"Duncan,.Lois.-.Summer.Of.Fear" - читать интересную книгу автора (Duncan Lois)

"I don't know," I said. "I suppose she could. I'll phone Carolyn and ask her."
"Please, don't," Julia said. "I've never met Carolyn's boyfriend, and I wouldn't feel right pushing in on them like that. Don't worry about it, Rachel. I really don't mind missing it. I'm not a very good dancer anyway."
And so it was settled, or I thought it was settled. I spent the day shut in the bedroom reading and trying not to scratch or in the bathtub soaking in baking soda. Every four hours I took a dose of medicine, and a few minutes later I would go and look in the mirror to see what result it was having. I suppose I had in the farthest back corner of my mind the tiniest ray of hope that the medicine would produce some miracle and that the transformation that had occurred in such a short time would un-occur just as quickly. It didn't.
At five-thirty I had just gotten out of the bathtub for what must have been the eighth time and was fastening my robe when there was a rap at the bedroom door and Pete's voice said, "Hey, Rae, can I talk to you a minute?"
"I guess so," I said without enthusiasm. The fewer people I saw at this point the happier I was.
I went over to the door and opened it a crack, and he shoved it the rest of the way open and came on in.
"Wow!" he said, doing a double take. "You really do look bad! I thought Bobby was exaggerating."
"Thanks a heap," I said, not inviting him to sit down. "What is it you want?"
"Well, look." He seated himself on the end of one of the beds anyway. "I wanted to ask youЧsay, can we shut the door?"
"Why?" I asked curiously.
"I just want to talk privately a minute, that's all."
I pushed the door closed and turned back to him. He was staring at the rug and drumming his fingers on his kneecaps, the way he did when he was feeling embarrassed.
"Look," he said finally. "Look, the whole thing I wanted to ask you wasЧwell, couldn't Julia go to the dance tonight even if you can't?"
"Mother suggested that," I said, "and I told Julia I'd call Carolyn and see about Julia's going with her and Rick. She didn't want me to. She said she'd never even met Rick and it would make her feel funny."
"Do you suppose Mike would take her?" Peter asked hesitantly. "I mean, he's probably already got tickets and it's too late for him to have made any other plans. I could sit with them at intermission, and then afterwards I could bring Julia home."
"He would probably do it if I asked him," I said, "but I hate to put him on the line like that. Julia's our cousin, not his. It would be one thing if I were along too, but she's really not all that easy to talk to, and with nobody there to take up the slack he could feel pretty stuck."
"Nobody could feel stuck with Julia," Peter said firmly. "Girls don't have to jabber all the time to be good company. Besides, like I said, I'll sit with them at intermission and give Mike a chance to wander around and talk to people. And he won't have to drive her home or anything."
"WellЧ" I said slowly. I didn't like the idea, but I didn't want to be horrid about it either. Mike was always a good sport about things that pertained to the family. We had often taken Bobby with us to movies, and once when Dad was out of town on business, he had even suggested taking my mother.
"Please," Peter said quietly. It wasn't a word that Peter used very often.
The tone of his voice startled me, and I glanced at him sharply. He was still staring down at the rug, and his face was flushed.
"Look, Sis," he said awkwardly, "this thing really matters to me. IЧI want Julia there tonight. I want her to hear me play. I mean, it's one thing I can do, you knowЧblow a horn. I want her to see me up there on the bandstand doing my thing, and people applauding andЧwellЧyou know."
I did know. Quite suddenly I knew a lot more about Peter than he had meant to tell me. With an effort I restrained myself from reaching over to tousle the awful orange hair, so like my own, which he must hate just as much as I did. I wanted to hug his skinny shoulders and say, "You don't have to be a superman. A girl can love you just because you're Peter."
Instead I said, "Okay."
"You mean, you'll ask Mike?"
"I said 'okay,' didn't I?"
"Gee, Rae, thanks." He let his breath out in a deep sigh and for the first time since the conversation started he looked up and met my eyes. "A first cousin isn't all that close, do you think, Rae? I mean, it's hardly any blood kin at all."
"In some states they're not allowed to marry," I told him.
"Marry! Who's talking about marriage? At leastЧwell, if something like that came up it would be pretty far in the future, after college and everything. You don't worry about that sort of thing until you're right to it."
He got up and crammed his hands into his pockets and squared his shoulders. In his mind he was already at the dance, standing on the bandstand, raising the clarinet to his lips. Across the dance floor Julia was seated at a table, her gaze glued upon him, those huge dark eyes shining and wide.
"Pete?" I said as he reached the door. He turned back to me. "Do I really look as bad asЧasЧI think I do?"
Peter stood silent a moment, deciding whether to be kind or to be honest. Honesty won.
"Yep. I'm sorry, but it's pretty bad. Like you've dyed your face red and have lumps of chewing gum under your skin."
"Thanks," I said flatly, and wondered how I could ever have thought of hugging him.
I caught Mike at his home. He had gotten the message I had left for him at the pool office but hadn't taken it seriously. Now I told him I definitely wasn't going but that Julia would still like to.
He was regretful but cooperative.
"I don't mind taking you with lumps," he said, "but if you don't want to make the scene, that's okay too. As long as Pete will take over at the end of the evening, I don't mind doing the escort bit for your cousin."
"The doctor says I'll probably be okay by tomorrow," I told him. "We can plan to do something then." I tried not to sound as forlorn as I felt. Rachel, you good sport, I told myself, you're really one outstandingly unselfish girl!
Later, at the dinner table, that sportsmanship was really put to the test. Julia asked if she could borrow my new dress for the evening.
"I thought you were going to wear your yellow," I said. "The one you wore your first night here."
Julia wrinkled her nose. It was an expression she had picked up from Carolyn.
"That thing?" she said with a note of disgust in her voice.
"It's a pretty dress."
"Not on me, it isn't." She shook her head decidedly. "It's not my type and it doesn't fit right. The color's wrong too; it makes me look greenish."
I felt like saying, "Why did you buy it then?" I felt like slamming the water glass down on the table and shouting, "No! No, you certainly may not wear my new dress! I haven't even worn it yet myself!" I felt like doing a lot of things, all of them loud and rude and awful, but I sat and listened to Mother saying, "Why, I'm sure Rae won't mind lending it to you, dear, since she won't be wearing it. Do you think it will fit?"
"I think it will," Julia said. "Rachel, may I?"
They were all looking at me, waiting expectantlyЧMother, Dad, Peter, even Bobby who was waiting for the question to be settled so he could ask for more potatoes. There was nothing I could say except what they wanted me to say.
"Yes," I told her.
When I saw her, however, actually wearing the dress, it was almost more than I could bear. It did fit Julia as though it had been made for her. The loose-fitting bodice was not loose on her but fit perfectly across the soft curve of her breasts. The shoulder seams fell at the right places and the short swirled skirt showed her long, shapely legs to marvelous advantage. And the colorЧthe color was Julia; the pink reflected in her cheeks and made her eyes glow like two deep, dark, mysterious ponds.
Her lips curved slightly and she asked, "How do I look?"
"Beautiful," Mother said softly. "You look just beautiful. I can remember your mother at your age, dressed for a summer dance. She was beautiful too, but so very differentЧ"