more rules.’

‘Am I allowed to see her?’

He shook his head. ‘No contact, I’m afraid, Allie. She is meant to use this time in isolation to reflect and study.’

Allie stared at the floor while he spoke but then she looked up at him, her face filled with concern. ‘Is she better? She wasn’t … you know … her normal self yesterday.’

Behind the sparkling lenses his brown eyes were kind. ‘I’m afraid I haven’t seen her. Ask Eloise or Isabelle – they’re overseeing her punishment. But I’m sure she’s fine.’

Allie nodded. ‘Thanks Jerry.’

So, Jo is busted but not expelled, Allie thought as she walked down the hallway. Lucas was right.

She wondered if Jo was still crazy or whether she was back to normal, and then felt disloyal for wondering. But she couldn’t pretend that what happened the day before had not made her doubt whether she really knew Jo after all.

Talking to Jerry had nearly made her late for English, and when she walked in, most students were already in their seats. She sat down next to Carter, who was doodling on a corner of his notebook.

‘Hey.’

‘Hey back.’ He looked up to smile at her for a second, then returned to his drawing.

‘Where have you been?’ Allie asked, pulling books out of her bag. ‘I haven’t seen you since yesterday morning.’

He gave her a significant look. ‘You know. Stuff.’

She raised her eyebrows but let it slide.

‘Jerry says Jo’s under house arrest for a week,’ she said, flipping through the pages of her book.