Мортон Рю - The Wave

But Laurie only struggled harder to get out of his grasp. “I hate you!” she cried. “I hate The Wave! I hate all of you!”

The words struck David like a hard slap in the face. Almost out of control, he screamed, “Shut up!” and threw her down on the grass. Her books went flying as she fell roughly to the ground.

David instantly recoiled in shock at what he had done. Laurie lay still on the ground and he was filled with fear as he dropped to his knees and put his arms around her. “Jeez, Laurie, are you all right?”

Laurie nodded, but seemed unable to talk as sobs filled her throat.

David held her tightly. “God, I'm sorry,” he whispered. He could feel her tremble and he wondered how on earth he could have done something so stupid. What could have made him want to hurt the girl, the one he really still loved? Laurie pushed herself up slightly and sat sobbing and gasping for breath. David could not believe it. He felt almost as if he were coming out of a trance. What had possessed him these last days that could cause him to do something so stupid? There he'd been, denying that The Wave could hurt anyone, and at the same time he'd hurt Laurie, his own girl friend, in the name of The Wave!

It was crazy — but David knew that he'd been wrong. Anything that could make him do what he'd just done was wrong. It had to be.

Meanwhile, moving slowly down the street, Brian's van passed them and disappeared into the darkness.

Later that night, Christy Ross went into the study where her husband was working. “Ben,” she said firmly, “I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I've been thinking, and I have something important to say.”

Ben leaned back in his chair and looked at his wife uneasily.

“Ben, you've got to end The Wave tomorrow,” Christy told him. “I know how much this means to you and how important you think it is for your students. But I'm telling you it must end.”

“How can you say that?” Ben asked.

“Because, Ben, if you don't end it I am convinced Principal Owens will,” she told him. “And if he has to end it, I promise you your experiment will be a failure. I've been thinking all evening about what you've been trying to accomplish, Ben, and I think I'm beginning to understand. But did you ever consider, back when you began this experiment, what might happen if it didn't work? Did it ever occur to you that you're risking your reputation as a teacher? If this goes wrong, do you think parents are going to let their kids into your classroom again?”

“Don't you think you're exaggerating?” Ben asked.

“No,” Christy replied. “Did it ever occur to you that you've not only put yourself into jeopardy but me as well? Some people think that just because I'm your wife that somehow I'm involved in this Wave idiocy too. Does that seem fair, Ben? It breaks my heart that after two years at Gordon High you're in danger of ruining your job. You're going to end it tomorrow, Ben. You're going to go in to Principal Owens and tell him that it's over.”

“Christy, how can you tell me what to do?” Ben asked. “How can I possibly end it in one day and still do the students justice?”

“You have to think of something, Ben,” Christy insisted. “You just have to.”

Ben rubbed his forehead and thought about the next morning's meeting with Principal Owens. Owens was a good man, and open to new ideas and experiments, but now he had immense pressures on him. On one side parents and teachers were up in arms over The Wave, and pressure was growing on the principal to step in and put a halt to it. On the other side there was only Ben Ross, pleading with him not to interfere, trying to explain that to stop The Wave abruptly could be a disaster for the students. So much effort had gone into it. To end The Wave without explanation would be like reading the first half of a novel and not finishing it. But Christy was right. Ben knew The Wave had to end. The important thing wasn't when it ended, but how. The students had to end it themselves, and they had to understand why. Otherwise the lesson, the pain, all that had gone into it, was for nothing.

“Christy,” Ben said, “I know it should end, but I just don't see how.”

His wife sighed wearily. “Are you saying that you're going to go into Principal Owens's office tomorrow morning and tell him that? That you know it should end but you don't know how? Ben, you're supposed to be The Wave's leader. You're the one they're supposed to follow blindly.”

Ben did not appreciate the sarcasm in his wife's voice, but again he knew she was right. The students in The Wave had made him more of a leader than he had ever wished to be. But it was also true that he had not resisted. In fact, he had to admit that before the experiment had gone bad, he had enjoyed those fleeting moments of power. A crowded room full of students obeying his commands, the Wave symbol he'd created posted all over the school, even a bodyguard. He had read that power could be seductive, and now he had experienced it. Ben ran his hand through his hair. The members of The Wave were not the only ones who had to learn the lesson power taught. Their teacher did, as well.

“Ben?” Christy said.

“Yes, I know, I'm thinking,” he replied. Wondering was more like it. Suppose there was something he could do tomorrow. Suppose he did something abrupt and final. Would they follow him? At once, Ben understood what he had to do. “Okay, Christy, I've got an idea.”

His wife looked at him uncertainly. “Something you're sure will work?”

Ben shook his head. “No, but I hope it will,” he said.

Christy nodded and looked at her watch. It was late and she was tired. She leaned over her husband and kissed him on the forehead. The skin was damp with perspir­ation. “You coming to bed?”

“Soon,” he said.

After Christy went into the bedroom, Ben went over his plan again in his mind. It seemed sound and he stood up, determined to get some sleep. He was just shutting off the lights when the doorbell rang. Rubbing his eyes with weariness, Ross trudged to the front door.

“Who is it?”

“It's David Collins and Laurie Saunders, Mr Ross.”

Surprised, Ben pulled the door open. “What are you doing here?” he asked. “It's late.”

“Mr Ross, we've got to talk to you,” David said. “It's really important.”

“Well, come in and sit down,” Ben said.

As David and Laurie entered the living room, Ben could see that both of them were shaken up. Had some­thing even worse happened because of The Wave? God forbid. The two students sat down on the couch. David leaned forward.

“Mr Ross, you've got to help us,” he said, his voice filled with agitation.

“What is it?” Ben asked. “What's wrong?”

“It's The Wave,” David said.

“Mr Ross,” said Laurie, “we know how important this is to you — but it's just gone too far.”

Before Ross could even respond, David added, “It's taken over, Mr Ross. You can't say anything against it. People are afraid to.”

“The kids at school are scared,” Laurie told him. “They're really scared. Not only to say anything against The Wave, but of what might happen to them if they don't go along with it.”

Ben nodded. In a way, what these students were telling him relieved him of part of his concern about The Wave. If he did as Christy told him and thought back to the original goals of the experiment, then the fears Laurie and David spoke of confirmed that The Wave was a success. After all, The Wave had originally been conceived as a way to show these kids what life in Nazi Germany might have been like. Apparently, in terms of fear and forced compliance, it had been an overwhelming success — too much of a success.

“You can't even have a conversation without wondering who's listening,” Laurie told him.