The Graduation by Christopher Pike Page B

only graduated from high school once, Sara had thought. She figured the class should be able to stay awake until Haven returned them to the mainland the next evening. From the beginning, the idea of the class bumming around together on the island all day had struck her as the best part of the plan. When she had announced the extravaganza, practically every senior had bought a ticket.
    It was only because Sara had taken extra pains to keep the price as low as it was that she found herself in desperate need of an L.A. Lakers victory over the Boston Celtics.
    Jessica, however, was blissfully unaware of the financial complications surrounding the evening as she sat on the edge of the bed in “her” cabin and watched as Sara split their drugstore bounty. It was just as well. Jessica already had plenty on her mind, not the least of which was the fact that, although Haven was still anchored to the dock, she was no longer on dry ground.
    They don’t have icebergs this far south , Jessica told herself. The Titanic was one in a million.
    Maria’s accident had been one in a million. It had been that kind of year. Jessica wished they had gone to Disneyland as a normal school class would. She was afraid to hold her breath and stick her head underwater in her own bathtub. The floor beneath her feet was swaying now, ever so slightly.
    “I think we should put the stuff in the bathroom cabinets,” Sara said, dumping everything out of their boxes and onto the bed.
    “Are you giving me the condoms and taking the foam or what?” Jessica asked.
    “No, you take some of each.”
    “Then I don’t think we should put it in the cabinets. Imagine how Bill or Russ will feel if he sees we have a selection. We should make it look like we just happen to have something with us.”
    “That’s a good idea.”
    “Another thing, don’t throw away the boxes. I want to read the directions.”
    “The stuff is pretty self-explanatory, don’t you think?”
    “I don’t know. I’ve never seen it before. Have you?”
    “No.”
    Jessica picked up the roll of condom packets. “Let’s look at one.”
    Sara stopped her. “No, we shouldn’t waste any.”
    “We won’t waste it opening the corner and peeking inside.”
    “Yeah, we will. Then it will be contaminated.”
    “So what? We can just throw it out. What do we have here? A dozen. That’s six each,” Jessica said.
    “Is that a lot? I mean, how many times do people usually have sex when they have sex?”
    Jessica laughed. “What a stupid question.” Then she thought a moment. “I’m not sure.”
    “I don’t think we should waste any.”
    “All right. You know what just occurred to me?”
    “What?”
    “That we don’t know what the hell we’re doing.”
    “Do you think they will?” Sara asked, serious.
    “Oh, yeah. Bill and Russ have been around. Hasn’t Russ?”
    “I never asked him. Have you asked Bill?”
    “No,” Jessica said.
    “But you figure he did it with Clair, right?”
    “What an awful thing to say! Now you have me worrying how I’ll match up.”
    “Sorry,” Sara said. Something outside the cabin’s tiny round porthole caught her attention. “Oh, no. Don’t look.”
    “What?”
    “Nick’s just appeared, and he’s got Maria with him.” Jessica stood up from the bed and reached the window in one step. The dimensions of the cabin were going to take some getting used to. The whole room was not much larger than her walk-in closet at home. She could feel her heart pound as she pressed her face to the circle of glass.
    “She’ll have trouble getting around the ship in that chair,” Jessica said. Haven sat between the dock and the western sky, throwing a deep shadow over the boarding ramp and the boardwalk beyond. Despite the fact that they were to set sail within minutes, a surprising number of kids continued to mill about the dock. Nick was having no trouble wheeling Maria’s chair up the ramp. Jessica had forgotten how small she was.
    Her lovely long