Allie thought she might have broken through the hate wall surrounding the Jackie O’s last night, but the love fizzled as soon as Shira put the kibosh on their plan to get Sheryl Ho-bag booted out of the Academy. And so Allie was back to being lonely. She was heartbroken over Darwin and exhausted by the Alphas ostracizing her, but the person she missed the most was Charlie. Breaking up with a friend like Charlie and a guy like Darwin were painful reminders of losing her best friend, Trina, and her boyfriend, Fletcher, at the same time. It wasn’t fair—why did Allie’s breakups always come in twos? How was she supposed to get over a boy when she didn’t have a friend to tell her she could do better?
The sound of footsteps reached her over the shrieking of the macaw—probably just Thalia, wanting to pass along some more corny words of wisdom. Allie picked up her French homework and pretended to study.
But when Allie looked up from her verb translations, the person standing in front of her wasn’t Thalia but Charlie. Allie’s heart leapt, then cowered. She reached for her bottle of Purell, her default security gesture. When in doubt, at least she could kill germs.
“Hi,” Charlie said.
“Hi,” Allie answered nervously. Was Charlie here to remind Allie (like she could possibly forget!) what a lying loser she was?
“I wanted to ask you why,” Charlie said flatly. She squinted up at the sliver of moon high in the sky, barely illuminating Alpha Island, giving the place an air of mystery.
“Why what?” Allie squeaked. Was this a trap?
“Why you did it. Why you came here…. Why you lied.”
Charlie sat down next to Allie, moving some of her books aside to make room. Allie didn’t have any more to lose, so she decided to tell Charlie the truth.
She took a deep breath and started at the beginning. “I had this friend. Trina Turnbull. She and I were best friends from way back, since we were five or six years old. We played Bratz dolls together, baked cookies together. She got me through my boring childhood.”
Allie paused, worrying she was already boring Charlie silly, but Charlie had a faraway, bemused expression.
“Sounds great,” she said, nodding at Allie to go on.
“It was, I guess. It was fine. Anyway, my first real boyfriend, Fletcher—we were totally into each other. At least I thought we were. And Trina hung out with us all the time.” Allie paused to check on Charlie again. She hadn’t talked this much in days. Again, Charlie nodded at her to go on.
“She never acted jealous or anything. Maybe she was on the inside, but I didn’t suspect a thing. I thought I had the perfect life. A great best friend, a cute new boyfriend…”
“So what happened?” Charlie asked.
“One day, the three of us went to Disneyland. Fletcher and Trina kissed. They were sitting right next to me on a ride. We went through a tunnel. It was…” Allie’s eyes searched the rustling palm trees as she tried to find the right words.
Charlie waited patiently for Allie to continue.
“It was devastating. I lost them both at the same time. Everything I thought I had, I didn’t have anymore.”
“I know how it feels to be that low,” murmured Charlie, her voice hoarse.
“Right. It sucks. And that’s when I got the letter for Allie J. It seemed like a chance to…” Allie’s dark blue eyes met Charlie’s brown ones. “It seemed like my chance to finally be special. To escape and start over. To stand on my own two feet.”
A few tears slid down Allie’s cheeks and she wiped them away. She looked over at Charlie, who was staring straight ahead through the scrim of jungle plants to the flat horizon beyond. What a relief to finally tell someone about this, Allie thought. It felt as if the whole memory was floating away as it spilled out of her.
“I don’t blame you for what you did,” Charlie finally said. She turned her head and Allie was surprised to see that Charlie’s eyes were glassy with tears, too. “I can relate, actually.” Charlie sighed and leaned back on the chaise, staring up at the moon. “And it’s amazing that you pulled it off for as long as you did.”
“What do you mean, you can relate?” Allie asked. How could Charlie possibly relate?
“Oh,” Charlie laughed, “you’d be surprised how much we have in common. You really want to know?”
“Um, yes?!” She pulled her sweatshirt over her knees and curled up on the chaise. She remembered something else Mrs. Wilson taught her in seventh-grade bio: that females responded chemically to sharing their lives with each other. Gabbing with girlfriends released oxytocin, which was like a happiness hormone. Maybe oxytocin was why she felt so calm confessing everything to Charlie.
“I didn’t get into Alphas by receiving a letter,” Charlie said ruefully. A pained smile flitted across her face like a firefly’s glow, flashing once and disappearing.
“I know,” Allie reminded her. “You were already here with Shira while this place was being built. It must have been amazing.”
“Well, yeah, it would have been amazing, except Shira wasn’t going to let me attend once the school was completed.”
“What?” Allie was appalled. Why would AJ get in and not Charlie? Did Shira base admissions on fame alone? “But you’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met!”
“Shira doesn’t think so. She wasn’t going to let me in, even when my mom left her job to avoid the conflict of interest. She made me give up the only other person who really cared about me.” Charlie’s voice shook, and she looked up at Allie.
“Who?” Allie asked, not getting it. And then it hit her. “Oh.” Darwin.
So that was why Charlie always seemed so wise and so sad. She’d given up her mother and her boyfriend, all for the chance to shine for Shira. Allie shivered in the night air as she wondered whether or not it was worth it.
“You can’t tell anyone. If it ever got out, Shira would expel me. And if that happens, all of it will have been for nothing.”
“I know what that feels like,” said Allie, looking at Charlie with new respect.
Charlie’s aPod beeped, interrupting the moment before it turned into a Hallmark Channel Movie of the Week.
“Shira again.” Charlie sighed. “The woman never stops!”
“Charlie?” Allie had one more question for her new/old friend. “Are you disappointed that I’m not Allie J? I mean, I know I lied to you, but were you also upset that you weren’t friends with a world-famous singer?”
Charlie looked at Allie like she was one taco short of a combination plate. “Not at all. I’m glad you’re not actually her. I liked you in spite of Allie J’s songs, not because of them.”
“So… you liked me… for me. Not for her.” Allie looked shyly at Charlie now, suddenly embarrassed.
“Yup,” Charlie assured her. “For you. Shira probably brought AJ here because she knew Darwin liked her music. I bet she thought AJ would guarantee that Darwin and I stayed apart. And now Shira’s plan is actually working.”
“Seems like it,” Allie glumly agreed, remembering Darwin and AJ canoodling during lunch. But didn’t Charlie want Darwin back? She was afraid to ask.
But then Charlie answered her question for her: “I’m not going to sit back and let that happen anymore. I’ll be damned if AJ is going to steal Darwin away from both of us.”
“You don’t want Darwin back for yourself?” Allie finally blurted. If Charlie was still into Darwin, she didn’t want to stand in her way.
Charlie shook her head. “The truth is…” Charlie took a deep breath and added with a lopsided grin, “I have a new crush.”
“Really? Who?” Allie squealed, thrilled to talk about someone that hadn’t already broken both their hearts.
“I’ve been Skyping with this guy I met in Thailand. His name is Jess. He used to be this dorky kid. But now he’s gorgeous. Anyway, he’s sort of a computer genius, and you know I broke the surveillance system, so…” Charlie trailed off, suppressing a smile.
“Soooo? What
are you not telling me?” Allie got up and stood in front of Charlie, sensing there was more to the story. A howler monkey hooted in the distance.
“Well,” Charlie sigh-laughed, “I sort of… know how to fix the cameras already, but I’m pretending I don’t so we can keep Skyping about it.” Charlie’s eyes twinkled with a look Allie recognized as happiness.
Allie was impressed. “So the broken cameras are a win-win! We get a break from Big Brother, and you get a boyfriend!” She beamed.
Charlie burst out laughing. “Boyfriend isn’t really the right word.”
“But it could be! Don’t be afraid to move on. Without growth, we’re just… wasting time.” Allie put her hands on Charlie’s shoulders and squeezed, looking emphatically into her eyes. “You’ve got everything going for you! Any guy would be nuts not to see that.” Allie wrapped herself in her comforter and looked up at the stars.
“Thanks,” Charlie said, smile-blushing. Her eyes twinkled. “I’ve been wanting to tell you about him forever.”
Allie’s heart did a cartwheel. They were really friends again!
“Maybe sometime I’ll have a reason to go out at night again,” she mused. Right now, she was so happy to have Charlie back that she hardly cared. And dwelling on the giant negative space that Darwin’s absence took up wasn’t going to help anyone.
“You do have a reason. You have to get Darwin back from AJ!” Charlie put her hand on Allie’s comforter-clad shoulder. “Show him how great you are! You have a lot going on inside of you. You’re like a mall that way.”
Allie snorted. Finally, a pep talk that didn’t make her want to gag. If there was one thing she understood, it was malls. “Are you sure it isn’t weird?” she asked. “What if you change your mind about Darwin?”
“I won’t. I’m sure.” Charlie nodded, seeming convinced.
And Allie believed her. She didn’t know how she’d do it, but it was worth a try. Maybe in time, Darwin would see past her status as imposter and discover her inner mall teeming with activity. And if nothing else, it would be a way to bond with Charlie again.
“Which reminds me, I got you something,” Charlie said, reaching under the chaise longue where she’d dropped her Alpha Academy tote. She fished around in the bag and pulled out a cardboard box, shaking it like she was rolling dice. Allie squinted at it under the slivered moon, immediately recognizing Sarah Jessica Parker’s face and her mass of dark blond curls.
“Ohmuhgud!” cried Allie. “It’s Garnier Nutrisse number 29! Now I can get my natural color back!”
“I saw it in the theater props department and I thought it matched your roots,” Charlie said. “It was this or a Demi Lovato shade of blue-black.”
“Charlie, I—this is so nice.” Allie’s voice cracked and another couple of tears slid down her face.
“After we fix your hair, let’s figure out how you’re going to see Darwin again to apologize in person. Once you do that, and once AJ’s real personality slips out a little more, I’m sure Darwin will reassess.”
Allie could see the wheels turning in Charlie’s head. She still had doubts about Darwin ever forgiving her, but Charlie was right: She might as well try. “Sounds like a plan. We renovate, then we open for business.”
Charlie giggled and pulled Allie to her feet. It was time to say good-bye to her chaise longue and go back to Jackie O permanently. Having her hair back would be nice, Allie thought as she gathered up her things and followed Charlie inside. But having her friend back was even better.
18
ALPHA ISLAND RAILWAY
BUBBLE TRAIN DEPOT
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24TH
11:48 P.M.
“This is ridiculous. You two are hotter than the steam showers at the dance studio right now, and you’re not even getting on the train!” Skye felt like the lead member of a three-girl pop trio as she walked slowly between Charlie and Allie, using her dance skills to balance on three-inch-heeled booties, trying not to fall on her face along the gravel path to the bubble train depot. Charlie was on her right in a bell-sleeved purple minidress with gladiator sandals, her bangs braided off to one side to show off a pair of intricate chandelier earrings. On her left, Allie’s new honey-blond blow-out looked like silk in the moonlight. But tonight, Skye outshone them both. Her silver silk romper looked as if it had been poured onto her, showing off her tiny waist and ending in a strapless bandeau just under her collarbone. She had topped the ensemble off with a pair of silky red dance sleeves that looked like they came straight off a matador’s outfit.
“Sorry,” Charlie whispered, pausing on the walkway and cocking her head to listen for Thalia’s heavy tread. It was late enough for all the campus muses to be asleep, but Skye was just as paranoid as Charlie. “Duty calls. And Allie has somewhere she has to be. Right, Al?”
“Um, yeah. Maybe. We’ll see.” Allie smiled brightly but still managed to look terrified.
“So, you’re gonna try and grovel your way back in with Darwin?” Skye joked. She’d recently started grudgingly speaking to Allie again, after much prodding from Charlie.
“I guess,” Allie said, looking hurt. “If he’ll even talk to me.”
Skye wanted to concentrate on the breezy caress of the warm night air across her shoulders and around her ankles, to focus on how amazing she felt in her outfit, and to think about Taz and what would hopefully be a few train cars full of people waiting for them at the depot, but Allie’s voice was like a whining mosquito in her ear—demanding Skye’s attention at the risk of drawing blood.
All evening, as the girls got ready for their big nights, Allie had seemed to want a gesture, a sign that Skye had finally forgiven her. Apparently an invitation to the bubble train party wasn’t enough. Allie wanted more, and all night she’d been listing reasons why Skye should get over the whole Allie J fiasco and move on. After all, the mosquito whine said, Charlie had forgiven her.
“Are you ever going to stop hating me, Skye? Haven’t you ever done anything crazy to get what you want?” Buzz buzz. Allie nearly tripped over a tree root sticking out of the ground, and she grabbed Skye’s wrist, nearly taking both of them down.
“Watch out, please. My outfit is fragile. And yeah, I guess so,” sighed Skye, hitching her top up higher on her torso. She didn’t want a wardrobe malfunction before the party even started. “I mean, yeah, definitely.”
She grimaced, thinking back to the time she snuck into the country club in Westchester, intending to take a dip in the pool with hottie surfer Dune Baxter. Throwing herself at Dune had ended in disaster. And there had been a lot of other crazy schemes before Dune. Skye thought about reckless nights sneaking into Manhattan by train, where she’d lied about her age to keep up with older kids. All the clubs she’d lied her way into just to be able to dance, or impress a boy, or get a group of girls to respect her.
“Look what I’m doing right now…,” she mused, smiling wanly at Allie. “I’m risking getting myself and everyone else kicked out because…” She paused, rolling her shoulders in their sockets and looking around at the moonlit pathway. The sounds of giggling Alphas gathered at the train depot drifted up the path and reached her ears. Suddenly, she wasn’t sure exactly why the party train had seemed so life-or-death. What if she got kicked out? Would it really be worth it? She stared at Charlie and Allie. They blinked back at her, seemingly unconcerned. Then again, neither of them was joining her on the train. Shaking her head lightly, she brushed aside her doubts and went on. The train was on the tracks—it was too late to stop it now. “Because I want everyone to have fun. And because I want to get to know Taz.” And impress him more than AJ can, she added silently.
She was no different from Allie, really, whose biggest crime was that she’d lied for a shot at happiness. Wasn’t it possible Skye would have done the same?
Skye twirled around on one heel, looking Allie squarely in her new baby blues. “You’re really pretty now that you’re not in your Allie J disguise,”
she admitted with a smile.
“Thanks.” Allie shrugged.
“No more secrets, okay?” Charlie said, obviously relieved to see Skye and Allie getting along again. “Between any of us.”
“No more secrets!” Skye and Allie whisper-echoed. Skye still felt nervous about her party, but whatever the night would bring, at least Charlie and Allie would have her back. Having besties at Alpha Academy made her miss her old life so much less. The ache in her chest when she thought about her crew at BADS had almost completely disappeared. Even if everything fell apart with Taz and with dancing, at least Skye wouldn’t have to face it alone. In a burst of gratitude, she pulled the two girls into a group hug, the kind she would have given the DSL Daters back in Westchester.
“To the three best Jackie O’s,” Skye said. “May we all get what we want tonight.”
“And on that note, now that you two are friends again,” Charlie said, flashing Skye an apologetic look, “I’ve gotta dash to Shira’s. And Allie needs to go find Darwin.”
“Is Shira even awake?” whispered Skye. Just saying the word Shira made her paranoid. Was this how the characters in Harry Potter felt when they spoke the name of You-Know-Who?
“Shira sleeps in a soundproof room with a white-noise machine that plays an exact rendition of the sounds of the Australian outback where she grew up. I’ve heard it—the dingoes make weird little grunts and the birds go ooh-eee, ooh-eee! And the crickets! Deafening.” Charlie smiled and took a breath. “They’re on steroids or something.”
“Charlie—,” Skye said, gently reminding her friend that they didn’t have all night.
“Sorry, basically she needs nine hours of sleep every night, or she turns into a psycho zombie. Even more psycho than usual, I mean. She’s compulsive about it.”
“Mmm-kay,” Skye said, rolling her Tiffany-box blue eyes. “So she’s crazy. But then why do you need to go to her place now and miss the party?”
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