第5部分(第5/7 頁)

d　to　get　a

sense　of　the　rhythm；　but　he？d　never　tried　doing　it　with　other　people？s　work。　Maybe　reading　aloud

would　get　the　creative　juices　flowing；　get　him　feeling　the　rhythm？　Besides；　hedid　have　a　great

reading　voice；　as　Greg　had　once　pointed　out。

He　flipped　the　book　open　to　a　random　place　and　chuckled　when　he　realized　he？d　landed　on　page

69。　No　matter。　He　cleared　his　throat　and　began　to　read　Shakespeare？s　Sonnet　18：？Shall　I　pare

thee　to　a　summer？s　day？　Thou　art　more　lovely　and　more　temperate：　Rough　winds　do　shake　the

darling　buds　of　May。　。　。　。　？　Dan　paused　to　read　silently　to　himself　for　a　few　lines；　and　then　again

read　aloud。？So　long　as　men　can　breathe　or　eyes　can　see；　So　long　lives　this　and　this　gives　life　to

thee。？

As　he　uttered　the　last　lines　of　his　poem；　the　door　swung　open　and　Vanessa　burst　into　the　room；

her　camera　bag　slung　over　her　shoulder。

Whoopsie。

Her　eyes　widened　with　surprise。　Clearly　she？d　heard　everything？or　at　least；　enough。　Dan　could

only　imagine　what　it　looked　like。　He　was　in　bed　all　alone；　reciting　one　of　Shakespeare？s　most

romantic？and　unquestionably　gay？sonnets　to　himself。

Hello；　awkward？

？Uh；　sorry。？　Vanessa　quickly　turned　around　and　stared　at　the　floor　as　Dan　frantically　grabbed　for

the　book　and　closed　it　with　a　loud　smack。　He　stood　and　attempted　to　put　it　on　the　cluttered　desk。

？It？s　not　what　it　looks？ow！？　The　book　fell　off　the　side　of　the　desk；　all　ten　pounds　of　it　landing

directly　on　his　little　toe。

？No；　no。　I　should　have　knocked。？　Vanessa？s　head　was　entirely　red　as　she　bent　over　her　bag；　not

looking　at　him。

？So。？　Dan　examined　his　cuticles　as　she　continued　to　put　away　her　camera　equi