Page 40 (1/2)

Rachel goes off to tell Greg our decision, and I turn in my seat to spy on Christopher so, one arm draped casually over Amber’s shoulders

I’m out of my chair like a shot, without a word to Jordan or anybody I hear him call after me, but I don’t have any time to waste with explanations Christopher and Ae If I don’t act fast, that girl ht end up as a stain on the elevator motor roo toward the elevators, Amber and Christopher actually walk out the front doors of the building

I follow, darting past the groups of kids congregated in the lobby Nighttime is when the hall really coainst the reception desk, chatting with the student worker on duty The guard--not Pete, orks days--is harassing a clique of kids who claim to know someone on the fifth floor whose nauard just be a pal and let the open the doors and stuton Square Park is crawling with cops at night, cops and tourists and drug dealers and chess players, who sit at the benches in the chess circle until the park closes at h school kids from Westchester, in their parents’ Volvos, tool down the street, playing their radios too loudly and occasionally having their cars i a public nuisance It’s a wild scene, and one of the reasons why sothe Square…when there’s nothing on TV, there’s always the park to watch

Which is precisely what Christopher and Aainst one of Fischer Hall’s outdoor planters, s the NYPD make a bust across the street Christopher has his ar away like Johnny Depp or so her cigarette like so one at all

There isn’t ato look casual I iine that’s how Cooper would have handled the situation, anyway

"Hey," I say amiably to Christopher "Can I bum a smoke?"

"Sure," says Christopher He draws a pack of Cahts from his shirt pocket and hands arette between ht it with the Zippo he’s brandished

I’ve never been a ser, it et how a cigarette could ever be better than a Butterfinger, so if you’re going to indulge, why not go the way of delicious peanut buttery crisp?

But I stand there and pretend to inhale, wondering what I should do next What would Nancy Drew do? Jessica Fletcher? That other one, as her na Jordan? God, I totally suck as a detective What’s going to happen after Cooper and I get together--you know, after I getto be all Nick and Nora Charles, when Nora can’t hold up her share of the detecting? This is a very distressing thought I try to push it fro so to expose hi in the chess circle I don’t knohy soenitalia It’s invariably the guy with the least interesting appendage, too

I say as much to Christopher and Amber You know, to hs

"Yeah," he says "There should be a law Only drunks with at least six inches should be allowed to drop trou"

I look at him, my eyebrows raised Trou He’s kind of funny, Christopher Allington Did Ted Bundy have a sense of humor? He did when Mark Harht…

Across the street, the drunk is hurling insults at the cops who’ve cuffed hi back at him Chess players are not anywhere near as mild-mannered as they’ve been made out to be by the media, you know