Fatal Bargain Read Free

sure whether you’d be an A-plus with any girl. It’s okay to get a C in class, Bobby told Randy confidentially, but it’s really lame to have a C average in girls.
    Both Bobby and Zach felt that going around with Lacey was a C average in girls.
    Randy tried to defend his suggestion about partying at the old mansion. “Lacey loves to be scared. We go to amusement parks, and she screams on the scary rides, and we go to movies, and she screams at the scary parts, and we —”
    “Lacey is an airhead,” said Zach. “I can’t believe you go out with her.”
    Part of Randy wanted to tell Zach where to go, or beat Zach up and settle it with broken bones. But a larger part of Randy hated himself for dating a girl that Zach considered an airhead. Zach, of course, would never be seen near an airhead.
    Randy addressed Bobby instead. “Bring Sherree or Roxanne,” said Randy. “Or both. We’ll sneak into the house around eleven o’clock, and —”
    Bobby laughed out loud. “Randy, get a grip on yourself. Bring Sherree or Roxanne to the Mall House? They’d die first. Those are girls I have to spend money on, huh? Get it? They don’t sleep on floors, Randy. And they don’t lean back against splintered walls, eating in the dark from a bag of potato chips, and pretending it’s fun.”
    Bobby and Zachary lost interest in Randy. They picked up the slick advertising circular from the movie rental place in town and discussed which films to rent. Did they want chases and archaeology? Or should they concentrate on war and technology? Horror and axes?
    Randy’s insides knotted with rage. Nothing could be worse than being dismissed. If Bobby and Zach had not turned their backs…
    But they had.
    And so Randy turned his back as well, and left the room — although it was his house; he had the best home theater of any teenager in town. In his heart he knew that was why Bobby and Zach hung out with him — for the electronics he provided. Randy went to the telephone.
    The rage percolated into courage, and he made three phone calls.
    Phone calls he would never have made under normal circumstances.
    But he was showing off.
    And it seemed reasonable at the time…
    …Randy stared at the vampire. It was becoming clear why this mansion had been sold so often.
    Lacey did not know that anybody was referring to her as an airhead. She happened to despise Bobby and Zachary, the most conceited idiots in the entire high school, but although Lacey had a strong personality, she would not have been able to laugh it off. Being called an airhead by two such popular boys would hurt.
    Lacey had never had a boyfriend before Randy.
    Randy made her nervous and unsure, and dating made her very nervous and very unsure. But she wanted to participate; she wanted to be doing what all the songs on all the radio stations said you should be doing — falling in love.
    She didn’t really love Randy, but she was trying.
    She stuffed her head full of love-thoughts, and sat in love-postures, and listened to love-music.
    It didn’t take.
    Randy was just a nice ordinary kid, half twerp and half jock. He was growing in all directions at once, both mentally and physically, and it was hard to keep track of Randy, or know if she even wanted to. She was fond of him, but mostly she was fond of going out.
    Lacey felt very guilty about this.
    Should you go out with a boy just in order to leave the house and be seen in other places? This seemed mean and low-minded. Lacey was a nice girl and didn’t want to be mean or low-minded.
    And yet, Randy kept calling her. He must be happy.
    On that crucial night a week ago, Lacey had been half hoping he would call. Strange the way a telephone could rule your existence. It had become her center of gravity; she rotated around it like a moon around a planet.
    And I don’t even love Randy, she thought. I wonder what it’s like when you really do love the boy.
    She dreamed of love, of the boy she would meet one day, when stars and