by Jack Parker
"I don't think it's all that great," Bonnie commented. "But then I'm not crazy about all the carbs in the pasta."
"I'm not that impressed, either," Amy said. She eyed her plate doubtfully, stirring the layers into a mess and finally taking a tiny bite.
Cheryl scooped up the last bite and said, "I'm gonna get some more. I might even learn to like cooking!"
"Me, too," Andrea said. "Anyone else want more? 'Cause if you don't, I'll take the rest."
No one at her table challenged her, so she brought the dish back to the table. "Easier this way," she commented as she dug in.
Cheryl ate her second serving a little more slowly, savoring the taste and wondering if she'd just found a new hobby. Across the aisle Amy was still picking at her food; did she just not like lasagna, or had the pills ruined her appetite?
Kelly had taken Gracie and Shawna to a drive-in for lunch; Cheryl hadn't shown up so they'd left without her. "You think that'll hold you until dinner?" he asked Gracie.
She patted her tummy and nodded her head. "In fact, I'm so full I feel like walking around a little before I go back to class; otherwise I might just fall asleep."
"We've got a little time left," Shawna said. "I'm not in any hurry to get back to school, anyway."
Kelly found a parking spot fairly easily since the lunch hour wasn't over yet. "We'll have to remember this, and head back a few minutes before everyone else. This is the closest spot I've found all week!"
"And yet we're deliberately taking the long way in," Shawna said mockingly.
"My fault," said Gracie.
They got out, locked the doors, and stood there looking at each other. "Which way?" Gracie asked.
"There's a big crowd over that way," Kelly said. "Let's go see what's going on."
They started walking at a sedate pace. Gracie might have wanted to walk off some of her lunch but the very fact that she was full kept her from moving too fast. It had rained earlier in the day but though there were still ugly gray clouds in the sky the cool air felt nicely brisk. "I hope it doesn't rain more tonight," she commented.
"It probably will," Shawna said. "There's a game tonight. Maybe it'll wait 'til the game's over, but since it's an away-game I doubt it. It'll probably pour as we're driving to it."
"I can see somebody's hood up," Kelly said. "Engine trouble, I guess; trunk's open so hopefully they've got some basic tools."
"Whose car is it, do you know?" Shawna asked.
"It's little and blue, does that help?" he asked wryly. "Is that Jake under the hood?"
"I think so," Gracie agreed. "I didn't know he knew anything about cars. There's sure a lot of people standing around. Looks like Shaun and Tyler and you can't miss Allison's red hair!"
"I can't tell who else is there," Shawna said. "Bobby Summers would be in his element here. I'm with you, I wouldn't think Jake would know which end of a car is which."
Suddenly they heard the sound of an engine starting and the crowd cheered loudly. Meaghan got out of the driver's side and threw her arms around Jake.
"What was wrong?" Kelly asked as they walked up.
"It wouldn't start," Meaghan said. Her eyes were red like she'd been crying, but with Jake's arm around her waist she seemed happy and relieved now. The car was purring beside her and everything seemed right in her world.
Jake pointed to the trunk. "The battery cable was loose; I just tightened it up a little," he said proudly.
"I told you he didn't know which end of the car to fix – that's the trunk!" Shawna exclaimed.
Jake turned his devastating grin on her. "Yes it is; and it just happens that the battery is in the trunk in a Miata."
Tyler put a hand perpendicular to his face with its back facing Shawna as if it would shield his words from everyone else. "I had to tell him where it was," he said in a stage whisper.
"Better go wash your hands," Kelly advised. "You might've gotten acid on them."
Meaghan squeaked and pulled away from Jake, brushing at her jacket where his hand had been resting. "I'll shut it off and we can go on in."
Someone handed Jake a paper napkin and he began wiping his hands. "No, let it run a few more minutes," he told her. "The battery needs to charge some." He shut the trunk and swiped at it with the napkin.
Kelly stepped closer to lift the hood enough to remove the prop-rod and put it back in the clips that held it in place. He let the hood drop with a clang, then tested it to make sure it had latched firmly. "Miata, huh?" he said. "It must be a lot of fun to drive."
Meaghan tilted her head in a so-so gesture. "It's cool in warm weather, when I can leave the top down."
"That sounds like a lot of fun," Gracie said. "The sun shining down, the wind in your hair…"
"Screaming around curves like a race-car driver," Kelly finished the verbal picture.
Meaghan shuddered. "I don't like to drive fast, or take chances. In fact, I'm thinking of selling it and getting something else."
"Why?" Shawna asked incredulously. "It's such a pretty color, and I bet it gets good mileage."
"My uncle sold it to us," Meaghan said. "He says it's 'French Blue'; it is a pretty color but it scares me a little, I always feel like I'm wasting its potential. And I'd like to have a car with a little more room."
"Sell it to me!" Tyler said, only half joking. "I'd use its potential."
"You'd look good driving around in that convertible," Allison told him. "But I'm not riding with you, your driving scares me as it is."
"Maybe I will," Meaghan said. "If you're serious, come talk to my dad this weekend. Sunday afternoon, maybe; he shouldn't be at the office then."
"Your dad sure spends a lot of time working," Allison remarked. "You'd think he was a doctor or something."
"He's a lawyer," Meaghan told her. "That's almost as bad, I think. He's always got some important case to work on, or has to meet people who can't get there during normal hours, and you ought to see the piles of papers he brings home."
"Reminds me of my dad," Gracie said a bit wistfully. "He liked his job and really liked that he made a lot of money at it. Of course, that doesn't always leave a lot of time to spend with his family."
"Aww, Gracie, I'm sorry I reminded you," Meaghan said sincerely. She heaved a sigh and said, "You do know what it's like, though. I'll tell Dad you're interested, Tyler."
"Get the battery cable fixed first!" Tyler said.
"You going to the game?" Brittney called out as she walked past.
"You bet!" Gracie replied. "I'll look for you there."
"It's a big stadium," Kelly said. "We may not be able to find everyone." They'd just reached his locker and he was trying to figure out which books he'd need for the weekend, moving them from backpack to locker or vice versa.
"C'mon, hurry up, Kelly," she said. "I wanna get my homework done this afternoon so I can have the weekend free. And don't forget, Mom's gonna make dinner for us before we have to leave for the game."
Kelly stood there holding his math book, looking at it with indecision. "I could whip this out at lunch on Monday, then I wouldn't have to carry it home and back."
From down the row of lockers someone yelled "Owww!"
They turned to see Shaun standing in front of an open locker; the door he was holding was still vibrating.
"You okay?" Gracie asked as she ran to him.
Shaun let go of the door to rub his forehead. "Uh, yeah, I think so," he said. "The damn thing came loose all of a sudden, whacked me in the head. Am I bleeding?"
Gracie peered at his head. "Not a drop," she said. "I don't even see a red spot; you can't get out of playing football that easy!"
Shaun shut the locker door and then cautiously pulled it open again. It opened without trouble. He tried it again just to be sure. "Got stuck on something, I guess. It'd take more than this to bench me – but did you hear about Andrea?"
"No, what happened?" she asked.
"They hauled her away to the hospital last hour," he told her. "She was
acting all confused, said she was dizzy and threw up in class."
"Was that the siren we heard?" Kelly asked.
"Sure was," Shaun said. "Hope she's all right; she had us all pretty worried."
"Me too; that sounds pretty serious," Gracie said. "I'll call her tomorrow to see how she is."
"Give us a good game!" Kelly said, offering a raised fist which Shaun duly bumped.
It sprinkled on Gracie and Kelly during the drive out of town, but stopped just before they arrived at the 'enemy' stadium. They paid their way in and followed the signs to the visitors' section. Kelly carried a blanket and Gracie had a big umbrella so they felt they'd be comfortable enough even if it did start raining again. They found a group of their friends and settled down – as much as teenagers settle at a football game. There was a constant dance of kids getting up, going to get food or just moving to sit with someone else; and of course everyone seemed to think they had to stand to cheer their team on when the situation was tense.
The whole gang was there, with the exception of Serene and Tanya who were on the field with the cheer team. They – and everyone on their side of the stands – had a lot to cheer about too, as the football team played a great game against their long-standing rival. Every time Jake took off running all of his girlfriends were on their feet screaming his name and exhorting him to "Go!" Gracie noticed that many of the girls seemed to be there together and reflected that it must be difficult vying for the attention of the same guy. The girls were friends, but it must hurt when Jake took one of them out and the rest were left home alone.
Gracie cheered right along with them although she was only interested in the collective efforts of the team. Amy seemed particularly full of school pride, jumping up ready to cheer before a play even started and doing a little victory dance when the team did well. At times she'd run down the steps to stand at the rail so she could hopefully see a bit better. Just after half-time the clouds drizzled a little rain on the stadium; Gracie and Kelly shared the blanket and umbrella with those next to them and for awhile everyone huddled in little isolated islands while the game went on.
The rain stopped, though Kelly remarked that the clouds must still be there because he couldn't see any stars. The fourth quarter was particularly tense as the opposing team made a concerted effort and gained two touchdowns, tying the score. But their team rallied and Jake ran 70 yards for the winning TD. The spectators were ecstatic, alternating cheering with hugging anyone in sight.
Kelly leaned close to yell in Gracie's ear. "We should get outta here now, while everyone's still hanging around. It's a 30-minute drive back to our school and the wind's picking up, it might rain again before we get there."
Gracie looked at him like he was crazy, then apparently realized he was right. "Just let me ask if anyone needs a ride back."
She squeezed through the crowd of her friends, checking on their return plans and giving them all another hug for good measure. Everyone had a way home so she waved happily at them as she and Kelly headed toward the parking lot. Like coming back from lunch a few minutes early, leaving the crowded stadium while most everyone else was still celebrating (or not, as the case may be) was a great idea; there was little traffic to contend with in either the parking lot or on the road home.
Kelly was right about the rain, though. About halfway home the skies poured on them and Kelly slowed down to accommodate the conditions. "Just what we needed!" he said.
"I hope no one has any trouble," Gracie said. "At least this highway's pretty straight. I'd hate to be riding with Madison tonight though, her driving scares me."
Kelly stretched his right hand out to take her left and squeeze it. "I'll be careful. I wouldn't want to hurt you."
She squeezed back, brought his hand to her mouth and gave it a quick kiss. "I don't want you to get hurt, either."
He returned the hand to the steering wheel for safety's sake. "Just think – we'll get back to school ahead of everyone else, so you can have first dibs on the food."
Gracie's face turned serious. "Seems funny that just a week ago everyone wanted to skip the school-sponsored party and go to Mrs. Lane's house."
"Yeah, I know," he replied. "And now she's dead and I bet there won't be any more private parties the rest of the year. And we still don't know how it happened!"
"I think someone had to be there when it happened," she mused. "But I don't know if we'll ever know for sure."
They drove out from under the rain a block from their high school, parked, and slogged through the puddles into the building. They were indeed the first people to arrive, although of course the staff had already heard they'd won the game. Other students began arriving and the party got noisy quickly. They had a lot of celebrating to do and everyone was impatiently awaiting the arrival of the football team so they could tell them just how proud of them they all were.
Gracie had almost gotten to the bottom of her second piled-high plate when she noticed a commotion nearby. Jennifer had her cell phone pressed to her ear, a look of intense concentration on her face, and she was frantically signaling those near her to be quiet so she could hear. Everyone in the gym seemed to realize at once that there was a problem and a hush fell over the room; even the canned music seemed to get quieter.
Jennifer nodded and told the phone, "I'll let everyone know." She pulled it away from her face and flipped it closed from force of habit. Only then did she look around to see all eyes on her. "That was Amy," she said in a weak voice, a look of horror stealing over her face. "Meaghan's had a wreck. The ambulance is taking her to the hospital."
CHAPTER 12
"Did she say anything else?" Gracie asked.
Jennifer wrung her hands and looked up with tears in her big blue eyes. "I think she said Meaghan was unconscious, but I'm not sure. Can't you drive any faster, Kelly?"
Kelly glanced over his shoulder at his passenger and said, "I don't want to have a wreck too, Jennifer." He realized immediately that his words were a mistake. "I'm sorry, I didn't really mean it like that."
Gracie turned around in the front seat as best she could with her seatbelt on and took one of Jennifer's hands in hers. "It'll be okay. The EMTs are taking care of her and they'll take her straight to the Emergency Room; we probably won't even be able to see her tonight."
Jennifer snuffled and wiped at her tears with the back of her free hand. "I'm just so worried about her."
"I know; I am too," Gracie tried to soothe her. "But we don't know how bad she's hurt; maybe she just got knocked out. We just have to wait 'til we get to the hospital."
Jennifer examined her face in the rear-view mirror as they drove under a streetlamp. "I look like crap," she stated. She paused a moment and said, "What kind of friend am I? Worried about how I look when Meaghan might be dying."
Gracie wanted to reassure Jennifer – and herself – that Meaghan wasn't dying, but the fact was that none of them knew that. "We're all upset. You won't be the only one crying, so don't worry about that. Unfortunately I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to fix your makeup while we're waiting to hear something."
Jennifer gave her an angry look. "I can't worry about makeup at a time like this!"
Gracie sighed inwardly and let her face relax into a calm smile; it reminded her of her mother, who often did that very thing. "You'll feel better if you look better," she said.
"Maybe," Jennifer allowed. "But I want to know how Meaghan is first."
"We're here," Kelly announced as he turned into the hospital parking lot. "I'll drop you two off at the ER and go park farther out. The spaces close to the door are for people who really need them."
As Gracie and Jennifer got out they saw a steady line of cars behind them. It looked like half the high school was gonna be there. Shawna pulled up to let Cheryl out as Kelly drove off.
"Looks like we'll have a big crowd," Cheryl said. "Why don't you go in and see what you can find out, and ask the nurse if there's a big waiting room. We don't all need to hang out in ER."
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"That's a great idea," Jennifer said.
"You gonna wait here and handle crowd control?" Gracie asked, trying to make it sound a little funny to lighten the mood.
"Yeah, I figure we can help Meaghan best by staying out of the way and letting the doctors take care of her."
Gracie nodded and started after Jennifer through the over-sized revolving door, silently cursing its slow movement. Behind her she heard Cheryl's voice saying "Hi Elyzabeth. We're all gonna wait out here for a few minutes. Josh! Don't go in yet."
Gracie and Jennifer walked up to the desk and waited for the nurse there to hang up the phone. "Has Meaghan Pruitt been brought in yet? She'd be in an ambulance."
The nurse looked suspiciously at the two young women standing there; they looked nothing alike. "Are you relatives?" she asked crisply.
"Yes, she's our sister," Jennifer said decisively. She intended to let a tear trickle down her cheek for effect, but her emotions got the better of her and she began sobbing.
"No!" Gracie said. She gave the nurse her most honest smile. "She's our friend. She's been in a car wreck and they're supposed to be bringing her here." She reached out to pat Jennifer on the back.
The nurse raised one eyebrow at the two opposite stories. "I'm sorry, girls. I can't tell you anything; it's those privacy laws you know. You'll have to wait until her parents get here."
Jennifer nodded and started to turn away but Gracie took her arm to stop her. "I understand the rules," Gracie told the nurse. "But there's a bunch of her friends on the way here and it's gonna get real crowded and noisy real quick. We don't want to get in your way, but we're all worried about our friend. Can you at least point us to somewhere we can all wait?"
The nurse looked beyond the girls to see the growing crowd outside the ER doors. She was tempted to alert Security, but the darker-headed girl's request was reasonable and she could see their concern. It wouldn't be good PR for the hospital to turn these young people away, and she could tell someone to keep an eye on them to make sure they didn't get too loud and rambunctious. "There's a room on the 2nd floor you can use, it's the one with the tables and vending machines. You'll have to keep the noise level down, but I'll let everyone know as they come in and I'll tell her folks you're there when they arrive."
