Мэг Кэбот - Avalon High стр 16.

 Just ignore him, Lance, Jennifer said quickly. Hes just trying to cause trouble.

 Imcausing trouble? Marco flung a disbelieving look in Jennifers direction. You

thinkIm the one causing trouble? What about you? he demanded. Why dont you ask

your precious friend Lance here where he was during most of your party last night, Will?

Huh? Go ahead. Ask him.

 Jennifer blanched, while Lances flush, on the other hand, increased. But he managed to

choke out, You dont know what youre talking about, Campbell.

 Really, Marco, Jennifer said, her voice sounding uncomfortably shrill. Just because

you dont have any friends of your own

 Yeah, well, then Im a lot better off than old Will here, arent I? Marcos smile was

snide. I mean, with friends like you guys, who needs

 Marco, I said, taking a step toward him, my heart in my throat. Dont.

 You really do have it bad, dont you, Lily Maid? Marcos gaze on me was almost

pitying. But you still dont seem to realize youve fallen for the wrong one

. Then he

raised his eyebrows. Or is Lance the one youre trying to protect, and not Will?

 Lance went for him then. I doubt he even knew what Marco was talking about. But to

Lance, it clearly didnt matter. The QB was under attack, and it was Lances job to protect

himeven if, as in this case, the fault was all his own. Lance lungedall two hundred

pounds of hard muscled guard, aimed at Marcos gut.

 Who knows what would have happened if the two of them had connected? Surely at the

velocity Lance was moving, theyd have both plunged over the side of the deck and into

the cold water of the bay.

 But they didnt connect. Because at the last possible moment, Will reached out to seize

Lance, pinning both his arms behind his back.

 Meanwhile, a slim, tanned shadow slipped in front of Marco, crying, Stop it! All of

you! Just stop it! Jennifers voice broke off with a sob.

 Campbell started it. Lance hurled the words at the world in general, breathing hard as

Will struggled to hold him back.

 Oh, I think we all know who started it, Marco said insinuatingly.

 Have you both gone insane? Will wanted to know.

 Dont listen to him, Will, Jennifer cried urgently. Everything he says is a lie, and

always has been.

 Oh, thats rich coming from you, Jen, Marco sneered. Why dont you just tell him

where you were last night when he looked all over the house but couldnt find you? Why

dont you tell him?

 Will had let go of Lance now. Not because Lance had stopped struggling to be set free.

But because it was like suddenly Will forgot to hold on.

 Whats he talking about? Will asked, looking from Jennifer to Lance with a stunned

expression on his face. Then, when neither of them replied right away, he said, Wait.

Why do you guys look so

 Because theyre in love, Marco said, with obvious relish. Theyve been seeing each

other behind your back for months now, while you just

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

 Marco never got to finish his sentence. Because Lance, without Will to hold him back,

flung himself at Marco with all his might. The two of them crashed to the deck of

thePride Winn with enough force to cause the boat to lurch. I had to grab on to some

rigging to keep from falling overboard at the impact of their bodies.

 By the time I righted myself, Lance had managed to subdue Marco. All it took,

apparently, was a single blow to the face. Marco lay in a ball, moaning.

 I cant say I felt too sorry for him.

 But Will. Will, on the other hand, my heart went out to at once. Because he had fallen

back onto one of the boats padded benches as if his legs had simply given out beneath

him, his face as white as the sail snapping above us, despite his tan.

 Its not true, Jennifer was saying to him. She had hold of both his shoulders, and was

crying. Really crying. And not prettily, either, the way the cheerleaders at my old school

had cried after losing a game or whatever. There was actual snot involved.

 Hes lying, Jennifer was saying, in an impassioned voice. We would never do that to

you. Would we, Lance?

 When Lance didnt answer right away, Jennifer flung a nervous glance at him.

 Would we, Lance? she repeated. Lance?

 But Lance still didnt answer. Thats because he was standing in the middle of the boat

deck, his fists at his side, staring at a point just between Wills feet. As I stood there

watching, Lance slowly lifted his head, as if he were straining beneath a great weight,

until, finally, his gaze met Wills.

 And then Lance said the words that were to change everything forever after:

 Its true.

 One of Jennifers hands flew to her mouth. She swung her stricken gaze from Lance to

Willboth of whom were completely immobileand then back again.

 No one spoke. No one breathed. The ocean breeze snapped at the sail above our heads,

but that was the only sound on thePride Winn

Marco had been playing with earlier.

 Finally Jennifer took her hand away from her mouth and said in a voice I will never

forget, it was so filled with genuine sorrow and remorse: Will. Will. Im so sorry.

except for the tinny noise from the radio

 Will didnt even look her way. He was still staring at Lance.

 We couldnt help it, Lance said, with a shrug of his heavy bare shoulders. We tried not

to. Honest, Will.

 Jennifer, tears running freely down her face, said, We did. Really. We were going to tell

you. But with everythingwell, with your dad, and

right time

 Is there ever a right time? Marco inquired nasally from where he lay with his hands

over his face. To tell a guy youre scamming on his girl, I mean?

 Shut up, Marco, I said.

 Marco took his hands from his face and looked at me with a lopsided smile. One side of

his mouth was rapidly swelling.

 But I had no interest in whatever he was about to say. I had eyes only for the scene

unfolding in front of me.

 Will. Lance still stood where he was, his gaze never having strayed from his friends

face. Say something, man. Anything. Or hit me. I dont care. I deserve it. Just

something.

 Will was the one who lowered his gaze first. He looked down at his bare feet. He hadnt

yet had a chance to put on the shoes hed shed to dive overboard and save the Crew-cut

Kids life.

 When he spoke, his voice was devoid of any emotion at all. It was still as cold as the sea.

 Lets go back, he said.

 And he got up to start undoing the main sail.

 The ride home was terrible. Terrible and silent. Well, except for Marco, who complained

bitterly about his split lip, until I fished out one of the cooler packs and handed it to him,

just to shut him up.

 Theres as much to do, it turns out, when youre coming back from a sailing trip as when

youre heading out on one. So we wrapped and tied and cleaned and put things away, all

in utter silenceexcept for when Will asked one of us to do something

course, who continued to whine about his lip and how everyone shoots the

messengeruntil finally, when thePride Winn was safely anchored in the harbor, Will

said, Lets head to shore.

Well, there just never seemed to be a

and Marco, of

 So we climbed into the motorboat and headed for shore. We were probably the soberest

group ever to head down Ego Alley. As the afternoon had worn on, more and more people

had gathered in the deck chairs belonging to the bars around the dock. I could feel the

tourists envious gazes on us as we motored by. They all sat there in their white slacks

and loafers, clutching beers and diet sodas, with no idea that in our boatthe one going by

them right at that very moment, the one they were so jealous ofthree hearts were

breaking.

 I wasnt counting my own heart, even though it seemed to hurt a little more every time I

looked at Wills drawn face. As Marco put it, when he turned to help me from the dinghy

once we reached shore, Dont look so stricken, Lily Maid. This doesnt have anything to

do with you and me.

 Which is exactly why, I said to him, you should have stayed out of it.

 Hey, you had your chance at Lancelot, he said. Its not my fault you blew it.

 How was I even supposed to reply to that?

 Behind us, Will was lashing the boat to a nearby mooring post. Jennifer reached out and

tried to touch his shoulder.

 Will, she said, in a voice thatin my opinion, anywaycould have melted the hardest

heart.

 But Will just turned away and started walking toward his car.

 He and Marco had apparently come in the same vehicle together, since the latter gave me

a courtly bow and said, It was a pleasure, Lady Elaine, before trailing after Wills

departing figure.

 Which left me alone with Jennifer and Lance, neither of whom seemed to be able to look

or at each other.

at me

 Um, I said. Since it seemed like someone needed to say something. Well. I better go.

So. Bye.

 They didnt even acknowledge me. I left them standing there together by the statue of

Alex Haley. I dont think Id be exaggerating, either, if I said it looked to me as if the

bottom had just fallen out of both their worlds.

 I called my parents from a pay phone on the corner and asked them to come pick me up.

They seemed surprised to hear from me so soon

and Id led them to believe Id be gone through dinner.

it was only a few hours since Id left,

 But when they asked me what had happened as I climbed into the car, I just shook my

head. I didnt want to talk about it. Icouldnt talk about it.

 They didnt press me

stairs from my bedroom and walked past them in my bikini, headed for my raft.

 To give them credit, they didnt say anything like, Not again, or I thought wed finally

moved on from the floating thing.

 Instead, Mom just went, Pizza for dinner okay, Ellie?

 And I nodded my assent.

 Then I went outside.

 The sun had disappeared beneath a towering column of gray clouds, but I didnt care. I

climbed onto my raft and lay there, staring up at the leaves above my head.

 I couldnt believe what Id just witnessed. I really couldnt.

 The thing is, stuff like that just doesnt happen to me. I mean, not that any of it had

anything to do with meMarco was right about that, anyway.

 But the fact that Idbeen there

believe.

 I knew why Marco had done it. And I couldnt say I blamed him, really.

 But to have done it like thatin front of Lance and Jennifer

hadnt really been necessary.

 But then, Marco probably felt that way about the death of his dad.

 I hoped Will was going to be all right. But really, what could I do to help him? Nothing, I

guess. Except be his friend. Except be there for him. Except

 go to the ravine, where I was sure hed have gone after what had happened, and ask him

if there was anything I could do.

 Yeah, that was it. I needed to go to the arboretum. Now. Right now

 But no sooner had this thought occurred to me than Id opened my eyes, and saw Will

sitting on top of Spider Rock, looking down at me.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

 I didnt scream this time. I cant even say I was all that surprised to see him. It seemed

almost natural, in a way I couldnt explain, that hed be there.

 Hed changed out of the wet clothes hed worn on the boat. Now he was in jeans and a

different T-shirt.

 But he was wearing the exact same expression hed had the last time Id seen him

expression completely devoid of any emotion whatsoever. I couldnt see his eyes, because

he still wore his sunglasses, even though the sun was hidden behind the clouds.

 But I suspected that even if I could have seen his eyes, theyd have been as unreadable as

the rest of his face. Even his voice, when he finally spoke, seeing that Id opened my eyes

at last, was totally neutral.

 Did you know? he asked me tonelessly.

 No Hi. No How are you, Elle?

 Not that I supposed I deserved one, since I had known and hadnt told him. Still. I wasnt

going to lie to him. Hed been lied to enough. So I said simply, Yes.

 No reaction. At least, not any that I could see.

 Thats why you were acting so weird last night? he asked me. At the party. Outside

the spare room. You knew they were in there?

 Yes, I said, though it felt as if the word had been wrenched from me.

 But what else could I say? It was the truth.

 I leaned up on my elbows, expecting recriminations

them. If nothing else, Will and I were friends, and friends dont let friends

know that their girlfriend is cheating on them with their best friend.

 But to my surprise, he didnt say any of the things I expected him to. There was no