Mickey & Me by Dan Gutman Page A

understood her this time.
    â€œAlone,” she whispered, her blond hair brushing me again.
    I gulped. This was it. She wasn’t kidding this time.
    â€œSure,” I croaked.
    Merle got up from the table. “Girls,” she announced, “Stoshie and I are stepping out. I’ll see you in the morning.”
    â€œHave fun, you two,” Mickey said. The others giggled.
    Then Merle shot them a wink. I’m positive about that. It was a wink.
    â€œOh, we will,” Merle replied, taking my hand. My heart shifted back into fifth gear as she led me to her car.

13
Alone at Last
    IT HAD TO BE PAST TEN O’CLOCK NOW . THE ONLY LIGHT outside was the blinking Johnny’s Bar-B-Cue sign and a thin sliver of the moon. We managed to find Merle’s car in the darkness. “You sit up front with me,” Merle said. The front seat went all the way across, with no gap between the driver and the passenger. I slid in and she said, “Closer.”
    She gunned the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. I had no idea where she was taking me. It didn’t matter, really. I was finally alone with Merle. I was out on a real date with a pretty girl! I couldn’t wait to tell my friends back home.
    Merle hadn’t driven even a mile when she pulled off the road and into a gravel driveway with a stone pillar on either side. A few short lefts and rights past there, the headlights reflected off some slabssticking out of the ground, and I realized we were in a cemetery.
    Now, I’m not one of those kids who gets creeped out by death and stuff. People die. It’s part of life. It’s no big deal. I don’t believe in ghosts or anything.
    â€œThis is my special place,” Merle said, slowing the car to a stop. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
    â€œPeaceful,” I replied. I couldn’t see anything except the headstones. The only sounds were the wind blowing through the trees and the hum of the motor. “Rest in peace.”
    Merle switched off the headlights, and we were in near total darkness.
    I had seen a lot of movies. One of two things is going to happen right now, I thought to myself. She is either going to kiss me, which would be really cool. Or she is going to kill me, which wouldn’t be quite so cool. Merle didn’t seem like the psychotic murderer type, so I licked my lips in preparation for my first real kiss. My heart was beating madly. I turned to face her.
    â€œLet’s take a walk,” she said, flipping on the lights again.
    â€œUh, okay.”
    â€œI’ll park the car,” Merle said. “I’ll meet you over there, under that tree.”
    If it had been anybody else, I wouldn’t have gotten out of the car. I’m not stupid. It’s a graveyard. It’s dark out. I’m by myself. I’m far from home, I have no money, and I’m even in the wrong decade.
    But she was beautiful, so none of that mattered. I opened the door and got out of the car.
    No sooner had I taken a step when she hit the gas. The tires spun, shooting gravel all over until the rubber got a grip and the car peeled away.
    â€œWait!” I shouted, shielding my face from the chunks of flying gravel. “Come back!”
    â€œHa-ha-ha-ha!” she cackled as the car turned the corner and zoomed away.
    I screamed out every curse word I could think of and sprinted after her. But it was so dark that I couldn’t see anything, and the sound of the motor was fading in the distance. Fearing that I might run into a tree or trip over something in the dark, I stopped.
    She had done it to me again! How stupid could I be? I filed it in my mental-mistakes-to-never-make-again folder—do not get out of a car in a graveyard at night, no matter how pretty the driver is.
    There was no point in running. I didn’t know the way back to the restaurant. I hadn’t paid attention to those lefts and rights she made, so I didn’t even remember how to