“I’ll be there.”
“That’s terrific. The kids’ll get a great kick out of having a speaker like you on Halloween.”
“I’ll read ‘em some
“I’m sure they’ll love it.” He nodded at Lane. “Well, I guess we’d better be on our way. Are you all set?”
“Am I dressed okay?” she asked. “I could put on something more...”
“No, no, you’re perfect.”
Mom, smiling, nodded in agreement. “You look just fine, honey.”
“You shore do, little pardner,” Dad said. “If’n you run into Hoot up the trail, be sure’n tell him howdy for me.”
“Oh, Daaaad.”
Mr. Kramer laughed. “It was very nice meeting you, Larry,” he said, and extended his hand.
Dad shook it. “Nice to meet you, too. And I’ll see you on Halloween.”
Shaking hands with Mom, Mr. Kramer said, “A real pleasure meeting you, Jean. I can see where Lane got her looks.”
She blushed. “Why, thank you.”
As he opened the door, Lane kissed her parents. “See you later,” she told them, and they wished her a good time. Then she was on the walkway with Mr. Kramer. His station wagon, parked at the curb, looked empty.
He
Lane hoped it wasn’t just a matter of geographical convenience, hoped he’d chosen to pick her up before the others so they could have some time alone.
“Are you warm enough in that?” he asked.
Did he realize she was trembling? “Oh, I’m fine,” she said. Her shivers, she thought, had little to do with the chilly night air. “I’m just excited,” she added.
He smiled at her. “It’s great to have a student actually excited about going to a play.”
That isn’t it at all, Lane thought as he opened the passenger door. She climbed into the car. He shut the door, walked around the front, and got in behind the steering wheel.
“Excuse me,” he muttered. Leaning sideways, he reached in front of Lane to open the glove compartment. “Don’t want anything happening to the book.” For just a moment, as he slipped the paperback into the compartment, his shoulder pushed against her upper arm. “There,” he said. “Safe and sound.” He sat up straight and started the car.
“Have you read it yet?” Lane asked.
“No, unfortunately.” He pulled away from the curb. “I should be able to get to it next week, though.”
“After you read that, you may want to reconsider having Dad speak to the class.” She grinned. “You may not want him anywhere near a group of high school students.”
“That bad, huh?”
“That nasty.”
“He seemed like a very nice man,” Mr. Kramer said.
“Oh, he is. You’d think he was a monster, reading that stuff, but he’s awfully sweet. He had kind of a bad time today, though. In case you thought he was acting a little... weird. See, he went out shooting in the desert. With our neighbor, Pete.” I’m running off at the mouth like a kid, she thought. He doesn’t care about any of this. “Anyway, Pete had some kind of an accident.”
“Not shot, I hope.”
“Oh, no. Nothing like that. But he fell off some rocks and got knocked out cold. He actually broke his nose. Dad had to take him to the emergency room. So anyway, he wasn’t exactly himself after he got done with all that.”
“It doesn’t sound like much fun.”
“No. It wasn’t. So, how have you been?”
“No complaints. How about yourself? You haven’t had anymore run-ins with Benson, I hope.”
“No.”
“He’ll probably leave you alone. But let me know if he causes you any trouble.”
“I think you put the fear of God into him.”
Mr. Kramer shook his head. “You never know, a guy like that. You’ll have to keep your eyes open. Don’t let him catch you alone. There’s no telling what he might do, and I’d sure hate for anything to happen to my best student.”
“I’ll be careful,” she said.
“Speaking of which, maybe you’d better buckle up.”
“Planning to crash?” she asked, and reached up for the safety harness.
“I’ll sure try not to. But you may have noticed, you keep getting hurt when you’re around me.”
“Yeah. Guess you’re bad luck.” She drew the strap down between her breasts and snapped its metal tab into the buckle by her left hip.
“Now you won’t have to worry about a rendezvous with the windshield.”
“Yeah. I’d look lousy at the play with blood all over my clothes.”
“I do like that outfit,” he said, glancing at her. “You haven’t worn it to school, have you?”
“Not this one.”
“I’ve seen you in something similar, though. A blue denim jumper with white lace. A mini, as I recall.”
“Oh, that.” She felt a warm stir, pleased to find out that he actually remembered what she wore to school, but slightly embarrassed that he recalled the jumper. “Probably too short,” she said.
“I wouldn’t say that. You’ve got the legs for it.”
“Thanks,” she said, heat rushing to her face.
He swung the car to the curb and stopped. Lane gazed at him, her heart pounding.
Just checking directions, she realized.
“Okay,” he said. “Aaron’s at 4980 Cactus. Should be just on the next block.”
Lane felt a pull of disappointment. Their time alone was almost done.
She hoped she would get to sit with him in the theater, but it didn’t work out that way. Sandra, bending his ear about something, followed him down the aisle and into the row. There was no way for Lane to get past her without making a spectacle of herself.
Mr. Kramer took a seat beside a college student. Sandra sat beside him, and Lane found herself between Sandra and George, with Aaron at the other side of George.
She felt cheated.
I’m here to see
He likes me, though. He really does. He likes me a lot.
George, squirming in his seat, brushed against her arm. “Excuse me,” he whispered.
“That’s okay,” she said without looking at him.
“I didn’t mean to do that.”
She looked at George and nodded. “I know. It’s okay.”
“I guess guys are probably always bothering you, you know? It must get annoying.”
Lane shrugged. “It all depends on the guy.”
“Yeah. I guess it would. That makes sense. Well, you don’t have to worry about me. These seats are kind of close together. That’s the problem.”
“You shouldn’t worry about it.”
“I just don’t want you to get the wrong impression.”
“I won’t.”
“It was nice talking to you, though.” George turned his face forward, leaned the other way and scanned
