Serpent's kiss

'Gosh, that would be great.'

'What time, then?'

'Five-thirty is when I usually leave.'

'I'll be there at five-thirty. I'll just honk if that’s all right.'

'Sure. But you don't even know where I live.'

Once again, it was Richie's turn to look uncomfortable. 'Uh, yeah, I've, uh, driven by a few times.'

'You have?'

'Yeah. On my way, uh, downtown.'

Then he was up on his feet, a slender boy not a great deal taller than Marie. He wore a white button down shirt and plain Levi's jeans. He always gave the impression of quiet intelligence coupled with a kind of sadness, which was why Marie had always suspected he had some kind of secret. 'I'll see you tonight,' he said, and then faded away, into the sounds of rattling plates, the odours of steam table food, and the spectacle of more than thirteen hundred high school kids eating lunch at one time.

Lucy cocked her head to the left and cupped her hand behind her ear, as if hearing a distant sound. 'Are those wedding bells I hear in yon castle?'

Marie punched her playfully on the arm. 'All he said he'd do is give me a ride to work No big deal.'

'Right. No big deal, Marie. I can tell you're not excited.'

Marie grinned. 'God, I can't believe it.'

'I can,' Lucy said. 'See, I told you he had a crush on you.'

'Yeah, right.'

'Wait till you tell your mom. She told me how you had his graduation picture on your bureau. Did you ask him for it?'

Marie shook her head. 'No, I got it when I worked on the yearbook. After the printer returned everything, they were just going to throw everything away so I-'

And then she saw Tommy and realised what an impact all this must have had on him. Obviously, he'd heard everything. He was only two chairs away at the table.

Lucy followed Marie's gaze.

Tommy had his hands folded in front of him and his head hung very low. He was not moving at all. Even just watching him, you could sense his grief over Marie's happiness.

Marie said, 'Don't you have that appointment in the counsellor's office?'

At first Lucy looked confused, then catching on, she nodded and said, 'Say, you're right. I do.''

'I'll see you in study hall at two o'clock.'

'Right.' Then Lucy started grinning. Obviously she was going to say something more about Richie and Marie.

But Marie shook her head and glanced again at Tommy.

Lucy nodded and said, 'I'll see you at two, then.'

And left.

Tommy sat unmoving for a long time. So did Marie. She made a pass through her notebook, getting ready for history next hour, and then read a few pages of Of Mice and Men, one of her favourite novels, and the book she was reading again for English with her favourite teacher, Mrs. Lattimore. Twice, kids came up to sit down and eat lunch at their regular table but then they saw Tommy with his head down and then Marie sort off waved them on to an empty table nearby.

Finally, she got up, her leg and foot very stiff as always whenever she'd been sitting for a time, and walked down the long table and sat near Tommy.

'You feel like having a Pepsi? I thought I'd go get one.' Actually, she didn't want a Pepsi and if she did go and get one, it would have been the first time in her three years at Polk. Because getting one meant walking in front of everybody for a long time, then walking all the way back to her table. Her friends were nice enough to save her the trouble by automatically getting her one whenever they went up.

He didn't raise his head. 'No, thanks.'

She wanted to tell him about how he dressed sometimes-say, Tommy, those comic book T-shirts you wear just emphasise your size and make you seem younger. But now that she sat here looking at him, she sensed the obstinate pride he took in his T-shirts. Wearing Batman on his chest was his way of telling people he didn't care what they thought of him. Wearing Batman on his chest was an act of defiance-he probably knew how silly it made him look, and he probably revelled in it perversely. She was no different in always wanting to hide her foot, nor was Lucy any different in the self deprecating jokes she told about the birthmark on her face. She did something now she'd never done before-she reached out and touched Tommy's hand. She could feel him jerk at the touch, as if he'd been shot or electrocuted, as if he could not quite believe it.

But he didn't raise his head.

'Tommy.'

He said nothing. She left her hand in place.

'Tommy.'

Long pause, then: 'What?'

'Do you know how much I like you?'

He said nothing, kept his head down.

'I consider you one of my best friends.'

'Yeah. Right.'

'I do.'

He raised his head. She could see the tears in his eyes. 'Is that what you consider Richie? A friend?'

She felt herself blush, heard herself stammer. 'A different kind of friend.'

'Right.'

He hung his head again. He said, 'Please take your hand away.'

She removed her hand.

They sat there silently for a long time. Kids came and went; the kitchen help dropped plastic trays, shouted joking insults to each other, ran automatic dishwashers that roared with the force of Niagara and smelled oppressively of heat and detergent.

'Tommy.'

'What?'

'Won't you look at me?'

'Why should I?'

'Because we're friends.'

'No, we're not.'

She sighed, waited, then: 'I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings.'

'I suppose you think he's cute, huh?'

Now he raised his head. 'I'm sorry I said that.'

They both tried to disregard the fact that he had tears in his eyes.

He put his hand on her wrist. It was a fleshy hand but a strong one, and damp with sweat. In a curious way, it felt like a baby's hand, and so the sensation of it lying on her wrist was not unpleasant.

He said, 'I don't like you as much as I used to, anyway.'

She smiled. 'Well, I like you more so I guess that evens things out.'

'You don't like me more. You like me less. I can tell just by the way you look at me. About half the things I do irritate you.'

She said carefully, wanting to change the subject but not be too obvious about it, 'Whatever happened to Judy?'

He shrugged. 'Said she didn't want to see me anymore.'

'Why?'

He shrugged again, fatty shoulders beneath the Batman T-shirt. 'Said I embarrassed her every time we went to the comic book store.'

'How did she say you embarrassed her?'

'Oh, arguing with people and all. Like one day there was this guy in there who said that the Green Lantern