sincerity. "You're a fool if you do, of course." Her violet eyes flicked over Jenny. "You're not a fool, are you?"

Jenny laughed a little. "I hope not."

"Mmm." Diana swung her silky hair over her shoulder. "If you're not, what are you doing here tonight?"

"Come on, Diana," David said.

Jenny didn't know what Diana's problem was, but she felt a spurt of anger. "I could ask you the same question," she said.

Diana's lovely face hardened. "I'd be careful if I were you," she said. "You're not getting off to a very good start."

Jenny tried to think of a comeback, but before she could, Diana had spun around and walked over to Dean somebody; Jenny couldn't remember his last name. The genius.

There was an embarrassed silence, which Sally finally broke. 'Well," she said brightly, "it's a good thing Diana's not in charge of the welcoming committee. Listen," she went on, "I promised Brad I'd start out with him, so I'll see you two later. Bye!"

Jenny's face was flushed, she could feel the heat. She glanced at David.

"Sorry about that," he said. "Diana's not the warmest person in the world. She isn't usually that bad, though. She had something on her mind; I'm not sure what."

Jenny shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

"Sure it does," he said. "But try not to let it get

to you. YouVe got to be clear-headed if you*re going to be my partner."

'Well, I don't ..." Jenny hesitated. He was probably being nice because he felt sorry for her. "I mean, okay, if you don't mind."

'Why should I mind?" David asked. "The only thing I'd mind is having a fool for a partner. And the only fool around here just walked off with Dean Latham."

He laughed, and Jenny found herself laughing with him. She felt better and shoved the ugly moment with Diana to the back of her mind.

"Okay!" somebody shouted. "Let's get going! First ones to finish build the fire!"

"Fire?" Jenny asked as she and David headed for the Toyota. *What do you do, bum the lists after it's over?"

"No, but that's not a bad idea," David said. "Didn't Sally tell you? We always have a cookout at the bottom of the rimrocks when we're done. Whoever finishes first -- or gives up first -- gets the fire going and then we have hotdogs and stuff."

"That sounds like fim."

"It is," he agreed. Then his eyes gleamed. "But the hunt -- that's the real fim."

Jenny had never been on a scavenger hunt, but she got into the swing of it fast enough. The entire town seemed prepared for them; at every house they went to, people were helpful, offering to climb to their attics or hunker into their crawl spaces to find some small item, like an attachment to play a

45 record. The clue for that had been "Platter Player. Hint: Pre-CD." Jenny had finally figured it out.

"For a girl who's been stung by the Queen Bee of Evergreen High, your mind is working amazingly well,"ijDavid commented as he dropped the little piece of plastic into their bag.