“How're the crow's feet, Mom?” she asked in good- natured humour.
Mrs Saunders smiled wryly at her daughter. “Some day,” she said, wagging a finger, “some day you won't think it's so funny.” She walked over to the desk and peered over her daughter's shoulders at the book she was reading. “Shakespeare?”
“What'd you expect?” Laurie asked.
“Well, anything except The Wave,” Mrs Saunders said, sitting down on her daughter's bed.
Laurie turned to look at her. “What do you mean, Mom?”
“Only that I met Elaine Billings at the supermarket today, and she told me Robert is a completely new person.”
“Was she worried?” Laurie asked.
“No, she wasn't, but I am,” Mrs Saunders said. “You know, they've been having problems with him for years. Elaine has talked to me frequently about it. She's been very worried.”
Laurie nodded.
“So she's ecstatic about this sudden change,” Mrs Saunders said. “But somehow I don't trust it. Such a dramatic personality change. It almost sounds like he's joined a cult or something.”
“What do you mean?”
“Laurie, if you study the types of people who join these cults, they're almost always people who are unhappy with themselves and their lives. They look at the cult as a way of changing, of starting over, of literally being born again. How else do you explain the change in Robert?”
“But what's wrong with that, Mom?”
“The problem is that it's not real, Laurie. Robert is safe only as long as he keeps within the confines of The Wave. But what do you think happens when he leaves it? The outside world doesn't know or care about The Wave. If Robert couldn't function in school before The Wave, he won't be able to function outside school where The Wave doesn't exist.”
Laurie understood. “Well, you don't have to worry about me, Mom. I don't think I'm as crazy about it as I was a couple of days ago.”
Mrs Saunders nodded. “No, I didn't think you would be, once you thought about it for a while.”
“So what's the problem?” Laurie asked.
“The problem is everyone else at school who still takes it seriously,” her mother said.
“Oh, Mom, you're the one who's taking this too seriously. Do you want to know what I think? I think it's just a fad. It's like punk rock or something. In two months no one will even remember what The Wave was.”
“Mrs Billings told me that they're organizing a Wave rally for Friday afternoon,” Mrs Saunders said.
“It's just a pep rally for the football game on Saturday,” Laurie explained. “The only difference is they're calling it a Wave rally instead of a pep rally.”
“At which they will formally indoctrinate two hundred new members?” Mrs Saunders asked sceptically.
Laurie sighed. “Mom, listen to me. You're really getting paranoid about this whole thing. Nobody's indoctrinating anyone. They're going to welcome new members to The Wave at the rally. Those people would have come to the pep rally anyway. Really, Mom, The Wave is just a game. It's like little boys playing soldier. I wish you could meet Mr Ross because then you'd see there's nothing to worry about. He's such a good teacher. He'd never get into anything like cults.”
“And you're not disturbed by it at all?” Mrs Saunders asked.
“Mom, the only thing that disturbs me is that so many kids in my class could allow themselves to get caught up in something so immature. I mean, I guess I can understand why David is into it. He's convinced that it's going to turn the football team into a winner. But it's Amy I can't understand. I mean, well, you know Amy. She's so bright and yet, I see her taking this so seriously.”
“So you are worried,” her mother said.
But Laurie shook her head. “No, Mom. That's the only thing that bothers me, and that isn't much. I promise you, Mom, this is a molehill and you're looking for a mountain. Really, trust me.”
Mrs Saunders rose slowly. “Well, all right, Laurie. At least I know you're not involved in this situation. I suppose that's enough to be thankful for. But please, babe, be careful.” She leaned over, kissed her daughter on the forehead, and left the room.
For a few minutes Laurie sat at her desk but did not go back to her homework. Instead, she chewed on a Bic pen and thought about her mother's concerns. She really was blowing it way out of proportion, wasn't she? It really was just a fad, wasn't it?
10
Ben Ross was having coffee in the faculty lounge when someone came in and told him Principal Owens wanted to see him in his office. Ross felt a tremor of nervousness. Had something gone wrong? If Owens wanted to see him, it had to be about The Wave.
Ross stepped out into the hall and started down towards the principal's office. On the way more than a dozen students paused to give him The Wave salute. He returned them and continued quickly, wondering what Owens was going to say. In one sense, if Owens was going to tell him that there had been complaints and that he should stop the experiment, Ross knew he would feel some relief. Honestly, he had never expected The Wave to spread this far. The news that kids in other classes, kids in other grades even, had joined The Wave still amazed him. He simply hadn't intended it to be anything like this.
And yet there was another consideration, the so-called losers in the class — Robert Billings, for example. For the first time in his life, Robert was an equal, a member, part of the group. No one was making fun of him any more, no one was giving him a hard time. And the change in Robert was indeed remarkable. Not only had his appearance improved, but he was starting to contribute. For the first time he was an active member of his class. And it wasn't just history. Christy said she was noticing it in music too. Robert seemed like a new person. To end The Wave might mean returning Robert to the role of class creep and taking away the only chance he had.
And wouldn't ending the experiment now also cheat the other students who were taking part in it? Ben wondered. They would be left hanging without a chance to see where it would eventually lead them. And he would lose the chance to lead them there.
Ben abruptly stopped. Hey, wait a minute. Since when was he leading them anywhere? This was a classroom experiment, remember? An opportunity for his students to get a taste of what life in Nazi Germany might have been like. Ross smiled to himself. Let's not get carried away, he thought, and continued down the hall.
Principal Owens's door was open, and when he saw Ben Ross enter the ante-room, he motioned him in with a wave.
Ben was slightly confused. On the way down to the office he'd somehow convinced himself that Principal Owens was going to chew him out, but the old man appeared to be in a good mood.
Principal Owens was a towering man who stood over six feet four inches. His head was almost completely bald except for a few tufts of hair above either ear. His only other noteworthy feature was his pipe, always present, which protruded from his lips. He had a deep voice, and when he was angry he might instill instant religion in the most hardened atheist. But today it seemed as if Ben had nothing to fear.
Principal Owens sat behind his desk, his large black shoes propped up on one corner, and squinted slightly at Ben. “Say, Ben, that's a good-looking suit,” he said. Owens himself had never been seen around Gordon High in less than a three-piece, even at a Saturday football game.
“Thank you, sir,” Ben replied nervously.
Principal Owens smiled. “I can't recall seeing you in one before.”
“Uh, yes, this is something new for me,” Ben allowed.
One of the principal's eyebrows rose. “Wouldn't have anything to do with this Wave thing, would it?”
Ben had to clear his throat. “Well, yes it does, actually.”
Principal Owens leaned forward. “Now, tell me, Ben, what this Wave thing is all about,” he said. “You've got the school in a tizzy.”