“Oh, yes,” I said, and he looked surprised.
“When I called?”
“No, not then. That’s what gave me the idea.”
“You mean you… let me understand. Are you saying you deliberately got yourself suspended?”
I nodded.
“Why?”
“To see you,” I said.
“But… why couldn’t we see each other later or even tomorrow or, better yet, this weekend?”
“I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to see each other again,” I said.
He recoiled. “Huh? You’re not making any sense. I thought it was your sister who was wild and crazy.”
“She’s more than that, Buddy. She’s dangerous. You keep your promise to me and stay away from her.”
“Dangerous? How could she be dangerous, unless sex is poisonous?”
“Just take my word for it. She’s dangerous.”
He stared with a half-smile of incredulity on his face. “What’s happening here?” he asked. “Are you and your sister playing some sort of game with me?”
“No, no, absolutely not.”
“I remember how the two of you teased the guys at Dante’s,” he continued, the suspicion lingering. “You’re kidding me, aren’t you? I mean about deliberately getting suspended just so you’d have an opportunity now to see me?”
“No. I’m telling you the truth. I… my father is very strict about my socializing.”
“Huh? Wait a minute. Your father is strict about your socializing, but he let you and your sister go to Dante’s?” He shook his head. “You’re not making any sense now, Lorelei. In fact, you’re scaring me a little. You sound wacky.”
“I know,” I said. “I don’t mean to sound that way.”
He laughed. “C’mon,” he said, leaning toward me and bringing his lips close to mine again.
“Wait,” I said. “Let me explain. The night you saw me at Dante’s really was the first night I was ever out without my father.”
He studied my face to see if I was kidding him, and then he sat back. “You certainly didn’t act like any girl out for the first time, at least any girl I’ve ever met or seen,” he said.
“I had a good instructor that night,” I said.
He squinted. “And who was that?”
“My sister,” I said.
“Well, why was your father so lenient with her and not with you?”
“It’s complicated,” I said. I paused. Every word I uttered now had to be well thought out first. “I’m adopted.”
“Adopted? You didn’t tell me that. You told me your mother had died.”
“That’s why I was adopted. I don’t reveal that. I don’t like the effect it has on other girls and boys.”
“Oh.” He thought a moment and then smiled. “I didn’t think you and your sister looked that much alike, but now that you’ve mentioned it, why does your being adopted make any difference in the way your father treats you as compared with Ava?”