Alice Next Door (4 page)

Chapter seven

I
t was strange going back to school on Monday. Everything was just like before, and it was kind of like the weekend had never happened. I wanted to tell someone about my trip to Dublin, but the only person I could think of was Miss O’Herlihy, and telling the teacher was too sad for words. So I didn’t tell anyone.

Melissa had sprained her arm on Saturday, and everyone was fussing over her so much that she
didn’t get a chance to tease me about the petition. Fingers crossed, I thought, with any luck she’ll forget about it altogether.

And so a few weeks went by, boring, just like before. As usual, Alice e-mailed me every few days. I wanted to send her a message every day but Mum wouldn’t let me. She said that would make me seem desperate. I was desperate of course, but I couldn’t tell Mum that. She’d only have started one of those serious talks I hated. And I couldn’t sneak a message without Mum knowing because she won’t tell me the password for the computer. She thinks the Internet is a dangerous place for kids. When she said that, Dad said the world is a dangerous place anyway and why not just lock me up in an ivory tower altogether and be done with it. Then Mum gave Dad one of her not-in-front-of-the-children looks and that was the end of that.

Alice and I took turns to phone each other on
Saturdays. I never had much to say. Alice always had lots. She was making friends. She mentioned Janine a few times. Even though I was glad for Alice, I couldn’t help feeling a bit jealous too. Sometimes she mentioned her secret plan, but I pretended not to be interested, even though I was dying with curiosity.

Then, just before Halloween, I got the e-mail I was waiting for.

Those sixteen days were very long. It felt more like sixteen hundred days. Every night I crossed off another day on the calendar over my desk in my bedroom. Mum said that wouldn’t make them go any faster, and she was right, but I
continued
anyway. I hadn’t anything else to do.

At last it was the Friday of mid-term. I was so happy, I felt like shouting and screaming and
dancing out of school. (Of course I didn’t do it. Melissa and her buddies would never ever let me forget something like that.) Even so, I found myself giving an odd little skip every now and then as I walked home.

When I got home I changed out of my
uniform
, and hung it in the wardrobe, shoving it right to the back. After all, I wouldn’t be wearing it again for ten more wonderful, happy,
Melissa-free
days. I put on my best jeans and the top Mum bought me on the day Alice had left. Then I sat in my room and waited. I tried to read my new Jacqueline Wilson book, but I couldn’t
concentrate
. I was reading the words and turning the pages, but I had no idea what was happening in the story.

It was a long wait. It was nearly six o’clock before I heard Alice’s dad’s car stopping outside. I ran out to the front door. Alice was just getting out of the car. I hadn’t seen her for five whole weeks. She looked just the same. She had a new
denim jacket, and great new jeans.

‘Meg!’ she shouted, when she saw me, and she ran over to me. We even hugged.

Her dad smiled. ‘Oh, hello, Megan. I see you two are glad to see each other. Would you like to come inside with Alice for a while?’

I knew Mum would give out to me later for ‘invading their privacy’, but I didn’t care.

‘I’d love to thanks,’ I said. Alice put her arm around me and we went inside.

It was funny being in her house again. I’d spent half my life there before, but hadn’t been in there since Al had left. It was tidy, but it was very cold. Al’s dad went upstairs with her bag, and Al and I went into the family room. All of Al’s books were still on the shelf, and Jamie’s toys were in the corner where they always used to be. They used to have a fancy black and white family photograph hanging over the fireplace, but it was gone.

I sat on the beanbag, and Al lay on the leather
couch. With her shoes on. She noticed me
looking
at her feet.

‘That’s one of the good things about being from a broken home. There’s different rules. Mum would kill me for putting my feet on the couch, but Dad doesn’t care. And in Dublin, I can leave doors open, and lights on, because they’re the things Dad hates, so Mum just lets me do them. She doesn’t care, as long as I don’t mess the place up, or make too much noise.’

I laughed. Even being in the same room as Al again made me feel good. There were loads of things I wanted to tell her, but first there was the one big thing I had to ask. I took a deep breath. ‘Come on, Al. Now’s the time. What’s your secret plan? How are you going to get us back together again?’

She looked towards the door, and whispered. ‘I’m not going back to Dublin on Monday.’

I was so delighted that I forgot all about the plan. ‘Hey, that’s great. Are you staying for the
whole week?Your dad must be pleased. But how did you get your mum to change her mind?’

Al put on one of the mysterious looks that I knew so well.

‘She didn’t change her mind. That’s the plan. She thinks I’m going back, but I’m not.’

Alice was my best friend, but even I had to admit that she sometimes had crazy ideas. She kind of got all excited, and forgot that she was living in the real world, not a nice, easy,
storybook
kind of world. She always thought life could be like the movies.

I looked at her. She was lying back on the couch, like she was all relaxed, but her eyes had that wild, crazy kind of sparkle, that always made me a little bit afraid.

I had to ask. ‘But won’t your dad just make you go back?’

She smiled. ‘Well, actually, he won’t know
anything
about it.’

I tried not to sound too suspicious. ‘How
exactly are you going to fix that?’

She gave me a big grin. ‘Easy. You’re going to help me.’

I smiled nervously. Nothing was ever as easy as Alice thought it would be. Still though, I didn’t really care. It was great to have her back, and if she had a way to stay for longer than three days, I was all for it.

Just then, the doorbell rang. It was Rosie,
looking
all cute in her dalmatian dressing-gown and pink furry slippers.

‘Meggy. Home,’ she said, looking very pleased with herself.

I sighed. ‘Sorry, Al. I know there’s no point arguing with Mum. I have to go. And I know she won’t let me back after tea. She’ll just say you need “quality time” with your dad. I know she won’t let me out again. Will your dad let you call over do you think?’

She grimaced. ‘I don’t think so. He wants us to have pizza together. And I’m really starting to
hate pizza. And he’s rented a movie. I saw it ages ago, with Mum, but I can’t tell him that, can I? I’ll have to see you in the morning.’

Just then her dad appeared in the hall, so I couldn’t ask any more about Al’s big plan. She was probably very pleased about that. She loved dragging things out, keeping me in suspense.

Her dad had the phone in his hand. ‘Sorry for interrupting girls, I’m just going to order the pizza. Pepperoni for you, Alice?’

Alice made a face behind his back, and put her finger in her mouth, pretending to be sick. ‘Sounds great,’ she said. ‘Just what I want.’

I had to run out the door so her dad wouldn’t see me laughing. I just gave a little wave, behind my back, and went home to my organic pasta.

Chapter eight

N
ext morning I woke real early, and I got dressed straightaway. No point though, because of course Mum wouldn’t let me go next door. She was afraid Alice and her dad wouldn’t be up yet.

She suggested what she thought was a great idea.

‘Why don’t you do all your jobs now, so later, when Alice is up, you’ll be free to play with her?’

(I was twelve years old. Didn’t she know that twelve-year-olds don’t play? Twelve-year-olds just hang out.)

So I spent an hour hoovering, and dusting, and helping Mum clean out the utility room. Every now and then I had a little grumble.

‘No one else has to do as many jobs as I do. Melissa doesn’t do a single thing.’

Mum had her usual answer. ‘Well, I’m not Melissa’s mum, am I? I can’t help it if she’s allowed to be a spoiled brat. And anyway, since when do you care about Melissa?’

I shrugged. ‘I don’t. It’s just that I seem to do more jobs than anyone I know. It’s not fair.’

Mum put on her serious voice then. ‘I know love. It doesn’t seem fair. But I don’t want you thinking that the house tidies itself. It doesn’t, you know. I have so much to do, and if you don’t help, I’ll never get through it.’

I looked at her. She did look a bit tired. So I worked even harder, jumping whenever she
asked me to bring something upstairs, or to put something in the bin. By half past nine, the house looked perfect to me.

Mum sighed. ‘Now for the hall cupboard.’

I groaned and Mum gave a big laugh. ‘Just
kidding
. The hall cupboard will wait. You go and call for Alice.’

She gave me a hug, and a kiss on the cheek. ‘And thanks for all your help.’ I pretended to wipe the kiss away with the sleeve of my fleece, but I was pleased.

Alice opened the door as I approached her doorstep, as if she’d been waiting for me. ‘At last. I’ve been up for hours. Dad wouldn’t let me over. He said it was too early.’

‘Yeah. Me too. And I’ve had to do loads of jobs for Mum. You’d think the president was coming to visit.’

‘Well, it was worse for me. After breakfast, Dad made me look at old photographs with him. And he got all sad whenever he came to ones of
the four of us. His voice kept going all funny, and I thought he was going to cry.’

‘Oh no. Gross! What did you do?’

She giggled. ‘I gave him a speech I heard on telly last week. I said I wanted to be positive, and look ahead, and all that old stuff. So we played Boggle instead. It was boring, but it was worth it. It’s awful you know. Mum and Dad are the grown-ups, but I spend all my time minding them, as if they were the children. I have to be careful all the time. If I’m happy, it’s as if I don’t care that they’ve separated. And if I’m sad, they go all guilty on me.’

For the first time, I had kind of an idea what it must be like for her.

‘Oh, I’m sorry, Al. Is it awful?’

She nodded. Then she brightened suddenly. ‘Come on upstairs. We have to talk.’

We went upstairs to her bedroom. It was really untidy, as usual, with clothes strewn everywhere. Around her bedhead there was a string of pale
pink flowery lights. They looked really cool.

Alice saw me looking at them. ‘Dad got them for me. He keeps buying me stuff. It’s the guilt thing again. I’d prefer if things were back the way they used to be though. I could live without these lights.’

I felt the petals. They were made of a
shimmery
, pearly kind of plastic, and were really pretty. Like something in a rich kid’s house.

‘You can borrow them if you like – when I’m not here,’ offered Alice.

I sighed. ‘Thanks, but no thanks. You know what my mum’s like. She’d just say they were a waste of electricity, so she wouldn’t let me plug them in. There’d be no point.’

Alice imitated my mum’s voice. ‘Girls, don’t you know anything about global warming?What do they teach you at school these days?’

I giggled. Alice was a very good mimic.

I sat on her new blow-up chair. ‘Now. I’m fed up of waiting. Tell me your plan.’

Alice threw herself onto her bed, and
wriggled
in excitement. ‘It’s one of my best. It’s a classic. Simple, but effective.’

She looked at me intently. ‘Simple is always the best. Then there’s less to go wrong.’

I was impatient. ‘Cut the waffle, and tell me. What’s your plan?’

She smiled. ‘Well, you see, I’m going to
pretend
to go back to Dublin, but I won’t. Dad will think I’m with Mum, and Mum will think I’m with Dad. Like I said, it’s simple. They’ll ….’

I interrupted her. ‘Yeah, but if you’re not with your mum, and not with your dad, where exactly
will
you be?’

‘That’s the great part. I’ll be staying in your house.’

My heart sank. Here was the big flaw I’d been afraid of. This plan could never work. I decided it was best to tell Alice now, before she got too excited. ‘Sounds like fun, but my mum and dad will never agree to let you stay. Not if your
parents don’t know. You know how parents always stick together. It’s like they have some secret code of honour or something.’

Alice laughed. ‘That’s the best thing of all. That’s what makes this plan so brilliant. Your mum won’t know I’m there. I’ll be in hiding. I’ll be like a hostage. I’ll sneak into your room, and no one will know, except for us.’

Already I could see all kinds of problems, but then I suppose that was the difference between me and Alice. I always saw problems where she saw opportunities. ‘How long do you think we’ll get away with this? Until you’re eighteen?’

Alice shook her head impatiently. ‘Of course not. I’m not a complete dork you know! Dad will go up to Dublin on Friday to visit me, and I won’t be there.’

That sounded like real trouble. ‘They’ll go crazy.’

Alice was unconcerned. ‘Well, I suppose they’ll panic a bit. That’s the whole point.’

‘And then?’

‘And then, before they get really scared, and before they get time to call the guards, I’ll ring and tell them I’m safe, and they’ll be all happy and relieved.’

I thought I could see where all this was
leading
. ‘And then they’ll get back together, and the four of you can live happily ever after? I’m sorry Al, but I don’t think it’ll be that easy. I think you’ve watched
The Parent Trap
once too often.’

Alice shook her head. ‘Did I mention the fact that I’m not a complete dork? I know that won’t happen. That would never happen. But if Mum finally sees how upset I am about the move, she might just feel sorry enough for me to move back to Limerick. It’s not like she’s got a job or anything in Dublin. She could easily come back here. She could move into one of the new apartments around the corner, and I could go back and forth between her and Dad whenever I liked. It could be almost as good as before. Maybe even better. I wouldn’t have to listen to Mum and Dad fighting
all the time. And I could go back to school with you. And we could do stuff after school. It would be the best thing ever.’

She gave me a huge smile, and all of a sudden the whole thing seemed wonderful, and fantastic and not at all impossible.