Lucas took a swig from the bottle before passing it to a friend. ‘I’ve been up here plenty of times and I’ve never seen …’
At that moment a log in the fire popped so loudly it sounded like a gunshot and they all jumped. Several girls screamed then dissolved into giggles.
‘I do not like ghost stories.’ Nicole sounded disapproving. ‘It disturbs the dead when we speak of them. It’s dangerous. They should be left in peace.’
‘Do you believe in ghosts then?’ Lucas asked.
‘Of course!’ She seemed to find the question absurd. ‘I am from Paris. The city is full of spirits. It would be arrogant to say something doesn’t exist simply because you don’t understand it. I don’t understand how the television works and yet I still admit that it’s there.’
A murmur swept through the group as they considered her logic.
‘This conversation is a total buzz killer,’ Katie said. ‘Let’s play a game.’
A burst of derisive laughter followed. ‘What should we play?’ somebody asked. ‘Snakes and ladders?’
‘How about Truth or Dare?’ she replied without missing a beat. ‘I haven’t played it in ages.’
‘That is a risky game.’ Nicole leaned back against Sylvain.
Allie noticed how his arm rested with familiar ease around her narrow waist. But when her eyes drifted to his face she saw he was looking at her. Something dangerous fluttered inside her.
When she tuned into the conversation, Katie had taken command. She stood up on a fallen stone so everyone could hear her. Her hair was the same colour as the flames behind her.
‘OK, here are the rules. Anyone who has been asked a question can ask someone else a question. You can decide after the question is asked whether you want Truth or Dare.’ A roar of dissension followed but she raised her voice to be heard above it. ‘This makes it safer. I know it’s kind of cheating but …I’ll get the ball rolling,’ she said. ‘Alex. Have you ever been given a blow job?’
‘Gross.’ Zoe wrinkled her nose.
Glancing at her, Allie remembered that she was only thirteen and wondered if she should suggest they leave together before this all got out of hand. It was making her uncomfortable, too. This wasn’t how she remembered Truth or Dare. But Zoe seemed more curious than disturbed and she didn’t want to embarrass her.
A tall blond boy who Allie recognised from Night School stood up, a bottle of wine loose in one hand.
‘Truth,’ he said. The crowd fell silent. ‘Yes.’
They hooted in disbelief and someone threw marshmallows at him, which he swatted away. ‘Once,’ he insisted. ‘I swear to God.’ He grinned lasciviously. ‘I can’t tell you the details because I’m a gentleman.’
‘I doubt that. Now you ask a question,’ Katie said, taking the bottle from him.
‘Pru,’ he called out.
‘Present!’ A giggling blonde girl stood up.
‘Is it true that you lost your virginity on a yacht?’
Laughter and gasps greeted the question as, wobbling a bit, Pru considered her options.
‘Dare,’ she said finally. Her friends howled with laughter. Alex considered what to ask. ‘Take off your top and go into the tower alone for three minutes.’
Pru looked nonplussed. ‘I don’t want to go to the tower.’ ‘It’s Truth or Dare, Pru,’ Katie said, her voice stern. ‘You know the rules.’
With a sigh, Pru unzipped her ski jacket then pulled off her thick sweater. Underneath it she wore a tight, pink T-shirt. Without the slightest indication of inhibition, she pulled it over her head revealing a lacy white bra. The boys cheered.
‘For God’s sake, girl,’ Jo muttered. ‘Have some self-respect.’ ‘Bra goes too,’ Alex insisted but he needn’t have, she was already taking it off.
‘To the tower! To the tower!’ the crowd chanted.
As she disappeared, weaving and laughing, breasts bouncing, into the dark depths of the stone building, Allie decided she would leave and take Zoe with her as soon as everybody was too busy to notice. This wasn’t her kind of party.
‘Somebody really should go with her to make sure she’s safe,’ Alex said. ‘I volunteer.’
‘Don’t be vile,’ Katie said above the jeers. ‘This isn’t a porn film. I’m timing this.’
As they talked and laughed and passed bottles around, Allie leaned towards Zoe.
‘If you want to go, say the word,’ she said, giving the younger girl a significant look.
‘It’s kind of fascinating, in an anthropological way,’ Zoe said. ‘I haven’t ever done anything so I would always take Truth.’
‘Time,’ Katie shouted. ‘Pru? You may return to your clothes.’
A long moment passed, and everyone fell silent, as if they thought she wouldn’t reappear. But she bounded out of the tower and ran back to her seat, shivering. She wasn’t smiling now.
‘Bloody hell it’s freezing in there. I should have taken Truth.’
‘Your turn, Pru,’ Katie said.
‘Lucas.’ Pru zipped up her coat and pulled her hat down over her head. ‘Have you ever shagged someone inside the school building.’
Allie felt Jo flinch beside her and glanced at her curiously; she was staring down at the ground.
‘Truth,’ Lucas said, without smiling. ‘Yes.’ The boys around him applauded sardonically. He didn’t look at Jo.