Avalon High Part 27

He said, "She has a lovely face;

G.o.d in His mercy lend her grace,

The Lady of Shalott."

"Hey," he said quietly, his eyes looking bluer than ever in the porch light-so blue, in fact, that I was swimming in them before I even managed to get out a greeting of my own.

"Hey," I croaked.

Moths beat at the door I was holding, trying to get in. Behind Will, the night-dark, rain-soaked yard was an orchestra of chirping crickets and cicadas.

"I'm sorry to stop by so late," Will said. "But Cav and I...we sort of need a place to stay. Do you think your parents would mind if we crashed here for a few days? Just until I find my own place. Things at home are..." He gripped the strap to his gym bag a little more tightly. "Not good."

I'd have given him my own bed to sleep in, and gladly taken the floor. But I didn't admit this out loud. Nor did I let any of my intense relief that he was still in Annapolis show. If I had been in his place, I'm not so sure that I wouldn't have packed up and left town, not wanting to see ever, ever again any of the people involved in what could only have been the most painful moment of my life.

Instead, I said, as casually as I could, "Come on in, and I'll check."

Will came in, Cavalier following close at his heels.

"Who is it, Ellie?" Mom called, from the living room.

Standing in the darkness of the foyer, I looked up at Will.

"Mr. Morton is here," I whispered.

One side of Will's mouth twitched upward. I didn't know if this meant he was pleased or the opposite.

"I'm not exactly surprised," he said.

"I can try sneaking you upstairs," I offered.

"No," he said. And this time both corners of his mouth went up. "Kings don't sneak."

My mouth fell open. "You're not telling me you believe-"

"Move it, Harrison," he said, and taking me by the arm, propelled me back into the living room.

"Uh, Mom, Dad," I said. "Will's here."

For a second, both my parents and Mr. Morton stared up at Will as if he were some kind of ghost. Then Mr. Morton finally pried his jaw apart to whisper, "Of course. Of course he'd come here," as if he were speaking to himself.

Ignoring him, I said to my mom and dad, "Will needs a place to stay for a couple of days. Can I give him Geoff's room?"

My mom looked worriedly at Will.

"Oh, dear," she said. My dad was the one who asked, "That bad at home, eh?"

Will, still holding his gym bag, nodded. Cavalier, at his side, was eyeing Tig, who'd risen to her feet and was standing on the hearth with her tail puffed out to five times its normal size. Neither animal, however, made a sound. They just looked at each other.

"I wouldn't ask, sir," Will said to my dad, "if it weren't...Well, Jea-I mean, my mom is all right. It's my dad. I-" Will glanced at Mr. Morton. "The thing is, sir, I sort of told him I wasn't going to enroll in the Academy next year, and he blew up. I probably didn't pick the best time to bring it up, exactly, with Marco...well, with Marco where he is right now. But I felt like it was time-past time-we all started being honest with each other. And-well, long story short? My dad threw me out of the house. I was hoping I could stay here until I can find a place of my own. But if it's a problem-"

"Of course you can stay here," my dad said, to my everlasting relief. "Long as you need to."

"You must be exhausted," my mom gushed, jumping to her feet. "I know I am, and I haven't been through half of what you have today. Ellie, show him up to Geoff's room. Did you have supper, Will? Want me to heat up some ribs? You're hungry, I suppose?"

The smile Will flashed her could have electrified the Beltway all over again.

"Yes, ma'am," he said. "Always."

"I'll fix you up a plate of something," my mom said, and hurried into the kitchen, while my dad followed her, muttering, in a perfectly audible voice, "Kid's going to eat us out of house and home."

"Dad," I said, appalled. "We can hear you."

"I know," my dad called back.

To Mr. Morton, who'd risen to his feet and was standing a few feet away, looking awkward and deferential, Will said, "h.e.l.lo again, sir."

"Sire," Mr. Morton said...and he actually gave a little bow.

I thought I was going to crack up right there in front of him, but Will grabbed my arm and dragged me out of there and back into the hallway before I could.

"Oh my G.o.d," I whispered, trying to stifle my giggles. "Is he going to call you that every time he sees you now? Like in school and everything?"

"I hope not," Will said. "Come on, show me where I can throw this thing."

So I took him-and a politely inquisitive Cavalier-to Geoff's room, which was really just a guest room now, Geoff being away at college.

All I could think the whole time I was going up the stairs was, He's staying the night. Maybe more than just the night. Maybe a few nights. I'm going to see him last thing before I go to sleep. And first thing every morning when I wake up. Like the rose he gave me.

Nancy will die when she finds out.

Will threw his bag down onto the bed without even glancing around to see whether or not he liked the room. Instead, he just looked at me.

And suddenly I was aware of how very alone we were together. Well, with the exception of Cavalier and Tig, who seemed to have slunk up the stairs behind us. The two of them carefully touched noses, then both backed into separate corners to eye each other some more.

"There's a bathroom right next door," I said. "My parents use the one off the master, and I use the one off my room, so you'll have this one all to yourself. There are clean guest towels in it already." I was babbling. I knew I was babbling, but I couldn't seem to stop myself. "We usually have just cereal for breakfast, but my mom makes pancakes on special occasions, and, well, this is sort of special, so maybe she'll make them tomorrow if we-"

"Elle," Will said gently.

I blinked at him. Well, what else could I do? Every time he called me that, it made my heart seem to swell to twice its normal size.

"Yeah?"

"I don't care about pancakes," he said.

I blinked some more.

"No," I said. "I don't imagine you do. Sorry. I just-"

And then he pulled me to him and started kissing me.

And I realized something as we kissed. Something strange.

And that's that I was happy. Really happy. For the first time in...well, a long time.

And I didn't think that feeling was going to go away anytime soon, either.

"Hey," I said, a minute later, when he finally let me up for air. "That's no way for a king to behave."

Will said something decidedly unaristocratic about kings, and kissed me some more.

"Besides," he said, a few minutes later, his kisses finally having put an end to my s.h.i.+vering, "you don't believe all that stuff Morton was talking about, do you?"

"Hardly," I said, with a snort. Because it was easy not to believe in the powers of darkness when Will was holding me in his arms and my cheek was resting on his shoulder.

"Yeah," he said. I loved the way I could feel his voice reverberating through his body as he spoke. "Me neither. I mean, can you believe there's a whole organization of people who've just been waiting around for King Arthur to rise again?"

"No," I said. "Although there are worse things than being wors.h.i.+pped as a demiG.o.d by a bunch of people who are apparently perfectly willing to pay your college tuition."

"That's true," Will said thoughtfully. "What I can't help wondering though is...I mean, you don't think-"

I lifted my head. "What?"

"Nothing. Just...Well, that was weird today, in the park. When you handed me that sword-"

"It had nothing to do with the sword," I said, laying my cheek back against his shoulder. "Not because of what Mr. Morton says, either. It was just...the circ.u.mstances. You know, of my handing it to you just when the sky cleared up, and the fact that we might have been shot down dead at any given time. Tomorrow, when the police give the sword back to my dad, you'll take a look at it and see. It's just an ordinary, rusty old sword."

"I know. That's what makes it even stranger. I mean, I'm not saying I believe it. What Morton said. Not all of it, anyway. But some of it-like how I knew you. That very first day, by the ravine, when you smiled at me. I'd never met you before, but I still...I knew you."

"You just wanted to know me," I said, giving him a squeeze. "Because I'm so cute, and everything."

Will shook his head, his blue eyes gleaming.

"Think you've got all the answers, do you?" he asked. "Well, riddle me this, Batgirl. What about how similar everyone's names are? Lance and Lancelot. Jennifer and Guinevere. Morton and Merlin-"

I gasped at this.

"No! You don't think-not Merlin."

"Hey," he said. "Is it any crazier than me being Arthur, or you being the Lady of the Lake?"

"I'm not the Lady of the Lake," I said firmly.

"Oh, you're not?" He was grinning now. "With the amount of time you spend in the water?"

"It's a pool," I pointed out. "Not a lake. And I'm not even on the swim team. Besides, what if it is true? If you really are Arthur, and I really am the Lady of the Lake...well, then this isn't how the story's supposed to go, is it? With us, I mean. Together. Like this."

"It is now," he said, with a grin. And kissed me again.

And I remembered something then that I had forgotten up until that moment-something I knew that Mr. Morton had also realized, downstairs. Something I decided not to mention to Will: And that was that, in the legend of Camelot, the Lady of the Lake didn't just bring Arthur his sword.

No, she performed one other service for him, too.

When it was all over, she brought him home.

To Avalon.

About the Author.

MEG CABOT is the author of many bestselling, critically acclaimed books for teens, including the Princess Diaries books, the Mediator series, the 1-800-Where-R-You series, ALL-AMERICAN GIRL, READY OR NOT, and TEEN IDOL, as well as NICOLA AND THE VISCOUNT and VICTORIA AND THE ROGUE. She also writes books for adults, including the BOY NEXT DOOR, BOY MEETS GIRL, EVERY BOY'S GOT ONE, and SIZE 12 IS NOT FAT. She currently lives in Key West and New York City with her husband and a one-eyed cat named Henrietta.

Visit Meg's website at: www.megcabot.com.

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