Breath of Scandal Read Free Page A

you, Jade?" Donna Dee asked her now.

    "I like him fine." Truthfully, Hutch made her uncomfortable. They had trigonometry class together, and she often caught him staring at her. Whenever she did, he would blush beneath his freckles, then assume an arrogant air to cover his embarrassment.

    "What's wrong with him?" There was a defensive edge to Donna Dee's voice.

    "Nothing. Honestly. Nothing except the company he keeps. "

    "Do you think he'll invite me to the prom, Jade? I'll die if he doesn't."

    "You won't die," Jade said wearily. Donna Dee looked so crestfallen at Jade's lack of empathy that she changed her tone. "I'm sorry, Donna Dee. I hope Hutch asks you. Really, I do."

    Their senior prom, coming up in May, already seemed trivial and juvenile. To Jade it represented just one more delay in Gary and her getting on with their lives. She certainly didn't think it was anything to get in a big stew over, although maybe that was because she was guaranteed a date with Gary. Unlike Donna Dee, she didn't have to worry about the disgrace of not having an escort on that momentous night.

    " I can't think of anybody else Hutch would ask, can you?" Donna Dee asked worriedly.

    "No." Jade glanced at her wristwatch. "What's taking so long? I've got to be home by ten or my mother will start in again."

    "And you've got to leave time to park, huh?" Donna Dee gazed at her friend and whispered, "When you and Gary make out, do you just want to die from being so turned on?"

    "Yes," Jade admitted, shivering slightly. "And because we have to stop."

    "You don't have to."

    Jade's sleek, dark brows pulled together into a frown. "If Gary and I love each other, how can it be wrong, Donna Dee?"

    :'I never said it was."

    'But the preacher does. And the Bible does. My mother does. Everybody does. "

    "Everybody says that fornication-"

    "Don't use that word for it. It's such an ugly word." "What would you call it then?"

    "Making love."

    Donna Dee shrugged. "Same difference. Anyway, everybody says that lovemaking outside of marriage is a sin, but does anybody really believe that?" Donna Dee shook her head of dark, straight hair. "I don't think so. I think everybody except us is sinning like crazy and having a damn good time. If I had a chance, I would."

    "Would you?" Jade asked, wanting her friend's endorsement.

    "If Hutch asked me, you bet your sweet ass I would."

    14

    Sandra Brown

    Breath of Scandal

    15

    Jade looked at Gary through the windshield and felt a warm rush of pleasure, coupled with anxiety. "Maybe it's not a sin. Maybe it's time Gary and I stopped listening to the preacher and followed our instincts, Oh, I just don't know," she moaned. "We've talked the subject to death and we only end up more frustrated than before."

    "Oh, for pity's sake," Donna Dee grumbled. "I'm going back inside. See ya. "

    "Wait, Donna Dee," Jade said, catching her sleeve. "Are you mad?"

    "No. "

    "You sound mad."

    "Well gee, Jade, I    wish I had your problems. I wish I had your naturally wavy black hair and flawless skin. I wish I had big blue eyes and eyelashes a mile long. I wish I had a boyfriend who panted after my body but also respected me. I wish I had a computer brain and a full scholarship to college. "

    "I haven't got the scholarship yet," Jade said, minimizing Donna Dee's backhanded compliments.

    "Oh, but you will. It's only a matter of time. Everything always turns out right for you, Jade. That's why it's annoying as hell to listen to you whine. What have you got to complain about?

    "You're gorgeous without even trying. You're smart. You're popular. You'll probably be valedictorian of our class, and if not you, then the boy who worships the ground you walk on and the air you breathe. If you want to screw yourselves into delirium, do it. If you don't, don't. But shut up about it, okay?"

    After her outburst, Donna Dee swore beneath her breath. In a softer tone, she said, "You ought to pay me to be your best friend, Jade. It isn't