Child of Darkness (Gemini 3)

Because of the disappointment over my failure to complete my homework assignments I had seen in the faces of my teachers, especially my newspaper adviser, Mr. Feldman, I went right to work when I got home. Early that evening Trevor and I spoke on the phone, and he told me the weather

report was good for the following day.

"Good-bye, Waverly," he sang, and we laughed. "I've always wanted to be driven around by a beautiful girl in an expensive automobile."

As soon as I woke up the next morning, I saw it was a beautiful day. All the clouds were swept south, and the sky had that rich turquoise glaze that made the few remaining small clouds transparent. It was still brisk, reason enough for me to wear my new coat. I didn't realize until I had come out of my morning shower that for the first time, Wade hadn't made a wake-up call to me.

However, what surprised me the most, and of course told me it was fine for me to d; ive to school, was the fact that Wade was already gone by the time I went down to breakfast. His place had been cleared. For a moment I thought he hadn't yet risen, and asked Mrs. McAlister.

She pulled herself up and pursed her lips.

"He's gone about the time he used to go before you arrived," she said, clearly making my arrival sound like a detrimental thing. "He likes rising early."

I could hear Mrs. Cukor working the vacuum cleaner in the hallways. She usually waited before vacuuming so close to the dining room, but with only me in here now, that wasn't any concern for her. I could barely hear myself think, so I ate quickly and left the house.

At school my teachers were pleased with my work. I eagerly answered questions in class. Mr. Feldman gave me a compliment on my book review, and even Mrs. Grossbard applauded my enthusiasm during the volleyball game.

"Maybe you should think about joining our ski team," she suggested. Once again, I had to tell her I had never done one of the sports she coached here at the Dickinson School. "Never skied?" she asked in disbelief. I shook my head. She looked skeptical and tucked in her lip, as if she thought I was lying just to get out of being on the team. I began to wonder if Ami's fabrications about me were a good idea after all. It was always on the tip of my tongue to tell Trevor the truth, and a few times I had nearly slipped up when he asked me questions about my past.

Lies truly entangle you, I thought. Eventually I would trip, and the truth would come out about me. I was sure of it. I had no idea how Trevor would react once he knew, but for the moment, I thought it better to keep it that way. Actually, when I was honest with myself, I had to admit I simply didn't want to lose his attention.

Finally, our wish was to come true. I could take him home at the end of the day. Waverly stood by watching with his usual wise-guy smirk, whispering to the other boys and laughing about us.

"How can you be friends with him?" I asked Trevor. "He's such a . . . a . . ."

"Dork?"

"Yes."

He shrugged.

"He amuses me, I guess. I don't have trouble giving up my time with him to spend it with you, however."

"I hope not," I said, laughing. "Otherwise, you'd be the dork."

"Hey. You're getting too smart for yourself," he kidded. Then he looked at the dashboard. "It really is a nice car. He kept it like new. I'm still amazed he gave it to you and bought himself another one."

"I was always taught never to look a gift horse in the mouth," I said, and backed out of the parking spot. "Yeah, well, this is more than a gift from a horse," he remarked. "Cousins are usually not that generous toward each other."

Something in the air right after he said that gently shook the alarms inside me. I quieted them quickly. I wasn't in the mood to listen to any.

But as we pulled away from the school, I checked my side mirror, and I was sure I saw Ami parked surreptitiously behind a parked truck, watching me drive off. She had come only to spy on me, I thought. I was sure she would be angry and give me one of her lectures about men later. But what I saw surprised me. I had only a short glimpse of her face, but she looked more frightened than angry.

And what my instincts told me was she was more frightened for herself than for me.

I couldn't imagine why that would be, but the alarms returned.

And this time I couldn't ignore them.

16 Sweet Dreams

. Trevor's home was a beautiful sprawling ranchstyle house with dark gray stone facing and large picture windows, a house that looked like it had been lifted off a page in a high end architectural magazine. There were two fireplace chimneys in a lighter shade of gray stone. Although there were no "heavenly" gates to go through and the driveway wasn't as long as the Emersons' driveway, it was much longer and wider than the ones at the nearby homes.

The house itself was set back on a two-acre parcel with beautiful landscaping, with some old sprawling weeping willow trees, a kidney-shaped pool, and two large matching bowl fountains in front with water cascading from the smaller bowls down to the base. The property was bordered by impressive fieldstone walls someone maybe over a hundred years ago had taken a long time to build. The garage was attached in a way that made the house look longer because the doors were at the rear, the shuttered garage windows making it look like additional rooms. I pulled up to the mauve tiled walkway in front.

"It's a very pretty house, Trevor."

"Can you come in for a while?" he asked. The image of Ami planted in her car behind