Alice Again
Page 11
She stopped speaking and hugged me again, and I hardly dared to hope.
‘You’re …?’
She nodded. ‘Yes, we’re …’ It seemed like neither of us could say the words. There was a moment’s silence, and then we both burst out together.
‘We’re moving back to Limerick!’
‘You’re moving back to Limerick?’
And then we both jumped up and down and screamed and hugged and then jumped up and down some more.
Ten minutes later, when we had calmed down a bit, Alice explained what had happened.
‘Well, in the end we have Norman to thank,’ she said.
‘You mean it was his idea?’
Alice laughed. ‘Not exactly. He’s a life coach. He’s not allowed to have ideas. He just listens until his clients have their own ideas.’
I laughed too. ‘And?’
‘Well, after four weeks of Norman’s expensive time, Mum discovered that by moving to Dublin, all she’d done was bring her old problems with her, as well as creating a few new ones.’
‘A few?’
She laughed. ‘OK. So she created lots of new ones. Anyway, Norman helped her to see that living in Limerick wasn’t the problem at all. And that running away to Dublin was only going to make things worse. So we’re coming back. We’ll be able to see Dad every day, and I can see you whenever I want. And Jamie can go back to his old crèche where he used to be so happy, and where no one knows what he did to Robbie Williams!’
I laughed, and she continued, ‘Mum’s going to do an interior design course, and then try to get a part-time job.’
I laughed. ‘Good old Norman. I wonder should you send him a thank you card?’
Alice shook her head. ‘Don’t think so. I don’t think he’d want to be reminded of my existence.’
‘I suppose you’re right. Anyway, when are you moving back?’
‘That’s the best bit. Once Mum makes up her mind, she acts very quickly.’
That was true. One day last August Veronica decided to move to Dublin, and less than a week later they were packed up and gone.
‘So how quickly?’ I asked.
‘As I said, she’s looking at an apartment right now. It’s just around the corner. Near the shop. If she likes it, we’re moving back at Easter.’
I thought for a moment. ‘But that’s only three weeks away.’
Alice beamed at me. ‘I know. Isn’t it the best news ever? After Easter I could be back at school with you. We can do our homework together. We can hate Melissa again. We can make our confirmation together, just like we always planned. Everything will be just like before.’
I smiled and repeated. ‘Everything will be just like before.’
‘Except Mum and Dad won’t be fighting all the time.’
Alice was smiling so much I thought her face would split in two.
It mustn’t be possible to die of happiness, because if it was, I’d have died that day. It looked as if we were going to live happily ever after, after all.
An hour later, Veronica called over with Jamie. Alice and I ran to meet her at the door. Veronica waved a set of keys in the air. ‘Good news. It’s ours for a year. To start with. We can move in whenever we like.’
Alice hugged her mum until she begged for mercy.
Mum brought Veronica in for a cup of herbal tea. We all sat together in the living room. Jamie played Barbies with Rosie. Alice and I did each other’s nails.
Mum told Veronica how nice it would be to have her back in Limerick. I think she was even trying to mean it. Veronica drank the revolting-smelling herbal tea without making a face, and she ate two organic salt-free oatcakes. They sat beside each other on our big old sofa. I looked at their feet. Mum was wearing sensible leather clogs. They looked huge and clumpy and ugly next to Veronica’s delicate, pointy-toed shoes. I don’t think those two will ever be friends, but it looked as if they were trying hard.
And all afternoon, Alice and I laughed and joked and did our best not to die of happiness.
About the Author
JUDI CURTIN grew up in Cork and now lives in Limerick where she is married with three children. Judi is the best-selling author of the ‘Alice & Megan’ series and of Eva’s Journey; with Roisin Meaney, she is also the author of See If I Care, and she has written three novels, Sorry, Walter, From Claire to Here and Almost Perfect. Her books have been translated into Serbian, Portuguese and German.
By the Same Author
The ‘Alice & Megan’ series
Alice Next Door
Alice Again
Don’t Ask Alice
Alice in the Middle
Bonjour Alice
Alice & Megan Forever
Alice to the Rescue
Alice & Megan’s Cookbook
Other books
Eva’s Journey
See If I Care (with Roisin Meaney)
Copyright
This eBook edition first published 2013 by The O’Brien Press Ltd,
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Tel: +353 1 4923333; Fax: +353 1 4922777
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Website: www.obrien.ie
First published 2006
eBook ISBN: 978–1–84717–378–2
Text © copyright Judi Curtin 2006
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Curtin, Judi
Alice again
1. Best friends - Juvenile fiction 2. Children’s stories
I. Title II. Fox, Woody
823.9’2[J]
Illustrations: Woody Fox
Layout and design: The O’Brien Press Ltd
The O’Brien Press receives assistance from
THE ‘ALICE & MEGAN’ SERIES
BY
JUDI CURTIN
www.aliceandmegan.com
HAVE YOU READ THEM ALL?
Don’t miss the other great books about
Alice & Megan:
Alice Next Door
Alice Again
Don’t Ask Alice
Alice in the Middle
Bonjour Alice
Alice & Megan Forever
Alice to the Rescue
Alice & Megan’s Cookbook
TURN THE PAGE TO READ AN EXTRACT FROM ‘DON’T ASK ALICE’
When Alice and I got to school, our friends Grace and Louise were waiting for us in the playground. We all hugged each other and then we got into a huddle and talked about what we’d done for our holidays.
A few minutes later, Louise nudged the rest of us and hissed.
‘Don’t look now, but guess who’s just walked in the gate.’
I didn’t have to look. There was only one person in the whole school who we all hated. It had to be Melissa, the meanest girl in the world. Grace and Louise used to be friendly with her, but last year they had got sense, and now beautiful, blonde, horrible Melissa had to manage with only four people who thought she was the greatest thing ever. Alice laughed.
‘Same old Melissa. I bet she’s really looking forward to seeing me again. What did she say when she heard I was coming back?’
Grace, Louise and I looked at each other and grinned. This was going to be so much fun.
‘We didn’t tell her,’ I said.
‘We thought we’d surprise her,’ added Louise.
Alice grinned, and kind of slipped in behind Grace, who’s really tall. I knew this was going to be great. Alice was always the only one in our class who could really stand up to Melissa and her mean ways, and Melissa was going to be so sorry to see her again.
Melissa was getting close. She looked at Louise first.
‘Ever hear of a hair-straightener?’ she said.
That was really mean, because Louise hates her curly hair. Louise went red, but before she could say anything, Melissa turned to me.
‘Hi Megan, did you have a nice holiday? Or did you and your super-cool mum with the lovely fashionable clothes spend your time saving the planet for the rest of us?’
Melissa’s friends giggled like this was the funniest thing they’d heard in their whole lives.
Usually it makes me really mad when Melissa mocks my mum, but this time I didn’t care. I didn’t reply. Nothing Melissa said could hurt me now.
Just then Alice stepped out from behind Grace.
‘Hi Melissa,’ she said. ‘So nice to see you again. What did you do for your Easter holidays? Pick on people? Kick grannies in the shins? Steal sweets from babies?’
Melissa stopped her hand in the middle of a hair-flick.
‘Alice?’ she whispered, like a character in a film who’s just seen the person who has sworn to kill them.
Alice grinned cheerfully. ‘That’s me – got it in one.’
All the colour had drained from Melissa’s face, making her even paler than usual.
‘What… what… what are you doing here? … you… I … mean … don’t you live in Dublin?’
Alice grinned again, ‘Well, I did move to Dublin, but I missed you so much I decided to come back.’
Suddenly Melissa relaxed a bit,
‘Oh, I see. You’re just back for a visit.’
Alice thought for a second,
‘I suppose you could say that. It’s just that it’s going to be a very long visit. I plan to stay here in Limerick for the rest of my life.’
Melissa looked like she was going to throw up all over her fancy new pink sandals. Just then the bell rang, and the rest of us ran into school. Now that Alice was back, school was going to be fun again. I just knew it.
NEW FROM JUDI CURTIN!
Don’t Ask Alice by Judi Curtin ISBN: 978-1-84717-023-1
Rich, spoilt, high-maintenance Eva Gordon likes fancy, sophisticated things so when her parents sell their holiday home and their expensive car Eva can’t understand why her dad can’t fix things.
But when Eva’s dad loses his job and she has to move house and change schools, she realises life has changed for good. She’s determined to hate her new life, until a chance visit to a fortune teller gives her the idea that doing good may help her to get her old life back. Eva (with the help of her friend Victoria) starts to help everyone around her, whether they want it or not!
The story of Eva’s Journey from spoilt princess to pretty cool girl!