Alice in the Middle

by Judi Curtin

  ‘Yeah, Alice was the best – but what did you think of her loser friend Megan?’ asked Hazel.

  Loser?

  How dare she call me a loser?

  ‘Weeeell, I didn’t really notice Megan,’ said Jordan.

  Hazel gave an evil laugh.

  ‘How could you have noticed her? She just lay there on the stage and watched while Alice did all the funny stuff. That girl is such a total dork.’

  I felt like stamping my foot. That was so not fair. I had lots of funny lines in our act, and I’d thought of most of them myself. I wished Alice was there to defend me. She’d never let Hazel say stuff like that about me.

  I’d made up my mind to go back inside when Jordan spoke again.

  ‘How come you weren’t with Alice in the talent show anyway? Aren’t you two best friends?’

  Hazel gave a funny giggle.

  ‘Totally. Alice and I, we’re, like, you know, soul mates.’

  Soul mates?

  If I hadn’t been so cross, I’d have thrown up.

  ‘So why weren’t you and Alice together?’ repeated Jordan.

  Hazel gave a big long sigh.

  ‘We would have been together. We do everything together these days, but that horrible Gloria told Alice this morning that she had to go with Loser-Megan. So we had no choice. Otherwise Alice would definitely have been with me. She said so.’

  I gasped.

  Hazel had to be making this up.

  Didn’t she?

  But Gloria had spoken to Alice and Hazel earlier.

  But I thought she’d asked them to help her with something?

  I tried to think properly, but I couldn’t. My mind was all mixed up. At the other side of the hedge I could hear Jordan and Hazel laughing at something – probably me.

  I didn’t want to hear any more. I ran back inside and found Alice. She was chatting to Sam and some of the other boys.

  I grabbed her arm.

  ‘I need to talk to you. Urgently,’ I said.

  Alice laughed.

  ‘Yeah, right.’

  I squeezed her arm.

  ‘I’m not joking,’ I hissed. ‘I really need to talk to you.’

  Alice laughed again.

  ‘Whatever,’ she said.

  ‘Sorry,’ I said to Sam and the others. ‘She’ll be right back.’

  Alice was laughing, and acting normally. Everything had to be all right. Didn’t it?

  I found a quiet spot at the end of the stairs.

  ‘Well,’ said Alice. ‘What’s so urgent?’

  I hesitated. I wanted to know the truth, and yet I didn’t.

  ‘Hello? Earth calling Megan,’ said Alice. ‘If we don’t go back inside soon, all the nice biscuits will be gone.’

  How could she think of biscuits at a time like this?

  ‘It’s about the show,’ I said quickly.

  Alice looked puzzled.

  ‘What could be so urgent about the show? It was great, and now it’s over.’

  I took a deep breath.

  ‘Why did you ask me to be your partner?’

  ‘Because you’re my friend,’ said Alice quickly.

  Half of me wanted to leave it at that, but the other half had to keep going.

  ‘Is that the only reason?’

  Alice hesitated.

  ‘Weeeeell, you see ……’ she started to say, and then I knew the truth.

  ‘Gloria said you had to go with me, didn’t she?’ I said quietly.

  ‘How do you ……?’ asked Alice.

  Now I knew for sure.

  ‘Don’t worry about how I know,’ I said, ‘just tell me what happened.’

  Alice spoke very softly.

  ‘It was nothing really. Let’s forget about it.’

  Now I really did stamp my foot.

  ‘I can’t forget about it. Tell me what happened.’

  Alice sighed.

  ‘OK. This morning when Gloria asked me and Hazel to help her, she didn’t really need our help. She just told us about the talent show. And then she……’

  ‘And then she what?’

  ‘And then she said I was to be with you.’

  ‘Why?’

  Alice hesitated again.

  ‘She said something about not leaving you out. She said—’

  Suddenly I didn’t want to hear any more. I put up my hand to stop Alice talking. We stood there, staring at each other. So Hazel had been telling the truth. Alice only picked me because she had to. I could feel tears coming to my eyes, and I so did not want Alice to see me crying.

  ‘I’m going to bed,’ I said, turning away.

  Alice grabbed my arm.

  ‘Don’t go,’ she said. ‘Come back in to the dining hall with me. Everyone’s there having fun.’

  I tried to pull free, but Alice wouldn’t let go of my arm.

  ‘Megan,’ she said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘I would have picked you anyway.’

  But she didn’t meet my eyes when she said this, and I knew for sure that she was lying.

  I gave a sudden tug, and pulled free of her grip. Then I ran upstairs, threw myself onto my bed and cried myself to sleep.

  Chapter nine

  In the morning I woke up to the sound of Hazel rummaging through her wardrobe. She was sighing loudly. ‘I just can’t decide what to wear this morning,’ she said.

  I looked over towards Alice’s bed. Alice was looking at me. She smiled.

  ‘Hi, Meg,’ she said. ‘You should have come back to the party with me last night. It was great fun.’

  I felt like screaming at her. Didn’t she know? It was all her fault that I didn’t go to the party. So why did she care so much now?

  But I was tired, and I had a headache, and I didn’t feel like a row, especially not in front of Hazel, so I didn’t say anything.

  Alice was really nice to me that day. She lent me her new hoodie, and at breakfast she gave me the last of her precious chocolate cereal. At lunch time, she chatted much more to me than she did to Hazel, and when bed-time came around, I’d decided that the whole talent show thing was no big deal, and I made up my mind to forget all about it.

  The next few days were kind of strange. Hazel kept following Alice and me around, like some kind of lost puppy-dog. She wasn’t especially mean to me, but she wasn’t nice either. And I couldn’t forgive her for telling Jordan that I was a loser. So when the three of us were together, Hazel and I both talked to Alice, but ignored each other, while Alice did her best to talk to both of us, and act like there was nothing strange going on.

  In a way it was a relief when Alice and Hazel went to tennis, and I could relax with Sarah and Sam and the others in my basketball group.

  One morning I was walking back from basketball with Sarah, when she said,

  ‘What’s going on between you, Alice and Hazel these days?’

  I sighed.

  ‘I don’t know really. It’s all totally weird.’

  Sarah hesitated.

  ‘Want to know what I think?’

  I nodded.

  ‘I think Hazel is a total bully. She doesn’t just want to hang out with Alice – it’s like she wants to own her. And she hates you because you’re the one that Alice likes the most.’

  I gave a small smile.

  ‘Thanks. I used to think that Alice liked me the most, but now I’m not sure any more. It’s like Hazel is so strong that she’s trying to take over Alice’s mind. Alice is different here. It’s like Hazel has made her become a different person. Does that sound crazy?’

  Sarah laughed.

  ‘Not a bit.’

  ‘So what should I do?’

  Sarah thought for a moment.

  ‘Don’t do anything. Alice is your best friend. Trust her to do the right thing.’

  I sighed. She was probably right.

  * * *

  At lunch-time, I sat with Alice and Hazel. It was OK at first, and then Hazel started to talk about Jordan. (I’d been right a
bout them being on a date the night after the show.) Every sentence started with ‘Jordan says’ or ‘Jordan thinks.’ And the worst part was, Alice didn’t even see the funny side of it. She acted like she really cared what Jordan says and thinks.

  After a while Hazel ran out of things to say about Jordan.

  ‘What about you guys,’ she said. ‘Have you had many boyfriends?’

  I waited for Alice to answer – to tell her that we weren’t really into boys. Hazel would probably feel a bit stupid for going on so much about Jordan, once she realised that Alice and I weren’t ready for that kind of stuff yet.

  I waited – and waited. And then I waited some more.

  At last Alice answered.

  ‘Well, I’ve only had a few boyfriends so far,’ she said.

  I started to laugh before I realised she wasn’t trying to be funny.

  What boyfriends had Alice had?

  If she’d had even one, I’d know about it.

  Wouldn’t I?

  Suddenly I understood that since Hazel had barged into our lives, I couldn’t be sure of anything as far as Alice was concerned.

  ‘The only one I really liked was Eliot,’ continued Alice. ‘He was really cool.’

  Eliot?

  What was she on about?

  ‘Who’s Eliot?’ I blurted out without thinking.

  ‘Oh, he was a guy who lived near us when I was in Dublin,’ said Alice. ‘We went out a few times.’

  ‘But you never told me.’ As soon as the words were out, I knew they made me sound like an idiot.

  Hazel saw her opportunity. She put on a baby-voice.

  ‘Aaaaw. Didn’t Alice tell little Megan every single thing about her life? Poor little Megan.’

  I waited for Alice to defend me, like she always did when Melissa used to pick on me at school. This time she didn’t though. She just tossed her head.

  ‘Oh, didn’t I tell you that? Must have forgotten. It’s no big deal anyway.’

  I knew my face was going red. I felt so stupid.

  Was Alice making up this whole Eliot thing?

  Or had she really had this whole relationship that I knew nothing about?

  Hazel gave me an evil smile, then she turned to Alice.

  ‘Don’t worry about it. Looks like Megan’s never had a boyfriend. So why would you discuss that kind of stuff with her? Why don’t you and I go for a walk? I want to hear every detail about Eliot – every single detail.’

  She got up, and left the table. Alice stood up too. I wanted to make a face at Alice, to let her know … well I don’t know what I wanted to let her know. It didn’t matter anyway, because Alice didn’t even look back at me as she followed her new best friend outside.

  Chapter ten

  The next morning started the usual way. Hazel was up first planning her clothes and make-up for the day.

  Ten minutes later, Alice got up and picked up her towel.

  ‘I’m going for a shower,’ she said. ‘See you guys in–– what’s this?’

  As she said the last words she bent and picked up an envelope that was half under our bedroom door. She turned it over, and then handed it to me.

  The front of the envelope said ‘Megan’ in small, neat handwriting.

  I took it from her and opened it quickly. Inside was a small sheet of paper, with just a few words on it.

  Megan. How ’bout you and I get together. After tea this evening? Seven o’clock at the basketball court?

  XXX

  Sam

  I read the note a few times. All kinds of questions raced through my head.

  What did those three xxx’s mean?

  Was Sam asking me on a date?

  I liked Sam, but did I want him for a boyfriend?

  Did I want anyone for a boyfriend?

  Hazel and Alice were staring at me?

  ‘What’s the letter about?’ asked Hazel, like she really cared.

  I folded up the paper and stuffed it back into the envelope.

  ‘Nothing really. It’s—’ I began, but stopped when Hazel grabbed the envelope from my hand, pulled out the page and read it aloud.

  I waited for the laughing to begin, but to my surprise, Hazel didn’t seem to think it was funny. She actually seemed impressed.

  ‘So Sam’s asking you out? He’s the guy from your basketball group, isn’t he?’

  I nodded.

  ‘He’s kind of cute,’ she said. ‘You should go out with him.’

  I didn’t say anything.

  Suddenly Hazel was being almost nice to me.

  Even if I didn’t really want a boyfriend yet, maybe it would be worth going out with Sam, just so Hazel would continue to be kind to me?

  Maybe she’d even stop picking on me?

  And if Alice had a boyfriend in Dublin that I’d only just heard about, maybe it was time for me to do some catching up?

  And Hazel was right – Sam was kind of cute.

  Maybe this was the best thing that could possibly have happened?

  I looked at Alice.

  ‘What do you think?’ I asked. ‘Should I go out with Sam?’

  She didn’t answer for a minute, then she spoke in a rush.

  ‘I don’t know. Whatever. Do whatever you want. Now I’m going for my shower.’

  I was a bit upset that Alice didn’t seem more enthusiastic, but it didn’t matter. I’d made up my mind. I was going to live a little. I was going to meet Sam. And no-one was going to make me change my mind.

  * * *

  It was a bit embarrassing when I met Sam at basketball later, but he acted like everything was the same as usual. That seemed strange, but I decided he didn’t want his friends to know about us in case they’d tease him. So I decided to act normally too.

  Seems like I’m not very good at acting normally though, because as soon as she got the chance, Sarah pulled me into a quiet corner.

  ‘What’s with you this morning?’ she asked.

  I shrugged.

  ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  Sarah laughed.

  ‘Don’t bother lying,’ she said. ‘I know there’s something going on. Every time Sam comes within five metres of you, you go all red and start fixing your hair.’

  I gave a small smile, and it was enough to make Sarah jump up and down.

  ‘I knew it,’ she said. ‘I just knew it. Now tell me everything. I want to know every single detail.’

  I sighed.

  ‘OK. But there aren’t all that many details … yet.’

  Sarah giggled, and then I continued.

  ‘Sam’s asked me to meet him after tea this evening. You know … like for a date. But don’t tell anyone else – I don’t think he wants his friends to know about it.’

  Sarah giggled again.

  ‘That’s so cool. Sam is really nice. You might think this is stupid, but I … I … well I haven’t had a boyfriend yet.’

  I smiled at her.

  ‘It’s not stupid. I’ve never been on a date before either. Tonight’s going to be my first.’

  ‘Are you nervous?’

  I nodded. I was really, really nervous. But I wasn’t backing out – no way.

  Chapter eleven

  As soon as tea was over, I raced upstairs to get ready. Hazel and Alice followed me.

  ‘I’ll do your face for you,’ offered Hazel.

  I didn’t answer. After the morning when she made my eyes look really weird, I wasn’t sure that I could trust her.

  Hazel smiled at me.

  ‘That last time I did your eyes, I was kind of in a rush. I know I didn’t do a very good job. I’ll be more careful this time – I promise.’

  ‘OK,’ I said, and sat obediently while she did my face for me. When she was finished she held up a mirror so I could see what she had done. I had to smile – she’d almost managed to make me look pretty.

  ‘Thanks, Hazel,’ I said. ‘Look, Alice. What do you think? Will Sam be impressed?’

  Alice was play
ing with her phone.

  ‘I suppose,’ she said.

  I wondered why Alice was acting so bored, but was interrupted when Hazel said,

  ‘Now clothes. Would you like to borrow my jeans, and one of my t-shirts?’

  I had kind of planned to ask Alice for a loan of her turquoise top, but since Hazel was being so friendly, I decided to wear her stuff.

  I put on her jeans, and Hazel picked out two t-shirts. I held them up.

  ‘Which one do you think is nicest?’ I asked Alice.

  Alice slowly looked up.

  ‘Whichever,’ she said, and looked back at her phone again.

  I was starting to feel a bit hurt.

  Why wasn’t she interested?

  Suddenly I had a horrible thought.

  Was she jealous?

  Was my best friend jealous because I was going on a date and she wasn’t?

  Again, I didn’t have too much time to think about this, as Hazel was coming towards me with Alice’s hair-straighteners, and a selection of ribbons and clips.

  Five minutes later I was ready to go. Hazel practically pushed me out the door.

  ‘You mustn’t be late. Have a nice time.’

  ‘OK,’ I said, trying not to let her see how nervous I was. ‘Bye, Hazel. Bye, Alice.’

  Alice looked up again.

  ‘Megan,’ she said.

  I turned back.

  ‘What?’

  She hesitated.

  ‘… er…… see you later.’

  I walked slowly downstairs, and suddenly I didn’t feel nervous any more

  I was going on my first date.

  How exciting was this?

  * * *

  It was just a minute after seven when I got to the basketball court. There was no-one there – not even Sam.

  I sighed. Why did the first boy I had ever dated in my whole life have to be late?

  Time passed very slowly.

  I leaned up against the railings for a while.

  I walked around the basketball court seven times.

  I threw a pebble in the air and caught it two hundred and thirty-three times.

  And still Sam didn’t show up.

  What was going on?

  Had he forgotten?

  Had he changed his mind?

  I was starting to feel a bit stupid hanging around on my own, all dressed up in Hazel’s clothes.