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ct, had gotten worse. My shoulders shook and my chest ached, but I couldn't stop myself. "The stuff was too strong for her."

"What am I supposed to do?" Gisselle cried.

"Calm her down."

"You calm her down," Gisselle said, and sprawled out on her back on the floor. Martin giggled and crawled up beside her.

"Great," Beau said. He approached rue and took my arm. "Come on, Ruby. You'd better go lie down in your own room. Come on," he urged.

Still sobbing, I let him help me to my feet and guide me out the door.

"This your room?" he asked, nodding toward the adjacent door. I nodded back and he opened it and led me in. He brought me to my bed and I lay back, my hands over my eyes. Gradually, sobs grew smaller and wider apart until I was just sniveling. Suddenly, I started to hiccup and I couldn't stop. He went into my bathroom and brought out a glass of water.

"Drink some of this," he said, sitting down beside me and helping me to raise my head. He brought the glass to my lips and I swallowed some water.

"Thank you," I muttered, and then I started to laugh again.

"Oh, no," he said. "Come on, Ruby, get control of yourself. Come on," he urged. I tried to hold my breath, but the air exploded in my mouth, pushing my lips open. Anything and everything I did made me laugh again and again. Finally, I grew too exhausted, swallowed some of the water, closed my eyes, and took deep breaths.

"I'm sorry," I moaned. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right. I've heard of people having a reaction like that, but I haven't seen it before. You feel a little better?"

"I feel all right. Just tired," I added, and let myself fall back to the pillow.

"You're a real mystery, Ruby," he said. "You seem to know a lot more about things than Gisselle does and yet you seem to know a lot less, too."

"I'm not lying," I said.

"What?"

"I'm not lying. I just met her on the bus."

"Oh." He sat there for a while. I felt his hand brush my hair and then I sensed him leaning over to kiss me softly on my lips. I didn't open my eyes during the kiss, nor did I open them after, and later, when I thought about it, I wasn't sure if it really had happened or it had been just another part of my reaction to the marijuana.

I was sure I felt him stand up, but I was fast asleep before he reached the door and I didn't wake up again until I felt someone shaking my shoulder so vigorously, the entire bed shook along with it. I opened my eyes and looked up at Gisselle.

"Mother sent me up to get you," she

complained. "What?"

"They're waiting at the dinner table, stupid."

I sat up slowly and ground the sleep out of my eyes so I could gaze at the clock.

"I must have passed out," I said, shocked at the time. "Yeah, you did, but just don't tell them why or anything about what we did, understand?" she said.

"Of course I won't."

"Good." She stared at me a moment and then her lips softened into a sly smile. "Beau seems to like you a lot," she said. "He was very upset over what happened."

I stared back at her, speechless. It was like waiting for the second shoe to drop and then she dropped it. She shrugged.

"I'm getting bored with him anyway," she said. "MaybeI'll let you have him. Later on, you can do something nice for me," she added. "Hurry up and come down."

I watched her leave the room and then I shook my head and wondered why any boy would like a girl who treated his affection so lightly she could give it away at a whim and look for someone else.

Or was she pretending to give away something she was already losing? And more important, was it something I wanted?