The New Year's Party (6 page)

Reenie knew this spot. They were high above the frozen lake. A short distance to the left stretched a steep drop-off.

“Come on,” Marc urged, climbing out of the car. “Let's have some fun.”

Artie leaped out and slammed the door. Reenie, Sean, and Greta hesitated, then reluctantly joined Marc and Artie.

“This way.” Marc led them through the leafless trees, snow crunching beneath their feet. The moon shone full and bright. Reenie had no trouble seeing where they were going.

Marc stopped. “This is the place.”

They stood at the edge of the sheer drop-off. Below them the lake's frozen, snowdrifted surface glowed an eerie silver in the moonlight.

“You've got to get right up to the edge,” Marc explained. He stepped to within a few inches of the drop-off and peered down. It made Reenie feel jittery just watching him.

“There it is,” Marc announced.

The snow-covered ground was slippery. Reenie had no intention of getting that close to the edge. Sean and Greta stayed back beside her.

“You can't see it unless you get closer,” Marc insisted. “Come on, guys—there's nothing to be scared of.”

And then his foot slipped.

His arms circled frantically as he fought for balance.

But there was nothing for him to grab except the frosty night air.

His feet slid off the edge.

Artie reached for him.

Too late.

Marc screamed as he plunged from sight.

“
M
arc!” Artie wailed. “Marc! Marc! Marc!” He repeated his name in a shrill, frantic chant.

Reenie froze in horror.

This isn't happening, she thought. Marc didn't just fall over the edge.

But the others were screaming and crying, their faces twisted in surprise—and panic.

It
did
happen, Reenie realized.

But he's okay. Okay. Okay.

He's
got
to be okay.

Trembling in terror, seeing Marc fall again and again, hearing his scream repeat in her ears, Reenie didn't realize that she had moved.

Had stepped forward.

Had stepped to the edge.

To see down? To see that Marc was okay?

She didn't realize she had moved. Until she felt the ground crumble beneath her. Until she saw a rock break off and fall.

Until she felt herself start to slide.

She heard the sharp cries of her friends. But they sounded so far away now.

For she was falling, sliding and tumbling, down the snowy hillside.

She could still hear their cries as she hit the icy surface of Fear Lake. “Ohhh!” She let out a cry as she landed on her back with a
thud.

It knocked the breath out of her. She struggled to gasp in air. She tossed up her hands as she slid, slid across the ice, slid out onto the frozen lake.

Her heart pounding, her breath coming in short, wheezing pants, Reenie pushed herself up. The ice felt firm beneath her shoes.

She raised her eyes to the hill and saw Sean and the others running down, slipping, tumbling, calling to her.

She cupped her hands around her mouth. “I'm okay,” she called back. Was she trembling?

No. The ice beneath her quivered.

A
crack
rang out, shattering the stillness of the winter night.

The ice is thin, she realized.

Reenie held perfectly still. If I move very slowly and carefully, I can edge my way over to the shore.

She slid her left foot forward, struggling to keep her balance. She exhaled.

So far, so good. Keep moving.

She dragged her right foot up beside the left.

She stopped. And heard Sean's frantic voice: “Reenie! Stop!”

Startled, she jerked her head up, lost her balance, and fell onto the ice.

Reenie's hip smashed against the hard surface. She let out a small moan of pain.

Then she heard another
crack.
Louder this time.

Closer.

The ice beneath her gave way with a groan.

She slid into the freezing, black water.

Reenie shot up her hands. Reached out. Struggled to grab something. Anything.

She grabbed the edge of the hole. But the ice broke under her fingers.

Hands still grasping, she felt herself being pulled down, swallowed up by the lake.

She went under.

The frozen water shocked her body. She thrashed her arms, trying to pull herself back up to the surface.

Up, up. She struggled to pull herself up.

But her head hit the underside of the ice.

I can't breathe, she realized.

She pounded on the ice with her fists. Clawed at it.

Where is the hole? she asked herself. Where is the hole I fell through?

Where?

She couldn't find it.

I'm trapped. Trapped under the ice.

Her last thought before the blackness engulfed her.

I
can't breathe.

Reenie gasped for air.

She choked. Coughed up water.

Reenie could hear Sean's voice. He sounded so far away.

“You're all right, Reenie,” Sean was saying. “You're all right.”

She opened her eyes and found Sean leaning over her. His face inches from hers.

“I thought… I thought that you had drowned.” Sean's voice shook. He straightened up, and Reenie saw Artie and Greta behind him.

“Sean saved you,” Greta explained. “He reached in
and pulled you out. Then he gave you mouth-to-mouth.”

“That was the fun part,” Sean joked. But Reenie noticed his voice still didn't sound quite steady.

Reenie forced herself to sit up. “What happened to Marc? Is he okay?”

“I'm right here.” A low voice from behind her.

Reenie turned—and pain jarred her temples.

Marc met her gaze. “Sorry,” he muttered. “It was just a dumb joke.”

“And Artie helped him plan it!” Greta chimed in angrily. “He told Marc about the jokes we play on each other, and they planned the whole thing.”

“Hey, come on, guys. We didn't mean for anyone to get hurt,” Artie insisted. “Marc and I go down that hill all the time—just for fun. It's like a big snow slide. When Marc faked that fall, he just slid to the bottom.”

Artie turned to Greta. “We never slid that far out on the ice. Really. I don't know what happened….” His voice trailed off.

“Can you stand up?” Sean asked Reenie.

Reenie groaned. “I'll try.”

Sean grabbed her hands and slowly pulled her to her feet. Reenie's legs trembled, but she kept her balance.

“Give me your coats,” Sean ordered the others. “Reenie is freezing.”

Sean yanked off his own coat and wrapped it around her. Then he layered the other coats on top.

A shudder shook Reenie's whole body. She couldn't feel her hands and feet. Totally numb.

Sean wrapped his arm around her waist. “Let's get you home so you can get into some dry clothes and warm up.”

Greta hurried to Reenie's other side and grabbed her arm. “Wow. I'm glad you're okay. I was really scared,” Greta told her.

“Follow me,” Artie said. “There's a place over here where we can climb back up.”

Reenie's teeth were chattering by the time she reached the car. Marc cranked the heater up full blast, but she couldn't stop shivering.

I had the strongest feeling that something bad would happen if we kept playing the dumb jokes on each other, Reenie remembered. Sure enough, something bad happened to me.

Now, is this the end of it?

“Sean called to you because he knew if you kept trying to walk, the ice would crack,” Greta told Reenie in the cafeteria the next day. “When you fell, he got flat on the ice. Then he sort of wiggled and slid himself up to the hole so he could reach in and grab you.”

Greta shivered. “I was so scared. And we couldn't help him. We were afraid the ice would break if we got too close.”

Reenie took a bite of salad. “I can hardly believe it really happened,” she told Greta.

“Well, it did. And it was Artie's fault.”

Reenie saw Sean with his lunch tray. She waved and pointed to the empty seat across from her.

“Artie had no way of knowing I'd slip and fall,” she reminded her friend.

Sean slid into the spot next to Greta.

“It was still a horrible thing to do,” Greta insisted.

“What?” Sean asked. He scooped up a forkful of bright orange macaroni and cheese.

“Greta's furious at Artie for what happened yesterday,” Reenie replied.

“It was an accident,” Sean protested.

Greta leaped to her feet. “I'm going to go get an icecream bar,” Greta announced. “I'll be right back.”

She must be really upset, Reenie thought. Greta hardly ever ate dessert. But when she felt bad, she always headed for chocolate.

“What's her problem?” Sean asked.

“She and Artie are always fighting,” Reenie told him. “She hates the way he acts when he hangs out with Marc Bentley. She's afraid Artie might drop out of school and get a job where Marc works.”

“Could happen, I guess. Artie's family needs cash right now. But Artie hasn't mentioned dropping out to me.” Sean shoveled in more of the macaroni and cheese.

Reenie played with her salad, pushing the celery and carrots into separate piles with her fork. She wasn't hungry. She kept remembering the panic she felt when she struggled to the surface of Fear Lake—and hit the wall of ice.

She couldn't force it from her mind.

Reenie glanced up at Sean and found him staring over her shoulder with an odd expression on his face. “Check it out,” he murmured.

Reenie turned and scanned the room. At first she couldn't figure out what Sean wanted her to see. Then she saw Greta and P.J. standing close together at the back of the lunchroom. So engrossed in conversation they seemed unaware of anything but each other.

Sean turned back to Reenie. “I don't believe it,” he whispered. “Greta and P.J. Is that a weird couple—or what?”

“She likes weird guys. What can I say?” Reenie risked another quick peek at Greta and P.J. Greta was laughing hard, and P.J. appeared pleased with himself.

“I think Artie and Greta will make up,” Reenie declared. “They've been going together forever.”

“Maybe,” Sean agreed. “But Artie is not going to be too happy if he finds Greta flirting with another guy.”

“Uh-oh,” Reenie whispered. “I think he knows.”

She nodded toward the big double doors at the front of the cafeteria.

Artie stood there, glaring across the room at Greta and P.J. His hands clenched into fists. His face taut with anger.

Reenie raised a hand to her mouth as she watched Artie lurch toward Greta and P.J.

Please don't do anything stupid, Reenie silently begged.

“
I
've got to stop him,” Sean told her. He jumped to his feet and hurried over to Artie.