Twenty-four hours later, Alice and I were back in the same corner of the playground, behind the same shed. I felt like one of the lead characters in a very bad movie.
‘Well,’ she said, ‘Let’s hear your great plan.’
I played for time.
‘How do you know I have a great plan?’
She laughed.
‘I know you won’t let me down. You never let me down. You’re my very best friend.’
Sometimes being Alice’s best friend seemed like a very big responsibility, and an awful lot of hard work. I’d hardly slept the night before, racking my brains for a good plan. In the end, the plan I came up with wasn’t really that good at all. It was just OK, but at least it was better than Alice’s stupid idea.
Alice was waiting.
‘Well?’ she said again.
I tried to sound confident. ‘You know how our class is going on that trip to Fota Wildlife Park next week?’
Alice nodded.
‘And Miss O’Herlihy said she’d like a parent or two to come along to help supervise?’
This time Alice was smiling as she nodded.
‘Why don’t you ask your dad to come along?’
Alice hugged me.
‘That’s brilliant. Dad and Miss O’Herlihy get to spend a whole day together, and I won’t even have to get into trouble.’
Now I was starting to get enthusiastic. It wasn’t like me.
‘And at the end of the day, when they are all friendly, you could tell your dad that you think Miss O’Herlihy fancies him, and you could persuade him to ask her out for coffee or something.’
Alice hugged me again.
‘Thanks Meg. That’s brilliant. We’ll get him to take her out somewhere really nice. I’ll tell Mum all about it. She’ll get jealous, so she’ll dive in and try to save her marriage. Simple.’
I tried to smile. With Alice, nothing was ever simple. But still, maybe I could hope that this plan wouldn’t turn out to be a total disaster.
* * *
Just before we went home that day, Miss O’Herlihy said,
‘Don’t forget our trip to Fota is next Tuesday. Has anyone asked their mum or dad if they’d like to come along?’
Chloe put up her hand,
I could see Miss O’Herlihy’s face go kind of stiff. I knew why. Chloe’s mum is always coming in to school causing trouble and giving out about stupid stuff.
‘And what did your mum say, Chloe?’
Chloe looked kind of sad.
‘She said she’d sooner eat her own leg than go on a bus trip with a gang of rowdy kids.’
Everyone laughed except Chloe. The poor girl didn’t even realise that things like that really shouldn’t be repeated to teachers.
Just then Alice put up her hand,
‘My dad said he’d love to come, Miss,’ she said.
Miss O’Herlihy smiled at her.
‘That’s very nice of him.’
Alice smiled back.
‘Well, he loves animals, so he’d be perfect. He could tell us all about them.’
I sighed. Why did Alice always have to get carried away? As far as I knew, her dad knew nothing at all about animals. In all the time I’d known that family they’d never had as much as a goldfish as a pet. And once, when there was a mouse in their kitchen, Alice’s dad jumped up on the table and screamed until Alice chased the mouse outside with the sweeping brush.
Miss O’Herlihy looked around the class.
‘Anyone else think their mum or dad would like to come with us?’
I knew for sure that my mum would love to come. It would be her perfect day. She’d bore everyone with talk about endangered animals, and she’d be a total embarrassment. So I put my head down and said nothing.
* * *
Mean Alice waited until I was in her dad’s house that evening before surprising him.
She picked her moment when he was engrossed in a documentary on TV.
‘Dad?’ she said.
He didn’t even look up.
‘What, love?’
‘Do you think you could take a day off work next Tuesday?’
He still didn’t look at her.
‘Well, I don’t really know. Why? Is it for something important?’
Alice nodded.
‘Yes, it’s something really, really, really important.’
He looked at her for a second.
‘What could be all that important?’ he asked, before looking back at the TV.
‘It’s our class trip to Fota Wildlife Park, and I told Miss O’Herlihy you’d come with us.’
Now he looked at her properly.
‘Why on earth did you do that?’
Alice put on a really sad face.
‘Because now that we’re in sixth class, it’s our last trip ever. And I missed most of the year because of being in Dublin. And Mum can’t come because she’s too busy. And it would make it really special for me if you came.’
Now Peter looked kind of sad too.
‘Well, maybe I could take the day off,’ he said. ‘We’re not all that busy at the moment. Are there other parents going?’
Alice nodded.
‘Oh, lots. Meg’s dad is probably going too.’
I made a face at her behind Peter’s back. Why did she have to drag my dad into it? My dad would be a bit like Chloe’s mum, he’d probably prefer to eat his leg than come with us. Best not to say that to Peter, though. He looked at me.
‘Is your dad really going?’ he asked.
I could feel my face going red.
‘Well, he hopes to,’ I mumbled. ‘But he’s not sure yet. He might have an important meeting.’
Just then the TV documentary got to an exciting bit, with loads of shouting and slamming doors. Alice stood between Peter and the television.
‘Well, Dad,’ she said. ‘Will you come?’
He pushed her aside gently.
‘Sure, whatever, just move out of the way for a minute.’
‘That’s great, Dad. Thanks. You’ve really made my day.’
I followed Alice as she skipped out of the room. As soon as we were safely in the hall, she gave me a high-five.
‘Ha!’ she said. ‘Step one completed successfully. Dad thinks he’s just agreed to a day out. He doesn’t know that it’s the first step towards a whole new life for our family.’
I couldn’t share her excitement. Suddenly everything seemed too complicated again. It was all going to end in tears.
I just knew it.
Then I had a horrible thought.
Imagine if Peter did ask Miss O’Herlihy out?
And imagine if she said yes?
And imagine if they got on really, really well?
And imagine if they fell in love?
How gross would that be?
Would this be the time that Alice finally went too far?
Anyway, there was nothing I could do. The plan had already started, and for once, I couldn’t blame Alice.
This time it was already half my fault.