STRAIGHT AND TRUE Nicci French (short story in June W & H)

What a powerful story! I am a great admirer of the writing of Nicci French. It can be thought provoking and emotionally disturbing; it can also arouse memories. This story set me thinking not only about a school reunion I attended a few years ago but also about my school days. We never forget, do we?

The reunion was in a hotel – the school buildings were in a depressing state apparently – and when I entered the bar, nobody recognised me. My school experience was not like Bella’s in the story; I was not the victim of bullying – I was ‘quiet’, in other words, ‘insignificant’.

Eventually (thank God!) the school friend I had kept in touch with over the years made an appearance. We waited in vain for the girls from ‘our crowd’ to arrive but they did not. Perhaps one needs a particular type of courage to attend reunions; I noticed that all the girls and boys from the ‘in crowd’ were there.

By now, others were recognising us and actually seeking us out for conversation. As a school girl I wasn’t exactly an ugly duckling (neither am I a beautiful swan now!) but even in the sixth form I still had a flat chest and skinny legs; big glasses and poker straight hair did nothing to improve my image.

Appearances may change but character traits seldom do. The comments from catty, sneering girls which I had avoided at school made their presence felt that evening. ‘No middle age spread and no grey hair for you then’ was one I remember. (True, thanks to genes inherited from my father!) Now I was noticeable.

That evening took be back – I might have been sixteen again. For half a minute I felt flattered that the ‘the group leader’, like Pauline in the story, had spoken to me at all. Then I woke up and I was myself again and I was glad. Nicci French’s story is responsible for all these thoughts, feelings and memories!