Avalon High - Мэг Кэбот 3 стр.

looks best on them, not girls like megangling brunettes who arent afraid to pull snakes

out of the pool filter.

 The sun was starting to slide behind the house, and there was more shade than light on

the surface of the water when my mom came back out onto the deck and announced that

shed ordered some Thai food, and asked if Will wanted to stay for dinner.

 To which Will replied that hed love to.

 Will was the perfect guest, helping me set the table, then clear it afterwards. He finished

everything on his plate. And when my parents and I declared that we were stuffed, he ate

everything that was left over in the cartonsto my dads very obvious admiration.

 He was nice to Tig, too, when she came over and sniffed the back of one of his shoes. He

bent down and put his finger out so she could smell it before she decided whether or not

to let him pet her. Only people whove actually spent time around cats know that this is

accepted cat etiquette.

 He didnt laugh when I told him Tigs name, either. Its kind of embarrassing to have a

pet that you named when you were eight. Back then, Id thought Tigger was the most

original, creative name you could give a cat.

 But when I mentioned this to Will, he grinned and said Tigger wasnt as bad as the name

hed given his Border collie when he was twelveCavalier. Which is a pretty weird name

for a dog, if you think about it. Especially a naval familys dog.

 During dinner, Will told funny stories about Cavalier and about the pranks the middies

down at the academy sometimes played on one another, as well as on their instructors. He

didnt look bored when my dad told him all about the sword, or when my mom quoted a

few more verses ofThe Lady of Shalott , as she is embarrassingly prone to do after a glass

of wine with dinner.

 He even laughed at my impressions of the Grauls bag boys, and also at my reenactment

of the Great Snake Rescue.

 Nancy has always frowned on my joking around with boys. She says boys dont develop

romantic feelings for girls who goof around like stand-up comics. How can he fall in love

with you, Nancy always wanted to know, if hes too busy laughing?

 And while she may have a pointcertainly no boys have fallen in love with me, with the

exception of Tommy Meadows in the fifth grade, but his family moved to Milwaukee

right after he declared his undying devotion

what spurred the declaration in the first placemy dad says he fell in love at first sight

with my mom because at the faculty party where they met, she had writtenDemoiselle

dAstolat on her Hello, My Name Is

 Which they all had got a terrific yuk out of. Its actually a really lame joke, but what do

medievalists know?

 Not that I was trying to make A. William Wagner fall in love with me, of course.

Because Im perfectly aware that hes taken.

 Its just that, remembering the way that shadow had seemed to pass across his face down

at the pool, I thought maybe he could use a laugh. Thats all.

 Will left after dinner. He thanked my parents, calling my mommaam and my dadsir

which made me crack upand then he said, See you tomorrow, Elle, to me.

 Then he was gone, melting into the twilight exactly the way hed appeared at the side of

my pool. As if from nowhere.

 But I actually waited outside until I heard his car door slam, and saw his cars taillights

as he headed down our long driveway, proving he wasnt a specter orwhat had Mr.

Morton been talking about in World Lit today? Oh yeahabocan , the Gaelic word for

a fact which may, now that I think of it, be

lapel sticker.

ghost. See, I had been paying attention in class. Sort of.

 Elle. Hed called me Elle. As in

 No ones ever called me Elle before. No one. Just Elliewhich, if you ask me, is sort of a

babyish name. Or Elaine, which is sort of old-ladyish.

 But not Elle. Never Elle. Im so not the Elle type.

 Except, apparently, to A. William Wagner.

 Well, my dad said, when I came back into the house, after watching Will leave, he

seems like a nice guy.

 Will Wagner, my mom said, as she turned onJeopardy! I like that name. Its a very

regal-sounding sort of name.

 Oh, God. I could so see where all of this was heading. They thought Will liked me. They

thought Will was going to be my new boyfriend, or something. They had no ideano

ideawhat was really going on.

 But then again, neither did I, really. I mean, the truth is, if somebody had asked me to

explain what that all had been about back therehim showing up at the side of my pool,

then staying for dinnerI wouldnt have knownwhat to say. I had never had a boy do any

of those things before

 I was trying not to make a big deal out of the whole thing, though. Will was nice, but he

had a girlfriend. A pretty, cheerleader girlfriend.

 Who he apparently didnt want to talk about.

 Which, when I thought about it, was pretty weird.

 But the weirdest part of all was that while it had been happeningonce Id gotten used to

the idea, I mean, of this hot guy hanging out with meit hadnt actually seemed that weird

at all. It was like that smile Will had given me that day in the park, the one I hadnt been

able to keep from returning. It had just seemed natural, even right, to smile back, just like

it had seemed totally naturalnatural and, yes, rightto have Will there, joking around

with the silverware as we set the table, laughing at my Grauls bag boy imitation.

 Thatwas what was weird. That it hadnt actuallybeen weird.

 Still, when Nancy called later that evening, and my dad answered first, and said, Ah,

Nancy. She has a lot to tell you, I didnt try to play the whole thing down as much as I

should have. Because I knew Nancy would tell everyone back home. About my having

had a boy over for dinner my very first day at my new school. I made sure to mention that

El. Short for Ellie.

let alone laugh at all my jokes.

he was on the football team, sailed, and was president of the senior class, too.

 Oh, and that he looked very, very good in a swimsuit.

 Nancy practically had kittens right there on the phone.

 Oh my God, is he taller than you? she wanted to know. This had always been a

problem, because for most of my life, Ive been taller than the vast majority of boys in

our school, with the exception of Tommy Meadows.

 Hes six two, I said.

 Nancy cooed appreciatively. At five ten, Id still be able to get away with heels if we

went out, she said.

 Wait until I tell Shelley, Nancy said. Oh my God, Ellie. You did it. You were able to

start over at a whole new school and give yourself a total personality makeover.

Everythings going to be different for you now. Everything! And all you had to do was

move to a totally new state and start going to a completely new school.

 Yeah. Things were definitely starting to look up.

 Thats really what I thought.

 Then.

CHAPTER FIVE

  I took the bus to school the next day. It wasnt as bad as I thought it would be. Liz, the

girl from the track team who lived nearby, was waiting at the stop, so we started talking,

then ended up sitting next to each other.

 Liz is a high jumper. She let me know right away that she doesnt have a boyfriend or a

drivers license yet.

 I knew we had solid groundwork for friendship based on the latter two facts alone.

 I didnt mention to Liz that A. William Wagner had visited me after school the day

before, then stayed for dinner. For one thing, I didnt want to seem like I was bragging.

And for another, well, Liz seemed to really like talking about people in school, and I

wasnt entirely convinced it was a good thing to have spread around. That Will had come

over to my house, I mean.

 I got a pretty good idea, in fact, that it was a bad thing when I closed my locker a few

periods later and found Jennifer Gold standing on the other side of it, not looking too

happy.

 I hear Will came over to your house for dinner last night, Jennifer said, in a distinctly

unfriendly voice.

 Since I hadnt told anyone that Will had been over, I knew the spillage was courtesy of

him. Unless Jennifer had spies in my neighborhood, or something, which seemed

unlikely.

 So I just said, wondering why tiny girls like Jennifer always get the tallest boyfriends,

leaving all the pip-squeaks for giraffes like me, Yes. He did.

 But Jennifer didnt say what I expected her to say. She didnt go, Well, hes my

boyfriend, so hands off, or If you so much as look at him again, youre a dead woman.

 Instead she asked me a question: Did he say anything about me?

 I looked down at Jennifer wondering if she, like her boyfriend, was also suffering from

some kind of mild form of psychosisonly in her case, not on account of liking me.

 She looked sane enough in her pale pink cotton sweater set and capris. But its hard to

tell if someones crazy just by how they dress. The cheerleaders at my old school dressed

totally regular, but a couple of them were certifiable.

 Um, I said. No.

 Or Lance? Jennifers perfectly made-up eyes narrowed. Did he say anything about

Lance?

 Only, I said, that the two of them sailed up the coast this summer. Why?

 But Jennifer didnt answer my question. She just went, Good, looking relieved. Then

she walked away.

 But Jennifer Gold wasnt the only person who asked me about Will that day.

 Mr. Morton, my World Lit teacher, announced that for our first nine-week project, he

was assigning us each a poem to study and then deliver an oral report about. In front of

the whole class. The report would count toward twenty percent of our semester grade,

and had to include critical, secondary, and source materials.

 As if that werent bad enough, he was also assigning us partners to work with.

 Gee, thanks, Mr. Morton.

 He handed out our partners names first. When I got mine, I raised my eyebrows.

 Because my partners name was Lance Reynolds.

 Which didnt seem possible, since Id been certain yesterday that I didnt have any

classes with the guy. I mean, after all, he was a year older than me, like Will.

 But sure enough, when I turned around, there he was in the back of the room. He was

looking down at the slip of paper Mr. Morton had handed him, his golden brow furrowed

as he tried to figure out who Elaine Harrison was. When he glanced up and saw me

staring at him, I raised my own slip and mouthed, Lucky you.

 He didnt react the way Id have expected a jock whod been assigned to do a project

with the too-tall new girl would. Instead of sniggering or even just nodding, he turned a

deep, dark shade of umber. It was kind of interesting to watch, really.

 Then Mr. Morton gave us each our poem. Ours wasBeowulf.

 My heart sank when I saw it. I hateBeowulf almost as much as I hateJeopardy!

 Right, everyone, Mr. Morton said, in his clipped British accent. Find your partner and

discuss how youd like to approach your topic. Id like your outlines on my desk by

Friday.

 I got up and went back to where Lance was sitting, since it didnt seem likely he was

going to come up to me. He was pretending that he didnt see me coming, messing

around with his books and everything, when I slid into the empty desk in front of his.

 Hi, I said, in a phony voice, like on a commercial. Im Ellie, and Ill be your project

partner this semester.

 He messed up, though. Hed been trying to pretend like he didnt know who I was. But

somehow, I know, slipped from between his lips, and he turned an even darker shade of

red.

 This was pretty interesting. I couldnt remember ever having made a guy blush before. I

wondered what Lance had heard about me, to make him react that way.

I saw you that day, he stammered, by way of explanation. He didnt look like the

 I

kind of guy who stammered often. That day in the park.

 Oh yeah, I said, like I had only just remembered the incident myself. Right.

 Will had dinner at your house last night, Lance said. Carefully. Too carefully, I

thought. Like he was fishing for information.

 Yeah, I said. I wondered if he, like Jennifer, was going to ask if Will had talked about

him.

 But he didnt.

 So, Lance said. Beowulf, huh?

 Yeah, I said. I hateBeowulf .

 Lance looked kind of surprised. Youve already read it?

 I realized what kind of dweeb I must have sounded like. I mean, it was bad enough I was

even taking World Literature. Its an elective, open to anyone in any grade whos

interestedor who needs an extra humanities credit, as Lance evidently did. It was even

worse that Id already read most of the books on the syllabus. On my own. Because

theyre all the same books that have been sitting on my parents bookshelves forever, and

its not like I ever had much of a social life, so

 Not wanting to admit this, however, I just said hastily, Well, yeah. My parents are

professors. Medieval studies.Beowulf is kind of their thing.

 It was as I was saying this that I noticed a skinny-necked kid in glasses, sitting one desk

over, looking at us very intently. When he saw me glance his way, he went, Sorry but

did I hear you say you guys haveBeowulf ?

 Yeah, I said, glancing over at Lance, who was staring at the kid with narrowed eyes. I

recognized the look. It was the kind of look the popular give to the unpopularlike Lance

couldnt believe Skinny Neck had had the nerve to speak to him. So what?

 Skinny Neck glanced nervously at his partner, an equally nerdy-looking kid.

 We loveBeowulf , he said, his voice going up a few octaves on the last syllable.

 Yeah, his partner agreed. Grendel rules.

 I supposed Grendelwould rule to a couple of guys who, back in the Middle Ages,

probably wouldnt have made it past the age of five on account of inhalers not having

been invented yet, or whatever.

 Whatd you get? I asked Skinny Neck, referring to his assigned poem.

 Tennyson, Skinny Neck said, making no effort to hide his dissatisfaction.

 I recoiled.

 NotThe Lady of Shalott , I said, in horror.

 Yeah, Skinny Neck said. Seeing my expression, he added, Its way shorter

thanBeowulf .

 Sorry, I said, seeing all too clearly where this was headed. No can do.

 Wait a minute. Lance butted in. Whats wrong with the shallot lady? If its short

 My moms writing a book on her, I interrupted, not mentioning the part about having

been named for the main character in the poem.

 Then the paperll be a cinch, Lance said, brightening. Just ask your mom what to say!

 I stared at him. I couldnt believe this was happening. And yet, at the same time, I sort of

could. Which seemed to be how my life was going at Avalon High. Weird and yet

strangely not weird.

 Contrary to how you might do your homework, I said, in a desperate effort to save

myself from what I saw barreling down on me, knowing full well there was no escape, I

do my homework myself, without my parents help.

 This ones shorter, Lance said, taking the piece of paper from Skinny Necks fingers.

Were doing it.

 It was obvious there wasnt going to be any discussion, much less arguing, over the

issue. Lance had spoken. And what Lance saysit was perfectly clear, even to the new

kid, namely megoes.

 Ill admit it. I was peeved. Im sick of the Lady of Shalott. Her and her stupid robes of

snowy white, loosely flying left and right.

 Fine, I said, snatching the topic paper out of his hands. Ill write it. But you have to

stand up in front of the class and read it.

 The smug expression vanished from Lances face. But

 Youre doing it, I said, matching the tone hed used with me exactly. Or we can just

flunk, for all I care.

 He looked stricken. I cant get an F. Coach wont let me play.

 Then give the report, I said.

 Sinking a little deeper beneath his desk, Lance said, Whatever, which Iand the nerds,

who turned in their seats to give each other high fives, triumphant in having secured

Grendeltook to mean he agreed.

 When the bell rang, I waited until Lance had cleared the room before I followed him, so

we wouldnt have to make awkward conversation out into the hallway. I ended up exiting

the classroom right behind the nerds

 So I had a front row seat to what happened next.

 And that was that some of Lances friends from the football team met him outside the

classroom door. Then one of themeither because he was bored, or mean, or possibly a

combination of bothreached out and, as one of the nerds in front of me passed through

the doorway, snatched the kids notebook.

 Rick, Skinny Neck said, in a disgusted voice. Give it back.

 Rick, one of Lances friends echoed in falsetto. Give it back.

 Get a life, Skinny Neck said, making a grab for the notebook.

 But Rick held it high in the air, out of reach of its much shorter owner.

 Get a life, one of the other team members said, in the same falsetto. Christ, look

whos talking.

 The nerdy kid looked like he was about to cry. Until a hand belonging to someone taller

than all the other jocks reached out and plucked the notebook from Ricks fingers.

 Here, Ted, Will said to Skinny Neck, giving him back his notebook. Ted took it with

trembling fingers, his gaze, as he looked up at Will, worshipful.

 Thanks, Will, he said.

 No problem, Will said to the geek. He had not once cracked a smile, and he didnt do

so now, either. To Rick, he said, Apologize.

 Come on, Will, Lance said, in an Aw-Shucks-We-Were-Just-Joshing manner. Rick

was just messing around with the kid. He

 Wills voice was cold. We talked about this, he said. Apologize to Ted, Rick.

 I wasnt a bit surprised when Rick turned to Skinny Neck and said, sounding genuinely

regretful, Sorry.

.

 Because thered been a steely note in Wills voice that made it clear no onenot even a

two-hundred-pound halfbackhad better try to mess with him. Or dare to disobey one of

his commands.

 Maybe it was just a quarterback thing.

 Or maybe it was something else.

 S all right, Ted said. Then he and his friend darted away, disappearing into the throng

jamming the hallway.

 I followed them, more slowly. Will hadnt noticed me in the crowd, and I was glad. I

probably wouldnt have known what to say to him if hed said hi or whatever. The sight

of him telling that enormous jock what to doand the jock actuallydoing ithad kind of

freaked me out.

 If you can call realizing youre head over heels in love with someone being freaked out.

 This was bad.Really bad. I mean, I did not need to be falling in love with some guyeven

a guy who randomly showed up at my house for dinner and was a champion of

geekswho was already taken by one of the prettiest girls in school. This so wasnt going

to end happily for me. Not even Nancy, the romantic optimist, would be able to see any

possible upside to me falling in love with A. William Wagner.

 So I spent the rest of the day resolutely trying not to think about him. Will, I mean.

 It wasnt like I didnt have other things to worry about. There was the report for Mr.

Mortons class, of course. And Id found out from Liz during lunch that there were more

than a few freshman girls who were running the two hundred metermy eventat varsity

times. Unless I could beat them, there was a chance I might not make the Avalon High

track team, should I be considering going out for it.

 I didnt want to go to the trouble of trying out for the team, only not to make it because

some snot-nosed freshman had spent her summer training and not floating in a pool, like

me.

 So when I got home from school that day, I changed into my running clothes. I figured

the run would do double dutyit would help get me back into shape for track try-outs, and

also keep my mind off a certain quarterback.

 But when I went to look for Mom to give me a ride over to the park, she wasnt in her

office. I banged on my dads office door. He grunted, so I went in.

 Oh, Ellie, he said. Hi. I didnt hear you come home. Then he noticed what I was

wearing, and his face kind of fell.

 Oh, he said, in a different voice. Not today, Ellie. Im really swamped here. I think

Ive made a breakthrough. See this filigree, here? Thats

 You dont have to come with me, I interrupted, not wanting another lecture on my

dads crazy sword. I just need a ride to the park. Wheres Mom?

 I dropped her off at the train station. She had some research to do in the city today.

 Fine, I said. Just give me your keys, then, and Ill drive myself over.

 He looked appalled.

 No, Ellie, he said. You only have a learners permit. You need someone with a valid

drivers license with you.

 Dad, I said. Im just going to the park. Its only two miles away. Theres one four-way

stop and a traffic light before I get there. Ill be okay.

 My dad didnt go for it. He let me drive, all right. But with him in the passenger seat.

 When we got there, a T-ball game and a lacrosse game were going on. The parking lot

was crowded with minivans and Volvos. My dad said thats because most of the people in

Annapolis are ex-military, and they all want to drive the safest car they can find.

 I wondered if Wills dad drove a Volvo. You know, since Will had said he was in the

navy.

 Oops. I hadnt meant to think about Will.

 My dad told me to call him from the pay phone over by the restrooms when I got done

with my runGod forbid my parents should get me a cell phoneso he could come back

and get me. I said I would, then gathered up my iPod and water and climbed out of the

car. There were only a few people on the running path, mostly walking their Jack Russell

terriers or Border collies (back home, the most popular dog is the black lab. Here, its

Border collies. My dad says its because ex-military types want the smartest pet they can

find, and thats the Border collie).

 Wills dog, Cavalier, is a Border collie. Im just saying.

 It was late afternoon, and still plenty hot. As I broke into a jog, I was instantly covered in

a thin sheen of sweat.

 But it felt good to work my muscles after a long day of being cramped behind various

desks. I sailed past the dog walkers, careful not to make eye contact (my dad would have

been appalled), intent on the beat of the music I was listening to. I went around the

running path oncedodging a T-ball and nearly running into a kid on a tricycle. It wasnt

until my second and final time around that I remembered to glance down into the

ravineout of habit, really, more than that I expected to see anybody in thereand

practically tripped over my own feet and fell onto my face.

 Because Will was there.

 At least, I thought it was Will. My glimpse of him, as I tore by, was fleeting.

 Still, after I was done with my second lap, I doubled back, just to make sure. Not

because I wanted to go down there and talk to him, or anything. I mean, the guy is clearly

taken. I dont go after other peoples boyfriends. Not that, you know, if I tried, hed go for

it, or anything. The truth is, I dont go after boys at all. Whats the point? Im not the type

of girl they ever think of in that way, anyway.

 But what if he was in trouble, or something? What if the reason he was at the bottom of

the ravine was because hed tripped and fallen down it? Hey, it could happen. And maybe

he was lying down there, bleeding and unconscious, needing the kiss of life?

Administered by me?

 Okay, whatever. So I wanted to talk to him some more. So sue me.

 I found myself on the part of the running path that overlooks the ravine, and there, down

below, was someone who looked a lot like Will. How hed gotten down there without

getting torn up by thorns or tumbling down the steep sides of the ravine, I didnt know.

 But I figured Id give it a try myself. To make sure he was all right, I told myself.

 Yeah. That was it. To make sure he was all right.

 Whatever.

CHAPTER SIX

 It actually wasnt that bad, once I got past the initial wall of brambles. It was even cooler

in the deep part of the woods than it was on the running path.

 And once you were in among the trees and headed down the ravine, you couldnt see the

running path at all, much less hear the cars from the highway. It was like a primeval

forest, where the trees all grew really close together and practically no sunlight at all

reached the forest floor, making it a damp, mulchy mess beneath your feet.

 It was the kind of place youd expect to meet a monster like Grendel.

 Or possibly the Unabomber.

 Itwas Will, I saw, when the trees thinned out enough to allow me to see to the bottom of

the ravine. He wasnt unconscious, though. He was sitting on one of the big boulders that

jutted up from the creek bed below. He didnt appear to be doing anything. He was just

sitting, staring down at the burbling water in the creek.

 Probably someone whod chosen such an out-of-the-way and hard-to-get-toI had

scratches from the brambles all over my anklesplace to sit and think really wanted to be

alone.

 Probably I should have just left him there without disturbing him.

 Probably I should have turned around and gone back the way I came.

 But I didnt. Because I am a total masochist.

 I had to pick my way along the stones that stuck out of the burbling little creek to get to

the boulder he was sitting on. The water wasnt deep, but I didnt want to get my running

shoes wet. I called his name when I was only a few feet away from him and he still didnt

seem to notice me.

 Then I noticed why. He had headphones on. It wasnt until I jostled one of his feet,

dangling above my head, that he started and glanced sharply down at me.

 But when he saw it was me, he smiled and turned off his iPod.

 Oh, he said. Hey, Elle. How was your run?

 Elle. Hed called me Elle. Again.