第28部分(第1/7 頁)

Suddenly　it　didn？t　seem　hard　to　say　good…bye　at　all。

Dan　hugged　her　weakly　because　it　seemed　like　the　right　thing　to　do；　then　watched　her　disappear

through　the　trap　door。　He　was　kind　of　glad　that　they　were　breaking　up；　and　he　was　definitely

psyched　she　was　going　to　leave。　He？d　learned　a　lot　from　her；　about　nature；　about　exercise；　about

spirituality；　but　he？d　reached　his　breaking　point：　he　just　wanted　a　cigarette；　a　minute　of　peace；　and

then　he？d　head　downstairs　and　go　home　with　Vanessa？in　a　just…friends　sort　of　way。

？Bummer；？　uttered　a　male　voice　in　the　darkness。

Why　was　it　so　hard　to　get　a　minute　alone？

？Who？s　that？？　All　Dan　could　see　was　a　cherry　tip　and　the　telltale　scent　of　a　joint。

？Sorry；　dude。？　Nate　Archibald　stepped　closer　to　Dan。　？Didn？t　mean　to　eavesdrop。　I　guess　you

didn？t　realize　I　was　up　here。？

？Oh；　hey。？　Dan　recognized　the　preppy　stoner　guy　who？d　broken　Jenny？s　heart　last　fall。　Jenny

seemed　to　have　gotten　over　it　pretty　fast；　though；　so　there　were　no　hard　feelings。

？You？re　taking　it　pretty　well；？　Nate　mented。

？Honestly；　man；？　Dan　replied　philosophically；　？it　just　wasn？t　meant　to　be。　I　thought　she　was

someone　I　was　interested　in。　I　mean；　I　thought　I　was　ready　for　a　change。　But　you　know　what？　I

was　wrong。　I　think　I　just　fell　into　the　trap　of　being　excited　by　theidea　of　someone　new；　even

though　we　were　totally　wrong　for　each　other。？

？Really？？　Nate　coughed。　The　thing　Dan　had　just　described　sounded　sort　of　familiar。

？The　thing　is；？　Dan　continued；　waxing　philosophical；　？there？s　a　girl　downstairs；　and　she？s　the

one；　man。　She？s　theone　。？

Which　one？

？I　think　I　know　exactly　what　you　mean；？　Nate　added；　his　voice