As Allie crossed the room, her legs felt heavy. Outside, the corridor was empty. She leaned against the wall in the leaden silence and waited.
After ten minutes, she slid down the wall to sit on the floor and dropped her head to her knees, counting her breaths. But even that became tedious after half an hour. Occasionally she’d hear raised voices from inside the room, but she couldn’t make out words.
Allie was half dozing when the door opened at last, and Eloise gestured for her to enter. ‘We’re ready for you now.’ Scrambling to her feet, Allie stumbled after her into Training Room One.
This time she stood in front of the table like a condemned prisoner awaiting her sentence. She tried to take deep breaths to steady her nerves, but her lungs refused to cooperate, and her breath came in short panicked gasps. She gripped the back of the folding chair so hard she was surprised it didn’t bend in her hands.
‘What you did was wrong, Allie,’ Isabelle said. As she talked, Jerry polished his glasses, avoiding her eyes. Eloise watched her supportively. ‘It violated rules that bind all students at Cimmeria. But it was worse than that, as it put your own life and Sylvain’s at risk, not to mention the lives of Raj Patel’s team. This cannot go unpunished. However, we understand the connection between siblings is strong, and it’s hard for any of us,’ she shot a look at Zelazny who was staring angrily away from her, ‘to say that we would not have felt bound to help our own family members in a similar situation. For that reason, we are not expelling you.’ Zelazny slammed his pen down on the table in disgust and the headmistress flinched. After a second, she continued. ‘Instead, we’re placing you on probation for three months.’
Allie’s eyes flickered between them. ‘What does that mean?’
‘It means,’ Isabelle said, ‘that as long as you don’t get into any more trouble – as long as you don’t break The Rules again – in three months it will be off your record. But if you are found violating any rules at all – even very minor ones – you will be expelled without further discussion. Do you understand this decision?’
Allie nodded.
‘We appreciate your honesty.’ Isabelle leaned forward to hold Allie’s gaze. ‘We hope you’ve learned from what happened and that if you are contacted by anybody connected with Nathaniel again, you will come to us. And trust us to help you.’
All the next week, Carter avoided her completely. At first, Allie wanted to talk to him, to explain and apologise and make things better. But she knew she couldn’t make things better. Not this time. So instead, reluctantly, she left him alone.
His absence left a hole in her life. Each night at dinner, she missed the warmth of his arm draped across the back of her chair. When she sat in the common room or the library, her eyes automatically scanned the room for him.
They’d been given another week off from Night School training to finish their interview reports, so at least she didn’t have to train in the same room with him – watching him laughing and acting normal with Jules and Lucas.
But there was a price to pay for that, and writing the story of Carter’s life was a kind of delicate torture now that he wasn’t a part of her life any more. By the time she finished, she’d drawn a complete picture of a teenage boy alone in the world, trying to make his own way.
It broke her heart.
‘I believe Carter West is the most trustworthy person I have ever met. And every word he told me was the truth …’
As she wrote the last words in the report it was after midnight on Saturday night. Tears streamed down her face and, dropping her pen, she pulled her knees up on to the bed and wrapped her arms around them, rocking herself gently.
When she heard Rachel knock something over in the room next door, something just snapped. She missed her friend too much. She needed her advice. Without allowing herself to think it through further, she flung open her door and ran out into the hallway where, resting her hot cheek against the cool wood of Rachel’s door, she closed her eyes and tapped twice with her knuckles.
A rustle of papers and then, ‘Enter,’ said in Rachel’s most commanding voice.
‘Rach, I don’t know what to do …’ Allie tumbled into the room in mid-sentence, waving a tissue and looking, she was certain, insane. But Rachel just cleared a place beside her on the bed and patted it.
‘Tell me.’
‘There’s things I can’t say,’ Allie hiccoughed, the damp tissue compressed into a ball in her hand.
‘Tell me the other things.’ Rachel handed her a clean tissue, her almond-shaped eyes sweeping Allie’s face as if she searched for clues.
‘Carter and I …’
‘You broke up.’
Allie stared.
‘Everyone’s talking about it,’ Rachel explained. ‘I wanted to ask you but …’ She held out her hands, and Allie thought the gesture said We don’t really talk any more. This brought a flood of fresh tears, and for a while Rachel just patted her shoulder until she could speak again.
‘He’s just so angry,’ Allie said finally. ‘And I did some things he can’t forgive me for.’
‘Is it Sylvain?’
Allie knew Rachel was trying to keep the disapproval out of her voice, but she could still hear it curling around the edges of her words.
‘People are saying you and Sylvain – when he got beat up – you were out in the woods … you know, together. Basically, they’re saying you were having a thing with Sylvain behind Carter’s back.’