Bonnie pounded with both fists on Meredith's back, and suddenly Meredith took a huge gulp of air.
"Thanks," she was saying weakly, but Bonnie was already dragging her away, away from the laughing Isobel and a collection of the world's longest nails and the rubbing alcohol and other things that she had on a breakfast tray beside her.
Bonnie got to the door and almost collided with Jim, who had a wet washcloth in his hand. For her, she supposed. Or maybe for Isobel. All Bonnie was interested in was making Meredith pull up her top to make absolutely, positively sure that there were no holes in her.
"I got it - out of her hand - before she punched me," Meredith said, still breathing painfully as Bonnie anxiously scanned the area above her low-rise jeans. "I'll have a bruise, that's all."
"She hit you, too?" Jim said in dismay. Except that he didn't say it. He whispered it.
You poor guy, Bonnie thought, finally satisfied that Meredith wasn't perforated. What with Caroline and your sister Tami and your girlfriend, you don't have the first idea of what's going on. How could you?
And if we told you, you'd just think we were two more crazy girls.
"Jimmy, youhave to call Dr. Alpert right away, and then I think they're going to have to go to the hospital in Ridgemont. Isobel's already done permanent damage to herself - God knows how much.All those piercings are almost certainly going to be infected. When did she start this?"
"Um, well...she first started acting weird after Caroline came to see her."
"Caroline!" Bonnie blurted, confused. "Was she crawling?"
Jim gave her a look. "Huh?"
"Never mind Bonnie; she was joking," Meredith said easily. "Jimmy, you don't have to tell us about Caroline if you don't want to. We - well, we know she was over at your house."
"Doeseverybody know?" Jim asked miserably.
"No. Just Matt, and he only told us so that somebody could go check on your little sister."
Jim looked guilty and stricken at once. The words poured out of him as if they'd been bottled up and now the cork was out of the bottle.
"I don't know what's going on anymore. All I can tell you is what happened. It was a couple days ago - late evening," Jim said. "Caroline came over, and - I mean, I never even had a crush on her. It's like, sure, she's good-looking, and my parents were away and all, but I never thought I was the kind of guy..."
"Never mind that now. Just tell us about Caroline and Isobel."
"Well, Caroline came over wearing this outfit that was - well, the top was practically transparent. And she just - she said, did I want to dance and it was, like, slow dancing and she - she, like,seduced me. That's the truth. And the next morning she left - just about the time Matt came. That was the day before yesterday. And then I noticed Tami acting - crazy. Nothing I could do would stop her. And then I got a phone call from Isa-chan and - I've never heard her so hysterical. Caroline must have gone straight from my house to her house. Isa-chan said she was going to kill herself. And so I ran over here. I had to get away from Tami anyway because me being there at home just seemed to make it worse."
Bonnie looked at Meredith and knew that they were both thinking the same thing:and somewhere in there, both Caroline and Tami propositioned Matt, too.
"Caroline must have told her everything." Jim gulped. "Isa-chan and I haven't - we were waiting, you know? But all Isa-chan would say to me was that I was going to be sorry. ¡®You'll be sorry; just wait and see,' over and over and over. And, God, Iam sorry."
"Well, now you can stop being sorry and start calling the doctor. Rightnow , Jimmy." Meredith gave him a swat on the behind. "And then you need to call your parents. Don't give me those big brown puppy-dog eyes. You're over eighteen; I don't know what they can do to you for leaving Tami alone all this time."
"But - "
"But me no buts. Imean it, Jimmy."
Then she did what Bonnie knew she would, but was dreading. She approached Isobel again. Isobel's head was down; she was pinching her navel with one hand. In the other, she held a long, shining nail.
Before Meredith could even speak, Isobel said, "So you're in on it, too. I heard the way you called