Night School: Legacy

She said the last words so quietly Allie hardly heard them as she stared at her hands. She felt mutinous. Once again, her safety was being entrusted to other people. Once again, she was powerless. When she glanced up, Isabelle was studying her as if she knew what she was thinking.

‘And you have a role to play, Allie.’ Her voice was gentler now. ‘In London you showed tremendous calmness under pressure. You were innovative and fast. You followed my directions perfectly in a situation where very few people would have been able to do so. Based on that, as well as your vastly improved marks over the summer term, I have recommended that you be accepted into Night School on an accelerated training module.’

Allie was so excited she quit breathing. ‘I … I …’

‘Training this term will focus on self-defence, and you’ll work very closely with people who are highly skilled.’ As Isabelle reached for Allie’s hand the intensity in her eyes was almost frightening. ‘What happened to you in London should never happen again.’





FIVE





Allie hurtled out of Isabelle’s office into the hallway, fairly dancing with excitement. She turned right, then left, then stopped and spun in a circle, giddy.

Carter, she thought. I have to tell Carter.

She ran across the canvas dust sheets thinking about how great things were going to be now. She and Carter could train together. He could give her tips. They could spend loads of time together.

And we won’t have to keep secrets from each other any more.

He wasn’t in the common room. And when she yanked open the dining hall door, the empty room echoed with the ghostly sound of dishes clinking in the unseen kitchen.

As she rounded the corner towards the classroom wing, she barely avoided colliding with Rachel who was coming the other way with an armload of books.

‘Oh hi,’ Rachel said, unruffled as ever. ‘What’s up?’

Allie meant to be cool, to say nothing about her new status. Besides, she was forbidden to talk about Night School. But it all burst out in a tangled rush.

‘I just had a meeting with Isabelle! I’m going to be in Night School! Advanced training module! Have you seen Carter?’

‘Oh.’ Instead of looking happy for her Rachel looked as wounded as if Allie had slapped her. But all she said was, ‘No, I haven’t seen Carter.’ Then she turned and walked away.

For a long second Allie just gaped at her back, then, as if she’d only just realised she could move, she ran after her.

‘Rachel? Hey. Don’t run off like that. I’ve just broken like ninety-seven rules by telling you and you seem …’ Catching up with her, Allie touched her arm. ‘What’s the matter?’

‘I just … I can’t believe after everything that happened over the summer, you want to be part of that.’ Holding the books against her hip, she shoved an errant dark curl out of almond-shaped eyes filled with anger. ‘I thought you were smarter than that.’

‘Hey,’ Allie said, wounded. ‘Ouch, Rach. Don’t be mean. Let’s talk about this.’

‘You think I’m mean?’ Rachel shook her head in despair. ‘I’m trying to save you, Allie. Night School isn’t just a school thing – crazy times to look back on later when we’re old and boring. It’s for life. I’ve seen what it did to my dad, Allie. They own him. This is his whole life for ever. You shouldn’t be a part of it. But if you are …’ She took a step away. ‘Well, I’m not in it, so we can’t talk about it any more. You could get in trouble – a lot of trouble – if you talk about it to me or anybody else who’s not in it.’

Rachel walked away, and this time Allie let her go, glancing to either side as if there were people next to her sharing her bewilderment.

What the hell just happened?

Muttering to herself, she climbed the stairs to the girls’ dorm. As she opened her bedroom door, she was so deep in thought that she didn’t notice the light was already on until she saw something move.

Jumping back, she gave a small scream.

‘Hey,’ Carter said sleepily. ‘Don’t call the cops. It’s just me.’

Still upset about her encounter with Rachel, Allie glared at him, her panicked heart slowly returning to normal speed.

‘What are you doing in here?’ Even though the wing was virtually empty, she lowered her voice to a whisper out of habit; boys weren’t allowed in the girls’ dorm. ‘You scared the crap out of me.’

‘Sorry. I was just waiting for you to get back so we could talk.’ Carter’s dark hair was rumpled and his face was flushed. ‘I guess I dozed off. You were ages.’

‘Yeah, well, first I had to talk to Isabelle and then Rachel was pissed off with me.’ Her voice sounded more snappish than she intended but she couldn’t seem to stop it. ‘That stuff takes time.’

‘Rachel was pissed off?’ Carter cocked his head to one side. ‘What happened?’

Without thinking, Allie launched into her account of their encounter in the hallway. ‘I told her I was going to be in Night School and she ranted at me about how it would ruin my life and I was stupid and it was evil … What’s the matter?’