Viva Alice! by Judi Curtin Page B

over my head, and hide from the world. I was always afraid of meeting Melissa – always afraid of the mean things she was going to say to me. It was the worst time of my life.
    ‘So,’ said Alice again. ‘What do you think?’
    Suddenly I realised I was really, really mad.
    ‘I don’t get you, Alice O’Rourke,’ I said. ‘I thought you were supposed to be my friend.’
    ‘I
am
your friend,’ she said.
    ‘No, you’re not,’ I said as I wriggled free of the blanket and stood up to face her. ‘You’re totally not my friend. You know how Melissa hates me. You know how she picks on me every time we meet. If she comes to our school, I’llhave to see her every single day.’
    ‘Meg,’ said Alice, reaching out to hold my hand.
    I pulled away. ‘No!’ I said. ‘Why would you want to help the girl I hate most in the whole world? Why would you want
me
to help her?’
    ‘But––’ said Alice.
    I didn’t let her finish. ‘If Melissa comes back, she’s going to ruin my life all over again,’ I said. ‘And this time it’ll be totally your fault. Knowing my luck, she’ll be put into my class, and you and Grace and Louise will be off having fun together, and I’ll be just sitting there, waiting for Melissa to think up more mean stuff to say to me. I’ve got friends in my class now, friends who’ve never met Melissa, friends who actually think I’m kind of cool. As soon as Melissa shows up and starts saying mean stuff, they’re all going to hate me. I might as well get the word “loser” tattooed on my forehead. Thanks a lot – best friend.’
    I stopped as tears came to my eyes, makingAlice look all blurry and weird. I knew I’d been shouting, but I didn’t care. I wanted to run inside, and throw myself on my bed and have a proper cry. But I couldn’t do that. I was trapped and there was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.
    I bit my tongue and tried to hold back the tears.
    ‘Can I say something?’ asked Grace.
    Neither Alice nor I replied, so Grace spoke anyway.
    ‘You both know I used to hang out with Melissa before,’ she said. ‘But we were never friends – not really. Mostly I was afraid of her.’
    ‘I can see why,’ I said. ‘She’s totally scary.’
    ‘But then,’ continued Grace. ‘When I was in sixth class, I started to play hockey and I made lots of new friends. I started to feel more confident, and then I realised that I never should have been afraid of Melissa. I know she says bad stuff, and she picks on people––’
    ‘Like me!’ I said.
    ‘But she’s not tough, not really,’ said Grace. ‘Hidden underneath all her bullying is a really sad person. In the end, I mostly feel sorry for her.’
    ‘What about feeling sorry for me?’ I said angrily. ‘I’m the victim here, remember? It’s OK for you two to be all nice and forgiving, but I’m the one Melissa calls names and mocks and picks on.’
    Alice got up and hugged me. I wanted to push her away, but something stopped me. Alice is a good hugger.
    ‘Hey, Meg,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry you’re so upset. I know Melissa has been mean to you. I know you used to be a bit afraid of her, but you’re older now, and braver. You’re smart and funny and you’ve got heaps of friends. You’re ten times better than she could ever be.’
    It was nice hearing my friend say such nice things, but I couldn’t answer her.
    ‘What could Melissa ever say that would really, really hurt you?’ continued Alice.
    ‘Lots,’ I said. ‘She’s had years of practice. Once she called me a hippy loser in front of my mum, and Mum went on about it for weeks and weeks. Another time the teacher was reading a story about a crazy family, and Melissa said the family sounded exactly like mine, and everyone laughed – even the nice kids.’
    Grace put her head down. ‘I remember that day,’ she said. ‘I laughed. I’m really sorry, Megan. I just wanted Melissa to like me. I never stopped to think about how you must have felt. I really