WILDly by wildly Page A

all of
this,” I tried to calm her.
    “Like what,
Val? He forgot about me, end of story. And you said that you met
him over the weekend. There’s no way that you can know him that
well by now,” she growled. Her voice was climbing and the senior
tables were staring at us.
    “I really don’t
think he stood you up on purpose. But you can think whatever you
want.” I gave up. There was no convincing her.
    She threw down
her knife and fork, jumped up and walked away from me.
    I finished my
dinner under a stare of eyes. Then I collected the take-away for
Lisa before going upstairs. Jennifer’s mood was tiring and I put
her out of my mind. I’d spend my energy on Lisa instead; she was in
real need of support.
    But I hesitated
in front of her door. I decided to phone Duncan first, there and
then. I pressed the green button with firm hands. It rang a few
times and then someone picked up.
    “Bridget,
hello.”
    Bridget? Had I
heard correctly? It wasn’t possible. Then that familiar voice came
again, the annoying, happy voice. It was a voice that I would never
forget.
    “Hello?”
    I immediately
pressed the red button. Bridget had Duncan prisoner.
    Not him too! As
if it wasn’t enough that Alex had disappeared. Unless their
disappearances had something in common. Or someone in common.
Bridget? Bridget! Now there was a girl that I had totally
underestimated. So she was the one behind it all. She had
Alex and Duncan captured.
    I phoned again,
but it just rang and rang.
    I had to find
Benjamin, and tell him that Bridget was behind all of this. The
Reds had to rescue them, Alex and Duncan.
    But I had to
warn Lisa first. I burst in through Lisa’s door without knocking;
it was an emergency after all. My entrance startled her awake.
    “Noooo! Leave
me alone! Please, please, please! Leave me alone,” she screamed
hysterically, crawling into a bundle and covering her head with her
arms.
    I realised the
poor girl was still in shock from the kidnapping. “Lisa! It’s only
me Lisa, it’s Valerie.”
    She slowly
removed her arms and peeked through closed eyes at me.
    “Oh, I’m so....
glad it’s you.” Her voice broke up and she started to cry. I bent
over to hug her, holding her until her sobs calmed down.
    “These
kidnappings have me so nervous,” she explained. “I just fell asleep
for the first time in days, and it was the one nightmare after the
other.” Her eyes were as red as rubies, red and swollen.
    “Oh, I’m sorry
Lisa, really sorry to wake you. But I need to tell you
something.”
    “ Uhhhh. I’m
awake now. Go ahead then, as long as it isn’t any more bad news. I
won’t be able to handle it right now,” she said, on the edge of
another break-down.
    “I have reason
to believe...” I couldn’t get the word out. Then I tried again.
“I’m sorry I have to tell you this. But... uh... it’s Duncan.”
    “Duncan? Duncan
who?”
    “Duncan, as
in... isn’t he Mars?” I asked, confused.
    “No.”
    “Is Alex then
Mars?”
    “No,” she
smiled. “Alex is the sun. Didn’t I tell you this?”
    The blood froze
in my veins. Alex the sun?
    I swallowed.
Alex was the enemy. Alex was my personal enemy. I couldn’t believe
it!
    Alex, who had
been so kind and warned me about the parking the very first day
that I arrived. It made sense then that he had taken me to hospital
and given me over to Bridget’s motherly care. Bridget was working
for the lot of them. Then he’d pretended to care about me so much
that he’d dropped everything and came looking for me, ill as a dog,
and listened to my entire story like... like a friend would. All
the while he was nothing more than ...than an astronomical fraud!
    And that meant
so was Lisa. And the Reds. And they have poor Duncan captured! This
sly lot were good: they had managed to deceive not only me, but my
parents as well. They had me convinced, really convinced.
    And to think
I’d almost spilled the beans in front of Lisa just now. Luckily I’d
discovered the