The Graduation Read Free

obvious pleasure.
    “You have beautiful handwriting,” he said. “Very sensual.”
    “Go to hell.”
    “Later.” He grinned as he walked away. “Later, Sara.”
    She was back inside the snack bar when she opened her yearbook. Her scream frightened everyone. Bubba had covered the entire inside cover with fat black marking-pen letters. There was no way to tear out the page. She shook as she read it.
My Dearest Sara,
    My heart patters at the thought of us making love tonight above the deep ocean swells, our bodies locked in passion, the salty sweat on the burning flesh of our entangled limbs mingling like oil and wine, ready to burst into flaming ecstasy. My head swoons. Tonight, Sara, I promise you, will be our night. The gods will envy our joy.
    But we mustn’t be foolish. We mustn’t forget, in our carnal hunger for each other, certain responsibilities. You would rather float on love-intoxicated perfumed clouds, I realize, ignoring the practical demands the world places upon us, only fantasizing about the pleasure I will send throbbing through your body. Yet we have to be careful. We can have our cake and eat it, too, but only if we don’t let the ice cream melt. We have to get some condoms.
    As you have probably guessed, anything that will heighten our delight is fine with me. I prefer the natural to the artificial, the tight to the loose, blue to red. Keep this in mind when you visit the pharmacy, Sara, and you will be thanked a thousand times over when the time comes.
    Love You Always,
In So Many Different Positions,
Bubba
    P.S. Or, if you’d like, I can pick up something on the way to the boat?
    “What is it?” Lori asked, standing beside her.
    If the Lakers should win, would he keep the money if I don’t come across?
    Stupid question.
    Sara slammed the book shut and answered Lori. “Don’t ask.”

Chapter Two
    Michael had never seen Clair so happy. As they walked the familiar hallways searching for Bubba, she kept glancing over at him and giggling.
    “What is it?” he asked finally.
    “I have a secret I want to tell you, but I can’t.”
    “What if I promise to tell no one else?”
    “I still can’t tell you. Bubba would kill me.”
    “He knows the secret?”
    “He knows everything.” Clair giggled again and grabbed his arm. “Everything!”
    “How come he doesn’t know we’re looking for him?”
    She smiled, her blue eyes clear and bright. “Maybe he’s trying to avoid us.”
    “That’s probably the truth. How’s the modeling coming? Is Bubba really acting as your agent?”
    “Yeah, and he’s doing a great job. I’m shooting an ad for Nabisco next Monday, and on Wednesday I’m starring in a video with Killer Kids.”
    “Is that a heavy-metal group?”
    “Punk. Their music stinks but the pay’s great. I’m making so much money! Bubba’s investing it for me.”
    “Legally, I hope.”
    She laughed easily, still holding on to him. He didn’t understand why she liked him so much, unless it had to do with stuff Bubba had told her, which was hard to imagine. He regretted his initial low opinion of her. She was really very sweet.
    “How about you?” she asked. “I hear you’re working at JPL?”
    He had not planned to leave school in January. But after Maria’s accident and Jessica’s subsequent disappearance, he began to feel that Tabb High had lost whatever charm it had once possessed. From his freshman year on he had taken a heavy load. He had more than enough units to call it quits. Plus Mr. Gregory, his MGM (Mentally Gifted Minors) adviser, had helped him land another work-study position at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The job was only twenty hours a week, so he hadn’t quit his job at the 7-Eleven to take it—much to the relief of the store owners. The JPL job came with the impressive title aeronautics intern, but it amounted to little more than errand boy to the engineers. It was not that he wasn’t learning. Often he was allowed to sit in on discussions relating to