Allie meant to be cool, to say nothing about her new status. Besides, she was forbidden to talk about Night School. But it all burst out in a tangled rush.
‘I just had a meeting with Isabelle! I’m going to be in Night School! Advanced training module! Have you seen Carter?’
‘Oh.’ Instead of looking happy for her Rachel looked as wounded as if Allie had slapped her. But all she said was, ‘No, I haven’t seen Carter.’ Then she turned and walked away.
For a long second Allie just gaped at her back, then, as if she’d only just realised she could move, she ran after her.
‘Rachel? Hey. Don’t run off like that. I’ve just broken like ninety-seven rules by telling you and you seem …’ Catching up with her, Allie touched her arm. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘I just … I can’t believe after everything that happened over the summer, you want to be part of that.’ Holding the books against her hip, she shoved an errant dark curl out of almond-shaped eyes filled with anger. ‘I thought you were smarter than that.’
‘Hey,’ Allie said, wounded. ‘Ouch, Rach. Don’t be mean. Let’s talk about this.’
‘You think I’m mean?’ Rachel shook her head in despair. ‘I’m trying to save you, Allie. Night School isn’t just a school thing – crazy times to look back on later when we’re old and boring. It’s for life. I’ve seen what it did to my dad, Allie. They own him. This is his whole life for ever. You shouldn’t be a part of it. But if you are …’ She took a step away. ‘Well, I’m not in it, so we can’t talk about it any more. You could get in trouble – a lot of trouble – if you talk about it to me or anybody else who’s not in it.’
Rachel walked away, and this time Allie let her go, glancing to either side as if there were people next to her sharing her bewilderment.
What the hell just happened?
Muttering to herself, she climbed the stairs to the girls’ dorm. As she opened her bedroom door, she was so deep in thought that she didn’t notice the light was already on until she saw something move.
Jumping back, she gave a small scream.
‘Hey,’ Carter said sleepily. ‘Don’t call the cops. It’s just me.’
Still upset about her encounter with Rachel, Allie glared at him, her panicked heart slowly returning to normal speed.
‘What are you doing in here?’ Even though the wing was virtually empty, she lowered her voice to a whisper out of habit; boys weren’t allowed in the girls’ dorm. ‘You scared the crap out of me.’
‘Sorry. I was just waiting for you to get back so we could talk.’ Carter’s dark hair was rumpled and his face was flushed. ‘I guess I dozed off. You were ages.’
‘Yeah, well, first I had to talk to Isabelle and then Rachel was pissed off with me.’ Her voice sounded more snappish than she intended but she couldn’t seem to stop it. ‘That stuff takes time.’
‘Rachel was pissed off?’ Carter cocked his head to one side. ‘What happened?’
Without thinking, Allie launched into her account of their encounter in the hallway. ‘I told her I was going to be in Night School and she ranted at me about how it would ruin my life and I was stupid and it was evil … What’s the matter?’
Carter’s hands had dropped to his sides as he stared at her. ‘You’re going to be in Night School? Isabelle actually said that?’
Nobody was reacting the way she’d thought they would.
Where’s the joy at my big opportunity? Where’s the ‘Yay Allie’?
‘God, what’s wrong with everyone?’ She threw up her hands. ‘Why isn’t anyone happy for me?’
‘I’m sorry … I’m just surprised.’ Carter seemed unsure of what to say. ‘I didn’t think … We hadn’t really talked …’ He pulled himself together. ‘It’s a big deal, Allie.’
‘I know it’s a big deal. I’m not a complete idiot.’ Her voice rose sharply. ‘And I was all excited about it until I started telling people and everybody acted like I’d just told them I had tuberculosis. Now I’m all, like … Whatever.’
Fully aware she was the picture of self-pity, she flopped down on the bed.
After a second, Carter sat next to her and took her hand, twining his fingers between hers. Even in the midst of her misery, she liked the way his hand felt – warm and strong.
‘Look,’ he said, ‘I’m glad you’re excited. I just need a couple of minutes to sort of process this. What exactly did Isabelle say?’
‘She said I’d showed, like, grace under pressure, or something, in London, and that I was … I don’t know … I had good marks. And that I needed to be able to protect myself so she was putting me in Night School on an accelerated training module.’
Carter gave a low whistle. ‘Accelerated module? They never do that. Are you sure?’
Allie nodded so vigorously her hair bounced.
‘Bloody hell,’ he said, mostly to himself.
‘What does it mean?’ she asked.
‘She didn’t tell you?’
When she shook her head, he exhaled loudly.
‘It just means you’ll skip the early stuff that we all spend the first term doing, and you’ll train with the most senior people.’ He studied her with curious eyes, as if he was trying to figure her out. ‘You’ll go straight in at the deep end.’