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working carefully, trying to harvest a diamond.
¢"Adam and I went to the new lacrosse museum today," Coach said as we moved
along.
."At Homewood?" I asked.
$ "Yeah," Adam replied. "While we were there, we got to watch the Johns
Hopkins team practice. I would do anything to work out with a college team."
My fingers felt something small and round. They closed around it eagerly,
then I tossed aside a stone. "Maybe I shouldn't ask this, Adam--"
8"When has that stopped you?"
Z"Once, maybe," I told him. "Why didn't you go
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" to Gilman? The recruiters from Hopkins and other colleges are sure to check
out that team. And Stacy said Mr. Clarke offered to pay the tuition."
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Adam was quiet for a moment. "Same reason you don't tell people you're Jimmy
Olsten's grand-kid," he said. "I want to earn my own way."
:"So you can do things the way you want to do them, without worrying about
pleasing or owing someone else?"
%7Å„Adam turned his head toward me. "It's scary the way we think the same."
2"About some things, yes."
& We continued on in silence. The sun felt warm on my back, and the earth
smelled good to me, damp and rich. The colors of the flowers were dazzling.
%7Å„ Adam and I kept bumping elbows and shoulders. From time to time I glanced
sideways, watching him search the flowers, studying the strong shape of his
hands, the width of his wrists. Maybe he thought I was admiring his row of
spring blooms--he picked a small bouquet of grape hyacinths and tucked them in
the pocket of my jeans.
B Neither of us said a word, but it was a different kind of silence than the
cold wall that had once separated us. It was a quiet filled with sunlight. I
started thinking I wouldn't mind crawling around like this all afternoon. Then
Grizzly leaped to his feet, scrambling to the right of us.
^"There it is!" he exclaimed. "I see it, Stacy!"
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BShe rose quickly. "Are you sure?"
h"I caught it sparkling out of the corner of my eye."
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ÞHe reached down and triumphantly plucked up the diamond. It glittered like
cold fire at the tip of his fingers.
R"Phew!" I said, sitting back on my heels.
R"I was starting to worry," Adam admitted.
t Stacy stood before Coach and lifted her left hand. He slipped the ring on
her finger, sliding it down slowly, his eyes on the ring. Then he glanced up
and saw how she was looking at him.
d"Everything's okay now," he said, his voice husky.
zStacy wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you ... thank you."
Was it my imagination, or did they both hold on a little too long for a
thank-you hug? Had I really seen Coach close his eyes for a second?
¦"Well," I murmured, standing up and brushing off my knees. Adam stood up
beside me.
Ø "I should get going," Grizzly said, suddenly letting go of Stacy. "See you
two at school," he told Adam and me, then strode straight through a bed of
tulips, knocking off flurries of petals, as if he couldn't get to his car fast
enough.
` Stacy watched him until he disappeared through the hedge gate. "I better go
too," she said. "I'm supposed to drop off Travis's revised list of songs at
the bandleader's house."
^Adam and I walked her as far as the tall hedge.
OE"Thanks again, guys," she said. "Travis would never have forgiven me."
t"No problem," Adam replied, pushing open the gate for her.
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ú I followed Stacy, but Adam caught me by the belt loop and pulled me back
inside the garden. He held the latch and closed the gate very softly. "That's
how you do it when you don't want people to hear you," he said, smiling at me.
"Can we talk a minute?"
"Sure."
v He sat down on a small bench that was surrounded by lilacs. I stood
awkwardly for a moment, realizing that the two of us were alone, then told
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myself to get real and sat down next to him.
¢ "This is going to sound strange," Adam said, thrusting his feet out in front
of him, studying them. "You'll probably think I'm crazy, but I was wondering
if you noticed anything about--or between--Stacy and--"
"Coach?"
d"You saw it too?" he asked, turning to me quickly.
 "Even when they first met. But I don't know how to read the two of them."
Adam nodded and for a moment looked as if he was trying to read me.
¤"I'm not really sure how to interpret the way they look at each other," I
went on.
He kept looking at me, and I pulled on my hair self-consciously, brushing
out lilac blossoms that had drifted down, and babbled on nervously.
¬ "The problem is, I don't have much experience with real--well--"
""What?" he asked.
^"Love." The word came out so quietly, I thought
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ÔI'd have to say it again. But Adam's eyes flicked down to my mouth, so I
guessed he'd read it off my lips. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]