marina_ami: переводы

→Amy Sutton was having the time of her life. It
was a beautiful sunny afternoon, and she and
Bruce were sitting together on the patio overlooking
the Patmans' sprawling estate. Their
notes for their report were spread out before
them, but Amy was too intent on Bruce to be
worried about their work. "I love this place,"
she gushed, putting her hand closer to his on
the table. "Bruce, it's so much fun working
together on this project." She looked meaningfully
into his eyes. "Do you think it was fate
that we were assigned to work together?"
Bruce laughed. "I don't think so. I think it
may have been the seating chart that did it. It
looks like people who sat next to each other
were assigned to be partners."
Amy pouted. "I think it was fate," she murmured,
inching her fingers closer to his.
Bruce reddened slightly and cleared his throat.
"So—uh, do you think we're really going to be
able to learn much about the drug situation in
Sweet Valley from interviewing this cousin of
yours?"
"Of course," Amy purred, her fingers almost
touching his. "Mimi knows lots of people who
know all about drugs. She'll be able to give us
all the inside information we need." She lowered
her voice, trying to make it sound husky.
"I'm sure our report will be the best in the
class."
Bruce looked down at her hand, obviously
confused. "And you're sure the only time we
can talk to her is tomorrow night?"
Amy nodded, trying to look very serious.
Actually it had taken some effort to convince
her cousin to meet with them on a Friday evening,
but it seemed to Amy that she had to
increase her efforts to win Bruce away from
Regina. Getting him to work with her on a Friday
night was a step in the right direction.
It had worked the week before. Amy had insisted
they work together, and Regina had been left at
home—alone. There was a forties dance at school,
and Amy heard from Lila Fowler that everyone
had commented on the fact that Bruce and Regina
hadn't appeared together. The way Amy
■..iw it, it wouldn't take much more time before
she had Bruce doing what she wanted. She
knew how much he liked her, and she had
been thinking for weeks now about nothing
rise but how to get him to admit his feelings.
"You know, Bruce," she said meaningfully,
shifting on her chair so that her knee bumped
his under the table, "I had this amazing dream
last night." She fixed her eyes intently on his.
"I dreamed that you and I were out in the
middle of nowhere together, just the two of us,
and we were talking about our report, and all of
.1 sudden. . . She tried her hardest to look
embarrassed. That summer spent studying acting
back East was sure paying off now, she
thought. Bruce looked positively mesmerized.
"Oh, never mind," she said, pretending to be
annoyed with herself. "Why am I bugging you
with dumb personal stuff like my dreams when
we have all this work to do?"
"No, go on," Bruce pleaded, fascinated. "What
happened in the dream?"
Amy stared at his lips. "It's kind of embarrassing,"
she whispered, so caught up in her
act that she almost forgot she was making the
whole thing up as she went along.
"Tell me," Bruce said, entranced, "I promise
I won't hold it against you. It's only a dream,
right?"
"Yeah," Amy said huskily, her knee against
his again, "but remember what we learned in
our psychology unit—don't some people think
dreams represent wishes or something?"
Bruce stared at her. "Tell me what you
dreamed," he repeated.
Amy took a deep breath. She had him exactly
where she wanted him now, she thought triumphantly.
"Well," she said softly, leaning closer
to him, "we were, you know, in the middle of
nowhere. And all of a sudden"—she gazed
meaningfully up into his eyes—"all of a sudden
you were kissing me." She dropped her eyes
demurely. "See why I'm embarrassed?" she
asked.
"Amy," Bruce said huskily, leaning forward
and covering her hand with his. In the old days
Bruce Patman would never have let an opportunity
like this pass him by, and it was clear he
was fighting now with his conscience.
Amy fixed her eyes quizzically on Bruce's.
His lips were just inches from hers. If he just
turned his head the slightest little bit . . .
"What if I told you that I really do want you
to kiss me?" she whispered, still staring at him.
Mruce groaned. "Lord, Amy, you're completely
Irresistible." Then he bent forward and brushed
her lips quickly with his. Amy slid her hand up
In-hind his neck and pulled him closer as he
tl.irted to straighten up again.
"A real kiss," she pouted. "Like this."
I'rom the minute his lips touched hers, Amy
knew she had won the battle. There was no
way Bruce was going to stay with Regina now.
Not when he knew what it was like to be with
someone who really wanted him the way she did!
"Amy," Bruce repeated, pulling back and staring
at her with the old Bruce Patman all-I-careabout-
is-what-I-want look in his eyes. "I can't
believe the way you kiss," he said, shaking his
head and pulling her closer to him. "Who taught
you how to kiss that way?"
Amy didn't answer immediately. She knew
that what she said and did right then was incredibly
important, and she wanted to make
sure she didn't make a mistake. "We shouldn't
see each other again," she whispered at last,
avoiding his gaze. "I'm really sorry, Bruce. I
had no business telling you about that dream. If
Regina knew . . . "
Bruce frowned. "What do you mean, not see
each other again? Are you kidding? Amy, I'm
crazy about you!"
Amy fiddled with the edge of her notebook.i
"But what about Regina?" she asked coyly. "I
don't want to get between you two, Bruce. I
couldn't stand that. Unless. . . ." She let her
voice trail off.
"Unless what?" Bruce prompted her.
"Unless you feel that things are almost over
between you two," Amy said. "That would be
different. Then I wouldn't feel so guilty about
. . . you know, the way I feel about you."
Bruce tapped his fingers on the table. "I don't
know how I feel," he said, frowning. "Until a
couple of weeks ago I thought everything with
Regina was perfect. But the more time I spend
with you, the more time I spend thinking about
you. . . ." He gave her a cocky smile. "I'd kind
of forgotten how much fun it is to spread the
wealth—to share the old Bruce magic with more
than one girl."
Amy let her fingers brush his again. "I'm
putting you in a bad spot," she said, her voice
filled with self-reproach. "I'm forcing you to
change your feelings toward Regina. And that's
the last thing I want." She got to her feet,j
trying hard to look purposeful.
"Amy, don't leave!" Bruce moaned, grabbing
her hand and staring at her with a pleading
look on his handsome face. "I don't know what
to do, but I'll figure something out. I'm sure I
run convince Regina to let me do what I want.
Anyway, I just know I've got to keep seeing
you—that's all there is to it."
Amy sank back down into the chair, a triumphant
little smile on her face as she pretended
to study her notebook. She deserved an Academy
Award for that performance, she thought
with satisfaction.
And as for Regina Morrow, the girl had better
get ready to face some bad news. Amy had
Bruce where she wanted him, and she wasn't
about to let him get away!
The next day, Friday, Amy could barely
wait to meet Jessica at lunchtime and share
her triumph. "It was incredible," she declared,
taking a miniscule spoonful of yogurt. "You
should've seen the stars in Bruce's eyes when he
kissed me!"
"So you really think he's going to break up
with Regina?" Jessica asked.
"Of course he will," Amy said confidently.
"And Bruce had better tell her soon," she added.
"I don't mind being the 'other woman' for a
little while, but it'll get boring soon. I want the
whole world to know Bruce and I are in love.
And I want him to take me to the country club
and buy me lots of expensive presents and stuff.
How can he do that if he's still going out with
Regina?"
"You've got a point." Jessica giggled. "Hey,"
she added, suddenly looking worried. "Liz and
I were going to invite some people over tomorrow
for a cookout. If we invite you and Regina,
what's Bruce going to do?"
Amy shrugged. "It'll be fun to watch and
see," she said. "Actually, I think it'll do Bruce a
lot of good to see us together. Don't you think
I'm lots prettier than Regina is?" She watched
Jessica anxiously for her reaction.
Jessica stared across the cafeteria at the table
where Regina was sitting. "I don't know, Amy,"
she said honestly. "Regina's awfully pretty."
Her eyes narrowed. "Hey, what's she doing
eating lunch with Justin Belson? I didn't know
they were friends."
Amy turned around and followed her gaze.
"Who cares who Regina eats with—as long as it
isn't Bruce?" she said airily. "I think you're
wrong about her looks, Jess. She's way too pale.
She looks like the sort of girl you'd want to
bring home to meet your parents, not the sort
of girl who can really make your pulse race."
Jessica groaned. "I think you've been watch-
lug too much TV. You're starting to sound like
.1 perfume commercial." She was still eyeing
lustin Belson with interest. "The last I heard,
lustin was on academic probation," she rein,
irked. "He isn't exactly Regina's type. He
lungs out with Molly Hecht and Jan Brown and
that whole crowd."
"Yeah, Molly Hecht is trouble," Amy agreed.
"My cousin Mimi saw her at a party in L.A.
last weekend that was busted by the police.
Г wo of the college guys got arrested for having
cocaine."
Jessica's eyes widened. "You think Molly and
lustin are on drugs?" she demanded.
Amy shrugged. "I honestly don't know. And
to tell you the truth, Jess, I just don't care." She
leaned forward, her blue eyes shining. "All I
care about is making sure that Bruce leaves
your house tomorrow night with me and not
with Regina! If you've got any ideas on how
to make that happen, promise you'll let me
know."
"I promise," Jessica murmured. But she was
barely listening. She was watching Regina and
Justin, who were apparently deep in conversation.
What on earth could they have to talk to
each other about? she wondered. It made her
uneasy, though she couldn't exactly say why.
Jessica just hoped Regina knew that Justin
and his crowd were bad news. And that she
knew enough to stay far away from them.
Regina Morrow was confused. Everything
seemed to have gone wrong that day. First of
all, Bruce had canceled their plans to go to the
country club that night, saying he had to work
with Amy on their project again. He said the
only possible time he and Amy could talk to the
people at the drug rehabilitation center downtown
was at seven-thirty and that they had
agreed to meet Amy's cousin afterward to get
some inside information on the drug situation
at the college she went to. Regina believed him,
but she couldn't help feeling disappointed. It
was the second Friday night in a row that their
plans had been interrupted by Amy Sutton.
And then Bruce had stood her up for lunch!
They were supposed to meet right here, at their
usual table, but he just hadn't showed. At ten
past twelve Regina had gone through the line
by herself and taken her tray back to the table.
That was when Justin had come over. "Can I
join you?" he asked, smiling shyly.
Regina had looked up in surprise. She didn't
know Justin at all. A tall, slender boy with
.uiburn hair and chiseled, attractive features, he
seemed I о spend most of his time either alone
or with л crowd she barely knew. "Sure," she
•..iid after a slight hesitation. Why not? Bruce
clearly wasn't going to meet her, and she hated
to eat alone.
"I've seen you eat here every day, and I've
.ilways wanted to say hello," Justin told her. He
had a nice voice—very low and soft. "But you're
always with that guy Bruce. Is he your boyfriend?"
Regina nodded. "Are you a junior? I don't
think we've ever met before, have we? I'm Regina
Morrow."
"Justin Belson," he said, putting his hand out
to shake. "Yeah, I'm a junior. But I should be a
senior. I took a year off when. . . ." His voice
trailed off. "I had some family problems, so I
took a little time off." He smiled at her, a
crooked, disarming smile that made Regina feel
a strange twinge of sympathy. "I've always
known who you are, though. You're the one
who had your picture on the cover of Ingenue
magazine." He grinned. "I've got three copies
at home. I'm one of your biggest fans."
Regina blushed. "That was a total fluke," she
assured him. "I was just downtown one day
and the man who runs Townsend Modeling
Agency saw me and thought I looked right for
this contest they were having. You know—sort
of fresh and girlish." She smiled. "Not sophisticated
and glamorous, like their models usually
are.//
"You do look fresh," Justin said seriously, his
brown eyes intent. "You look"—he paused,
searching for the right word—"good," he finished,
helplessly.
Regina laughed. "I guess I am good—if you
mean studious, well-behaved, all that sort of
stuff." She eyed him curiously. "Aren't you?"
"Me? Good?" Justin looked at her, his thin
shoulders slightly hunched. Regina thought he
was very handsome, in a way that she found
puzzling—and somewhat disturbing. "Not really,"
he said at last. "Hey, listen. I've got tickets to a
basketball game in L.A. tonight. You interested?"
Regina stared at him. Was he asking her out?
"Uh, I'm sorry, but I don't think Bruce would
really like it. I mean—"
"I understand," Justin said quickly. "I didn't
mean to embarrass you," he added, seeing her
blush. "I just really hoped we could get to know
each other better. But maybe tonight isn't the
right time. Can we have lunch again one day
next week?"
"Sure," Regina said. She didn't see what harm
having lunch could do. Justin seemed really
niir, and she thought it would be fun to get to
know him.
In fact, a tiny nagging voice inside her was
.r.king why she had turned him down for that
evening. What else was she going to do—sit
.iround and wait for Bruce and Amy to finish
what they were doing?
Hut she suppressed the disloyal thought at
once. Bruce couldn't help having to work on a
I riday every once in a while. And she admired
him for having chosen to do his report on something
as important as drug abuse.
It was just that she couldn't help feeling uneasy
about Amy Sutton.