Don't Ask Alice by Judi Curtin Read Free Book Online

going out with her. She’s not good enough for him if you ask me.’
    Alice wiped her eyes.
    â€˜Thanks, Meg,’ she said.
    I smiled at her.
    â€˜You’re welcome,’ I said.
    Half the time I don’t know what to say toAlice when she’s upset, so this time I was very glad I’d been able to find the words to make her feel a bit better.
    Alice gave me a small smile.
    â€˜Well, at least we know how Miss O’Herlihy feels now. No point wasting any more time trying to get her together with Dad.’
    I was so happy I felt like jumping up and down and screaming.
    â€˜That’s great, Al,’ I said. ‘I so hate all this plotting and scheming. I’m glad it’s over at last. Now we can get on with enjoying our last few weeks in sixth class. We can really concentrate on our graduation and we can—’
    Alice held up her hand.
    â€˜Hey, stop,’ she said. ‘What are you on about?’ she asked.
    â€˜You know,’ I said. ‘That whole thing about getting your dad a girlfriend to make your mum jealous – that was a stupid idea really. So now we can forget all about it.’
    Alice suddenly looked cross.
    â€˜But that was a great idea. It still is. We have to get a girlfriend for Dad. That hasn’t changed. All that’s happened is that Miss O’Herlihy isn’t going to be the one – and serves her right too. So we just have to get our act together and find someone else.’
    Now I felt like crying.
    Why could Alice never, ever, ever give up?
    Why had I picked the most stubborn girl in the world to be my best friend?
    * * *
    At school next day, I didn’t even smile when Miss O’Herlihy said ‘hello’ to me. I still felt bad about what she’d said about Alice’s dad.
    Miss O’Herlihy was extra-nice to Alice though – so nice that at lunchtime Alice said to me – ‘Do you think maybe she likes Dad after all?’
    I shook my head. How blind could a girl be?
    â€˜So why is she being so nice to me?’ she asked.
    Alice is a bright girl, but this time I was glad she didn’t know what was going on. How could I tell her the truth?
    Just then Melissa passed by. She stopped walking when she saw us.
    â€˜Oh, hi, Alice,’ she said. ‘I see Miss O’Herlihy is being especially nice to you today. It must be soooo embarrassing for you.’
    Alice tossed her head.
    â€˜I have no idea what you’re talking about, Melissa.’
    Melissa shrugged.
    â€˜Whatever. All I know is, I’d be embarrassed if my teacher was being nice to me just because she felt sorry for me for having such a dorky dad.’
    Then she flicked her hair over her shoulders and walked on.
    Alice turned to me. There were tears in her eyes.
    â€˜Is that true?’ she asked. ‘Does Miss O’Herlihy feel sorry for me?’
    Of course it was true, but there was no way I was telling Alice. She’d go totally crazy. I shook my head.
    â€˜You know what Melissa’s like,’ I said. ‘She’sjust trying to cause trouble as usual. Let’s go find Grace and Louise. Grace has some cool new songs on her iPod.’
    I don’t know if Alice believed me, but she didn’t say any more about it, and neither did I.
    I still didn’t feel happy though. Alice hadn’t given up. Alice never gives up.
    I knew that even if she didn’t talk about it, and even if she seemed to have forgotten all about it, somewhere, deep in her brain, the crazy plan zone would be ticking away quietly. It might take weeks, or even months, but one thing was sure – sooner or later, Alice would come up with another crazy plan.
    I decided it was best to just go on as normal, while I waited for that crazy plan to take shape.

Chapter eleven

    W hen I got home from school one Monday a few weeks later, I found Mum sitting in the middle of the family room floor, surrounded by a huge heap of photographs. It