Summer's Edge Page 13

  "Just a friend." Alice deliberately avoided answering the first question. She hoped Jules was back already or that she would be soon. "But don’t worry, every one was sober. We only drank a few beers. We just wanted to see what it was like over there."

  "It looked absolutely dreadful judging by the television news," her mother said. "Litter everywhere and very odd looking people with long hair and nose rings, in need of a good bath."

  Alice refrained from mentioning that Jules was actually dating someone like this. "It really wasn’t that bad. It was quite safe."

  "Were there really as many drugs over there as they said on the news?" her mother asked.

  "There were some. But no one forces you to take them." It always bewildered them how concerned their parents were about drugs being at a party, as though their mere presence was harmful. It was especially absurd as Cheltenham was rife with drugs. People had been offering Alice and her friends weed and other substances since they were about thirteen, not that they had the money to buy anything at that age.

  "It’s all the more embarrassing because Hilary Bowes’ sister lives in Castlemorton village and has had all sorts of things thrown into her garden. And part of her fence was taken away." Hilary was their next door neighbour. "Now Hilary’s seen you on the news being part of it, after we were only discussing the other day how awful it all was."

  "We weren’t doing anything like that. We just went for a look." Alice felt bad for her mother but she didn’t feel particularly beholden to Hilary or her sister.

  Her mother sighed. "At least you’re back safely. I do worry with you being so close to finishing your exams."

  Later that evening Alice’s mother was putting the boys to bed and Alice was sitting in Richard’s study, playing with a paperweight. She had gone in there to fetch a book but stayed.

  Jules had finally called to say she was back and to vent about the grilling she’d got from her parents, but they had managed to conceal the fact that they had travelled back separately.

  "What was the festival like?" Richard asked Alice.

  "Very much like it looked on the news, but it’s different when you’re there of course."

  "Was it enjoyable?"

  Only Richard would ask a question in this way, Alice thought. "Yes, it was. It felt like being part of something significant, you know? There wasn’t any centre, it was all spread out, but it felt…" she struggled to find the right word.

  "Communal?" Richard suggested.

  "Yes. I think that’s it. Like it was a new society."

  Richard looked for something in his desk drawer. "Many years ago some friends and I were very much into folk music. We also held impromptu gatherings. Not on the scale of the ones this summer, perhaps, but with something of the same spirit."

  He brought out a few photographs. They were rather faded but they showed various people with long hair, beards and guitars at some sort of campsite in a wood, with 1960s cars and caravans in the background.

  "Which one are you?" Alice asked.

  "None of me, I’m afraid, I took the photos. But I did have hair like that in case you were wondering."

  Alice look at the photo again and back at Richard. She found it hard to visualise him like that. "What was it like?"

  "At the time it was very wonderful. We talked about a new and free society, and had all sorts of idealistic notions. It was the era of psychedelics of course."

  "Did you…?" Alice wasn’t sure if she should ask.

  "We all did. Some of us were scientists and we regarded it rather as an experiment. The man you see on the left there became a professor of Chemistry at Imperial College. We were interested in the work of Timothy Leary and others," he said.

  Alice had never heard of Timothy Leary. She resolved to look him up. "So what happened?"

  "Why did we hang up our guitars? Careers and marriage and leaving university brought us back to a more conventional life. It was a brief phase, but I’m reminded of it when I see these events happening now."

  PART III

  Declaration

  When summer brings the lily and the rose,

  She brings us fear

  April, William Morris

  20. In trouble

  "It has been brought to my attention that Fairmount pupils have attended the illegal gathering at Castlemorton in Worcestershire over the weekend."

  There was a ripple of interest when the Headmaster, Mr Francis, announced this in morning assembly.

  "I would like to remind you of the conduct requirements for all pupils at this school. Involvement in illegal activities, within the school grounds or outside, is absolutely unacceptable. To defy the police and the law of this country is disgraceful behaviour and the culprits will be dealt with accordingly."

  Alice cursed the television news again. Out of the thousands upon thousands of people there, why did it have to be Jules and her they filmed? She could only assume the announcement was directed at them. It gave her a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach to think about the chastisement ahead. Surely they wouldn’t be suspended or anything, so close to their final exams?

  She filed out of the hall behind Jules and Becky. Mr Walker - Stewart - was still outside, talking to another member of staff. He called over to them.

  "Jules, about those tickets for your father for the Worcester match…"

  "What tickets?" Alice asked Jules who kicked her. "Ow. Oh." She realised he was finding an excuse to speak with them. Since girls didn’t play cricket at Fairmount there was no real reason for him to have anything to speak with them about.

  The other teacher drifted off and Mr Walker came over.

  "I don’t want you both getting into trouble. I’m happy to tell the head I drove you there."

  "Jesus Christ no!" Jules said. "That would escalate it from a rap on the knuckles to a disaster. We’ll be fine. They’ll just drone on about how disappointed they are in us and how we’ve set a poor example to other pupils."

  "Sounds like you’ve been there before."

  "Once or twice. It’s all bark, no real bite," Jules told him.

  He looked directly at Alice and she flushed, thinking of what they had spent the last couple of days doing. Back at school he seemed more remote from her, an authority figure once again. It almost seemed like a dream that this man standing in front of her had been running his hands over her naked body just 24 hours ago.

  He’s mine, she thought. No one knows it but he’s finally mine. For now anyway.

  They were interrupted by Mrs Paddington, the senior mistress, who approached them with a grim expression. "Julia, Alice, you will both report to Mr Francis at morning break. For now I suggest you stop lingering and get to your classes immediately." She nodded at Mr Walker before leaving.

  Word had got around that Jules and Alice were the two illegal ravers. It was not surprising given half the school had seen the news. To Alice’s amazement it had elevated their street cred. While Maddy Pullen and a few others pretended to be disgusted, there were plenty of people who were dying to know what the festival had been like.

  Jules was happy to tell a few tales. She didn’t really need to exaggerate the scale of things because it had truthfully been massive. Most people wanted to know about the music and the drugs and the confrontations with police.

  "They did arrest one guy that I saw. But he was off his face and sitting on the bonnet of a police car trying to sell acid," Jules told them.

  Morning break came all too soon and they left the Economics classroom for the headmaster’s office. Alice was glad they had been summoned together. Jules didn’t seem to care what happened but Alice felt apprehensive.

  "How I hate this corridor. I will be glad to finally see the back of it for ever more," Jules said. During her years at Fairmount she had been summoned there for numerous misdemeanours.

  Waiting outside the door was always more of an ordeal than the actual lecture. There was something about the dim light, the dark parquet and musty wood that smelle
d of doom.

  "There’s only two weeks left," Alice said. "Really, what can they do? It seems pretty pointless even calling us out."

  They had already knocked and after a minor eternity the command to enter was issued from behind the door. Both girls stood in front of Mr Francis’s desk awaiting the axe to fall.

  "Julia and Alice, I must say that I am bitterly disappointed in you both. With mere weeks to go before you complete your time at Fairmount, you choose to disgrace yourselves and the school on national television."

  "We weren’t in school uniform," Jules mumbled.

  "I beg your pardon, Julia?"

  "No one would have known we were from Fairmount."

  "That is quite beside the point. You were seen and would have been recognised by many of the pupils here and their parents, from whom I expect to receive concerned phone calls questioning the discipline and conduct of young people at Fairmount," Mr Francis said.

  He hadn’t actually received any complaints yet then, Alice thought. Nor would he. People had better things to do. She couldn’t imagine her own mother ringing up just because she had seen someone else’s child getting up to mischief in the news. Not in a million years. Mr Francis was deluded.

  They had both resolved not to apologise or admit wrongdoing because neither believed they had done anything wrong. They were eighteen, they had been to the festival on the weekend not a school day, they weren’t identifiably from Fairmount and nothing untoward had happened. Except for Jules taking drugs and Alice spending the night with a member of staff. But Mr Francis thankfully did not know these last things. "Never apologise, never explain," Jules had said. "It’s what the Queen Mother does."

  Alice suspected that the Queen Mother had more accommodating manners than this but it seemed like a wise strategy for their circumstance.

  "Did either of you consume illegal substances at this event?" Mr Francis asked them.

  What a stupid question. "I had some beer," Alice said. "Which we are legally allowed to drink."

  "And you, Julia?"

  Jules had had enough. She’d had enough of prissy Mr Francis over the past five years but today was the last straw.

  "Unless you plan to carry out urine tests I can’t see the point of you even asking that," she said.

  Mr Francis looked like he was about to explode. Alice wasn’t sure whether it was from Jules’ defiance or the reference to urine.

  Just as he started with "How dare you…" ahead of a no doubt apocalyptic tirade, Alice interrupted him.

  "As you say, Sir, it’s only a couple of weeks before we finish. We won’t be going to another festival between now and our final exams. We understand you’re disappointed but we didn’t mean to end up on TV and we can’t turn back the clock so unless you plan to expel us maybe we should just focus on our revision."

  Mr Francis clearly had no intention of expelling them since to do so was a major move and he didn’t want the newspaper headline of "Exclusive private school pupils expelled over illegal rave drugs scandal" ending up in the Daily Mail. This was inevitable whenever anyone was ousted for something juicy. The papers always got hold of it.

  "I shall be writing a letter to your respective parents." As a final threat it was sadly weak.

  "They already know, they saw us on TV too," Jules said.

  He was losing the battle. For the first time they had less to lose than he did.

  "We’ll leave this matter for now. I hope you will both reflect on how your disgraceful behaviour has affected both your own reputations and that of Fairmount."

  * * *

  Their reputations however were greatly improved among their classmates. "We spend five years as swots, we leave as rebels," Jules said as they walked back through the school.

  This was hardly true, Alice thought, since Jules had always been known as rebellious. People wouldn’t have been half so impressed by the whole Castlemorton thing if Mr Francis hadn’t made such a big deal about it anyway.

  "It’s about time we had a little talk about your antics the other night," Jules said. They still hadn’t had a chance to discuss what had happened with Alice and Mr Walker in depth. All Jules knew was that Alice had gone back with him and stayed over. "It’s all happening then, at last?"

  "I guess so." Alice was trying to suppress the thrill of joy and excitement that came over her whenever she thought about being with him.

  "Just look at your face. You’ve completely lost it, haven’t you? In all senses of the word," Jules said.

  "Maybe."

  "Stop being so reticent and spill. Not every gory detail but at least an overview."

  Alice did her best.

  "So you’re actually an item then?" Jules asked. "Alice and Stewart?"

  Alice’s heart sang a little at hearing their names paired. "Yes. But obviously not openly at least until school’s over."

  "I can’t believe you ended up at the family planning clinic. I mean you’re the one doing Biology, you’re supposed to know about human reproduction," Jules said.

  "We got carried away."

  "So I gathered. At least he’s good in bed."

  He was more than good in bed. Even though Alice hadn’t got anything to judge him by, she was certain of this.

  * * *

  It was even more thrilling seeing him occasionally around school. Although he seemed to be around less, perhaps deliberately keeping a lower profile, when they did cross paths he would catch her eye. They were conspirators, a secret team.

  On one incredibly risky occasion when he was directly behind her in the crush of people entering the assembly hall, he fondled her from behind without anyone seeing, his hand cupping her rear.

  It was only brief and Alice knew he was there but it still made her start. The thought of what he was doing without anyone else knowing, and how shocked they would be if they did know, was a huge turn on. She didn’t even dare smile at him in case she gave herself away.

  She sat through assembly that morning unable to concentrate on anything Mr Francis was saying. All she could think of was his presence several rows behind her, hoping that he wanted her right at that moment just as much as she wanted him.

  For her part Alice didn’t dare go near the pavilion or anywhere she considered to be Mr Walker’s territory. As much as she was tempted she owed him at least that consideration. There was no point deliberately playing with fire. Things were risky enough already.

  But it was such a rush, knowing she was seeing this man and how illicit it was. A man that so many other girls had a crush on. Sometimes she felt she wanted to shout it out.

  Another time she was outside the examination hall with a group of people, waiting to go into Chemistry. He passed by and stopped to wish a couple of his First Eleven cricket players good luck. He smiled directly at her before he left and she knew his thoughts were with her.

  "I'll miss seeing him about the place. First decent looking member of staff they ever get and it's only the boys who have him," one girl commented.

  Alice was glad that neither Jules or Becky were there because they wouldn't have been able to resist nudging her or making some innuendo.

  Maddy Pullen, jealous of the attention that Alice and Jules were getting over Castlemorton, had tried to start a rumour that Alice was dating a tramp. No one believed it but Alice let it roll. Anything that concealed the truth was a good thing.

  As it was the rumour backfired, partly because Alice’s, Jules’ and Becky’s social stars had risen that term.

  "You’re just bitter because you got dumped," someone told Maddy. A boy Maddy had been seeing had recently ditched her for a girl at another school, seen as evidence that Maddy’s own star was waning.

  It had instead got around that Alice was seeing Mike Jackson’s older brother, gossip that Alice suspected Jules had nudged as much for her own purposes as Alice’s. This was considered even more impressive than Castlemorton as Mike’s brother had become something of a legend around the school that term. Joe was constantly g
etting mentioned in the local paper as "former Cheltenham boy tipped for England selection" and Fairmount was basking in his reflected glory.

  "It’s really unfair on Mike," Jules had said. "He should be getting the attention as captain of Fairmount’s best First Eleven in decades. Instead everyone’s going on about his brother."

  In actual fact Joe had called Alice again. She had managed to turn him down as kindly as possible by saying that she was too busy with exams and travel plans. Not being after anything serious anyway he had taken it on the chin, but said he’d still catch up with them all for a drink next time he was in town.

  Alice suspected he’d be one of those guys who would always take a chance whether a girl was available or not. He obviously liked her, but she was probably one of a string of girls he flirted with.

  She just hoped the rumours didn’t reach Stewart Walker’s ears. She knew he wouldn’t believe them if they did, but she still thought he might feel bad. Someone had made a joke about him dating Miss Symons, obviously absurd as Miss Symons reportedly cohabited with another female teacher, but it still stung Alice. She was looking forward to the day when they could just be together without all the subterfuge.

  21. Date night

  Finally it was the night of their first official date. Mr Walker, or Stewart as he would be for that evening at least, was picking Alice up at seven. She found she was incredibly nervous. Suddenly it all seemed official and she was worried she wouldn't know what to say to him.

  She had managed to give her parents the impression that Jules was picking her up, without expressly stating it, and waited outside for him. He arrived exactly on time once again and got out to open the door for her.

  Alice appreciated the courtesy but was anxious that her parents or a neighbour might see them so slipped into the seat as quickly as she could.

  "How was your week?" he asked her.