Wish You Were Her(85)

“Well, there’s a whole other thing,” Grace said with a sigh. “She got waitlisted for Mapesbury. Ages ago, apparently. I was just telling Jonah the other day, that’s why she’s a bit sensitive at the moment.”

“Ouch,” Jasper whispered while Allegra frowned.

“What’s that?”

“Mapesbury is, like, the university that every kid in this town goes to after high school,” Grace explained. “My older brother went there, Jasper went there—”

“For eighteen horrible months,” Jasper interjected.

“Simon’s going there in the fall,” Grace went on. “Skye is going, too. And Kerrie was desperate to join them, but she didn’t get in. She got waitlisted. She thought someone might drop out over the summer so she could get the call, but the call never came. So, she’s a bit bitter right now. Best to be left alone.”

Kerrie and Skye appeared on the corner of Main Street to watch the three of them get into the car. Their expressions were stern and unforgiving as they watched the small, merry party pull away. Allegra felt a deep sense of foreboding as she stared into Kerrie’s face as the Mercedes brushed by them. The other girl looked so young. Allegra knew they were the same age but there was something raw and rare in Kerrie’s face, as if Allegra had turned the entire classroom and playground against her.

Allegra knew how that felt, and she hated seeing it on Kerrie’s sweet face.

“Stop the car!”

The vehicle stalled and Allegra slipped out of the backseat before anyone could question her. Kerrie and Skye were shielding their vision from the bright, baking rays of the sun over Lake Pristine as Allegra made her way toward them.

“Hey, slut,” Skye said in greeting, with a sickly sweet and contemptuous tone.

“I don’t use that word,” Allegra replied quietly. She turned to Kerrie, who looked mortified by Skye’s words. “Can I talk to you?”

“No, you can’t talk to her,” Skye barked but Kerrie made a noise of frustration.

“She can talk, Skye.”

“Did you get all of the attention you wanted?” Skye ignored her friend and berated Allegra with a gleeful gleam in her eye. “Do you know how few decent boys there are in this town? You had to have both of them.”

“I haven’t ‘had’ anyone,” Allegra said coolly. “Kerrie. I’m sorry. Everything with Jonah happened unexpectedly and stupidly fast. We both should have considered your feelings more.”

Kerrie waved away her words, looking embarrassed. “It’s not … it’s okay, Allegra. I’ve been a bitch. But, it’s not what you think.”

“Is it about the university?”

Kerrie looked surprised. “How did you—? Never mind, small town. Yeah. My whole family have gone to Mapesbury. It’s a sort of Lake Pristine tradition. Kids go, they graduate, they come back here. Except I didn’t get in.”

Allegra felt a brush of sympathy for her. She knew, as an actor, what it felt like to be ghosted by people who could change your life.

“Come with us tonight, like we planned,” she said softly, ignoring Skye and her evident disapproval. “We’ll get you a great outfit, we’ll have fun.”

“Not ready to face Jonah yet,” Kerrie said, but it was with an appreciative smile. “But thanks, Allegra.”

Allegra ached for the girl. She looked so forlorn and Allegra found it impossible to forget how sweet and kind she had been to Allegra on her arrival in Lake Pristine.

“Can I do something else for you then?” she asked.

“You’ve done enough,” snapped Skye, which caused Kerrie to round on her friend.

“Skye. Shut up. You don’t even like me that much, you just want to take the famous actress down a peg. It’s gross. Stop.”

Allegra smothered a smirk, while Skye’s mouth made a perfect “O” of shock. Kerrie turned back to Allegra with an exhale of relief.

“What did you have in mind?”

“Just a picture,” Allegra said gently. “Taken by me, this time.”

Kerrie looked bewildered, but Allegra took a smiling selfie of them, side by side. Allegra wrote a quick caption, which she showed to Kerrie, who nodded in consent. Allegra posted it.

“Give it a few days to percolate,” Allegra told her. “And if you change your mind about tomorrow, just call Grace and I can get you in.”

Kerrie watched the actress get back into the car, smiling in a way she never had before. Her hands trembled as she checked her own social media feed. There the two of them were, she a small-town girl with a handful of followers and the movie star who was sent death threats. They smiled defiantly at the camera lens.

This is my very good friend @KerrieR2008. Mapesbury University have, quite stupidly, waitlisted her. If anyone else knows a good thing when they see it, she’ll make a great addition to your campus come fall. Love, Allegra Brooks.



She watched the car leave Lake Pristine, grateful to her new friend and ashamed of how she had behaved.

Inspired, too. By someone who had taken pain and refused to turn it into poison.

“May she never come back,” Skye said scornfully, as they watched the car become a speck in the distance.

“Skye,” Kerrie said, her voice matter-of-fact. “I have so utterly outgrown you.”