Weekend - By Christopher Pike Page 0,10

he say?" Flynn asked.

Sol shrugged. "A bunch of crap."

"I'm curious. Tell me," Flynn insisted.

But at that moment, they saw Angie's blue Datsun, weaving a path that failed miserably to miss the many potholes. Kerry and Shani were with her. Park felt dismayed at his lukewarm reaction to their rescue. Of course, having an alternative ride was no major relief. Sol had had them on the road at five in the morning, but they all knew it was only a matter of time before others from their class stumbled by. Sure he was happy to see Angie, but meeting her here so close to Robin made him feel guilty. What would the weekend be like? He also had to worry what Shani thought, though she had never so much as hinted that she thought he had stabbed Robin in the back by dumping her so soon after the accident. In fact, he was actually happier to see Shani approaching, than Angie. Often he wished that it was she he was attracted to, and vice versa.

With the possible exception of Lena, Shani was the prettiest girl in the school. She was too thin, and her breasts were nothing to grab - Sol had tried once - but her hair was as black as the old man's raven, toppling in a curling cascade to her butt, and Mother Nature had granted her facial structure every break.

Her innocent, pondering profile often reminded Park of Natalie Wood's. Junk food had no part in her diet. Consequently, the glowing skin he'd appreciated even in grade school had passed, unmarred, into young womanhood. But her claim on the hearts of Hoover High's male population was due to her eyes.

They were a shade of dawn's darkest, clearest blue, like large, round mountain lakes an hour before sunrise. Yet with all this, Shani saw herself as nothing more than a bag of bones with a boring personality.

True, she did bore him on occasion, but then, he had known her a long, long time. Kissing her was like kissing his sister, and he didn't even have a sister. He supposed that leading her home early by the hand in kindergarten with her pants soiled - his free hand blatantly clasping his nose - had ruined the romance at the beginning. Whenever he reminded her of the incident, every other week, she would get terribly embarrassed. Despite all this, he had once tried to seduce her. Afterwards, she hadn't even realised that he had made the effort. She was a good girl.

Angie was attractive also, but in a more traditional, less exotic fashion. A bleached blonde, she had a tan in midwinter and brown legs longer than his own. He didn't know what colour her eyes were, but they were nice. Yet they never had that much to talk about. Only when she had her clothes off was she really interesting. Not that she was dumb - she had a "B" average and planned on going to college - but there was nothing in her personality that stood out. She was like a collage of her friends: a bit of Shani's charm, an ounce of Kerry's nervousness, a glimmer of Robin's sweetness, a slice of Lena's craftiness, all lumped together with no definitive result. He doubted she loved him - though she had murmured the three words

- so he did not feel absolutely terrible about not loving her. He liked and respected her; that was enough. Love, he had decided, was something he was incapable of.

Laughing, the three girls drove right by them. Only when Sol jumped into the centre of the road and shouted something obscene in Spanish did they return in high-speed reverse. Park put his shirt back on, his pulse still not settled from the wrestling match with the snake. Angie was the first out of the car. She smiled and waved and hugged and kissed him. He reminded himself to tell her later not to do such things in front of Robin. He hugged her in return, briefly.

"We've got to quit meeting this way," he said.

"But it's so romantic," Shani laughed, coming up. "Mind if I butt in?" she asked Angie before planting a quick kiss on his lips. She tasted like Rolaids.

Angie shook her head, took his hand, not looking altogether pleased. "I don't mind."

Sol got Shani next, hugging her like he might eat her, while Kerry remained aloof. But then he grinned slyly at Kerry, and said, "Hey, babe, why don't you just slide

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