Free Dead Is Just a Rumor by Marlene Perez Page B

able to extricate him from Ms. Tray's clutches.
    "Let's dance," Ryan suggested.
    "I can't," I said. "I'm working."
    I glanced over at Ms. Tray. She was still yakking away, but Mom had arrived to save the day.
    "Come on," Ryan urged, "Let's check out the view from the deck."
    "Okay, but just for a few minutes," I said, and popped out from behind the buffet.
    When we got up to the deck, it was empty.
    I told Ryan about what I had seen and heard. "That's all I need," I said. "For my dad to be more paranoid."
    "Maybe it's not as bad as you think," he said. I knew he was trying to comfort me, but it wasn't working. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.
    "We should go back," I said. But I didn't really want to.
    Ryan put his hands on my waist. "We should stay," he said. He bent his head and gave me a tiny kiss.
    "But what about the fundraiser? My dad?"
    "Just five minutes."
    Several very enjoyable minutes later, I stopped kissing him.
    "Ryan, we've been gone for ages. Circe is going to kill me."
    We practically ran back. Nobody seemed to notice that we'd been gone. At least that's what I thought until Circe caught up with me.
    "Daisy, where have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere."
    "Sorry, I went out for a breath of air and just lost track of time," I said.
    For a minute, I thought she was going to explode, but instead she smiled. "I was young and in love once," she said. She sighed and her eyes grew distant, changing from an icy green to a soft blue. She shook herself and the ice returned. "Don't let it happen again. Now go fill the breadbaskets."
    A little while later, I spotted some one I needed to talk to. I'd tried to corner Wolfgang Paxton several times at school, but he always managed to avoid me. Now he was stuck on a boat in the middle of the harbor, however. He couldn't avoid me here.
    I found him refilling his plate at the roast beef station. "I said rare," he snapped at the server.
    "Hi, there, Wolfie," I said.
    "What do you want?" he asked.
    "That's not very nice," I replied. "A little birdy told me that you might need help."
    "I don't," he said, but he still refused to face me.
    "You do," I said. "Someone is blackmailing you. Maybe I can help."
    "Like you helped me last time?" he said scornfully. "Thanks, but no thanks."
    "You'd rather just give in to their demands?" I said.
    "I can handle it," he said. "It's not that much money." He realized he'd slipped up and inadvertently admitted he was being blackmailed. He swore under his breath and stalked off.
    I felt Circe's eyes on me and hurried back to my breadbaskets. Hardly the learning experience I'd dreamed of when I'd first won the lessons.
    A little later, I noticed Lilah Porter and her family sitting at one of the tables. I waved to her, but she didn't look like she was having much fun. Her hair was soaking wet. Her father looked over at her and frowned.
    After the party ended and the yacht docked, Circe had me scrubbing pots and pans until midnight.
    When I got home, Mom was in bed, but Dad was waiting up and he didn't look happy.
    "Hi, Dad," I said. "Did you have a nice chat with Ms. Tray?"
    "It was ... illuminating," he said. "I'm very concerned about your relationship with that boy," Dad said. "I've heard things."
    "What kind of things?"
    "It doesn't matter," my dad said. "I don't see a future between the two of you."
    "So you're psychic now?" I said. "It's my senior year. Do I really have to decide every bit of my future right now?"
    "Don't you think you should be thinking about the future of your relationship? Can you trust him if you both go to different colleges?"
    "Don't you think you should give Ryan the benefit of the doubt? Maybe a chance to defend himself? How can he do that if you won't even tell me what you heard?"
    "I heard that he's dangerous," my father replied.
    "Dangerous?" I snorted. "Ryan? You mean because he's a werewolf?"
    "That's not what I mean at all," he replied. "I've never cared about that sort of thing. You know