Don't Bet On Love (4 page)

“
It's okay, I guess. Her lectures are kind of boring, though,
”
I answered, throwing the ball to him.

“
Yeah, but she’s easier than Mr. Overton—at least, that's what I’ve heard.
”
He threw the ball to me.

“
I've heard that, too, but I find it hard to believe. What are you going to do your term paper on?
”
I asked, heaving the ball at him.

“
I haven't decided yet. What about you?
”

“
Me neither,
”
I answered, catching the basketball as it came back.

As we kept tossing the ball back and forth, the questions
and answers got sillier and sil
lier, but I could tell
Gary
was feeling more at ease with the whole idea.

“
Want to go to the prom with me, Colette?
”
Gary asked at last, firing the ball in my
direction.

“
Love to,
”
I answered, and hurled the ball back to him.

“
Great! Pick you up at seven,
”
he said, and shot the ball over my head at the goal behind me. It bounced once on the rim, then fell in.

“
You did it!
”
I shouted triumphantly.

Gary paused to push his glasses
up on the bridge of his nose. “
Yeah, I did, didn’t I?
”
he said with a grin, and we both knew he wasn’t talking about making the basket.

“
See? All you needed was a little practice,
”
I said as we went back into the house. Mark, who was still watching TV, looked up as we entered the den.

“
Finished talking to the basketball?
”
he asked.

“
Uh-huh,
”
I answered.

“
Did it talk back?
”

“
Yep,
”
Gary replied.
“
It said your room is a health hazard, and it wants to come live with me.
”

“
I’m sorry I asked!
”
Mark stood up, took the ball from Gary, an
d dribbled it across the floor.

“
Mark, you know Mom doesn’t like you dribbling in the house,
”
I reminded him.

“
Mom's not here, and you can’t tell her, because y
ou still owe me twenty-five dol
lars,
”
Mark answered. Tucking the ball under his arm, he sauntered out of the room.

“
See what I have to put up with?
”
I said to Gary with a sigh. I sat down on the couch and gestured for him to have a seat.
“
I just had an idea,
”
I told him.
“
Why don't you eat lunch with me and my friends tomorrow? It’ll give you a great opportunity to practice talking to girls.
”

“
I don’t know
…”
Gary removed his glasses and began to polish them absently on the tail of his T-shirt.

“
Why not?
”
I asked, wa
rm
ing to the idea.
“
They won’t bite, I promise. Beth loves every
body, and Jan—”

I broke off abruptly as Gary looked up from cleaning his glasses, and for the first time I really saw his eyes. They were the same chestnut brown as his hair, with long, thick lashes most girls would kill for.

I must have looked astonished, because he asked.
“
Molly? What's wrong?
”

“
Nothing. It’s j
ust—your eyes.
”
I couldn’t seem to tear my own eyes away from his.

“
What about them?
”
Gary asked nervously.

“
They’re beautiful! Why do you keep them
hidden?
”

“
What do you mean?
”
He put his glasses back on, and the spell was broken.

“
That's
what I mean,
”
I
i
nformed him.
“
They’re hidden behind those hideous
glasses!
”

Gary laughed.
“
You don’t like my glasses, huh? I'll ad
mit, they were made for durabil
ity, no
t style. They're sports frames—
unbreakable.
”

“
Have you
ever thought about getting dif
ferent frames for every day?
”
I asked.
“
Maybe something a little less—er—bulky?
”

Gary shook his head.
“
It wouldn’t work. The lenses are so thick, it takes really sturdy frames to support them.
”

“
What about contact lenses?
”

“
To tell you the truth, I have a pair at home,
”
he confessed.

“
Then why don't you wear them?
”

“
I used
to, except when I played basket
ball. But then, after the season started, I spent so much time taking them out and putting them back in, it was easier just to wear the glasses and leave the contacts at home.
”

“
But basketball season is almost over now, isn’t it?
”
I persisted.

“
Yeah. I guess I j
ust got out of the habit.
”

“
Well, if you want your dream girl to notice you, get back
into
the habit,
”
I ordered him.
“
Immediately! I want to see you wearing those contacts tomorrow at lunch!
”

“
Yes,
sir
!
”
Gary barked, snapping his right hand up in a salute.

That made me feel guilty.
“
Am I awfully bossy?
”
I asked.

“
Yeah,
”
he said with a grin.
“
But I don't mind. I’ll do anything you say if it’ll get me that prom date with Colette.
”

CHAPTER FOUR

“
Now, remember,
”
I told Jan and Beth In the cafeteria the next day,
“
Gary Hadley is going to eat lunch
with us, and I want both of you
to be nice to him. You know,
I
think there may be hope for him after all. Just wait till you see him! You're in for the surprise of your life!
”

I was so eager for my friends to see
Gary without his glasses that I
could hardly eat. Instead, I pushed lukewarm macaroni and cheese around on my plate, looking up every time the cafeteria door opened.

I'd been doing that for about ten minutes
when the door opened o
nce more and several kids came i
n.

“
There he is now,
”
Beth said.

I spotted Gary at the same time. But something was wrong. He was wearing his glasses! I slumped back in my chair, bitterly disappointed.

“
Amazing,
”
Jan breathed, choking back a giggle.
“
I never would have recognized him!
”

“
Will you knock it off, Jan?
”
I snapped irri
tably.
“
It isn't funny!
”

I was so impatient to find out what had gone wrong that I could hardly sit still while Gary went through the lunch line. At last he reached the front of the line, paid for his meal, and came directly to our table.

“
Hi, Molly,
”
he said sheepishly, folding himself into the empty chair next to mine.

“
What happened?
”
I asked as soon as he sat down.
“
I thought you were going to wear your contacts!
”

“
Well,
”
he began,
“
there’s a little problem
…
”

“
What
kind
of problem?
”

“
Last time I took them out and cleaned them
,
I must have left them soaking in the wrong solution,
”
he mumbled.
“
When I
opened the case this morning to take them out, there was nothing but a sort of film floating on the surface.
”

“
You mean
…
?
”

Gary
nodded sadly.
“
I vaporized them.
”

“
I
can't believe you did that.
”
I squawked.

“
It’s easier than it sounds, Molly, believe me,
”
Beth spoke up.
“
Something like that happened to me once.
”

“
You wear contacts, too?
”
Gary asked her.

She nodded.
“
For about a year now. So does Jan. It’s unreal, isn’t it? I mean, all the care that goes into those things.
”

“
And once you take the contacts out, you have to put on your glasses, anyway,
”
Gary added.

“
Exactly!
”
Beth agreed, glad to find a kindred spirit.
“
People with perfect vision
j
ust can’t understand.
”

Since I was the only person at the table with twenty-twenty vision, I knew that comment was aimed at me. Without warning, I felt a small stab of resentment against Beth for making me feel like an outsider while she monopolized Gary’s attention. But the feeling vanished as soon as it had come, making me ashamed of myself. After all, I had invited
Gary to join us so that he could practice
talking to girls, and that’s exactly what he was doing.

Now that the ice had been broken, things went well for the rest of the lunch period. Beth was prepared to think the best of Gary from the start, and even Jan, who was considerably more cynical, managed to unbend enough to ask him about the outlook for next year’s basketball team. By the time Beth and Jan left the cafeteria, they had won my undying gratitude. As for
Gary, a mere two days earlier I never would have thought
it possible that he could talk so easily with two girls he hardly knew.

“
You were great!
”
I told him after Beth and Jan were gone.
“
See? Our basketball practice yesterday really paid off. You kept the conversational ball bouncing back and forth
…
”

I
chattered on for quite a while before I realized that I was talking to myself. Gary’s attention had drifted to a point across the cafeteria from where we sat. Following his lovesick gaze, I wasn’t terribly surprised to discover Colette Carroll sitting in the midst of a group of Carson High's most popula
r kids. It was kind of touching, i
n a way. I couldn't help wishing that somebody—not Gary Hadley, of course, but
somebody
—would look at me like that.

“
Gary? Are you listening?
”
I asked, knowing the answer perfectly well.
“
Gary?!
”

Gary turned and looked at me as if he'd just remembered that I was there.
“
Did you say something, Molly?
”

“
Never mind,
”
I said, shaking my head.
“
It wasn't important.
”