Susan Pfeffer - Shade of the Moon

Good news, weird news, Jon thought. My sister the grub.

But Lisa was right. In a year, he’d either be in the Sexton dorm or thrown out of Sexton. And in a year Alex might have his truck. Or he and Miranda might decide to move to that place Matt had told them about. Or the moon might crash into the earth and they’d all be dead anyway.

“Congratulations,” he said to Lisa. “Now go tell Gabe the good news.”

Jon walked over to the table where Luke and Sarah were sitting. “Lisa passed her evaluation,” he said to Luke, pretending not to notice that Sarah was there. “She even got a promotion.”

“That must be a relief,” Luke said. “I know you’ve been worrying about it.”

Jon nodded. “She’s feeling a lot better about things,” he said. “I am, too.”

Sarah kept still.

“That’s it,” Jon said. “Just thought you’d want to know.”

But as he walked back to Tyler’s table, he could sense Sarah looking at him.

Things are about to get better, he told himself. He’d learned from his lessons. He’d be the man Sarah wanted him to be and then she would have to forgive him.

Luke lived almost a mile away, but there was no bus that went through the neighborhoods, so Jon walked there. He’d been to Luke’s a few times but never without an invitation. He didn’t think Luke would mind, though.

He didn’t mind, but he was surprised. “What are you doing here?” he asked. “Is something the matter?”

“I wanted to talk to you,” Jon said. “I figured this was the best place.”

“Come on in,” Luke said. “We’ll go to my room.”

Jon thought about the offer Lisa had had for a bigger house. Luke’s felt like a mansion. His brother lived in the Sexton dorm, so it was just Luke, his parents, and five domestics. Jon wondered how many of them were professors of philosophy.

“Okay,” Luke said. “What’s up?”

“Could you close the door?” Jon asked. “I need to talk to you in private.”

Luke shrugged, but he closed the door, then sat down on a chair that faced Jon’s.

Jon took a deep breath. “I can’t stop thinking about the grubber school,” he said. “How we burned it down. Now that my stepmother’s passed her evaluation, well, I could go to the authorities, tell them what happened. But I decided to talk to you first.”

Luke got up and opened the door. “Marie!” he called. “Could you get my father for me? Ask him to come to my room.”

“Yes, Mr. Luke,” Marie said.

“What did you do that for?” Jon asked.

“Wait,” Luke said. “We’ll talk it over with my father.”

Jon felt a sharp longing for a father of his own to talk things over with. Not that he hadn’t keep secrets from Dad. But maybe if he were still alive, Jon wouldn’t have made such a mess of things.

He and Luke sat in uncomfortable silence until Dr. Barner arrived. Jon rose, and Dr. Barner smiled and shook his hand. “This is a nice surprise,” he said. “Are you joining us for supper, Jon?”

“Oh no,” Jon said. “No, thank you. I came here to talk something over with Luke.”

“Jon wants to go to the authorities,” Luke said to his father. “To tell them about setting the school on fire.”

“He knows?” Jon said.

“I know,” Dr. Barner replied. “Luke told me after church on the eighteenth. He and I talked about it at great length.”

“I asked Dad if I should go to the authorities,” Luke said.

“I told him he should,” Dr. Barner said. “But only if all five of you agreed. I’ll tell you the same thing, Jon. Either all of you go or none of you goes.”

“Dad said I’d have to tell them who was there with me,” Luke said. “I couldn’t lie and say I did it by myself. I’d never get away with it. They’d ask questions, like where did I get the matches. And there’s no way I’d rat on my friends.”

“I’m not saying what you did was right, Jon,” Dr. Barner said. “But Luke was protecting the old man. The grubs who trashed the school before you got there had no such reason. They were simply drunken vandals.”

There was no way of knowing who had trashed the school. Everyone was drunk that night, clavers as well as grubs. “The school was a mess,” Jon said. “But it could have been cleaned up. What we did was irreversible.”

“Exactly,” Dr. Barner replied. “There’s nothing you can say or do that will change matters. So why throw your life away? I’ll say to you what I said to Luke. The important thing is to accept what you did was wrong and move on. I had him promise never to do anything like that again. I think you’ll feel better if you make that same promise.”

“I promise,” Jon said, waiting to feel better.

“Very good,” Dr. Barner said. “You’re sure you don’t want to stay for dinner, Jon? There’s always room for one more.”

“No, thank you,” Jon said. “Lisa’s expecting me. And Gabe’ll be disappointed if I’m not there.”

“Some other time, then,” Dr. Barner said. “Come, Luke. We don’t want to keep your mother waiting.”

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Luke replied. “I’ll see Jon out.”

“Don’t take too long,” Dr. Barner said. “You don’t want your dinner to get cold.”

“I won’t,” Luke said. “Come on, Jon.”

Jon followed Luke down the stairs and outside. “I didn’t want to say this in front of Dad,” Luke said softly. “But I talked to Tyler yesterday. I’ve wanted to for a while, and when you said Lisa had passed, I figured the time was right.”

“What did he say?” Jon asked, knowing he wasn’t going to like the answer.

“He said his father thinks the grubs burned the school down,” Luke replied. “And Tyler wants to keep it that way. Tyler can’t go after me. We’re family. But he said if either one of us talks, he’ll see to it you’re sent to the mines. That family of yours in White Birch? They’ll end up there, too, like those grubber women who complained about Zach’s grandfather. Everyone knew they were telling the truth. That’s why he got thrown out of Sexton. But the grubs were sent to the mines anyway.”

Jon thought of Alex and Miranda and their baby. He had no right to destroy their lives. “I’ll keep quiet,” he said. “I swear it.”

“There’s something else,” Luke said. “Sarah.”

“What about her?” Jon asked.

“Look, I know about the two of you,” Luke declared. “Sarah talks to me.”

“I thought now that Lisa’s okay, I’d try to make it up to Sarah,” Jon said.

“That’s what she wants,” Luke replied. “But you can’t let that happen. Tyler asked me if anything was going on between the two of you. I said no, but I don’t think he believed me. He’ll hurt her, Jon, just to show you he’s in charge.”

“But she wants to get back together?” Jon asked.

“She says she loves you,” Luke replied. “If you love her, you’ll leave her alone.”

Jon knew he had one weapon left, and that was to let Sarah know the truth about him. “Tell her I want to see her,” he said. “To come to my house so we can talk.”

“Jon,” Luke said.

“I know what I’m doing,” Jon said. “I’ll see to it Sarah never looks at me again. But I have to talk to her first. Tomorrow night, after the grubs go to White Birch. I’ll be waiting for her.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Luke said.

“I do,” Jon said. “Get her there, okay?”

“Luke!” Dr. Barner yelled. “What’s taking you so long?”

“I’m coming!” Luke shouted. “I’ll do what I can,” he whispered, then turned his back on Jon and entered the house.