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Jackson. It was true that his ego had been bruised, but his embarrassment over my rejecting him turned into something uglier. By the time Cary and I had arrived at school, Adam's lies had spread like a brush fire in a drought. The moment I saw the expressions on the faces of girls like Lorraine, Janet, and Betty, I knew something mean and vicious had been poured into their ears and would soon be poured into mine.

As soon as we entered the building, Cary sensed the negative electricity in the air. He hovered about me like a nervous grizzly bear. Usually, when we arrived at school, he would scamper away to join his few friends, but today Cary lingered at my side while I organized my things at my locker. Nearby, the girls watched us, giggling. Other boys walking by held smirks on their faces and twisted their lips as they whispered. I marveled at how completely Cary could ignore everyone when he wanted to. For him, they didn't exist at the moment. He heard no evil and saw no evil. If he looked in their direction, he gazed right through them.

"Good morning, Cary," Betty said as she passed us with Lorraine and Janet.

"Good morning, Cary," Lorraine echoed.

"Good morning, Cary," Janet mimicked.

Something slippery and ugly obviously was hidden beneath their wide smiles. Cary didn't respond. He escorted me to my homeroom and was there at the sound of the bell to walk with me to my next class.

"You don't have to be worried about me," I told Cary after I found him waiting in the hallway outside my first period classroom.

"Oh, I'm. . . not," he fumbled. "I was just nearby and thought I might as well walk along with you as with anyone."

"Thanks a lot," I said, smiling at his clumsy effort to explain his presence.

"I mean, I like walking with you, it's just that-- "

"You're usually too busy?"

"Yes," he said, grateful for my suggestion.

Although he wasn't there after my next period ended, he wasn't far behind in the corridor. It was nice having him look after me. For the moment at least, I felt as if I had a brother.

In my classes and in the hallway when I passed from room to room, I noticed how the girls kept their distance, and in class, I saw them looking at me and passing notes. But no one said anything. When I entered the cafeteria at lunch time, however, I found Janet, Lorraine, and Betty waiting anxiously, their eyes sparkling with glee.

"You're kind of cozy with Grandpa today," Betty teased immediately. "Any special reason?" She swung her eyes toward her friends.

"Cozy? I don't know what you mean," I replied. I stepped toward the counter to get a container of milk, but I caught the way they traded smiles and glances as they moved behind me in the lunch line.

"We heard you've taken Laura's place in more ways than one," Janet whispered in my ear. It made the hairs on my neck stick up.

"What?" I turned to confront them.

"You're still carrying her notebook," Lorraine pointed out, "and you wear her clothes."

"You sleep in her room, use her things," Betty recited.

"And whatever she did with Cary, you're doing," Janet concluded.

I felt the blood rush so quickly to my face, my cheeks burned.

"Whatever she did with Cary? What's that supposed to mean?" I demanded.

"You know." Betty rolled her eyes.

"I don't know because my mind isn't in the gutter. What are you saying? Who told you these things?"

"Who else, but the eyewitness?" Betty said with the firmness of a prosecutor. She nodded toward Adam Jackson who had come in with his crowd of buddies. He strutted across the cafeteria, his shoulders back, his face full of himself when he glanced my way. I saw a wicked, twisted smile take shape on those perfect lips.

"Eyewitness?"

"No sense pretending with us anymore," Lorraine said stepping closer to me. "Adam told us what he found you two doing on the beach last night."

"He did what?"

"He said he was riding in his motorboat, saw the bonfire and pulled up before you two had a chance to make it look innocent," Betty detailed.