In Too Deep (2 page)

As we washed the vegetables I told her about the strange girl I'd met and how badly the conversation had gone between us.

“Sounds like she isn't a very happy person,” Mom remarked.

I thought that was a funny way of putting it. I would have described the girl as mean or hateful. The idea that she was unhappy hadn't occurred to me at all. When I thought about it, though, it made sense. No one could be very happy if they acted that way.

I found it hard to concentrate on the book I was reading before bed that night. I kept picturing the flashing eyes and angry face and it distracted me from the words in front of me.

Well, Betts will know by tomorrow, I thought as I was drifting off to sleep. I guessed I could wait that long to find out something about the mysterious outsider.

I might have had more trouble sleeping if I'd known what was ahead, and how she was going to figure in the events that were coming.

It turned out that it wasn't necessary for Betts to fish for information because the halls at school were abuzz with talk about the new student. Having met her the day before, it came as no surprise to me that most of what was being said was negative. The main theme was that she was just plain weird.

When I saw her walking alone in the hallway the first thing that struck me was that her outfit was even more outrageous than the one she'd had on yesterday. She wore a skirt that looked for all the world as if it had been made by tying a bunch of scarves together, with triangles of different colours and designs hanging at varying lengths. Her top was tight blue denim with an assortment of buttons sewn on here and there. As bizarre as the ensemble was, I thought it looked kind of cool. Still, you can't get
away with wearing something that's so different from everyone else at Little River High.

Whether she knew it or not, Amber had branded herself. From my brief encounter with her on Sunday, I figured she didn't really care.

“Her name's Amber Chapman,” Betts told me, grabbing my arm in the hallway. “And she's staying with the Brodericks.”

“You mean the gas station Brodericks?” I don't know why I asked that. The old couple who owned the gas station were the only folks in town with that name.

“Mmmmhmmm. I heard that she's the granddaughter of Mrs. Broderick's sister, who married a foreigner and moved out west years ago. But that's all I could find out.”

She seemed so disappointed not to have more news to share that I almost laughed. The only thing that held me back was knowing how seriously Betts takes the role of knowing other people's business. Some folks collect things, but Betts collects gossip.

It was hard to picture Amber living with the old couple. As sweet and tolerant as they are, they must have been as startled as the rest of us by her appearance and bad manners.

Aside from comments about her clothes, stories of her rudeness were spreading fast among the students at school. The few kids who had tried to talk to her had
been rebuffed as quickly and thoroughly as I had been the day before. If being left alone was her game she was certainly going to be successful at it.

When lunchtime came it was obvious that everyone was waiting to see what she'd do when she got to the cafeteria. As soon as she got to the entrance a hush fell over the room. Most of the kids took quick peeks in her direction, but others, like Betts, were more overt about watching her and stared outright.

If she was aware of she stir she was causing, her face didn't show it. Except for the fact that her dark eyes scanned the room, she was so expressionless that she could have been a statue. Then she walked in and made her way directly to an empty table in the corner, looking neither left nor right as she walked. When she got there, she moved a chair around to the end of the table and sat with her back toward the rest of the room.

“Total nut case,” Betts commented when she'd drawn her eyes back to our table.

“She's different all right,” I couldn't help agreeing, even though I don't like to judge people. It was a lesson I'd learned recently, so maybe it hadn't completely taken hold.

“Perhaps she just marches to the beat of a different drummer.” Greg Taylor slid into the chair across from me as he joined the conversation. My heart did a little jump, as it does whenever I see him lately. I'm hoping
he'll ask me out someday soon. There was a time when he'd definitely been interested, but I'd done something that had changed that. I figured he'd come around in time, but for now we're just friends.

Betts rolled her eyes and unwrapped her sandwich. “Yeah, well, if she's going to be such a snob she can just march somewhere else.”

“Maybe she's shy. Or scared.”

“Tell him what happened yesterday, Shelby,” Betts commanded. “That will open his eyes.”

I filled him in on my meeting with Amber, leaving out the part where I was staring at her in the first place. He listened and nodded when I was through.

“Still, that doesn't prove that what we're seeing isn't just a defence of some sort.”

“You're such a softie, Greg,” Betts accused. “You just think the best of everyone.”

“Shame on me then,” he smiled. “I'll have to work on that.”

“Did you get your assignment done?” I asked Betts, trying to change the subject. It was no use. She made a face that could have meant anything and then turned back to Greg.

“You're still working at Broderick's Gas Station, aren't you?”

I knew where she was going with it before he answered. Once he'd told her he did indeed still have a
part-time job at Broderick's, she grabbed his arm and leaned toward him excitedly.

“Then you can find out why she's here! Ask old man Broderick the next time you're at work.”

“I'd be glad to do that, Betts,” he said pointedly, “if it was any of my business.”

Her frustration showed as she tried to persuade him, but he didn't budge. I could have told her that she was wasting her time. Greg is an all around decent guy. There was no way he was going to start nosing into someone else's affairs.

Her badgering finally drove him away from the table, much to my annoyance. As soon as he'd finished eating he stood to leave. And then, to our astonishment, he walked right over to where Amber was sitting. We watched as he leaned over and spoke to her.

“Well, he'll change his tune after this,” Betts muttered, never taking her eyes off them. “Wait until she tells him to get lost. It'll serve him right, too.”

It looked very much as though that was exactly what was going to happen, at least at first. Amber turned to him with a scowl. Her face seemed to ask why he was bothering her when she'd made it so clear she didn't want anything to do with anyone.

But then the frown disappeared and she smiled! A few seconds later her head titled back and she was actually laughing. The next thing we knew, he was offering
her his hand and she shook it. I figured he'd just introduced himself and she'd done the same.

“I don't believe it!” Betts sputtered.

We weren't the only ones who had witnessed it either. At least half the kids in the cafeteria were watching the unexpected exchange. I was sure that they were all wondering the same thing I was — what on earth had he said to her to make her change her attitude that fast?

I pushed the remainder of my lunch away, appetite completely gone. Greg and Amber talked for another minute or so and then he strolled casually through the room, paying no heed to the sudden burst of whispers. He didn't look in our direction as he walked into the hallway and turned toward the locker area.

Amber had resumed her position of leaning over her lunch with her back to everyone and her face down.

I guess I should have been happy that Greg had managed to break through her stony barrier. I should have been glad that she seemed to have made a friend in spite of the way she'd been acting. After all, she was new to the town and the school.

What I was actually feeling was nothing as noble as that. A sick feeling had crept into me, though I couldn't tell exactly where it started. It seemed to be partly in my stomach but it extended all the way up into my throat.

It would have been impossible not to notice that there was something very attractive about Amber, in spite of her odd manner of dressing. She had a little heart-shaped face with full lips and large brown eyes. Her dark hair, which she wore in a severely short style, made her look sophisticated and chic.

I was sure that Greg hadn't missed any of that either. And I had to admit that when she'd smiled at him, she'd been positively beautiful.

I suddenly felt very dowdy and plain.

The only comfort I had through the rest of the week was the thought that if Amber had warmed up to Greg, she'd eventually make other friends too. There was no sign that it was about to happen quickly, though, because she continued to keep to herself. A pattern was established where she'd take what we now all thought of as “her place” at the corner table of the cafeteria at noon and sit ignoring everyone. The only exception was when Greg stopped by for a few moments. She always seemed glad to see him, and they'd talk for a bit, but she never invited him to sit with her, which was a small consolation.

When he ate with Betts and me, she made a number of transparent attempts to drag information from him. He didn't bite and managed to steer the conversation away every time she tried to find out how he'd won Amber over or what they talked about.

I, too, was dying to know what he said to her during those brief exchanges, but I wasn't about to lower myself by asking him anything about it. Instead, I acted as unconcerned as could be, pretending that his growing friendship with Amber was of no consequence to me whatsoever.

Inside, I was tortured with the thought that he was quickly losing all interest in me, while at the same time his attraction to her seemed to be increasing. It's not as though I could do anything about it either. Her uniqueness was bound to appeal to someone like Greg, and I felt more and more dull and unappealing all the time.

It wasn't that he didn't act as nice and friendly toward me as ever. He did. But some undercurrent, or spark, between us seemed lost.

Then after school was let out on Friday, Amber paused as she was passing a group of us who were standing near the bus loading area.

“I'll see you tonight,” she said to Greg.

“Right,” he answered, giving her a smile that stabbed right into me. “Oh, and be sure to wear your best outfit.”

She laughed, as though that was the wittiest thing she'd ever heard, told him she'd pick out something nice, and walked off.

Betts gave me a sympathetic look right away, which only made it worse. I hoped Greg hadn't noticed because the last thing I wanted was for him to know it
bothered me. As unhappy as I was that he and Amber had a date for the evening, there was no way I intended to let him know I cared. After all, if he was no longer interested in me, there was nothing I could do about it. At least I could salvage my pride!

At that very moment, a commotion in the doorway of the school distracted me from my misery. Laura Peters was sobbing loudly while several of her friends surrounded her, offering comments that were meant to help.

“My mom is going to kill me,” Laura lamented. “I'm not even supposed to bring it to school.”

“It will turn up,” a girl next to her said soothingly. Others murmured their assent, but Laura's distress seemed unaffected by their encouraging words.

We stood listening and watching as the little group moved toward us. Piecing together the ongoing bits of conversation, I gathered that Laura had worn an expensive watch to school, although apparently her mother had forbidden her to do so. She'd left the watch in her locker during gym class to make sure it didn't get damaged, but now it had disappeared. The worst part was that it had been the last gift she'd received from her grandmother, who had died the year before.

She'd reported the loss to the principal's office but was told the school could do little about it other than let her know if someone turned it in to the lost and found. It was her responsibility to keep her things
locked up. She'd been advised to contact the police if she wanted them to investigate, but that would mean her parents would find out right away.

Of course, there was a combination lock on her locker, but by this point in the year a lot of kids knew each other's combinations. And it was common for us to yell them out to a friend who was going to the lockers, in order to save a trip there ourselves. It turned out that was exactly what Laura had done at lunch hour earlier in the day. Anyone could have remembered it and taken the watch.

I should mention that it's very unusual for anything to be stolen at Little River High. Not that everyone is totally honest and above doing such a thing, but in a small place like this it's just plain dumb to take something that belongs to someone else, especially something that you wear. You'd be caught the first time you put it on. Whoever had taken the watch wasn't going to be able to wear it without being found out.

It was pretty distressing to think that someone had gone into Laura's locker and taken her watch. I felt really sorry for her, not only for the loss, but for the trouble she was sure to get into at home because of it.

That, combined with the fact that Greg had a date with Amber that evening, put me in a dismal mood as I made my way home. It was only recently that I'd come to realize how much I really liked him, and the disappointment
of knowing he'd fallen for someone else so easily hurt a lot.

Betts called me after dinner and asked if I wanted to come to her place for the night, but I made an excuse not to go. It was just one of those times when I felt like being alone.

Well, I guess the whole truth is I wanted to be alone to feel sorry for myself. I'd picked up some junk food on my way home from school and planned to lay on my bed, wallow in self-pity, and console myself with chocolate.