The Dig Read Online Free Page A

which looks like it came from a gift shop at the American Museum of Natural History, and dumps the bottle over his head. I guess I‘m supposed to swoon or something.

    ―Are you all right?‖ he asks.

    ―I‘m just hungry. And a little dehydrated.‖ Sheepishly, he offers me the mostly empty bottle. Here we are, standing at the foot of the temple. We are the only two people in this section.
    Isn‘t this what romance is all about? If CeeCee were in my shoes right now, she would be enthralled with him, take all his little jabs as playful attempts at flirting.

    ―So what else are you into…besides this?‖ he asks.

    ―Besides archeology?‖

    There‘s a nervous sincerity in his eyes that wins me over for a second.

    Throw him a bone, I tell myself. Be normal.

    ―Well, I‘m obsessed with Sex and the City .‖ It‘s a lie. But CeeCee is obsessed, so I can hold my own in a conversation about it.

    ―You are ?‖

    I shrug. The heat is getting to me. I want to go into the temple. I feel dizzy and exhausted.
    Why is it so hard to talk to boys? I mean, it‘s hard to talk to girls too, which is probably why I don‘t exactly have a long list of close friends. But it just seems like kids are so quick to put you in a little box. Then again, I‘m not being myself either. I want to run. Aristotle would be easier to talk to than Columbia Darren.

    ―Why are you so surprised?‖ I ask.

    He shrugs and slips on his sunglasses. I can‘t see his eyes anymore. ―You just seemed different, I guess. Whatever. You wanna go in?‖ I let him lead the way into the temple, even though I should be leading because I‘ve studied the map.

    Boys ruin everything. Here I am, in the coolest place I‘ve ever been—

    marveling at the awesomely high ceilings of the grand entrance and on my way to help uncover ancient inscriptions on these giant fragile walls—

    feeling overwhelmed by the sheer scope of it all, and yet I‘m in a funk and I have no one to blame but myself.

    Why did I tell Darren that I love a show I don‘t love? Why can‘t I just be myself with boys?
    I could have told him that I subscribe to Nature magazine, that I‘m obsessed with the Mayans. I could have been myself. I don‘t know who‘s worse, me or him.

    ―You want to check out that alcove where the pros are going to be scraping later?‖

    ―Sure,‖ I say. ―But I‘ve just got to scram for a second.‖ He laughs. Everyone knows what it means when you say you have to scram. ―Scram‖ is code for pee. ―I can wait,‖ he says. ―I don‘t want you to get lost trying to catch up to me. This place is like a maze.‖

    ―That‘s okay. I‘m good at mazes.‖

    ―Are you sure? There‘s no rush.‖

    ―Seriously, go on ahead. I‘ll find you.‖ He starts crossing the cavernous marble room at a rapid pace and I wonder if something is wrong with me. Why did I just lie to him about having to go to the bathroom so that he would leave me alone? If I were a normal girl, I would call out after him and run into his arms. Instead I just watch him go. CeeCee says that I make boys insecure, that I put myself on a pedestal where nobody can reach me. Then again, do I want smug, shaggy-haired Darren to reach me? Doesn‘t matter. He‘s gone. I head toward a stone entryway cordoned off by red tape.

    Crossing the ancient space, I feel tiny and small. But I also feel excited.

    I strap a headlight around my head. I‘m about to crawl on all fours through a small, unexplored tunnel, breaking all the rules of the site. Wow, the lengths I‘ll go to in order to avoid intimacy.

    I‘ve been crawling for ten minutes when the bulb in my headlight pops.

    Suddenly I‘m alone in the dark. ―Darren?‖ I call out. ―Darren?!‖ No answer. Wherever Darren is in the temple, he‘s nowhere near me.

    The only company I have is a huge and terrifying darkness. And with no space to turn around and head back to the great room, I have no choice but to go forward, blind, alone,