“But that’s ridiculous,” Edna began in bewilderment. “He could wear a hat, or say he did it himself.”
Peter snorted in hysterical laughter. “Yeah, like I would call myself a slut!”
“You don’t understand,” Niles said. “Pete’s not just anybody. He’s got an image. And Pete’s image is my image. We’re the Granges.” His eyes were smoldering and his wide, thin mouth was tight with fury. “If I ever find the dudes who did this to Pete, I’ll kill them.”
“You shouldn’t say such a thing, Niles,” his mother said. “You know you don’t mean it.”
She turned quickly away before she could see in his face that she was wrong.
Chapter 16
The first December meeting of Daughters of Eve was called to order by the vice president, Kelly Johnson, in the absence of the president, Erika Schneider. The pledge was repeated.
Ann Whitten presented the minutes of the previous meeting, which were approved as read.
Madison Ellis gave the treasurer’s report.
“We carried a balance of three hundred forty-seven dollars from last time, and I’m collecting December dues today, so if everybody forks over, that’s three hundred ninety-seven dollars,” she said. “No, wait a minute—without Laura, it will be three hundred ninety-two dollars. The only expense since the dance was a get-well card for Laura, which was five dollars.”
“How is Laura, anyway?” Ann asked. “Has anybody heard from her?”
“I talked to Mrs. Snow at church yesterday,” Holly Underwood said. “She said she called Laura on Saturday and she sounded okay. She isn’t going to start school there until next semester.”
“With Laura gone, are we going to vote in another member?” Kristy Grange asked. “Weren’t we supposed to keep a membership of ten?”
“I’d like to propose Jennifer Deline,” Tammy Carncross volunteered.
“Why her?”
“Well, she’s really nice, and she’s into things around school. And she’s a junior. That means she would still be here next year to help get things going when a bunch of us have graduated.”
There was a moment’s silence. Then Madison said slowly, “Do we really want another member?”
“Like Kristy said, we’re supposed to keep it at ten.”
“According to the rules, we can’t go over that, but I don’t know that there’s anything that says we can’t go under.” She paused. “What do you think, Irene?”
“We need to think this over carefully,” Irene Stark said. “We do have such a congenial, close-knit group here that it might be difficult to introduce a new member at this particular point in the year.”
“We’d have to tell her about Peter,” Jane Rheardon said.
“That would be all right, once she took the oath.”
“I don’t think we should take in anybody right now,” Holly said. “She’d be so far behind on things, she might never catch up with us. I move we leave the membership at nine for the rest of the school year and start over with ten again in the fall.”
“I second the motion,” Jane said.
“I don’t think we should vote on it,” Kelly said, frowning, “Erika and Paula ought to be in on the decision.”
“Does anyone know where those two are?” Irene asked. “I know they were both in school today. I saw them in the hall together just before last period.”
“Didn’t Erika have her meeting with my dad today about her science project?” Tammy said. “She came by our house last Thursday to pick up the entry forms.”
“That’s right—and Paula’s probably waiting for her. They’ll be along.” Madison turned to Kristy. “How’s your baldheaded brother? I notice he hasn’t been coming to school.”
“He’s not going to till his hair grows back,” Kristy said. “He stays in his room all the time. Mom takes his meals up to him. Niles is going around to all his teachers and getting his assignments for him. He’s telling everybody Pete has mono.”
“The ‘kissing disease’ for the slut!” Madison gave a snort of bitter laughter. “That’s a good one. Niles gives me the creeps. We should’ve gotten him the same time we did Peter. Do you know he came up to me in the hall on Thursday and asked me where I was Wednesday night?”
“I hope you remembered what to tell him,” Irene said.
“Of course. That I was at your place working on an art project. He asked me if anybody else was there, and I told him Ann was.”
“I’m glad we synchronized our stories,” Ann said. “He got me cornered in the cafeteria the other day to double-check.”
“Do you think he really suspects anything?” Holly asked Kristy.
“He might’ve recognized Laura’s homecoming dress,” Kelly said. “That’s what she was wearing when he made his move on her. But he has no way of knowing that Laura dumped it in her closet and Kristy and I snagged it when we went over to help Mrs. Snow pack up Laura’s clothes.”
“Peter told him he got jumped by a bunch of guys,” Kristy said. “I think Niles wondered at first if Madison put them up to it, but he doesn’t anymore. Her being with a teacher is an unbeatable alibi.”
“Why did Peter lie to him?” Jane asked, puzzled. “He must’ve known we weren’t men. He couldn’t see our faces through the masks, but he could hear our voices.”
“You don’t know Pete,” Madison said. “He’d die before he’d admit he was attacked by women.”
“But he has to realize—”
“He won’t let himself. It would be too humiliating. He’d have to give up the whole macho thing he’s so good at, and if he did that, what would he have left?”
The door at the back of the classroom opened and Paula Brummell came in. She gave the door a hard shove, so that it closed with a bang, and came over to the table.
“Sorry I’m late,” she said to the group in general. “I went down to the office to talk to Mr. Shelby about organizing the soccer team. He kept me sitting there waiting for twenty minutes, and then he had his assistant tell me he was busy. He said to check back with him next week.”
“What’s with him?” Madison said. “That’s the second time he’s done that. Our check was cashed. That means he’s got the money for equipment right there in his hand.”
“Did Erika go with you?” Irene asked Paula. “We thought the two of you might be together.”
“Nope. She had that meeting with Mr. Carncross. I saw her in the hall, though, as I was coming back from the office. She said she was going home.”
“Going home!” Kelly exclaimed. “You mean, she’s not coming to the meeting?”
“She’s bummed,” Paula explained. “She just found out she won’t be taking her science project to state.”
“She won’t?” Ann exclaimed. “I can’t believe it! She’s been working on it for what seems like forever. I don’t know exactly what it is she’s been doing with those rats, but whatever it is, she’s been so excited about it.”
“She’s had a right to be,” Paula said. “She’s been conducting a study on alcoholism. She was sure Mr. Carncross would be impressed out of his mind with all her research.”
“So what happened?”
“He told her the project was unacceptable and he wanted Modesta High to be represented by Gordon Pellet.”
“Gordon Pellet, with his solar energy experiment?” Holly asked incredulously. “I was in class when he put that together. It was just a demonstration to go along with one of Mr. Carncross’s lectures. Gordon had this solar collector he ordered from a magazine, and he put a lightbulb in front of it. Then he built this little pump to put water through it. When the water came out the other end, it was hot.”
“Well, duh! That sounds like a real winner,” Madison said sarcastically. “Why wouldn’t it be hot?”
“And that’s what beat out Erika’s year of original research?” Paula turned to Tammy accusingly. “Why would your father choose that over Erika’s experiment?”
“How should I know?” Tammy said.
“He must have his reasons. He knows what he’s doing. Dad’s had students participating in these fairs for years.”
“Have any of them been winners?” Irene Stark asked her.
“Sure they have! A lot of them have gone on to the regionals. In fact, there was a boy a year or so ago who went all the way to the nationals and took second prize. Dad was really proud about that.”
“It was a boy who did that?” Irene asked quietly.
“Yes.”
“And the ones who made it to regionals, were they boys, also?”
“I don’t know—I guess so,” Tammy said reluctantly. “Not too many girls enter science competitions.”
“So the judges at state level are used to thinking in terms of having male winners? And your father is aware of that fact?” Irene glanced around the table. “Perhaps we have an answer to Paula’s question.”
“Mr. Carncross vetoed Erika because she’s a girl?” Ann didn’t sound convinced. “I don’t think he’d do a thing like that. He’s a very fair person.”
“The fairest person can be influenced by the expectations of society,” Irene said firmly. “It means a lot to teachers to have their students achieve at a high level. It reflects on their abilities as instructors. Science has long been considered a ‘man’s field,’ and the judges award the majority of the scholarships to boys. Mr. Carncross undoubtedly feels that he has a better chance of sponsoring a winner if he sends a male student to compete.”
“But that’s not fair!” Kristy said angrily. “Erika did the work! She deserves to have her chance!”
“My dad isn’t like that,” Tammy objected. “He must have thought Gordon’s project was better than Erika’s, or he wouldn’t have picked it.”
“The lightbulb and the pump?” Holly said. “Oh, come on, Tam.”
“You’re just guessing that’s what Gordon’s entering. He might have come up with something else. He might have invented something to dispose of nuclear waste or found a way to use salt water for irrigating food crops or—or—”
“Or found a way to jump over the moon without a spaceship?” Paula was regarding her with disgust. “You’re just sticking up for him because he’s your dad’s protégé. You don’t want to face the fact that you’re related to a male chauvinist.”
“My dad’s not a chauvinist,” Tammy said angrily. “Take that back!”
“I’m not taking back anything. Why can’t you be objective? Look at Kristy. She didn’t try to think up excuses for Peter just because he’s her brother.”
“Well, maybe she should have,” Tammy said. “There is such a thing as loyalty to people you care about.”
“Don’t you care about Erika?” Paula challenged.
“Of course I care about her!”
“If I were to choose between my dad and my ‘sisters,’ there’s no question which way I’d go,” Jane said. “My sisters come first.”
“If I had a dad like yours, I’d probably feel the same way. But, thank god, I don’t.”
“Until we compare the projects, there isn’t any way we can say Mr. Carncross didn’t make the right choice,” Ann said. “Maybe Gordon really did work up something special.”
“Okay, let’s compare them,” Kelly suggested. “Where are they?”
“Down in the science room,” Paula told her. “Oh, not the cages with the rats—Erika was afraid to bring them out in the cold air—but all her notes and records that relate to the experiment.”
“And Gordon’s project?”
“That’s down there, too. Erika said Mr. Carncross wanted to keep both of them on display for a week so the students in his various classes could examine them.”
“Now, would he do that if everything wasn’t on the up-and-up?” Tammy asked triumphantly.
“I want to see them,” Kelly said.
“You’re in his second-period class. You’ll get to see them tomorrow.”
“I want to see them now.” Kelly’s voice was flat and hard. Staring across at her, Tammy could hardly believe this person was one of her two closest friends. There was something about this face she’d never seen before. The softness was gone from it, and so was the warmth. The eyes that challenged hers were a stranger’s eyes, cold and distant and outraged.
Outraged at what? At me? At my father? What has Dad ever done to Kelly? Dad likes her. He’s always liked her. The very first day she came over, he told me afterward, “That’s a really sweet girl.”
What’s happened to Kelly? What’s happened to us all?
“I want to see them now,” said the stranger with Kelly’s face.
“I don’t think we can get into the science room,” Kristy told her. “The janitor probably locked it already.”
“I have a skeleton key,” Irene said. “It works for all the classrooms.”
“Then you think we should go look?” Jane asked her.
“Of course, you must look. Did any good ever come from hiding one’s head in the sand? That’s what women in this town have been doing for far too long, girls, hiding their heads, closing their eyes, because they’ve been unwilling to face the fact of discrimination.”
“My mom’s one of those,” Holly said.
“My mom created the role,” Kelly said bitterly.
“But your generation is different,” Irene said fiercely. “You’re our hope! You can’t be afraid to open your eyes and see things for what they are. Only then will you be able to begin correcting them! Poor Erika! In her own way, she’s been as badly hurt as Laura. Erika’s future has been taken away from her.”
“She’ll have other chances for college,” Tammy objected. “There are all sorts of academic scholarships she can apply for. Erika’s GPA is so high, she’ll be in the running for a lot of things.”
“But nothing this big,” Paula said. “Besides, she has a right to this!”
“But maybe Gordon—”
“Shut the hell up, Tammy,” Kelly said viciously. “We don’t need to listen to that shit.”
For a moment, there was silence. The words, and the vicious tone in which they had been uttered, stunned them all.
Then Madison said slowly, “Kelly’s right, Tam. If you’re for Gordon, then you’re not for Erika. And if you’re not for Erika, then you don’t belong here. This is a sisterhood. We support each other. Either you’re one of us or you’re not.”
“Then I guess I’m not,” Tammy said.
“Oh, Tammy, of course you are!” Ann said in distress. “Kelly’s upset. She didn’t mean to say what she did. And Madison, too. We’re all worried about Erika, and so are you.”
“But I can’t be part of—the thing you’re going to do,” Tammy said.
“What do you mean?”
“It was bad enough—the thing with Peter—but at least we knew he deserved it. With this, we don’t know anything! It’s just feelings! Everybody’s so angry, but it’s not really Gordon—” She left the sentence unfinished before the blank expressions that surrounded her.
Even Ann was regarding her with bewilderment.
“What do you mean, ‘the thing we’re going to do’? Nobody’s suggested doing anything except going down to the science room and looking at the projects. How is that going to hurt anything?”
“Girls, Tammy must make her own decision,” Irene said. “We mustn’t pressure her to remain a member of Daughters of Eve if she doesn’t want to. Perhaps we shouldn’t have coaxed her to return when she rejected us the last time.”
“You’re right, Irene. I should never have come back.” Tammy shoved her chair back from the table and stood up. “I won’t be coming to meetings anymore. You can take my name off the membership list.”
“You’re still bound by the oath,” Kelly reminded her. “You can’t get out of that. You swore that you would reveal nothing sacred to the sisterhood.”
“I know. I won’t say anything to anybody about—about—anything.”
“That includes Peter Grange.”
“Yes—and—the ot
her.” Suddenly she couldn’t wait to get out of the room, to leave them all behind her. “The thing that’s going to happen today.”
“Hey, Erika! Wait up a minute, will you?” The tall boy with the wheat-colored hair was shouting to her from half a block away.
Erika’s first reaction was to quicken her pace as though she hadn’t heard him. Then, when he continued shouting, she stopped walking to allow him to catch up with her. He did so at an awkward lope that reminded her absurdly of an adolescent giraffe.
“I didn’t know you were going home,” Gordon Pellet panted. “I thought you had some sort of club meeting on Mondays.”
“I do, but I decided not to go.” Erika began walking again, and he fell into step beside her. “I felt like being alone for a while.”
He ignored the hint. “I don’t blame you. I bet you’re really mad. I know I would be if I were you.”
“It’s my fault,” Erika said. “I should’ve discussed the project with Mr. Carncross right at the beginning. I was so unsure of what the results would be that I wanted to work through it all myself before I talked about it to anybody. And then, when I realized the way it was turning out, I wanted to surprise him.”
“You surprised him, all right.”
“Yeah,” Erika said ruefully. “But not as much as I surprised myself.”
“Look, Erika—I’m sorry. That’s the truth. I’m really sorry. You deserve to go to state. Your experiment is incredible. You’ve got something that’s way beyond the projects that usually show up in competitions like this.” He paused. When she didn’t answer, he continued, “If I could do something to make your project go through, I’d do it. I know how mine compares. I feel like a fraud even going to state, much less participating.”
“It’s okay,” Erika said. “Like I said, it’s my own fault.”
“But it’s not right.”
“Yes, it is. Like, we all have to learn to live in the real world, right? So I should’ve talked it over with Mr. C. If I didn’t want to do that, I should’ve read all the small print in the regulations. I should’ve known the rules about using animals.”