In Trouble by Ellen Levine Page A

faced the empty side of the booth. I gripped the soda glass in both hands. The cold was numbing.
    “Elaine is pregnant.”
    Paul and Elaine had become friends, but only because of me. When Dad was arrested, almost nobody sat with me in the cafeteria. They did.
    After a long silence he asked, “Is she okay?” I slumped against the booth. If he’d have said “No way!” I would have pushed him off the seat and gotten out of there as fast as I could.
    “Yeah, she’s fine . . . no, she’s not . . . I don’t know.” My mouth was dry. I had given away Elaine’s biggest secret, and to a boy.
    “She wasn’t attacked, was she?”
    I wanted to scream, I WAS ATTACKED!
    “No. It was her boyfriend, and now he won’t talk to her.”
    “What’s she going to do?”
    “They’re making her have the baby and give it away,” I said. “Her parents. They’re making her.” My voice cracked.
    Paul put his arm around me again. This time I leaned back into his shoulder.
    “So that’s why you asked about those homes.” I nodded and blew my nose.
    I started to cry again. “Niagara Falls,” I blubbered.
    “My grandma says I’m a regular Niagara Falls.” 123

    We sat there together on the same side of the booth, like a movie couple.
    And then I told him about me. In one long whoosh with tears, hiccups, shaking.
    “ I was attacked .” My voice was almost a whisper, but I knew he’d heard me because he pulled his arm away.
    When I looked up, his mouth was open and his back rigid.
    Scarlet Letter judgment?
    “My cousin’s friend . . .” I almost choked on the word
    “took me to a gallery opening. And there was wine. Too much wine.” I put my hands over my mouth. What must Paul think?
    He touched my shoulder.
    “I tried to stop him, I tried, but he didn’t listen, he wouldn’t stop!”
    And that’s when Paul gave me a hug.
    124

    22.
    Carol waited for me at the silverware bins. She pointed to a table in the back against the wall. Georgina and Kay were already there.
    “Seems like weeks since you ate with us. It’s the newspaper column, right?”
    I nodded. “Tons of Record work.” The thing about Carol is that if something sounds real she believes it. With my new position she accepted without question that I was busy.
    “I’m glad you’re back,” she said.
    Matter-of-fact can be comforting. We headed for the back table.
    “Long lost!”
    “Found at last!”
    “Glad to be here!” I grinned. In truth I was mixed, but chatter was a great distractor.
    125

    “You missed me and Herbie in breakup number four,” Kay said.
    I stared at her. “But you seem so cheerful.” Georgina snorted. “They’re back. The break lasted all of forty-five seconds. Question: when is a breakup not a breakup?” She pointed at Kay.
    I groaned.
    “It lasted a day and a half,” Carol said. She dug into the chicken pot pie, always happy to share facts.
    “What happened?” I asked.
    “Come on, Jamie. The usual fight.” Georgina never had much patience for the Kay-and-Herbie Wars.
    “Some friend you are,” Kay said. “If I didn’t like you, I really wouldn’t like you.”
    If the talk stays like this, I can handle it.
    Kay sat across from me and leaned forward. “It may seem like same-old same-old to her,” she gestured toward Georgina, “but each time Herbie ups the pressure a little, it gets harder to say no.”
    Georgina sighed. “I suppose.”
    I’d said no, the bastard, I’d said no!
    I scrambled. “What else is new?”
    “I’m going to take the practice SAT,” Carol said.
    “After the last Regents, Mr. Morabito said he’d do a test run. Why not, I figure.”
    “Me too,” Georgina said. “And you, Jamie?”
    “Hey, if you guys think it’s a good idea.” Georgina turned to face me. “You were gung ho about 126

    getting into a good school and going away. Still?”
    “Hey, give a girl a break. It’s curse cramp time.” I’ll grab at any excuse.
    “Midol’s the only thing that helps me,” she