第3部分(第5/7 頁)

ber；？　he　murmured　affectionately。

Jenny　had　the　feeling　the　tab　of　E　Harry　had　just　taken　was　not　his　first　of　the　afternoon。　She　was

about　to　shrug　him　away　when　she　realized　that　she　was　going　to　have　to　at　leastpretend　she　was

on　Ecstasy；　otherwise；　it　would　be　obvious　she　hadn？t　taken　it。　Problem　was；　she　didn？t　even

know　how　long　it　was　supposed　to　take　to　start　working。　？Yay！？　she　squeaked。　？Let？s　play！？

They　joined　the　circle　and　sat　down　between　a　chubby　Japanese　boy　sporting　Madras　plaid

Bermuda　shorts　and　a　cute　rocker　haircut　and　the　muscular　boy　in　the　blue　bike　shorts。　Everyone

was　grinning　so　hard；　it　looked　like　their　teeth　hurt。　？I？ll　go　first；？　April　volunteered。　？But　first　I

think　we？re　going　to　need　some　of　this。？　She　passed　around　a　few　packets　of　cinnamon　Dentyne

gum。

？You？re　a　goddess；？　blue　bike　shorts　boy　told　her　appreciatively。　He　shoved　three　pieces　of　gum

into　his　mouth　and　began　to　chew　them　voraciously。　？Mwa；　mwa；　mwa！？

April　cracked　tiny　pink　bubbles　with　her　gum　and　then　clapped　her　hands　together。　？Okay；

people；　let？s　go！？　She　wound　her　way　around　to　the　outside　of　the　circle　and　began　to　walk

counterclockwise；　tapping　each　person　on　the　head　as　she　passed。　？Duck；　duck；　duck；　duck；　duck；

duck；goose！　？　she　shouted　as　she　tapped　the　Japanese　guy　with　the　cool　haircut　on　the　head　and

then　sprinted　away。　He　jumped　to　his　feet　and　gave　chase；　catching　her　in　his　arms　and　wrestling

her　to　the　ground。　They　lay　like　that　for　a　while；　panting　and　sort　of　petting　each　other。

Jenny　noticed　that　none　of　the　other　kids　were　even　watching　them。　They　were　too　focused　on

their　gum…chewing；　or　they　were　rubbing　their　hands