No Longer Safe(18)

We’d put Alice to the test a couple of times already back then; easy stuff like ringing tutors to say we were sick and pinching ink cartridges from the Porter’s Lodge, to save money printing out our essays.

Alice didn’t like Jodie much – you could tell. She tolerated her, because Jodie was with me, but she never let down her guard around her. It’s interesting to watch how she reacts to her now in such a different context. Ironically, it feels like Alice is the one who has grown-up and Jodie has been left behind.

Mark used to say Jodie was jealous of Alice. I remember Jodie once said, ‘How could I be jealous of a no-hoper like that?’ But for the first time, I actually think Mark might have been right.

Jodie was cruel during our time at Leeds, though. I knew she’d been going into Alice’s room and taking stuff – pens, notepads, toothpaste, tampons, shoe polish – every so often when the mood took her. Alice was so trusting and hardly ever locked her door. Jodie never told me, because I reckon she knew she was going too far. Jodie could be a complete cow at times, but everyone has their uses. I had the feeling even then, that at some point Jodie would serve me well.





Chapter 9




As the evening wore on, I was looking for the earliest opportunity to escape. Once Karen and I had done the dishes, I let out an overblown yawn and went to bed. Shortly afterwards, I came back down for the glass of water I’d left on the draining board and I heard my name being spoken in hushed tones in the sitting room. I hovered by the connecting door and listened.

‘Just be nice to her, that’s all,’ said Karen.

‘But why did you invite her?’ queried Jodie. ‘You didn’t say anything – I thought it was just going to be Melanie and the three of us.’

‘Leave it, Babe – it’s no problem – we’ll look after her.’

‘Just don’t rock the boat, okay?’ said Karen.

I heard a movement from within so I scooted back upstairs before I was caught.

I didn’t get much sleep that night. I was worried about the snatch of conversation I’d overheard (what else had they said?), but mostly it was because of the racket above me from the attic conversion. Jodie and Mark weren’t exactly discrete. Jodie wailed and moaned as the bedhead smacked repeatedly into the wall. The pitch and speed of her cries rose, until she hit a resounding climax. I didn’t hear a sound from Mark, although, to be honest, I was trying my best not to listen.

By now, I was losing all faith in this holiday idea. Jodie and Mark’s arrival had brought nothing but bad memories, and the four of us together didn’t strike me as a good combination for an entire two weeks. We were all like radio-active chemicals that didn’t mix and would begin to give off toxic fumes when left in the same room for too long. I couldn’t help wondering which one of us would be the first to choke.





Chapter 10




There had been fresh snow overnight, so the landscape was pure and unsullied again.

As soon as I got downstairs I knew something was wrong. Karen had her coat on and was gathering together a tiny crocheted hat, anorak and mittens.

‘Melanie’s got a temperature – thirty-nine degrees – I’m really worried. I’m going to the hospital,’ she said.

‘Shall I come with you?’

‘It’s okay, Alice. We might be a while. Can you get the blanket from the sitting room?’

I waited with it in the hall as Karen went up for the bawling, red-faced bundle.

‘I can come too, if you like?’ I said again.

‘That’s very kind.’ She brushed my cheek with her hand as she turned to go. ‘You stay here. I don’t want it to spoil your holiday.’

‘But—’ She was already padding through the snow and I was left holding the open door.

As far as I was concerned, the holiday was already spoilt. I thought this was going to be our opportunity to rekindle our special bond, to share everything and get back to how we used to be. There was so much I wanted to talk to her about, but she’d brought the others in before we’d had the chance to have one decent conversation. Now we were a group and everything had turned sour.

I watched her from the window as she used a plastic scraper to clear the windscreen and I waited to see if she could get the engine to start. To my surprise, the rickety boneshaker of a car revved into life first time and I watched it trundle down the track towards the lane.

The door to the sitting room was open and I spotted Jodie on the floor, sitting cross-legged on the carpet. She saw me and called me in.

‘I’ve been thinking about my boutique,’ she said, pointing to the sketches laid out by her feet. ‘I thought it would be good to have the counters here...with the locked items in a glass cabinet, here…what do you think?’