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Show 40. "What do you think?" He drew her close again. But it wasn't Gayle he saw when he closed his eyes for another kiss. It was a glowing ball of orange light shimmering above the power lines on Skull Mountain. The second bell rang. "Walk me to class, JD," she begged, taking his hand and tugging him playfully along after her. "Daddy says you can't come over nights after work anymore, except weekends. How are we ever going to see each other?" They had nearly reached her English class. She pulled her face into a sad pout and JD took her chin in his hand. "We'll think of something," he whispered. "Meet you for lunch." He waan't worried. Her dad had issued about thirty ultimatums so far this year, but Gayle always got around them some way. He, too, wished that he didn't have to put in so many hours, working, but he didn't have a choice. He wanted to go to college. Besides, Gayle wouldn't look at him twice if he didn't. She was from that kind of family. They liked degrees and respectability and money. JD hardly heard the chemistry lecture that day. Safely hidden on the fifth row of the class, he began to write his account of the UFO sighting. He felt a little easier this morning about having it in the paper than he had the night before. He'd read the Flying Saucer Review until 2:00 A. M. He couldn't put it down. Stranger experiences than Stephanie's and his-from France, Venezuela, Germany, the U.S.-were reported there in detail. A week ago he would have laughed at every one of them. The bell rang, but JD, still writing, didn't move. "Hmmm. Such copious notes! Did I say all that in one hour?" It was JD's chemistry teacher standing right at his elbow and his tone was unmistakably sarcastic. Everyone else had left the room. Embarrassed to be caught, JD snapped shut his notebook and smiled feebly. "Well, I . . ." he couldn't think of a thing to say. "Pay attention tomorrow," Mr. Grosbeck said and walked out into the hall. JD would have liked to discuss the charred circle of ground with someone who knew chemistry like Grosbeck, but he knew he wouldn't. No |