In the Middle of the Night Read Online Free

nice. Wanted to be charming and witty and clever. She was beautiful in a way that made him ache. He could smell her perfume. Not perfume really but a clean outdoors kind of smell. Reminded him of breezes rippling across a pond. Miserably, he concentrated on the scenery outside the window. Not scenery at all but buildings and stores and commuter traffic. People hurrying along the sidewalk, going to their jobs. Inhaling the girl’s scent, he thought of Chloe. Hadn’t thought of her for weeks. Angry at himself now for thinking of her, angry at this girl for making him think of Chloe.
    “What’s the matter?” she asked.
    He shook his head, not daring to answer, not trusting himself to speak.
    She did not press him to talk. Did not ask any more questions or make any attempt at further conversation. He kept looking out the window.
    The bus stopped at Barstow High. She rose from the seat, slung her bookbag over her shoulder. She stood there,looked down at him in an attitude of waiting. Waiting for what?
    “Hey,” she said.
    He glanced up at her, caught her eyes, which were not crackling with anger like at the bus stop but soft, her expression gentle.
    “I think that’s kind of nice.”
    What’s kind of nice, he wondered, mystified.
    “That you worry about the trees.”
    And she was gone, making her way down the aisle and out the door, ignoring the shouts and whistles of the little monsters. He settled back in his seat, waiting to be dropped off at Normal Prep.

 
    N
ormal Prep.
    It was the nickname for Norman Preparatory Academy, named for Samuel J. Norman, a deceased Barstow millionaire, whose former home, a three-story mansion, now served as the academy’s administration building. It was so damn normal, which is exactly what Denny liked about it. And hated about it. Both at the same time.
    The school looked almost
too
normal: two classroom buildings, located at right angles to the mansion, bright red brick with clinging climbing ivy, two stories in height. The lawn between the buildings was mowed to such perfection that it resembled artificial turf, although no one would dare play football on its surface or even walk across it. An iron gate guarded the entrance to the academy.
    The students, all boys, wore navy blue blazers and gray trousers, the official school uniform. Students wereallowed to wear shirts and ties of their own choosing although the official Norman catalog asked that these be “tasteful in design and color.”
    Denny’s father was enthusiastic about Norman Prep, even though the tuition meant that he had to work overtime at the factory to earn extra money. He said he wanted the best possible education for Denny, and Norman promised small classes and individual attention.
    Denny didn’t want any individual attention, however. Just the opposite: he wanted to blend in and not call attention to himself. In his first nine days at Norman, he had not made any friends, hadn’t, in fact, tried to make any. He was a shadow without substance, gliding through his hours in the corridors and classrooms like a ghost, unseen and unheralded. In the classrooms, he tried to sit as far back as possible. He did not volunteer answers.
    During lunch, he sat alone in the cafeteria. Actually, there were other guys at the table but he ate quickly, kept his eyes on his plate and faded out of the place as soon as possible. The athletic field was located behind the residence and he made his way there, jogging slightly. Then sat in the bleachers, looking down at the vacant field.
    He liked being alone and didn’t like it, which was true of his entire life. Being pulled two ways. For instance, he was often lonely and wished for a best friend, above all for a girlfriend. No opportunities for a girlfriend at Norman. He wondered if he really wanted a friend.
    He did not want to have happen here what had happened at other places, especially at Bartlett down on the Connecticut border. That had been a beautiful time, for a while. No