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were alien, unfamiliar, vaguely menacing. She stared, frozen.
"Elena," said the smaller figure fussily, hands on hips, "sometimes I worry about you, I really do."
Elena blinked and then laughed shortly. It was Bonnie and Meredith. "What does a person have to
do to get a little privacy around here?" she said as they sat down.
"Tell us to go away," suggested Meredith, but Elena just shrugged. Meredith and Bonnie had often
come out here to find her in the months after the accident. Suddenly, she felt glad about that, and
grateful to them both. If nowhere else, she belonged with the friends who cared about her. She didn't
mind if they knew she had been crying, and she accepted the crumpled tissue Bonnie offered her and
wiped her eyes. The three of them sat together in silence for a little while, watching the wind ruffle
the stand of oak trees at the edge of the cemetery.
"I'm sorry about what happened," Bonnie said at last, in a soft voice. "That was really terrible."
"And your middle name is 'Tact,' " said Meredith. "It couldn't have been that bad, Elena."
"You weren't there." Elena felt herself go hot all over again at the memory. "It was terrible. But I
don't care anymore," she added flatly, defiantly. "I'm finished with him. I don't want him anyway."
"Elena!"
"I don't, Bonnie. He obviously thinks he's too good for – for Americans. So he can just take those
designer sunglasses and…"
There were snorts of laughter from the other girls. Elena wiped her nose and shook her head. "So,"
she said to Bonnie, determinedly changing the subject, "at least Tanner seemed in a better mood
today."
Bonnie looked martyred. "Do you know that he made me sign up to be the very first one to give my
oral report? I don't care, though; I'm going to do mine on the druids, and – "
"On the what?"
"Droo-ids. The weird old guys who built Stonehenge and did magic and stuff in ancient England.
I'm descended from them, and that's why I'm psychic."
Meredith snorted, but Elena frowned at the blade of grass she was twirling between her fingers.
"Bonnie, did you really see something yesterday in my palm?" she asked abruptly.
Bonnie hesitated. "I don't know," she said at last. "I – I thought I did then. But sometimes my
imagination runs away with me."
"She knew you were here," said Meredith unexpectedly. "I thought of looking at the coffee shop, but
Bonnie said, 'She's at the cemetery.' "
"Did I?" Bonnie looked faintly surprised but impressed. "Well, there you see. My grandmother in
Edinburgh has the second sight and so do I. It always skips a generation."
"And you're descended from the druids," Meredith said solemnly.
"Well, it's true! In Scotland they keep up the old traditions. You wouldn't believe some of the things
my grandmother does. She has a way to find out who you're going to marry and when you're going to
die. She told me I'm going to die early."
"Bonnie!"
"She did. I'm going to be young and beautiful in my coffin. Don't you think that's romantic?"
"No, I don't. I think it's disgusting," said Elena. The shadows were getting longer, and the wind had
a chill to it now.
"So who are you going to marry, Bonnie?" Meredith put in deftly.