Paulina changed into white shorts and a blue blouse. Her tan legs were a sight for sore eyes, and they made other parts of Danny ache as well. Danny owned an old Ford Mustang, with cracked upholstery and bald tires. Opening the door for Paulina to climb in, he felt both the thrill of possible romance and the despair of humiliation. Dash's car might not have been so hot, but next to Danny's jalopy, Dash's Fiat was a wonder on wheels. Paulina didn't seem to mind. She just asked what year it was.

"A seventy-six," Danny said, getting in himself. "It's got a V-eight engine."

"What can it do on the road?" Paulina asked, fastening her seat belt.

"The speed limit."

Paulina smiled. "You're not a braggart, are you?"

"I don't know. I know I'm not a mechanic." There was no choice but honesty. As soon as they hit the road, she would know it was a hunk of junk. He added, "The engine's lost half the compression in four of the cylinders. My friend Tucker is going to help me fix it someday. He's great with cars. Er, well, he's good at internet research."

"I know Tucker," Paulina said. "He was Roger Foley's brother."

"Yeah."

They left the school parking lot. Danny kept glancing in his rearview mirror, expecting to see Dash and Star on his tail. But they were no where in sight. He drove with the windows down—his air-conditioning didn't work. Paulina's long dark hair brushed his bare arm as it blew in the breeze.

"Do you know where I live?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"I don't want to go home."

"Where do you want to go?" Danny asked.

"Let's get something to eat."

Danny felt instant panic. He got paid that night, but now he only had ten dollars in his wallet. He could survive a stop at a fast-food joint, but that was all. "Where would you like to go?" he asked her.

"Nasty Burger."

"I like the Nasty Burger," he said, relaxing.

Paulina's tastes were similar to his own. She ordered a double cheeseburger, a large fries, and a strawberry shake. He had the same, except he made his shake a chocolate. She offered to pay, but he wouldn't hear of it. They took a booth in the corner. He was feeling good and she was looking great. She poured a ton of salt on her fries.

"Bad for your heart," he warned.

"I want to die young," she said. "That way I can stay pretty."

"I hear they have excellent preserving techniques these days."

She leaned closer, putting a salt-crusted fry in his mouth. "What I mean is, I like living in the fast lane."

"I usually get honked at when I go into it."

She laughed. "You're hilarious."

Danny tried not to let his pleasure at her compliment show. "Why do you want to live so fast?" he asked.

"Why not? I get bored easy, I guess." She glanced around at the people in the Nasty Burger, a couple of teenagers and some families, mostly mothers with their squirming kids. "I've been bored since I moved to this city."

"When was that?"

"When I was seven." She made a face. "Don't you remember? We were in second grade together. My first year in Amity."

The fact was a revelation for Danny. He had no memory of the second grade. He didn't have a good memory, period. The earliest he could go back except for occasional scraps was fifth grade. Sixth grade was fairly clear. Paulina had been in his sixth-grade class, and even then he'd been entranced by her long shiny ponytails and bright blue eyes.

"I can't remember," he said honestly. "I'm terrible that way. That's why I take so many pictures. So I can talk about what happened."

"Are you serious?"

"I don't know. Are you serious about getting about of this town?"

She nodded. "The day after graduation I'll be on the road heading for L.A."

"Do you have any money saved?"

"None."

"I think that would slow you down some."

"Nothing's going to slow me down." She gestured to his camera that he'd brought inside the Nasty Burger. "Do you think that you got some good shots today?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"When will you develop them?"

"I'll put them in the shop tonight," Danny said.

"I thought you had a darkroom at home. Did you develop my portfolio pictures at your house?"

"I can do black and white at home, not color. These are all in color." He smiled. "I think that Sugar Sisters shot is going to come out great."

Paulina wasn't enthusiastic. "Star can be so pushy at times."

"Why is she having another bake sale?"

"For the money. For herself. She wants to beat me to L.A." Paulina paused. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be putting her down. Nobody likes Star, but she's always been a good friend to me. She's been like a sister. And you know how sisters are, they fight about the silliest things. But sometimes we have a serious fight. Did you know we got into a big war when she refused to pay for the pictures you took?"

Again Danny felt pleasure that his personal existence on the planet had an effect on Paulina's actions. "I didn't mind," he said.

"But she ripped you off."

"It was only a couple of rolls of film."

"She used your time, your talent."

"If I'd had more talent, it wouldn't have taken me so much time to shoot her." He shrugged. "It was good practice for me."

Paulina was watching him. "Practice for what?"

"Being a photographer." He didn't know why she was suddenly studying him. Surely she had no idea of his plan to plant the camera in the girls' showers. He wasn't even sure he was still going to go through with it. The more he talked to Paulina, the less he liked the idea of taking advantage of her. He lowered his head, adding, "I'm going to try to get a job with an L.A. paper after graduation."

"You're going to follow me there," she said.

"Not unless I get there before you."

She spoke abruptly. "You wonder what I'm doing with Dash."

She had caught him off guard with her changing subjects so quickly. He had never heard Paulina so blunt. "Not at all. He seems like a nice guy."

"He's an idiot."

"Then why are you going out with him?"

"Idiots can be fun." Her smile returned. "And Star likes him."

"Huh?"

Paulina wasn't given a chance to elaborate further because Sam appeared out of no where just then. Danny silently cursed her and her bad timing.

"How are you doing?" Sam asked, walking up to the table, a styrofoam cup hand.

"Great," Danny said. He gestured with his hand to Paulina. "You know Paulina, don't you?"

Sam hardly looked at her. "Yeah."

"How have you been, Sam?" Paulina said sweetly. Too sweet, and both Sam and Danny could tell she was faking it.

Sam shuffled uneasily. "Not bad. What are you guys doing here?"

You mean, what am I doing here with a girl as pretty as Paulina? I'm wondering that myself.

"Eating health food," Paulina said, sipping her shake.

"We just did the shoot on the cheerleaders," Danny said.

Sam grinned nervously. "Oh yeah, the one I messed up."

"I think Danny caught us in our full glory today," Paulina said, licking the shake from her lush lips. Sam gave Danny a quick glance, but Danny wisely chose not to react. Paulina's reference had been coincidental, he thought. Still, the comment gave him further doubts about his plan, or rather, Sam's plan. He reminded himself that it had been her idea.

"I tried my best," Danny said.

"I've already finished eating," Sam said out of nowhere, obviously nervous.

"That's too bad," Paulina said. "You could have joined us."

"Yeah, that's horrible," Danny said. "I mean, it's a shame. Where are you going now?"

He wasn't being very subtle. Sam appeared to take the hint.

"I have to get home," she said. "I've got work to do."

"Goodbye," Paulina said smoothly.

"Catch you later," Danny said, half-rising from his seat.

Sam nodded and left. Danny thought they had done her a favor by chasing her off because she had been distinctly uncomfortable in Paulina's presence.

Yet Sam was back a minute later, saying she needed a ride. Her car wouldn't start.

"What's wrong with it?" Danny asked.

"I don't know," Sam said.

"What sound does it make when you turn the key?" Danny asked.

"It doesn't do anything," Sam said.

"Sounds like the battery then," Danny said. "Maybe all you need is a jump. I have my cables with me."

"No," Sam said. "I don't want to mess with it. I want Tucker to look at it. He can always get it running. Just give me a ride home." She added quickly, "If you would, please."

"Sure," Danny said.

"Can we finish eating first?" Paulina asked.

"I don't care," Sam said. She sat down beside Danny and stared off into the distance. "Take your time."

From that point on the conversation ground down. If anything, Sam's uneasiness in Paulina's presence worsened. Sam seemed to sweat just hearing her voice. Yet Danny suspected Sam was clinging to them on purpose, but he couldn't imagine why. Paulina didn't seem to notice, or if she did, she didn't care.

They finished their food and went outside. Sam wouldn't even let Danny have a look at her car, which deepened his suspicions. To make matters worse, Sam began to drop hints that she had to talk to him. She wanted him to drop Paulina off first, and it did make sense in the way of distance. Yet Danny's resentment of the intrusion grew stronger. Paulina appeared to be in no hurry to get home. If Sam hadn't appeared, they probably could have talked some more.

Paulina lived in "the heights," the section of Amity Park that was up in the hills. To reach her house, Danny had to climb a narrow asphalt road a mile and a half out of town. He remembered that Star also lived in the heights, but he couldn't recall where.

Paulina was friendly as she got out of his car. "I really appreciate the ride and the food," she said. "I'll have to repay the favor soon."

"It was no problem," Danny said. "I'll show you the pictures as soon as I get them back. Maybe you can pick out the ones you want in the yearbook."

Paulina laughed. "No, I'll leave the selection to you. It was nice to see you again, Sam."

"Yeah, it was fun," Sam said flatly, climbing into the front seat.

Paulina began to walk toward her front door, looking awfully sexy in her shorts. "Goodbye, Danny," she said over her shoulder, her accent rolling off her tongue. "Take care."

"You, too," he said.

When they were heading back down the hill, Sam spoke up. "What was that all about?" she asked.

"What?"

"Why were you driving Paulina Sanchez home? Why were you feeding Paulina Sanchez?"

"She needed a ride and she was hungry."

Sam pulled out a cigarette. "I just find that weird. She doesn't even like you."

Danny swallowed. "You don't know her."

Sam had lost her timidity. "Oh, get off it. She's a rah-rah. She doesn't have friends. She collects objects to use and compensate for her lack of intelligence and personality."

Danny shrugged. "I don't think she's so bad."

Sam stared incredulously. "Do you actually like her?"

"I hardly know her."

"I can't believe you, Danny."

"Well, what's wrong with her?"

Sam sat back. "Nothing. She's perfect. She's a goddamn piece of art." Sam flicked ash out of the window. "Have you thought any more about how you're going to do it?"

"Do what?"

"Take the pictures."

"I don't know that I'm going to."

"Why not?" Sam sneered. "Do it tomorrow and you'll get one of your girlfriend."

Danny tried to concentrate on the road. "What's so special about tomorrow? Why can't I do it any other day?"

Sam was impatient. "I told you, Fridays the cheerleaders go through their entire routine. It's a full workout. It's one of the few days you can be sure they're going to take showers afterward." Sam paused. "Set your equipment tonight and you can have the pictures tomorrow."

"The equipment isn't that easy. I don't have a time-lapse attachment."

"I know that," Sam said. "But I thought you said you could build something that'll work just as well."

"Why are you so anxious to have these pictures taken?"

"Why are you so afraid? When I talked to you about it a few days ago, you were bouncing off the walls."

"That's not true," Danny said.

"You were excited."

"I have to think about it some more. Don't bother me about it right now. Do you want me to go check on your car now that Paulina's gone?"

Sam continued to regard him critically. "You don't think there's anything wrong with it, do you?"

"What are you talking about? You said it wouldn't start. If it won't start, it won't start."

Sam threw her cigarette out the window. "You can drive over and try to start it if you want, I don't care."

Danny didn't bother trying. He just took Sam straight home. He didn't understand why she was in such a bad mood, and she didn't say one funny thing the whole way.

Danny didn't get home until five-thirty, and he had to be at work in half an hour. His mother was already home. He bumped into her in the kitchen, where she was making him dinner, broiled chicken and wild rice. She was great that way, and at the same time terrible. She would make him dinner when she knew he had no time to eat or when he wasn't hungry, just because it was what a good mother did. He would always find the time and room to eat at least some of it, because he was a good son.

She kissed him hello, which always embarrassed him. "You're late."

"I had to photograph the cheerleaders," he answered, setting his camera down on the kitchen table and taking the rolls of film out of his pocket.

"Hard work. Did any of them flash you?"

"Yeah, two of them did. The click of the shutter really gets them excited."

"Are you hungry? Do you have time to eat?"

He wondered how he could shove anything more down as she took the chicken from the oven and reached for the pot of rice. "Sure," he said. "But let me jump in the shower for a few minutes first." Maybe some of his shake and hamburger would settle by then.

Danny was scrubbing himself with a bar of soap when the gun went off.

"God!" he shouted, jumping straight up and almost slipping and falling. It took him a few seconds to realize they weren't under attack, that it was just Tucker Foley taking target practice in their backyard. Danny hated sudden shocks. He stepped out of the shower and poked his head out the window. Tucker was resting a smoking ecto-blaster on his shoulder as he inspected his work. He'd set up a line of bottles and cans at the edge of the yard. Danny watched for a moment as he took aim again.

"You wouldn't want to knock first, would you?" Danny called. Tucker looked around. When he finally spotted him, he answered, "I told your mom I was going to shoot."

"That did me a lot of good." He and Tucker worked in the same place, same hours. They often rode to the factory together. But Danny hadn't planned on taking Tucker with him tonight. He hadn't planned on telling Tucker about the pictures he hoped to take, at least not until he had them in hand. Tucker's ethics varied from week to week, but on the whole they were more conservative than about what was right or wrong since his brother died. On the other hand, there was nothing Tucker liked better than a good-looking girl.

Danny was smart enough to recognize that Tucker had the better share of gray matter. Tucker wasted his sharp mind, however, and his grades were as dismal as Danny's. They had gotten worse since Roger's death. There was even some question about whether Tucker would graduate in June. He acted his usual self on the outside, but under his jokes and witty remarks, it was clear to Danny he was putting on an act. Tucker was lost without Roger.

When Roger had nose-dived off the cliff on the way to Amity Park's heights, he was completely alone, except for the two grams of cocaine bubbling through his bloodstream. And that's what got to Tucker. He swore his brother never used drugs, that Star was the coke freak, that she must have forced Roger to take it. Danny tried to reason with him. Roger had gone off the cliff because he was loaded, pure and simple. It was a terrible accident.

Yet Tucker still didn't believe it, and one of these days, he said, he was going to get Star. Danny didn't take the threat too seriously. Tucker was a hell of a shot, but he couldn't even talk tough, not really. He said he'd get Star and then he'd flush red with shame.

"Did I make you pee your pants?" Tucker asked.

"I don't wear pants in the shower," Danny said.

Tucker checked his watch. "You should get dressed. We're going to be late."

"Why don't you just go ahead without me?" Danny said. "My mom made dinner, and I have film I want to drop off before I go in."

Tucker shrugged and took aim at another can. "If you're going to be late I might as well be late. Besides, I'm hungry."

Danny preferred to postpone decisions, and he felt he was being forced to make up his mind now. He couldn't take both Tucker and the equipment he needed to shoot the girls in the showers home from work. In a way, Tucker's forcing him to decide should have put his mind at ease. The decision was being made for him. But despite all his guilt about taking advantage of Paulina, he really wanted the pictures. He had drooled over dozens of Playboy magazines in his days, and Sam was the only girl he personally knew that he had seen naked, and not even on purpose. If he did happen to catch Paulina on film, he told himself he could always destroy those frames. He wouldn't even have to look at them. Certainly, he wouldn't let Sam get her hands on them.

"I'm going to be real late to work, maybe forty minutes," Danny said. "I really think you should go on without me."

Tucker blew away the middle can. The brown foam poured over the rock like bad booze. "I walked over here," Tucker said, lowering the gun. "If I walk back to get my car, I'll be a lot later than forty minutes."

"I'll give you a ride to your house." Then Danny would have to come back home again and get his camera and stuff. Tucker knew Danny would never, under normal circumstances, bring his camera to work.

Tucker smiled and took a step toward him. "You really don't want me to come with you, do you? Where are you going after work?"

"Nowhere."

"I heard you were at the Nasty Burger with Paulina," Tucker said.

"Who told you that? Sam?"

"No. But news spreads fast in this town. How did you manage to get Paulina to eat with you?"

"I didn't get her to eat with me. She wanted to eat something so we stopped. It's no big deal."

"Did you have fun?" Tucker asked.

"The food was good."

Tucker sneered. "Did she have fun?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask her?"

"Did Dash know you were with her?"

"Yeah. He was there when she asked if I would give her a ride home."

"Why didn't she go home with him?" Tucker asked.

"Because he was worried about his seats."

"Danny, this is your best friend you're talking to. Why don't you just tell me the story straight?"

"I am. There's nothing to tell. She needed a ride home and I gave her one. She was hungry and I bought her food. We didn't go out or anything."

"Did you ask her out when you were finished doing all these things for her?"

"No."

"Why not? You've been talking about her for years."

"Because she has a boyfriend! Now shut up and let me finish my shower. If you're hungry, go inside. Tell my mom I'll be there in a few minutes. And put the gun away."

Danny finally finished his shower and dressed quickly. Once in the kitchen he only managed a couple of bites of rice. Tucker wouldn't let up on him even at the table. He told Maddie that Danny had already eaten that afternoon with a beautiful girl. Maddie was interested in hearing the details, but Danny was evasive.

Danny did drive Tucker home, and by this time Tucker was convinced Danny was going somewhere after work. Danny was wondering if there was any chance he would be able to place his camera that night. Tucker was a good friend, but he could be a pain in the ass at the exact right time.

Danny dashed back in his house a few minutes later and told Maddie he had forgotten the film he was taking to be developed. He slipped his camera into a black carrying case and stuffed his camera cable in his pocket. The camera cable was used for taking pictures from a distance of a few feet. Well, he thought, if he did get everything set up and didn't change his mind, he would be more than a few miles from his equipment when he took his most exciting pictures.