by Judi Curtin
Praise for the ‘Alice & Megan’ series
‘Brilliantly observed’, Evening Echo
‘Girls and boys will warm to Judi Curtin’s funny stories about friendship’, The Sunday Independent
Alice & Megan Forever
Judi Curtin
Illustrations: Woody Fox
For Dan, Ellen, Brian and Annie
Warmest thanks to:
My family and friends. Extra thanks to Annie who read the first draft and pointed me in the right direction whenever necessary.
Everyone at The O’Brien Press who has worked so hard to make the ‘Alice & Megan’ series a success – Brenda, Claire, Emma, Helen, Ivan, Kunak, Michael and Ruth. (Thanks also to all the staff slaving away in the background whom I never get to meet.)
Woody for still more great drawings.
The many bookshops and libraries who have invited me to read from the series. Special mention has to go to Hilary and Jo in Bridge Street Books in Wicklow, who rounded up every child within a five-mile radius, and brought them to listen to me.
The staff and pupils of the many schools who invited me to visit. Special thanks to all the girls from my old school (Eglantine NS in Cork), who gave me a wonderful welcome recently.
Contents
Reviews
Title Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Chapter one
Chapter two
Chapter three
Chapter four
Chapter five
Chapter six
Chapter seven
Chapter eight
Chapter nine
Chapter ten
Chapter eleven
Chapter twelve
Chapter thirteen
Chapter fourteen
Chapter fifteen
Chapter sixteen
Chapter seventeen
Chapter eighteen
Chapter nineteen
Chapter twenty
Chapter twenty-one
Chapter twenty-two
Chapter twenty-three
Chapter twenty-four
Chapter twenty-five
Chapter twenty-six
Chapter twenty-seven
Chapter twenty-eight
Chapter twenty-nine
Chapter thirty
Chapter thirty-one
Chapter thirty-two
About the Author
Copyright
Chapter one
I finished brushing my hair, and had a quick look in the mirror. I was straightening my tie when Mum looked around my bedroom door.
She gave one of her long sighs.
‘Secondary school isn’t a fashion parade, you know, Megan,’ she said. ‘Remember, you’re going to school to learn.’
‘You don’t understand,’ I said.
Mum folded her arms.
‘Try me,’ she said.
I thought about ignoring her, but she was blocking the door, so there was no way I could escape.
Now it was my turn to sigh.
‘It’s just … it’s just that it’s the first day … and the first day is the most important day of all. Everyone will be watching everyone else. I have to look my best. I have to look …’
‘… cool?’ said Mum.
I nodded.
‘If people think I’m a loser on the first day, that will never, ever change, no matter what I do. They’ll still think I’m a loser in six years time when I leave the school. It would be a total disaster. My life would be ruined forever.’
‘That doesn’t sound very fair to me,’ said Mum.
I picked up a clip Alice had lent me, and pinned back my hair.
‘It’s not fair,’ I said. ‘And that’s why I have to make sure that it doesn’t happen to me.’
I pulled the clip out of my hair again, and threw it onto the bed.
Nothing seemed right.
Nothing seemed good enough.
This was the most important day of my life and already I was sure that I was going to mess it up.
Mum came over and hugged me.
‘You poor thing,’ she said.
Then she went over to the bed and picked up the clip. She carefully twisted one side of my hair, and clipped it neatly into place.
I looked in the mirror and smiled. A miracle had happened. Mum had made me look sort of nice.
‘Thanks, Mum,’ I said.
She smiled back. ‘You’re welcome. Anything so long as you won’t end up being the school loser. Still, I wish you’d let me knit you a school jumper. It would have been much nicer than that shop-bought one. Now you’re going to look just like everyone else.’
I sighed again.
Didn’t she know that was the whole point?
Didn’t she know that I had to look like everyone else?
Didn’t she know that if I’d worn a hand-knitted jumper, I might as well have gone to school with the word ‘loser’ tattooed on my forehead?
This wasn’t the time for a row, though.
‘The school is very strict,’ I said. ‘Everyone has to have the exact same jumper. Remember, I told you ages ago. It’s the rule.’
‘It’s a stupid rule, if you ask me,’ said Mum.
(It wasn’t just a stupid rule – it was a stupid rule that I made up especially, as soon as Mum had started talking about hand-knitted jumpers. I was glad she hadn’t phoned up the school to complain. If she discovered the truth she would never, ever let me forget it. She’d probably try to knit me a school skirt as a punishment.)
I pulled up the sleeve of my lovely, shop-bought school jumper, and looked at my watch, trying to give Mum a hint, but she didn’t seem to notice. She had that dreamy look on her face again.
‘Do you know, Megan, I can still remember my first day of secondary school?’ she said.
‘Did you bring your pet dinosaur?’ I asked grinning.
Mum ignored me.
‘My mother made me a huge big bundle of cheese sandwiches and packaged them up in the bread wrapper.’
‘So you were a loser,’ I said. ‘I hope it doesn’t run in the family.’
Mum smiled.
‘No actually, I wasn’t a loser. Everyone used bread wrappers for their sandwiches then. There were no fancy lunch-boxes in those days. I remember—’
Just then the doorbell rang.
‘That’s Alice,’ I said. ‘Sorry, Mum, but I can’t keep her waiting.’
I pushed past Mum and went to open the front door.
Alice was standing there with a huge smile on her face.
‘Ready?’ she asked.
I nodded. I was too excited to speak.
My little sister Rosie appeared, still in her pyjamas.
‘You and Alice look nice,’ she said. ‘I wish I was going to very big school.’
Suddenly I was a bit afraid of the day ahead. Maybe it would be nice to stay at home with Mum and Rosie.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Mum beside me. She hugged me, and gave me a huge sloppy kiss on the cheek.
‘Have a lovely day,’ she said.
I pulled away.
‘I will. Bye, Mum.’
Then I raced down the path before she could embarrass me any more.
‘Bye, Sheila,’ called Alice as she raced after me.
Mum gave one wave, and then closed the front door.
I turned to Alice, wiping my cheek where Mum had kissed me.
‘Sorry about all that soppy stuff,’ I said. ‘That was soooooo embarrassing.’
Alice shrugged.
‘I thought it was kind of sweet. My mum couldn’t see me off. She had to catch an early train to Dublin for a meeting.’
Suddenly I felt sorry for moaning.
Even though my mum is a total embarrassment, I’m glad she still lives with my dad. Alice’s parents don’t live together any more, and even though she’s kind of getting used to it, I know she’d love a happy family like mine.
* * *
We walked quickly and soon we were passing our old primary school. It wasn’t open yet. I gazed over the wall. It looked small and safe. Part of me was afraid of secondary school. Part of me wished that I could be back in my old school, where I’d know what to expect.
I wondered if I could explain this to Alice.
‘Are you sorry we’re not going in there?’ I asked.
Alice gave a big laugh.
‘No way,’ she said. ‘We’ve left all that behind us.’
She hesitated.
‘You’re not sorry, are you?’
Suddenly I felt a bit stupid, so I smiled as happily as I could.
‘No,’ I said. ‘Now hurry up, or we’ll be late.’
* * *
Soon we were at the gates of our new school. Our best friends, Grace and Louise, were waiting outside for us. We all hugged and jumped up and down a bit.
‘Who’s excited?’ asked Louise.
We all shouted together.
‘I am!’
I wasn’t really lying. I was excited. It’s just that I was afraid too.
I gazed up at what was going to be my school for the next six years. It looked bigger and scarier than it had when I’d attended the open day with Mum and Dad.
‘Who’s a tiny, tiny bit afraid?’ said Alice suddenly.
I could feel my face going red.
Was Alice reading my mind again?
Was she picking on me?
Was she trying to make me look stupid in front of the others?
Then Alice slowly put her hand up.
‘I’m a bit afraid,’ she said.
‘Me too,’ said Grace and Louise together.
I smiled. Now I didn’t feel so bad.
‘Me too,’ I said.
Then we all had one more hug, and walked quickly into our new school.
Chapter two
We walked through the huge front doors. I looked around. Everything seemed big and strange. There was a strong smell of polish, like someone had been cleaning the place especially for our arrival.
On the wall in front of us was a big printed sign – ‘First Year Students This Way’. An arrow pointed to the right.
Alice, Grace, Louise and I joined lots more nervous-looking first years as we all made our way down a long corridor.
‘Where’s everyone else?’ asked Alice.
‘It’s only first years today, remember?’ said Louise.
I was glad of that. This place was scary enough as it was.
Another arrow directed us into a big assembly hall. I saw a few boys and girls from my old school, and lots and lots of strangers. Some of the boys were trying to look tough. Most people were chatting nervously. Some stood alone, looking even more scared than I felt. One small, dark-haired girl looked like she was going to cry. I was soooooo glad I was with my friends.
‘I so hope we’re all in the same class,’ said Grace. ‘Do you think we might be?’
I don’t know why Alice and Louise didn’t answer. I didn’t answer because this was the thing I’d been worrying about. This was the reason I hadn’t been able to sleep properly for the last few nights.
At the open day we’d been told that boys’ and girls’ names were put into two hats, and classes were drawn at random, with equal amounts of girls and boys in each group. There were four classes. If I didn’t get into the same one as Alice, I didn’t know what I’d do. Alice said it didn’t matter. She said we’d still be best friends no matter what happened. I knew she was probably right, but if she was my best friend, I wanted her right next to me.
I didn’t want to be stuck at the other end of the school with a big load of strangers. I wanted to be with Alice. I always wanted to be with Alice.
But what could I do?
It was all down to a draw that had already been made. Somewhere there were four lists of names that could ruin my life forever.
* * *
Just then the principal, Mrs Kingston, walked on to the stage, and everyone stopped talking. Mrs Kingston launched into a huge, long, boring speech about how we had to be the best we could be and stuff like that. I couldn’t concentrate though. All I could think of was the bundle of white paper that she held in her hand.
After what felt like hundreds of years, Mrs Kingston stopped talking and held the sheets of paper in the air.
Everyone stopped shuffling their feet and fixing their ties. This was the big moment, and we all knew it.
‘As you know,’ said Mrs Kingston. ‘You are going to be divided into four classes. We have done this randomly, as we feel this is the best way.’
Get on with it, I felt like saying.
Didn’t she know how awful this was for us?
Didn’t she know that this was the only thing that mattered?
‘Some of you are going to be happy,’ continued Mrs Kingston. ‘And I’m afraid some of you are going to be disappointed. It is school policy not to change classes once they have been allocated, so please don’t ask. If you aren’t with your friends, please try not to be too upset. You can still see each other at break times and after school. And of course, this is your big chance to make some new friends.’
But I didn’t want new friends. I liked the friends I had already.
Mrs Kingston was smiling again. Easy for her. Her life wasn’t in danger of being ruined forever in the next few minutes.
‘Anyway,’ she said. ‘Keep in mind the fact that these classes are only for the first three years. After the Junior Cert you’ll all be mixed up again.’
Now I felt like crying.
Who cared about after the Junior Cert?
That was three years away.
I was worried about tomorrow.
And the next day.
And the day after that.
Mrs Kingston was making a big fuss of putting on her glasses. At last she spoke again.
‘Class J. When I call your name please join Mr Leavy at door 3 and follow him to your classroom.’
Everyone looked towards door 3 where a kind-looking man was smiling at us.
‘I’ve heard that Mr Leavy is really nice,’ whispered Alice. ‘I hope we get him.’
I didn’t answer. I didn’t care what teacher we got. As long as Alice and I were together, I didn’t care if we had the meanest teacher in the history of the world.
At last, Mrs Kingston started to call out the names. I felt like I was in kind of a trance. There were only four names that mattered to me – all the rest were just words.
Suddenly Alice poked me in the ribs.
‘She said Grace’s name. Grace is in class J.’
I didn’t answer. I was so nervous, I’d somehow managed not to hear Grace’s name being called.
I held my breath.
Most of all I wanted to be with Alice, but it would be nice if Grace and Louise could be with us too.
Was there any chance that all four of us could be together?
After a few more names, Mrs Kingston folded the first sheet of paper, and put it on the table beside her.
‘That’s it,’ she said. ‘That’s Class J.’
Grace hugged Alice, Louise and me, and headed for door 3. Seconds later, Mr Leavy and his students were gone, and the door was closed behind them. I felt sorry that Grace had to go, but I was glad that it wasn’t Alice who was leaving. There was still a chance that we could be together.
Before we could say anything, Mrs Kingston was speaking again.
‘Class K,’ she said. ‘Miss Lynch is waiting for you at the double doors at the end of the hall.’
Immediately she began to call out names. When she got to the end of the list, she still hadn’t called Alice or Louise or me.
‘Only two classes left,’ whispered Alice. ‘That’s good news.’
Was it?
I was so worried, I couldn’t think straight.
‘Class L,’ began Mrs Kingston. ‘Alice O’Rourke, Kate O’Mahony … …’
I didn’t dare to breathe. Every time Mrs Kingston called a name that wasn’t mine, I felt a sharp pain in my side, like someone was stabbing me. When she called Louise’s name, Louise and Alice hugged each other quickly. Then Alice reached across and squeezed my hand so tightly that it hurt.
Soon Mrs Kingston said, ‘… and the last person in class L is Megan ……’
I started to smile, and actually gave a little skip of joy before Mrs Kingston finished. ‘…… Murphy. Now boys and girls, hurry along to door 4 where Miss Falvey is waiting for you.’
It wasn’t me. It was another Megan.
Alice and Louise were going to be together, and I was going to be on my own.
I could feel tears at the back of my eyes.
But how could I cry now?
I’d be a loser, and everyone would know it.
Alice was hugging me.
‘Come with us, Megan,’ she said. ‘No one will notice.’
Even though I felt so sad, I had to smile. Only Alice could think of something like that.
‘They’ve got lists,’ I said. ‘They’ll notice if one class has an extra person.’
‘I suppose you’re right,’ said Alice sadly.
Then she gave a sudden smile.
‘I know,’ she said. ‘We’ll find that other Megan, and ask her to swap with you. I’ll tell her it’s really, really important. I bet she won’t mind. And by the time the teachers notice that you’ve swapped, you’ll both be settled in your new classes, and it wouldn’t be fair to swap you back. And the teachers won’t be cross, because you’re both called Megan. They’ll just think you didn’t hear properly.’
It sounded like a crazy idea, but sometimes Alice’s crazy ideas actually work. For a moment, it seemed like a possibility.
Then Louise pulled my arm.
‘Look,’ she said, pointing across the room. ‘That’s Megan Murphy – over there with the blue hair-band. I know her from swimming lessons.’
The girl she was pointing at was happily hugging two other girls.
