Ice.
Ice, Terry thought.
He felt frozen to the spot, chilled through. He felt as if he’d turned to ice.
And then he felt hot, hot with anger. “I can’t believe someone would do such a cruel thing!” he said finally.
Niki didn’t answer. She just stood there, obviously upset.
“There’s only one person mean enough to do this,” said Terry. “And you know who it is as well as I do.”
“Don’t start anything, Terry, please,” said Niki.
“I haven’t started anything, but I’m ready to finish something!” said Terry heatedly. “Alex is behind this. It can only be Alex.”
“Terry, no, please don’t!” Niki clutched his arm. “It wasn’t Alex. Alex likes me. You’re wrong. You’re not thinking clearly.”
“Listen, Niki, I know that—”
“You don’t know who it was. If you say anything to Alex, it will only make things worse!”
“Yes, but I can’t just—”
“Please,” Niki repeated. “Let’s just forget it.”
“Forget it?” Terry was shocked that she could even suggest such a thing.
“It’s—it’s just a joke,” she said. “It’s mean, and stupid, but that’s all it is. If we pretend it never happened, whoever did it won’t get any satisfaction.”
Terry could see that she was probably right, but he didn’t like it. “Just not mention it?”
“Right,” said Niki. “And not act upset.”
“That’s going to take an Academy Award-winning performance,” said Terry.
“Please, Terry, for me,” she said.
He looked down at her and felt himself melting. At times like this he knew that Niki was the most important person in his life, and he would do anything for her. “Okay, Funny Face,” he said. “For you.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.
“Thanks.”
“In fact,” Terry said, “I have an idea. Let’s walk home by way of Pete’s Pizza. We can practice our Academy Award performances over Cokes.”
Niki smiled again, a genuine, loving smile. “You’re on,” she said.
Pete’s Pizza was one of Shadyside’s most popular teen hangouts, and that day it was jammed, both with kids from Shadyside and from the nearby junior college. Terry and Niki were lucky to find a tiny booth vacant.
While they waited for their orders, Terry started telling Niki about his biology project. It was so noisy in Pete’s that he could barely hear anything she said, but she picked up everything he was telling her. He had just gotten to the part about how the seed splits into two when Niki interrupted him.
“Terry, look,” she said, pointing.
He followed the direction of her finger and saw Justine standing in a phone booth, a serious look on her face.
“Maybe we ought to ask her to join us,” Terry said. “She told me she wants to get to know you better.”
“Okay,” said Niki. “We’ll just keep an eye on her and—” She stopped speaking and a strange expression came over her face.
Terry took her hand. “What’s wrong? Niki, what is it?”
“Maybe nothing,” said Niki. “But—look at Justine.”
Terry turned to the phone booth again. Justine was still talking into the phone, with an odd, intense look. It was as if she’d changed into a different person, older, and cruel.
“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” Niki said. “But—I read her lips. And she said, ‘They’ll pay. Every one of them will pay.’ ”
