A Hole in Juan by Gillian Roberts Read Free Book Online

I’d been unintelligible. I wanted to tell them that it wasn’t easy making conversation with them, finding topics other than “Hey, did you steal my exam? And if you did, why on earth would you show it to your classmates? Was it all just to get me?”
    Nita and Allie were pretty and poised and part of what constituted the A-list, the elite at Philly Prep. But despite being in the ruling clique, they weren’t stereotypical mean-spirited queen bees as far as I could tell. They were amazingly energetic on behalf of the school, and lavished creativity on sport and social events.
    Before today, whenever I’d had occasion to mention the party with them, they’d been apt to roll their eyes and list all the logistical problems they were having, so my question seemed natural. Their reaction did not.
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    A HOLE IN JUAN
    “I was wondering,” I said, “who’s welcome and who’s not. I mean I know outsiders will be there—people can bring dates from other schools, right? But can people who don’t go here show up on their own? Are there any ground rules?” I wanted to find out if Pip could come, but I didn’t want to ask them outright and make them feel obliged to break rules for me.
    I expected their usual no-nonsense responses—these are the rules, period. Instead, they looked even more startled, as if now I’d gone from unintelligible to threatening.
    Their eyes widened, their brows lowered. “Why are you asking?” Nita finally asked. “Did somebody say something?”
    Now I felt as if we were speaking separate languages.
    Allie smiled artificially. “Oh, I heard about Ms. Parillo being sick and you’re subbing for her. So you must mean your— husband !
    Of course you can bring him.”
    “Well, I actually meant . . . but if there aren’t any problems about extra guests, people who don’t go to this school, then okay.
    Thanks.”
    Nita still looked troubled, unsure of what I meant. Allie seemed to tilt toward me, as if to hear more clearly. Or even, I thought, to hear what I wasn’t saying.
    “And how’s it going?” I asked. “The preparations and everything?”
    “You know,” Nita said. “Something always goes wrong.”
    Allie relaxed her posture. “Nita’s such a drama queen. Everything’s fine. ” She wagged her finger and pursed her mouth in mock-condemnation of her best friend.
    Nita smiled and said nothing. “Absolutely.”
    We were involved in a charade, only they knew what the actual answer was, and I hadn’t a clue.
    I looked at my watch. “Showtime,” I said.
    They groaned. They always groaned, and they were among the best students. “Is the test hard?” Allie asked.
    “Not if you paid attention in class and did the assignments.”
    We all smiled ferociously. “Actually, you’ve still got a few minutes GILLIAN ROBERTS
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    left.” I unlocked my door and left the smiling, lying duo in the hallway. It was an effort to not turn around again, to see if—or more likely, to verify that—they were again into the agitated conversation I’d interrupted, a conversation I was sure could explain why my innocuous question about the party had upset them.
    The test, of course, still nagged at me. I thought back over who’d had my keys. Nita had gone to the book room for me last week, taking along my ring of keys, most recently when I’d been short one copy of Oedipus. She could have duplicated the desk drawer key for future use. It was a big city and we were in the heart of it. There’d be a locksmith somewhere nearby, and I so seldom locked my desk that I wouldn’t notice the missing key for days. But logically, since I had never locked up a test before this weekend, and nothing else of value was in my desk, why would she—a good student—or anyone, in fact, go to all that trouble?
    She’d gone to the book room for me several times, but so had other students in this and other classes. In fact, I was no longer sure she was the one who’d gone for me last week. And if somebody had, in