Debutante Hill by Lois Duncan Page B

underneath, she had been half-expecting Dirk to back out of their date. She knew he had not meant for her to accept—that the whole situation was not at all what he wanted. She had not talked to him since he had asked her. She had passed him in the hall every once in a while, but he had always avoided her eyes and never once stopped to speak to her, to confirm
their date. So, although she had dressed carefully for this evening and was, for all practical purposes, expecting him to arrive, she would not really have been surprised if he had not.
    Now, with the sound of the bell, came the realization—he’s here! He’s actually here!
    And with it came a wave of panic.
    It was like nothing she had experienced with Paul. Oh, she had been excited about dating Paul. When Paul rang the bell, she felt a quickening, a leap of happiness, a kind of singing inside. But never panic. Paul, even when she first met him, was dear and familiar because he was very much like Ernie and the boys Ernie went around with. Paul’s father and Dr. Chambers were in Rotary together. Paul’s mother was in Mrs. Chambers’ bridge club. She knew Paul—the kind of places he would take her, the way he would feel about things, the things he would talk about—because they came from the same world.
    Dirk did not.
    But I can’t stay here all night, Lynn told herself firmly, giving herself one last look in the mirror. Tonight may be perfectly horrible, but at least it is just one evening. You can stand anything for one evening. I was foolish to get myself into this, but four hours from now it will be over and I’ll never have to look at or speak to him again.
    Taking a deep breath, she turned away from the mirror and went downstairs.
    Dirk was sitting in the big chair in the living room, talking to Dr. Chambers. He was dressed neatly, Lynn noticed at once, in a good quality sports shirt and freshly pressed slacks. His hair was combed back from his forehead
with care. He looked clean and handsome and rather nervous, perched uncomfortably on the edge of the chair, trying to make conversation. When Lynn came in, he looked up in relief.
    â€œHello!” Lynn swept down the bottom steps with all the princess-like grace she could muster. “How are you, Dirk? I see you’ve met my father.”
    â€œYes,” Dr. Chambers said, rising as his daughter came toward them. “We find we have some acquaintances in common—the Turners. Dirk says they live a few houses down from him.”
    â€œOh?” Lynn gave Dirk a charming smile. “How nice.”
    Seeing Dr. Chambers rise, Dirk got up too, standing uncomfortably with his hands in his pockets.
    â€œAre you ready to go now?”
    â€œYes,” Lynn said, “all ready.”
    Her father gave her a pat on the shoulder and held out his hand to Dirk.
    â€œI’m glad to have met you, Dirk. Have a nice evening and drive carefully.”
    Dirk flushed slightly. “I will, sir. Thank you.” Lynn could not remember ever seeing him so subdued.
    Once they were out of the house, however, the awkwardness seemed to slide off him and the old Dirk began to reappear. He gave her a flash of the sardonic smile she knew so well.
    â€œYou look real neat tonight, Princess! Are all those fancy clothes just for me?”
    â€œYou didn’t say where we were going,” Lynn answered pleasantly, “so I wasn’t sure what to wear. I thought this was a happy medium.”

    â€œThat’s right I said ‘paint the town’ but I didn’t say where. Well ...” He hesitated. “What about a movie to start with? There’s a good show at the State. Then we can go on from there.”
    â€œFine!”
    There was a car parked by the curb. Dirk walked over and opened the door.
    â€œClimb in. Hope this is classy enough for you.”
    Lynn got in, choking down her surprise. The car was a brand new Chevrolet convertible.
    She asked,