A Willing Murder Read online

  “Exactly,” Cheryl said. “So what about him? Did he proposition you, too?”

  “Yes, but only to do his science work. We were assigned as lab partners. For the whole year.”

  “Gag.” Cheryl’s head came up. “Jim and Dane are best friends. I can’t imagine why.”

  Elaine shrugged. “Jim is serious; Dane isn’t. I guess it’s sort of opposites attract.”

  “Ah,” Cheryl said. “You did something for Dane in order to get close to Jim. From your misery, it doesn’t seem to have worked.”

  “No, it didn’t, but I was so honest and up-front with Dane.”

  “A mistake,” Cheryl said. “He wouldn’t know honesty if it bit him. What did you ask of him?”

  “I said I’d help him with his science if he’d take me to the Spring Fling in May. Not the prom—that’s too important—but to the small dance. He agreed.”

  “The Spring Fling is in two days.”

  Elaine drew in a trembling breath. “Today Dane said he doesn’t remember agreeing to that and he’s thinking about taking Theresa Lambert. They’re going to double-date with Jim and Gena.”

  Cheryl looked thoughtful. “Since you and Jim graduate in June, this will be your last... Actually, your only chance with him. Unless you’re going to the same universities?”

  Elaine’s tears started again and she could only shake her head.

  “Okay, so we need to fix this now,” Cheryl said. “First of all, Gena won’t go on a double date with Theresa Lambert. She has a cute face and triple-D boobs. Gena would be afraid that Theresa would get too much attention. Gena would much rather double-date with you.”

  Cheryl’s meaning was clear. There was absolutely nothing about Elaine that would make any female jealous. She was plain-faced. Not pretty, not ugly. And she was tall and shapeless. Not curvy in that Marilyn Monroe way that high-school boys liked so much.

  Having her flaws spoken of so coolly had a sobering effect on Elaine. When the tears seemed to draw back into her, she started to get up.

  But Cheryl put her hands on her forearms. “Gena Upton is stupid. Clever but dumb. And blind. What’s your dress for the dance like?”

  “I made one. It’s silk and strapless. I hand-sewed tiny silver sequins in a kind of sunburst on the skirt and bodice. It took me weeks.” She sniffed. “But my mom made me buy a dress. Pink with tulle over the skirt. She wants me to wear it so I don’t stand out.”

  “Screw your mother,” Cheryl said. “Sorry. I envy your fashion sense. The dance is Saturday night, so bring the gown and shoes to my house about three that afternoon and I’ll fix your face and dress you.”

  Elaine was still smarting from Cheryl’s earlier comment. “You’re going to perform surgery?”

  Cheryl leaned forward so they were nose to nose. “Do you really not know? You have one of those faces that with the right makeup can be anything. And your skin is beautiful! Gena Upton, with her big eyes and thin lips, won’t age well. But you... I can make you look like a model.”

  Elaine’s jaw seemed to drop lower with each word she heard.

  Cheryl leaned back, frowning. “I just realized that this could be bad. If you show up looking great, Gena will probably pull a Cinderella and tear you apart. You’ll be left in your underwear with bloody claw marks on your face. And your ego will be destroyed.”

  “I don’t...” Elaine whispered. “I’m not sure...”

  Cheryl stood up. “Leave this to me. I’ll take Gena out of this. At least for one night.” She held out her hand. “I’ve been on the receiving end of that girl’s venom too many times. Come on, get up and wash your face. Tell people your allergies made your eyes red. Don’t talk to Dane today and please, please stop looking at Jim Pendal as though he’s an angel come to earth.”

  “He is, isn’t he?”

  “Not my taste, but he’s a nice guy.” A bell rang. Classes were over and the restroom would soon be full of girls. When the door opened, Cheryl said, “Act like you don’t know me. I won’t do your reputation any good.”

  Elaine started to protest that, but Cheryl quickly left. For the rest of the day, Elaine did exactly as Cheryl had told her. She tried to keep her mind on what the teacher was saying, but really! Who cared about some whale defending itself against men with spears?

  She did all she could to keep her eyes off Jim Pendal. In Spanish class, he sat three seats ahead of her and to her left. She’d arranged that so she could pretend to look at the chalkboard, but she really just stared at the back of Jim’s head.

  At the end of school, she was beginning to lose hope. Nothing seemed to have changed. No one had said a word to her about the Spring Fling. Was it on or off?

  As she got her books out of her locker, deciding what to take home and what to leave, she could feel her anxiety going from hope to depression. It was like she was standing at the top of a forty-foot-long children’s slide and she was about to start the descent that would leave her at the bottom. Forever.

  “Hi,” said a male voice behind her.

  Elaine turned so quickly she almost hit him with a book. It was him. Jim Pendal.

  The most gorgeous, talented, smartest—et cetera—human on the planet. She couldn’t speak.

  “I want to apologize for my friend Dane. He said you helped him out with his science because you want to go out with him.” Jim gave a small laugh at the vanity of that statement. “Is it him or the dance you want?”

  “Dance.” Her voice was weak. He smelled so good that she had to put her hand on her locker to keep from falling to the floor.

  “I thought so. I like to dance, too. You mind if it’s a double date?”

  She managed to shake her head.

  “Good. We’ll pick you up at six on Saturday night. You live on Pine Grove, right? House with the red door?”

  Again, all she could do was nod. He knew where she lived! He knew where she lived!

  He stepped away but then turned back. “I think you should know that my girlfriend, Gena, is the one who arranged all this. Dane wanted to take Theresa Lambert but Gena said she liked you better.”

  “Thank...” Elaine cleared her throat. “Thank you. And her.”

  “You can tell her on Saturday. Oh! What color is your dress? For the flowers?”

  “Blue.”

  He smiled at her. “Like your eyes.”

  Some guy yelled, “Hey, Pendal,” and Jim caught a ball and ran down the corridor. As always, the students parted to let the sports gods pass.

  On Friday, Elaine was so nervous she couldn’t think. In each of her classes, she was the student the teachers could count on for an answer to any question. But this day, she just sat there.

  One teacher, a nasty little man, said, “It looks like you have a date for the dance.”

  Not realizing that he was making fun of her, she happily said, “I do!” The whole class burst into laughter.

  At home she stayed in her room, saying she had to study for a test. She knew her eagle-eyed mother would know that something was different.

  On Saturday, she lied to her mother and said that she and some friends were going to get ready for the dance together.

  Instantly, her mother looked like she wanted to cry in happiness. In high school in New Hampshire, she’d been a popular girl, invited to every social event. The only antisocial thing she’d ever done was fall in love with a shy nerd who wanted to become a tax accountant and live where he never again saw snow.

  Her mother offered to drive her, but Elaine said no. She knew her mother would want to meet the other girls and chat with them, maybe even take them homemade cookies. She wouldn’t like that her only child was going to a house in the worst part of Lachlan. And besides, there were whispers about Cheryl’s mother.

  When her mother kept pushing to accompany her daughter, Elaine sat down and said she wasn’t going to