Now, as the bus heaved into view, Dawn arrived, in a rush, out of breath, swinging her bookbag.
She was still beautiful as she hurried aboard the bus, the monsters hooting and whistling but allowing her passage. Denny was the last to get on. He spotted her settling in a seat in the rear and made his way toward her, avoiding outstretched legs trying to trip him. Dismally, he saw that she had placed her bookbag on the seat beside her, the old signal that company was not wanted.
She was looking out the window as he passed by. He sat down two seats behind her. The bus lurched forward.
“Hey, Denny, your girl is back but I think she’s mad at you.” The voice of Dracula carried through the bus. Denny ignored him, as usual, concentrating on the advertising placards above the windows. “An Ideal Deal at Dealey’s Auto Barn.”
“Hey, Denny, how come you’re such a loser?” That same Jimmy Cagney voice.
Right, Denny, how come you’re such a loser?
He rose from his seat, was instantly thrown off-balance as the bus careened around a corner. He groped for support at Dawn’s seat. She continued to stare out the window, but he saw color staining her cheeks.
“Watch out, Denny—she might take a whack at you.” Dracula again.
“Would you?” Denny said.
She didn’t look at him, but said: “Would I what?”
“Take a whack at me.”
“I’m a nonviolent person,” she said.
Finally, she did look up. “You didn’t call,” she said.
Those blue-gray eyes were not angry but held a flash of—what?—disappointment, maybe. Or hurt. He had never thought he was capable of hurting a girl that way.
“I read about your father in the newspaper,” she said. “Is that why you didn’t call? All that harassment stuff?”
A perfect cop-out: it would be so easy to lie to her. But he didn’t want to lie. Not to her, of all people.
“No, something else. Something I can’t talk about yet …”
She sighed, shook her head, muttered: “I must be crazy.” Then pulled her bookbag off the seat and placed it on the floor.
He sat down beside her.
And found that he had nothing to say to her.
At Normal Prep, he stepped off the bus into a chilling wind that scattered leaves across the sidewalk. Guys streamed past him as he glanced dismally back at the bus, thinking of Dawn, thinking, Damn it. Damn it! What’s the matter with me? She was beautiful and she’d made room for him on the bus—in her life—and he had sat there wordless, suddenly lonesome. For Lulu, of all people. For Lulu, who had tried to kill him, but lonesome for her anyway, for that voice on the telephone and the things that voice had said. I think we were meant for each other, Denny. How he’d loved that voice, loved even now the echo of it in his life. That meant he had loved nothing, loved nobody, because the Lulu who spoke those words to him had not been real, hadn’t even been a ghost or a phantom, only a fantasy. I want you to love everything about me, Denny.
The first bell sounded. He trudged toward the gate, books heavy in his arms. He spotted Lawrence Hanson hurrying along ahead of him. You’ve got a lot to learn, Lawrence had said. But how do you learn to say good-bye to someone who never existed?
The second bell rang. He walked slowly across the quad in November’s cold wind, and went up the steps into the school.
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
An ALA Quick Pick
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
“Spectacular … unnerving and piercingly honest.”
—The New York Times Book Review
* “One of the eeriest of Cormier’s thrillers, this account of vengeance and obsession provides the brand of suspense that has earned him so many fans.”
—Publishers Weekly, Starred
* “Superbly written, with characters well developed and a tight, fast-moving plot.… A must read.”
—Voice of Youth Advocates, Starred
“A riveting tale of revenge and a life gone wrong. Reading Cormier’s books is like probing the human soul and coming away changed from the experience. His is a talent that belongs to very few writers.”
—Chicago Sun-Times
“From the very first page, readers will be caught up in the story.”
—Booklist
“[A] sophisticated psychological story.”
—School Library Journal
“An intense and powerful exploration of the burdens of accusation and guilt.”
—The Horn Book Magazine
Robert Cormier (1925–2000) changed the face of young adult literature over the course of his illustrious career. His many novels include The Chocolate War, Beyond the Chocolate War, I Am the Cheese, Fade, Tenderness, After the First Death, Heroes, Frenchtown Summer, and The Rag and Bone Shop. In 1991, he received the Margaret A. Edwards Award, honoring his lifetime contribution to writing for teens.
Robert Cormier, In the Middle of the Night
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