Alice Next Door (10 page)

M
uch, much later I heard Dad coming in from work. I heard Mum talking to him in the hall, and then they went in to the family room. They were there for ages. Dad probably wanted to watch a match on television, but I
figured
Mum wouldn’t have let him. I knew they were talking about me.

After the longest time, there was a knock on my bedroom door. It was Mum, Dad, and Rosie.
Great, I thought, a family conference.
Subject
:
How long should Megan be grounded for? All offers over thirty years will be considered.

I sat on the edge of my bed, and Mum and Dad sat on either side of me. Did they think I was going to make a run for it? Where would I go? Was I going to escape to Dublin and hide under Alice’s bed until I was old enough to go to college? Hardly.

Rosie sat on the floor and started to play with my jewellery box. She emptied it out onto the carpet. I didn’t care. I had more to worry about than my necklaces getting tangled or my earrings getting lost.

Mum spoke first. ‘Have you anything to say, Megan?’

I hated that. Surely she’d discovered that tactic in one of those parenting books she was forever reading. I always felt it put me at a disadvantage in our discussions.

I decided to be brief.

‘I’m sorry, Mum. Sorry, Dad.’

Dad looked me in the eye. ‘Sorry? Is that it?’

I spoke again. ‘Well, what else do you want me to say? I am sorry. Sort of. Can’t you see? I only did it because I miss Alice so much. And she misses me. It’s not fair. She should be here. Not in some stupid old apartment in Dublin. She belongs here, and all we want is for her to come back. Is that so bad?’

Mum spoke softly. ‘Of course that’s not bad. But you can’t get involved. You can’t change people’s lives. It was a very silly thing to do. Her parents might have panicked. The guards could have been involved. It might have been a lot more serious than it was.’

Dad joined in. ‘Her parents have to live their lives, and even though it makes you sad, there’s not a lot you can do. It’s tough, but sometimes kids just have to grin and bear it. That’s just the way life is. You’ll understand better when you’re older.’

Mum and Dad had a lot to say. An awful lot. And it took them an awful long time to say it. There was a lot of talk about responsibility, and maturity and that kind of stuff. They weren’t really cross, though. And they never raised their voices.

But after twenty minutes of meaningful
discussion
, I was bored out of my mind. In fact I was beginning to think that I’d prefer to be shouted at for five minutes, and given a proper punishment, and get it over with.

In the end, Mum and Dad decided that as a punishment I’d have to empty the dishwasher every day for a week, and vacuum the whole house every three days for a month. I looked at them in surprise. That wasn’t much of a punishment. I did those jobs most of the time anyway. And more besides.

Mum and Dad stood up. Dad patted me on the shoulder, and said, ‘Don’t worry, Meggie.’

Mum gave me an intense kind of look. ‘Sometimes you have to be seen to do something,’ she said. Then they went out.

I puzzled over her words for a while, before a light went on in my brain and I knew what she meant. Mum and Dad needed to be able to say that I’d been punished, just in case they met any of Alice’s family, and were asked how they’d dealt with the situation.

I smiled to myself. Maybe they weren’t the worst parents in the world after all. OK, so in an ideal world, I’d have preferred ones who were a
bit more generous with the chocolate and the electronic toys, and a bit less keen on vegetables and household chores, but I suppose you can’t have everything.

After that we had dinner together. It was chicken with pasta, my favourite. As I ate, I found I was a little relieved that I wouldn’t have to sneak back into my room afterwards to
organise
Alice’s noodles. I was glad I wouldn’t have to spend twenty minutes climbing in and out of the bathroom window. I was looking forward to just chilling out on the couch and watching TV with Mum and Dad and Rosie.

And then I felt really, really guilty.

Before bed, I asked Mum if I could check my e-mails. She nodded. ‘OK, love, but don’t be too disappointed if there’s none from Alice. Her Mum is really very cross with her. She might not be in a position to be e-mailing anyone.’

Mum was wrong though. There was a message. A big, long one.

It was late, so I just sent her a short reply

I wasn’t sure about the last line. Maybe it was a bit OTT. But then I decided to leave it in. Alice and I had been through a lot in the past few days. I knew she’d understand.

I shut down the computer, and went to bed. Mum came in to kiss me. She even joked about Alice. ‘Do I need to check under the bed tonight? Anyone else in the room, besides you?’ she asked.

I shook my head. ‘Just me, I promise.’

Mum hugged me, and then put out the light.

It had been a very long day.

I
t’s the day after Christmas Day.

Soon Alice will be arriving to stay with her dad for ten long, lovely days. Her mum is going to Lanzarote, for a break. My mum laughed when she heard that, and said that it must be nice to need a break from bridge and tennis and going to the beautician’s, but then she realised that I was listening so she didn’t say any more. It
wasn’t a mean laugh though, and I didn’t mind.

I’d better go back and give a quick account of what happened next.

Going back to school after mid-term was nearly as bad as September had been. But then, over the next few weeks, things started to improve. One day I noticed that Grace and Louise, two of Melissa’s friends, didn’t seem to be talking to her. I wondered why, but of course I didn’t ask them. That night I e-mailed Alice to tell her. She replied that it was probably because they didn’t curtsey low enough when they were talking to her. Then I e-mailed back and said that they probably forgot to admire her hair, or her new coat or something. Anyway, I didn’t care what they were fighting about, it was nice to know that that there existed two more people who understood that Melissa wasn’t the most wonderful creature on this earth.

Next day, Miss O’Herlihy decided to move our places in class again. She put Melissa next to
Jane, and everyone laughed. Melissa looked really, really mad, but couldn’t say anything because Miss O’Herlihy had her very cross face on. Jane just sat up straight, and said nothing. I felt kind of sorry for her. (Not sorry enough to want to sit with her again though.)

Then Miss O’Herlihy put me next to Louise. I would have hated that before, but it turned out that Louise was really quite nice. At break-time she shared her crisps with me. And when I told her a joke, she laughed like she really thought it was funny.

A few days later, we were told to divide into three for history projects. Louise suggested that Grace, me and her would go together. I was delighted, but tried to look cool, like it was no big deal. We decided to do our project on the Vikings. We worked on it for two weeks. Grace and Louise came to my house most days after school, and we looked stuff up on the Internet. Mum made us celery and carrot sticks, and
Grace and Louise were really nice and didn’t laugh once.

When the project was finished we all went to Grace’s house for a pizza, to celebrate. It was fun.

At first, I didn’t know what to say to Alice about my new friends. I didn’t want her to be jealous. I didn’t want her to think that I had
already
forgotten about her.

I needn’t have worried though. She thought it was great that I wasn’t on my own any more. She said that made her feel better about making new friends in Dublin.

One weekend when she was staying with her dad, Alice asked Grace, Louise and me over for an evening. We watched a video, and played
basketball
, and just did girlie kind of stuff. It was great.

That Sunday, when she was leaving to go back to Dublin, I felt extra bad. I told her so.

She gave a big laugh. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. I’m invited to a sleepover in Dublin on Friday, and on Saturday a few of us are going to the
pictures in the afternoon. I’ll miss you. But I’ll get over it.’

I laughed too.

She gave me a quick hug. ‘And I’ll see you the week after next.’

As her dad drove her away, I forgot even to feel sad.

So there it is.

I hope that even when I’m a grown-up, Alice will bemy very best friend. Grace and Louise are nice, but they’ll never replace Alice. We’ve decided that we both want to go to college together, and we’re going to share a flat. Alice says she’ll live with me forever as long as I
promise
not to feed her with dried noodles. I agreed, but made her promise to do something about her snoring.

Alice says she probably won’t get married, after seeing how her parents turned out, but if ever she changes her mind, then she’d like me to
be her bridesmaid.

I hope Alice and I will be very best friends when we’re ninety, and shuffling round a nursing home in baggy brown cardigans and furry
slippers
, talking about hearing aids and walking sticks and stuff.

But in the meantime, I’m having fun.