year or so ago, and the guy got killed in a helicopter crash.
But I blinked. The truth was, I didnt know whether to believe Liz or not. She liked to
gossip. A lot.
But she didnt strike me as a liar.
That doesnt mean Wills dad killed him, I said. He didnt do it on purpose. It was
obviously an accident.
Oh, right, Liz scoffed. And I suppose it was just an accident then that six months
later, Admiral Wagner married his dead friends wife.
Whoa.
Apparently, Id said the word out loud, though I dont remember doing so, since Liz
nodded, and went, Totally. Anyway, now people are saying that Wills dad transferred
his friend to a dangerous post on purpose, because hed been in love with the guys wife
for years and years and was just waiting for a way to get rid of her husband before
making his move.
Geez, I said, shocked. Will hadnt mentioned any of this to me. It wasnt that, after a
single dinner and a couple of lemonades, I considered us soulmates, or anything.
hed told me so many other things. Like about not wanting to go to the Academy.
But
And the rose. What about that rose?
So, Liz went on, you can see why Will doesnt like to spend a lot of quality time at
home. With his new stepmom and a dad whod do something like that. Not to mention
Marco.
Whos Marco? I asked, totally confused now.
Stacy, the girl who was offering us a ride, finally showed up, sauntering up behind us as
if she had all the time in the world. Well, she was a high jumper. They can be that way.
Its not about speed with them, so much as defying gravitational pull.
Oh my God, she said, having overheard my question. She looked at Liz and laughed.
She hasnt heard of Marco?
I know, Liz said, rolling her eyes. Well, sheis new.
What? I looked from one girl to the other. Whos Marco?
Marco Campbell, Liz said. Wills new stepbrother. The dead guys son.
Town psycho, Stacy said. She pointed her finger at her temple, then twirled her finger
around. Total head case.
I knew I was fully gaping at them both, but I couldnt help it.
Marco lives with Will and his dad and stepmom?
Yeah, Stacy said. Though Im sure theyd like to get rid of him.
Why? Whats wrong with him?
Stacy already told you, Liz said. Hes a total freak. He got kicked out of Avalon High
last year, a month before graduation, forget thistrying to kill a teacher.
Id been sitting on the curb in the parking lot next to Liz. Now I got up, and turned to
face the two girls.
This isnt true, I said firmly. This is part of thatwhat did you call it? Oh yeah. My
initiation. You guys are playing Trick the New Girl, or something.
Uh, Stacy said, squinting at me, since I was standing with my back to the late-
afternoon sun. You wish. Its true. They tried to hush the whole thing upand I dont
know if there was ever enough evidence to press criminal charges. But the guy got
expelled. It was all over school.
It really is true, Ellie, Liz said, getting up from the curb as well. Although Marco
went around claiming it was self-defense, that the teacherwhoever it waswas trying to
kill him, and he was just trying to save himself. Like anyone would believe that. Hes
supposed to be starting college this year. That is, if he got in anywhere. Which I highly
doubt, since his grades sucked. And not because he wasnt smart, either. It was his
attitude.
I couldnt believe Will hadnt told me any of this. I mean, the thing with his dad wanting
him to go to the Naval Academy, sure. That hed mentioned. But that his dad had
purposefully sent his best friend into a war zone, then snapped up his wife for himself
after the guy had been killed? And that he had a stepbrother whod been kicked out of
school for trying to kill a teacher?
Well, maybe thats not the kind of thing you tell a virtual stranger when you run into her
in the woods. Even if she did let you have some of her pad thai.
Probably Will didnt want to talk about it. I mean, it was the kind of thing maybe youd
want people to forget.
Still. It definitely explained that look Id seen cross his face a few times.
My parents are going to be home. Thats what Will had said about his party. That his
parents were going to be home. Not his dad and new stepmom. His parents.
What happened to his mom? I asked Liz, as we began following Stacy toward her
Miata. Wills real mom, I mean?
Liz shrugged. She died or something, I think. A long time ago, I guess. I mean, I never
heard him talk about her, anyway.
So Wills mom was dead. He hadnt mentioned that, either, I noticed.
Maybe thats why he liked sitting around by himself in the woods, listening to medieval
music, so much. Maybe if your dad had killed his best friend, then scooped up the guys
wife for himself, all the while insisting you have to go to military school to make a
difference in the world, youd feel like you had a lot to think about, too.
I was kind of glad right about then that I had been born Elaine Harrison and not A.
William Wagner.
Why are we talking about Will Wagner, anyway? Stacy wanted to know, as we piled
into her car.
Harrison here scored an invite to his pool party after the Broadneck game Saturday
night, Liz crowed.
Whoa, Stacy said. Looks like the new girls doing pretty well for herself. Hanging
with the popular crowd already.
Im not popular, I said, because the way shed said it made it sound like it wasnt a
good thing. And its not like that
Yes, you are, Liz assured me. If Will Wagner is inviting you to parties at his place,
youre part of the In Crowd, big time.
And I heard you have Lance Reynolds as your partner on Mortons oral assignment,
Stacy said.
Its not like I had a choice, I said. Mr. Morton assigned us together.
Listen to her, Stacy said, chuckling. So outraged! Dont you know how many girls
would die to be in your shoes, Ellie? Lance Reynolds is the school hottie du jour. And he
doesnt have a girlfriend
You have got to be kidding me, I said. That guy is a behemoth!
Behemoth, echoed Stacy. My, thats a bit harsh.
Yeah, Liz agreed. For someone going to his best friends party on Saturday.
.
I cant believe people consider Lance hot, I said. I couldnt believe it, either. Compared
to Will, Lance was like
Aw, Lance is all right, Liz said. Kind of dopey, but nice. Like a teddy bear. The
problem is, hes chronically single. He just needs the love of a good woman to mold him
into the man he has the potential to be.
I think that description fits Ellie perfectly, dont you, Liz? teased Stacy.
Totally, Liz declared.
Then both girls had a good laugh at my stricken expression.
I knew they were just teasing. And even if they werent, it was better that they suspected
I had the hots for Lance than the truth
all day hoping to see him in the hallway between classes. Id even rehearsed what I was
going to say to him.I hear Broadnecks 2 and 0. Guess you guys better do some serious
playing.
Yes, geek that I am, I had looked up Broadneck on the Internet the night before, then
practiced the line in the mirror a few times that morning. So it would seem like I knew
something about football, when, in fact, I knew nothing.
But Id never seen him. And now I realized it wasnt just football I knew nothing about. I
knew nothing about A. William Wagnerthe guy I was apparently falling head over heels
in love witheither.
But I did know one thing: Anyone who could joke around with a bunch of kids, the way
Will had at that lemonade stand, or defend a geek the way he had that day outside Mr.
Mortons classroom, would have my good opinion forever, no matter what his dador
stepbrotherwas rumored to have done.
I knew something else, too: that anyone with as dysfunctional a home life as Wills
needed a laugh or two now and again. It was no wonder that hed taken to hanging around
me, the Queen of the Yuks.
And no matter what Nancy might think about guys not falling in love with girls who
make them laugh, I wasnt changing a thing. Because if thats what Will wanted, thats
what I was going to give him.
Even if I broke my heart in a thousand pieces doing so.
CHAPTER EIGHT
There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
well, waffles with freezer burn.
that the form I was warm for was Will. I had spent
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
Ive never been a very girly girl. I mean, Ive never collected stuffed animals or cared too
much about clothes. Ive never had a manicure, and my hair is all one length because Im
too lazy to get it cut or styled regularly. I basically just slap it back into a ponytail most
days.
But the night of the game and Wills party, I really made an effort to look my best.
I dont know why. I mean, it still wasnt like Will was available. And even if he were,
there was no reason to think hed like me. I mean, sure, I was the girl whod made him
laughwhod sat on a rock in the woods and listened as hed told me about his problems
with his dad.
But he hadnt been totally forthcoming withall the details about his dad. It wasnt like I
was his big confidante, or anything. I was just a funny girl hed met. He obviously liked
me: The day after hed given me the rosethe day I made the track teamI got home to
find an e-mail from him.
CAVALIER: Hey! Hope it went well today, and you ran like the wind. Youre a shoo-in,
dont worry.
He remembered. Id only mentioned briefly, as hed been dropping me off at my house
the day before, that I was planning to go out for the track team.
And hed remembered.
Because thats what friends do. They remember things about each other. It didnt, I told
myself sternly,mean anything. Anything beyond that we were friends, I mean.
I wrote back at once, of course. Well, it seemed only fitting to share the good news.
TIGGERTOO: Hey, back atcha! I made the team. Thanks for the well wishes.
CAVALIER: See? Told you so. Congratulations. With you on board, the teams actually
got a shot at State, for a change.
Which is the kind of thing a friend would say. Because friends support one another. Just
like friends say hi when they pass each other in the hallway (as Will always did). And
wave when they see each other in the parking lot (ditto). Its just what friends do.
And Will had a lot of friends. Everyone at Avalon High, it seemed, loved him. He was
immensely popular, not just with his fellow jocks, but with the less athletically inclined
kids as well. On Friday, when we were summoned to the gym for a massive pep rally
prior to the Broadneck game, and Wills name was read and he came running out onto the
court, the applause for him was thunderous. Everyone in the entire schoolincluding kids
whod been looking sullen about having to be at a pep rally in the first place, the
skateboarders and punk rockersleapt to their feet to give him a standing ovation.
Will, for his part, had looked embarrassed, and then, when the applause didnt die down,
he had to reach for the microphone that Mr. Morton, who was emceeing the event (and
generating pep by making us practice the Avalon High rallying cheer, Excalibur! which
is possibly the lamest cheer in the history of high school), was holding and say, Thanks,
everybody. Were just going to go out there and play our best, and we hope all of you will
be there to support us.
The roar this statement provoked was far louder than any of theExcalibur! s Mr. Morton
had elicited from us.
And when Will was handing the microphone back to Mr. Morton, and his gaze happened
to fall on meme, out of all the people in the bleachersand he gave me a wink and a
smile, I told myself thats just what friends do. Even though both Liz and Stacy, beside
me in the stands, glanced at me sharply, and went, Did he just?
Were just friends, I said quickly.
Sure, Liz said, just as quickly. Sure. Because, you know, Will and Jennifer
Theyre, like, the It Couple, Stacy finished for her.
Right, I said. Will and I are
Wish I had a friend that hot, Stacy said. And nice. And smart. And funny.
Liz smacked her in the arm. What about me? Im hot, nice, smart, and funny.
Yeah, but I dont want to stick my tongue in your mouth, Stacy pointed out.
Liz sighed, and gazed down at Will, who was taking a seat with the rest of his team.
True, she said. If Will Wagner and I werejust friends , Id make sure we didnt stayjust
friends for long.
Oh, right, Stacy said sarcastically. Good luck competing withthat.
We looked where she was pointing. Jennifer Gold was doing a series of backflips up and
down the gym, in time to the band that was playing a speeded-up version of What I Like
About You. Her deeply tanned legs flashed like scissor blades. Every time she landed,
her lustrous blond hair fell effortlessly back into perfect waves.