Мэг Кэбот - Avalon High стр 17.

demandingHow could you not have told me? orWhat kind of person are you?

 I should have known there wouldnt be, of course. Will wasnt like everybody else. Will

wasnt likeanybody else Id ever met before.

 Instead, he said, in that same neutral voice, Its weird. I feel like I already knew, in a

prepared for them, even. I deserved

well, not

way.

 I blinked at him. This was not what Id expected him to say. Wait, I said, thrown.

What? Really?

 Really, he said. While it was happening, I was kind of like

course.To tell you the truthI kind of felt

looked at me.Really looked at me.

 And I could see that he didnt look hurt, or devastated, or even sad. He just looked sort of

thoughtful.

 That sounds screwed up, doesnt it? he asked. That I felt relieved. That my girlfriend

and my best friend are sneaking around together behind my back. Who would feel

relieved about finding out something like that?

 I didnt know what to say. Because I knew exactly what he was talking about.

 What I didnt know was

 Maybe

deep down, that theyre meant for each other. That its

Dont get me wrongshe really does love you, Will. Lance, too. More than anything. You

can tell. But that also might be

 I glanced at him to see whether or not he agreed with thisor if he even understood it,

because I wasnt sure I did.

 Not that you and Jen didnt make a good couple, I added, because he still hadnt said

anything. I was probably babbling, but what else was I supposed to do? I mean, he had

come tome. Of all the people in the world he knew, hed come tome in his hour of need. I

had to saysomething . I mean, Jens totally nice, and stuff. But

 I could never really talk to her, Will interrupted. Not about stuff that mattered. It was

like she didnt want to hear it. Gossip and clothes and stuff. That was fine. But when it

came to talking about how I felt about thingsthings like

about, my dad, and the woods, and the widows walk

school and the mall, or whatevershe just

 He didnt add,the way you do, Elle .

 But that was okay. Hed come to me, hadnt he? He was sitting here with me. In my

backyard. Next to my pool. On Spider Rock.

 And okay, maybe he was only here because Im a virtual stranger, and its easier

sometimes to talk about stuff with strangers than it is with people you know.

Oh, yeah. Sure. Of

relieved. He took off his sunglasses then, and

well,how I knew this.

I said slowly, feeling my way. Maybe you felt that way because you know,

right? Lance and Jen, I mean.

well, why they belong together.

well, that stuff you and I talked

things outside of football and

she just didnt understand.

 And yeah, probably he only thinks of me as a frienda friend who makes him laughand

not the way I think of himas the man with whom I want to spend the rest of my life

someday.

 But thats okay. Thats totally okay. Because with Will, I was willing to take what I could

get. And if friendship was all he had to offer, well, it was more than enough.

 So when he asked what he did nextwhich was, So what are you doing for dinner

tonight?in a voice that was completely devoid of self-pity or anything, really, I said, I

dont know. I think my moms ordering pizza, in a kind of stunned way.

 To which he replied, Do you think your parents would mind if I took you out? I know a

place that makes a mean crab dip.

 Um, I said. No, I dont think theyd mind. Not that Id have cared if they did.

 They didnt. Which was how I found myself dining with A. William Wagner once again.

How I made him laugh over the plate of steaming hot crab dip we shared at Riordans

downtown, by doing what I considered a brilliant imitation of Ms. Schuler, the track

coach. How I almost made him choke on his Moose Tracks ice cream at Storm Brothers

while I told him the story of the time I stuck the red hot up my nose when I was four, just

to hear him laugh again, and then about the time I decided to cut my own hair and ended

up looking just like Russell Crowe inGladiator.

 Then, because I had trig homework, and he said he had physics, we went back to my

house and sat down at the dining room table to work together, since he showed no signs

of being ready to leave for home.

 Not that I blamed him, really. I mean, what did he have to go home to, really? A father

who wanted something for him that Will didnt want for himself, and a stepbrother whod

taken absolute glee in revealing something that, yeah, maybe had needed to be revealed

but not the way hed done it.

 My dad came in at one point while we were working and asked me if I could pull a

staple out of his thumb, because Mom was in the shower. It was only one of those mini

staples little kids use, because those are the only ones we keep around since everyone in

my family is so accident prone, so there wasnt a lot of blood. I pulled the staple out, and

my dad went away again. I started to go back to my homework, then realized Will had

stopped writing. I looked up, and caught him staring at me.

 What? I asked, lifting a hand to my nose. Do I have something on my face?

 No, Will said, with a smile. Its just

had that with anyone, let alone my dad.

the way you are with your parents. Ive never

 Because your dad is probably capable of stapling something without getting his thumb

in the way, I pointed out dryly.

 No, Will said. Its not that. Its the way you talk to each other. Like youI dont know.

Actually care about what happens to the other person.

 Your dad cares what happens to you, I assured him, secretly feeling that Id like to grab

Admiral Wagner and shake him a few times. Maybe not in the way you want him to.

But, I mean, thats the whole reason behind his wanting you to go into the military.

Because he cares about you and thinks thats what would be best for you.

 But he wouldnt think that, Will insisted, if hed ever bothered to get to know me. If

he knew me at allif he had ever bothered to stop and talk to me on the way out to one of

his millions of meetingshed know that I think that

through military force is the absolutelast way a nation ought to go about solving their

problems.

 I couldnt help feeling a stronger rush of admiration than usual for Will at that moment. I

mean, bending an enemys will by force? Problem solving? The guy was discussing stuff

Id never heard anyone close to my own age talking about before. Geoff and his friends

had always talked almost exclusively about Xbox and whatever girl in school was

wearing the shortest skirt at the moment.

 Have you ever told your dad that? I asked him. I mean, that you feel that way?

Because he might surprise you, you know.

 Will just shook his head. You dont know him, he said flatly.

 What about your stepmom? I asked. Do you two get along?

 Jean? Will shrugged. Yeah.

 Well, why dont you tell her, I suggested, what you told me? Then maybe, if you can

get her on your side, she can work on softening up your dad. He may not want to listen to

you, but hed probably listen to his wife, right?

 Wills eyes seemed to glint an even stronger blue than ever as he gazed at me.

 Thats a good idea, he said

ducked my head, hoping my hair would hide my cheeks. I cant believe I never thought

of that.

 Well, you arent used to having two parents, I said. When youve grown up with both

a mom and a dad, you learn how to play one against the other. Its something of an art.

 I cant imagine, Will said, with a grin, your dad ever saying no to you about anything.

well, that bending an enemys will

and dont think I didnt blush at his praise, although I

 He doesnt, really, I agreed. But my mom

 Then I felt something warm and heavy fall across my fingers. When I looked up, I was

surprised to see that Will had laid one of his hands over mine.

 Like you, he said.

 Im not tough, I said, thinking that if he knew how his mere touch had made my

heartbeat stagger, hed realize how not tough I really am.

 Wills fingers didnt loosen their hold.

 Its not a bad thing, he said. Its one of the things I like best about you, in fact. I

wouldnt want to get on your bad side, though.

 As if you ever could,was what I wanted to say. Only I couldnt, because I was too

stunned. Not just by what hed said about liking mehe said he likes me!but by what Id

felt, the moment his fingers touched mine, which was the exact opposite of the coldness

Id felt at Marcos toucha sudden jolt of white-hot electricity that had raced up and down

my arm

.

 I didnt know what kind of connection the two of us had, if anywhy hed thought hed

known me, when wed never met before, and why he felt he could tell me things he

couldnt tell anyone else

anything, even himself.

 But I wasnt about to question it. Especially not now that he was free. True, Im no

cheerleader. Im not blond or perky, and the only reason I turn heads when I walk into a

room is because Im generally the tallest girl there.

 But out of everyone he knew, Will had come to me. Whether hed felt the jolt when he

touched my hand or notwhether he thought of me as just a friend or maybe something

morenothing would ever change the fact thatI was the one hed come to when hed

needed someone most.

 He let go of my hand after that, and said, holding his pencil like it was a cigar, and doing

a very, very bad imitation of Humphrey Bogart fromCasablanca , Elle, I think this is the

beginning of a beautiful thing.

 Friendship, I corrected him, trying not to let him see how deeply his words had thrilled

me. The line is

 Whatever, Will said, in the same bad Humphrey Bogart imitation. Get to work. And

he tapped my homework with his pencil/cigar.

shes a lot tougher.

or why I loved him so fiercely, I was ready to protect him from

 Grinning, I bent over my logarithms. I dont think Id ever been happier in my life.

 What I didnt know then was that what hed said about this being the beginning of a

beautiful thing? Yeah. Not true.

 It was actually themiddle of something that had been going on for a long time

something that most definitely wasnt beautiful. Something that was about as ugly as can

be.

 And something that was about to snowball beyond anyones control.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

 I was the first one into Mr. Mortons classroom the next morning. Not even Mr. Morton

himself was there yet. I sat down in a seat in the front row, glancing at the clock on the

wall. It was seven forty. First period started in twenty minutes.

 So where was Lance?

 When Mr. Morton rolled in, at seven forty-five, Lance still hadnt shown up. Mr. Morton,

neat in his bow tie and herringbone jackettoo warm, I thought, for Annapolis, this time

of yearput down his steaming mug of coffee, his newspaper, and his briefcase, and

pulled the chair out from behind his desk.

 He sat, but didnt open the paper or sip his coffee. Instead, like me, he stared at the clock.

 Though I doubt Mr. Morton was thinking the same thoughts I was. I was having a not

unpleasant time remembering the evening before

homework, had leaned over and swiped mine and started doing logarithms for me. The

way hed smiled when my dad had finally come downstairs and said, Kid. Its eleven

oclock. Go home already, will ya? The way Will had said, See you tomorrow, sir, to

which could only have meant he was planning on coming over again.

my dad

 Seven fifty.

 You told him, didnt you? Mr. Morton wanted to know. Mr. Reynolds?

 Of course I did, I said. Hell be here.

 Except that I was beginning to think that maybe he wouldnt. Maybe hed forgotten. So

the way Will, done with his own

much had happened since the day before

he may have gained a girlfriend, but hed also lost his best friend

thought, anyway, since I assumed Will hadnt called him up and said,No hard feelings,

buddy .

 At least, as of eleven oclock last night, he hadnt.

 Not that Will wasnt going to. Hed talked about it the night before, between logarithms.

He didnt feel he could exactly hold a grudge against Lance and Jennifer if all hed felt,

upon hearing that the two of them were involved, was relief. Id commented that this

would be a grave disappointment to the rumor-mongers of the schoolLiz, in particular,

though I didnt mention her by namewho would be expecting some dramatic snubbing

in the cafeteria.

 Will had just laughed and said that he would never do anything that might deprive the

student population of Avalon High of their right to be entertained, so maybe hed wait a

day or two before publicly forgiving the pair.

 But Lance, of course, didnt know this. I knew he cared about Will, and that the guilt

over what hed done to him had to be eating him up inside.

 Considering what had to be going on inside his head at the moment, it wasnt likely