In Too Deep (9 page)

I have a new probation officer here, a Ms. Gladstone, who's really nice and understanding. She made arrangements for me to get into a survivors group, and I went for the
first time last week. It was kind of scary at first, but it's a good group and I think I'm going to make some friends there.

I read Jane's letter twice, glad to know she was doing all right. She'd been through a lot and had been in some trouble, but she seemed to be finding her way okay now. After writing a long, newsy letter back, I decided to take it to a mailbox and stop at the drugstore to get some zit cream on my way home. If I didn't get rid of the hideous blight on my nose before Monday, I'd have to wear a bag over my head for school.

I'd dropped the letter in the mail slot, made my purchase, and was on the way home when I saw someone sitting hunched over and shaking on a bench in the town square. There was something familiar about the person, and I could see it was a teenage boy, so I walked over that way, ignoring the risk of having my erupting nose seen.

As I got close I saw that it was Tony Carter and wished I hadn't been so nosy. I'd have kept on right by without talking but he glanced up and saw me.

“Hi, Tony,” I mumbled half-heartedly. I noticed then that his face was unusually pale, and it occurred to me that maybe he was sick and needed help. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I'm all right.” His tone belied the words but there was no point in pressing the matter. A large duffel bag sat beside him on the ground. I noticed that it had a bus tag on it and remembered his mom telling me he spent most weekends at the college with his brother.

“Not in Veander this weekend?” I felt stupid as soon as asked this. It was the dumb kind of question that I hate other people asking. Obviously, if he was sitting here on a bench, he wasn't in Veander!

“I was, but I got bored and came home early.” His eyes narrowed as he looked at me, and I realized he must be wondering how I knew he usually spent his weekends there. He was probably thinking I liked him or something, and was keeping tabs on him. I blushed, wanting away from there as quickly as possible.

“That's too bad.” I figured the rest of my face had probably grown red enough to match the zit on my nose. “Well, see you around.”

He mumbled something that I couldn't quite hear as I hurried away. Of all the bad luck! Well, I guess it wasn't just bad luck. I had to accept the fact that my nosiness had a lot to do with what had just happened. And speaking without thinking! It reminded me of a poster I'd seen once that had a list of rules about talking. One of them said something like “Do not engage mouth while brain is in neutral.” Well, that's exactly what I'd just done.

Now Tony probably thought I had some big crush on him and was keeping track of everything he did. The worst part was that he might start telling other people. It would certainly get back to Greg if he did. Someone would get great enjoyment out of telling him. That's just the way people are.

It was just a little before two o'clock when I got home, and I managed to worry about the whole thing for the rest of the afternoon.

Sunday afternoon found me still fretting a little over the incident with Tony, but I'd managed to remind myself of something Dad told me a long time ago. He said that if you see ten problems coming down the road toward you, nine of them are sure to run into the ditch before they ever reach you. I was hoping that this was one of the nine.

Greg had called just before lunch and asked if I had any plans later. I'd agreed to meet him at the Scream Machine at two o'clock. The zit on my nose was still pretty angry looking, but I figured I could hide it fairly well with a bit of makeup. I doctored it up the best I could, slipped on a teal sweater and black jeans, and went off to see him.

He was already there when I arrived, even though I was ten minutes early. That made me feel good because it meant he was as anxious to see me as I was to see him.

“Hey!” he smiled and stood as I walked toward the booth where he was sitting.

“Hey, yourself.” I slid into the empty side and met his smile with one of my own.

“Are you hungry?”

“Naw, I just had lunch a while ago.”

“So did I, but we men can always go for a little snack.”

“Well, snack away. I'll just have a bottle of water.”

Greg's “snack” turned out to be a double cheeseburger platter and a chocolate shake. When he'd finished those he picked up the menu, which is a single, plastic-coated page with burgers and stuff on one side and beverages and desserts on the other. I saw that he was studying the dessert side with some interest.

“Their coconut cream pie is good,” he commented. “But then, the cheesecake looks pretty tempting too.”

“Some snack,” I teased.

“I have to eat well to maintain these massive muscles,” he defended himself.

“Guys are disgusting,” I complained. “You can just stuff your faces any time you want and never gain an ounce. Girls can't get away with that. We gain weight just looking at food! It's not fair.”

“Well, try not to let it make you bitter,” he snickered. Then he ordered the pie
and
the cheesecake!

They both looked delicious, and when he offered me some, I gave in, pointed to the pie, and giggled as he scooped up a bite and fed it to me. It was scrumptious. Then he passed me one of the forks and we ended up sharing both desserts. We fed each other and pretended we didn't notice the waitress's amused glances.

“Oh, no!” he exclaimed just as we'd finished the last crumbs of the cheesecake. He was looking at me in horror.

“What? Do I have whipped cream on my face or something?”

“No,” he shielded his eyes. “I'm afraid it's much worse than that.”

“It's my zit, isn't it?” The makeup had probably come off when I wiped my face. I put my hand up to cover it instinctively.

“Is that a zit? I thought you were growing a second nose.”

“Hey!” I tossed a crumpled napkin at him.

“Anyway, it's not the zit.”

“Well then, what is it?”

He leaned forward, glanced around quickly as if to make sure no one was listening, and whispered, “I think you've gained a tenth of an ounce from eating that dessert.”

“Oh, stop it!” I laughed.

“No, seriously, you're ballooning out even as we speak. In fact, we'd better hurry up and leave while you can still squeeze through the doorway.”

“You, sir, are a cur,” I told him, using a line I'd seen in a movie once. “Besides, you wouldn't find it so funny if your …” I paused, realizing I'd been about to say “girlfriend,” which was a bit presumptuous since he'd never actually asked me out. “I mean, it would be a different story if I really was fat.”

“How's that?”

“Well, you wouldn't be, uh …” I trailed off again.

“Interested in you?” he prompted. “I
am
interested in you, you know. It's all right to say it.”

“Okay then,” I felt giddy all of a sudden. “You wouldn't be interested in me if I was overweight.”

“And why not?”

“Because guys are like that.”

“Some guys are,” he admitted, “but that just means
they
have a problem. You'd have to be pretty shallow to judge someone on that basis. The things that count are inside a person, not outside. Anyone who doesn't know that isn't worth bothering with anyway.”

I thought about Annie Berkley and Todd Saunders, a couple who seemed to be a mismatch at first. They'd started going out last December, and everyone had been a bit surprised. Todd is something of a jock and Annie is kind of chubby. But now that they'd been dating
for a while, it was obvious that they were really happy with each other. You could see that Todd was crazy about Annie, the way he looked at her with such pride and affection.

Greg got up to pay our bill, and I went to the girls' room to check my nose. It looked bad, but I hadn't thought to bring any foundation with me so there wasn't much I could do about it. I fixed my hair a bit and went back out to find Greg waiting by the door.

“Ready to go?”

“Sure. Where are we going?”

“You're always so nosy!” He reached over and took my hand. “Though I suppose that's why you're such a famous and successful detective.”

“Yeah, I'm famous all right. That's why we're thronged with people begging for my autograph.” Greg knew perfectly well that I'd only solved one mystery and that I'd actually almost bungled it.

“No doubt your clever disguise of an extra nose is the only thing saving you from the autograph seekers.”

I gave him a playful punch on the arm. He suggested I get my violent nature under control. We walked along laughing and talking nonsense until we reached a wooded road leading out of town.

“This way,” he instructed, leading me along a path that wound through the woods and down to the river. The deciduous trees were budding with green
bursts of spring growth and the whole place smelled gloriously of new life.

There's a certain kind of stillness in the forest that makes you feel you should be quiet, and as our conversation faded I became aware of the sounds of the woods. What first seemed an almost silent place was actually a symphony of birdcalls blended with rustling trees and other sounds. I felt almost like an intruder in another world.

We emerged at the river when we'd reached the path's end and Greg lead me along the shore until we got to a spot where the bank was impassible. After a quick detour back through the woods we came out at the river once again. It was a spot I'd never been to before.

“Here we are.” He pointed to a large rock formation that jutted out over the water. “I found this place one day last fall. Isn't it great?”

“It's awesome!”

He helped me out onto the largest of the rocks, and I was delighted to find that there was a slight dip in the end of it. It looked as though it was indented purposely for two people to sit there. I slid into the spot and let my legs hang over the edge, feeling the sharp coolness of the breeze off the water. Greg slipped in beside me, and a thrill went all through me as his arm reached around my back. His hand settled on my shoulder, and I automatically reached mine up to hold his.

I'm not sure how long we sat there in silence. It was the kind of thing that you just don't want to end. The beauty of nature was all around, and it caused a kind of sensory overload with the sights and sounds and smells. I drifted into a state of contentment that was so deep it felt as though I was falling asleep.

In my drowsiness my head slid over to rest on Greg's shoulder. Then his free hand reached up and touched the side of my face.

“Shelby,” his voice was barely a whisper. “This is where I wanted to bring you that Saturday when we had to cancel our plans.”

“It's the most perfect place I've ever been,” I murmured.

“It is, isn't it? I thought it would be just the right spot to ask you if you'd go out with me.”

My heart was pounding so hard I couldn't speak. All the sleepiness had fled off, chased away by overwhelming happiness.

“Well? Will you?”

All I could do was nod. And then he was leaning over and kissing me.

Being kissed was even better than I'd imagined. It made me all weak and tingly, as if everything inside had turned into some kid of warm, fuzzy jelly. Mostly, though, it filled me with the most amazingly happy feeling. It was a good thing that we stayed there on the rock for a while before heading back home because I don't think my legs would have worked right then.

When we did leave, Greg stopped along the river-bank and leaned down to pick up a couple of stones. They were round and smooth, and he rubbed them in his hand to get off the bits of sand that clung to them. Then he passed one to me.

“We'll each keep one of these to remember today by,” he said, kissing my forehead.

I knew I'd never forget one single moment of the day, but I took the stone gladly and slipped it into my
pocket. My fingers curled around it as we walked along the path and back out to the road.

I hadn't realized how late it was getting. By the time I got home, Mom and Dad were almost finished eating dinner.

“Come right on in, Greg,” Dad called out when he saw us in the doorway. “Darlene and I were just going to send out a search party for Shelby, but since you've brought her back safe and sound after all I guess we could give you a bite to eat.”

“Yes, Greg, come and join us,” Mom agreed, jumping up to fetch an extra plate.

“I'd like to, I really would,” Greg's voice was apologetic. “But I've been out of the house most of the weekend, what with work and all. I think I should get home and spend some time with Dad.”

Mom nodded understandingly. I guess that being a widower Dr. Taylor is probably lonely and finds the time long when Greg isn't home much.

“Well, another time soon then,” Dad waved his fork. “You're always welcome here.”

I'd have thought that the excitement of the afternoon would have made it nearly impossible to eat but quite the opposite was true. Mom had made her special sweet and sour meatballs and rice, and the smell made me realize just how hungry I was. I scooped a big helping onto my plate and was busy
devouring it when I noticed how still and quiet the room had gotten. Looking up, I saw Mom and Dad watching me.

“Well?” Mom asked with this huge smile on her face.

“Well, what?”

“How was your afternoon?”

“Fine.” I should have known she'd start fishing for information!

“Anything exciting happen?”

“Like what?”

“Like your first kiss perhaps?”

“Mom! Why do you have to be so nosy?” I popped another meatball into my mouth.