The Wave

by Мортон Рю

  “Robert, what are you doing?” Mr Ross asked.

  “Mr Ross, I'm your bodyguard,” Robert announced.

  “My what?”

  Robert hesitated slightly. “I want to be your bodyguard,” he said. “I mean, you're the leader, Mr Ross; I can't let anything happen to you.”

  “What could happen to me?” Ben asked, startled by the notion.

  But Robert seemed to ignore that question. “I know you need a bodyguard,” he insisted. “I could do it, Mr Ross. For the first time in my life I feel ... well, nobody makes jokes about me any more. I feel like I'm part of something special.”

  Ben nodded.

  “So can't I do it?” Robert asked. “I know you need a bodyguard. I could do it, Mr Ross.”

  Ben looked into Robert's face. Where there had once been a withdrawn and unconfident boy, there now stood a serious Wave member, concerned for his leader. But a bodyguard? Ben hesitated a moment. Wasn't that going a little too far? More and more he'd begun to recognize the position of importance his students were unconsciously forcing upon him — the ultimate leader of The Wave. Several times over the last few days he had heard Wave members discussing “orders” he had given: orders to put posters up in the halls, orders to organize The Wave move­ment in the lower grades, even the order to change the pep rally into a Wave rally.

  Except the crazy thing was, he'd never given those orders. Somehow they'd simply evolved in the students' imaginations, and once there, they automatically assumed he'd given them. It was as if The Wave had taken on a life of its own and now he and his students were literally riding it. Ben Ross looked at Robert Billings. Somewhere in his mind he knew that by agreeing to let Robert be his bodyguard, he was also agreeing to become a person who required a bodyguard. But wasn't that what the experiment required as well? “All right, Robert,” he said. “You can be my bodyguard.”

  A wide smile appeared on Robert's face. Ben winked at him and continued down the hall. Perhaps having a bodyguard would be helpful. It was essential to the experi­ment that he maintain the image of leader of The Wave. Having a bodyguard could only enhance that image.

  12

  The Wave rally would be in the gym, but Laurie Saunders stood by her locker, uncertain that she wanted to go. She still couldn't put into words exactly what bothered her about The Wave, but she could feel it growing inside her. Something was wrong. The anonymous letter that morning was a symptom. It wasn't only that a senior had tried to bully a junior into joining The Wave. It was more — the fact that the junior hadn't put his name on the letter, the fact that he'd been afraid to. It was something Laurie herself had been trying to deny for days, but it just wouldn't go away. The Wave was scary. Oh, it was just great if you were an unquestioning member. But if you weren't ...

  Laurie's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden flurry of shouts out in the quadrangle. She quickly went to a window and saw that two boys were fighting while a crowd of kids stood watching and yelling at them. Laurie gasped. One of the fighters was Brian Ammon! She watched as they threw punches at each other and then awkwardly wrestled to the ground. What in the world?

  Now a teacher ran out and separated the two fighters. Grabbing each tightly by the arm, he started tugging them inside, no doubt to Principal Owens's office. As he went, Brian shouted, “Strength Through Discipline! Strength Through Community! Strength Through Action!”

  The other boy shouted back, “Aw, shove it.”

  “You see that?”

  The sudden sound of a voice so close to her startled Laurie, and she jumped around to find David beside her.

  “I hope Principal Owens lets Brian attend The Wave rally after this,” David said.

  “Were they fighting about The Wave?” Laurie asked.

  David shrugged. “It's more than that. That kid Brian was fighting, he's this junior named Deutsch who's been after Brian's position all year. This thing's been brewing for weeks. I just hope he got what he deserved.”

  “But Brian was shouting The Wave motto,” Laurie said.

  “Well, sure. He's really into it. We all are.”

  “Even the kid he was fighting?”

  David shook his head. “Naw, Deutsch is a jerk, Laurie. If he was in The Wave he wouldn't be trying to steal Brian's position. That guy's a real detriment to the team. I wish Schiller would throw him off.”

  “Because he isn't in The Wave?” Laurie asked.

  “Yeah,” David replied. “If he really wanted the best for the team he'd join The Wave instead of giving Brian such a hard time. He's a one-man team, Laurie. He's just on a big ego trip and he's not helping anyone.” David looked down the hall at a clock. “Come on, we've got to get to that rally. It's gonna start in a second.”

  Suddenly Laurie made a decision. “I'm not going,” she said.

  “What?” David looked shocked. “Why not?”

  “Because I don't want to.”

  “Laurie, this is an incredibly important rally,” David said. “All the new members of The Wave are going to be there.”

  “David, I think you and everyone else are taking this whole Wave thing a little bit too seriously.”

  David shook his head. “No, I'm not. You're not taking this seriously enough. Look, Laurie, you've always been a leader. The other kids, they've always looked up to you. You've got to be at that rally.”

  “But that's exactly why I'm not going,” Laurie tried to explain. “Let them make up their own minds about The Wave. They're individuals. They don't need me to help them.”

  “I don't understand you,” David said.

  “David, I can't believe how crazy everybody's become. The Wave is taking over everything.”

  “Sure,” David said. “Because The Wave makes sense, Laurie. It works. Everybody's on the same team. Everybody's equal for once.”

  “Oh, that's terrific,” Laurie said sarcastically. “Do we all score a touchdown?”

  David stepped back and studied his girl friend. He hadn't expected anything like this. Not from Laurie.

  “Don't you see,” Laurie said, mistaking his hesitation for a glimmer of doubt. “You're so idealistic, David. You're so intent on creating some kind of Utopian Wave society full of equal people and great football teams that you don't see it at all. It can't happen, David. There will always be a few people who won't want to join. They have a right not to join.”

  David squinted at his girl friend. “You know,” he said, “you're just against this thing because you're not special any more. Because you're not the best and most popular student in the class now.”

  “That's not true and you know it!” Laurie gasped.

  “I think it is true!” David insisted. “Now you know how the rest of us felt listening to you always giving the right answers. Always being the best. How does it feel not to be the best any more?”

  “David, you're being stupid!” Laurie yelled at him.

  David nodded. “All right, if I'm so stupid, why don't you go find yourself a smart boyfriend.” He turned and walked away towards the gym.

  Laurie stood behind and watched him. It's crazy, she thought. Everything is going out of control.

  From what Laurie could hear, The Wave rally was a giant success. She was spending the period in the publica­tions office down the hall. It was the only place she could think of going where she would be safe from the questioning looks of kids wondering why she wasn't at the rally. Laurie did not want to admit that she was hiding, but it was true. That was how crazy this whole thing had become. You had to hide if you weren't part of it.

  Laurie took out a pen and chewed on it nervously. She had to do something. The Grapevine had to do something.

  A few minutes later the turning of the doorknob shook her from her thoughts. Laurie caught her breath. Had someone come to get her?

  The door opened and Alex bopped in to the beat of the music coming through his earphones.

  Laurie sank back in her chair and let out a big sigh.

  When Alex saw Laurie he smile
d and pulled the earphones off his head. “Hey, how come you're not in with the troops?”

  Laurie shook her head. “Alex, it's not that bad.”

  But Alex just grinned. “Oh yeah? Pretty soon they're gonna have to change the name of this school to Fort Gordon High.”

  “I'm not amused, Alex,” Laurie said.

  Alex scrunched up his shoulders and made a face. “Laurie, you must learn that nothing is above ridicule.”

  “Well, if you think they're troopers, aren't you frightened of being drafted too?” Laurie asked.

  Alex grinned. “Who, me?” Then he swiped through the air with several fierce-looking karate chops. “Anyone hassles me and I'll kung-fu them into chopped suey.”

  The door of the publications office opened again and now Carl slipped in. Seeing Laurie and Alex there, he smiled. “Looks like I've stumbled into Anne Frank's attic,” he said.

  “The last of the rugged individuals,” Alex said.

  Carl nodded. “I believe it. I just came from the rally.”

  “They let you out?” Alex asked.

  “I had to go to the john,” Carl answered.

  “Hey, man,” Alex said. “You got the wrong place.”

  Carl grinned. “This is where I went after the john. Anywhere but that rally.”

  “Join the club,” Laurie said.

  “Maybe we should give ourselves a name,” Alex said. “If they're The Wave, we could be The Ripple.”

  “What do you think?” Carl asked.

  “About calling ourselves The Ripple?” Laurie said.

  “No, about The Wave.”

  “I think it's time we put out that issue of The Grapevine,” Laurie said.

  “Excuse me for injecting my own not always serious opinion,” Alex said, “but I think we ought to put it out fast before the rest of the staff gets carried away by The Mighty Wave.”

  “Pass the word around to the other staff members,” Laurie said. “On Sunday at two o'clock we'll have an emergency meeting at my house. And try to make sure only non-Wave members are there.”

  That night Laurie stayed alone in her room. All afternoon she'd been too preoccupied with The Wave to allow herself to feel anything about David. Besides, they'd had fights before. But earlier in the week David had made a date to take her out that night, and here it was ten-thirty. It was obvious he wasn't coming, but Laurie couldn't quite believe it. They'd been going together since sophomore year and suddenly something as trivial as The Wave had broken them up — only The Wave wasn't trivial. Not any more.

  Several times during the evening Mrs Saunders had come up to her room to ask if she wanted to talk about it, but Laurie said she didn't. Her mother was such a worry-wart, and the problem was that this time there really was something worth worrying about. Laurie had been sitting at her desk trying to write something about The Wave for The Grapevine, but so far the page of paper before her was empty, except for a few water marks where a tear or two had fallen.

  There were knocks on her door, and Laurie quickly wiped her eyes with the palm of her hands. It was no use; if her mother came in she'd see that she was crying. “I don't want to talk, Mom,” she said.

  But the door had started to open anyway. “It's not your mom, babe.”

  “Dad?” Laurie was surprised to see her father. It wasn't that she didn't feel close to him, but unlike her mother, he usually didn't get involved in her problems. Unless they somehow concerned golf.

  “Can I come in?” her father asked.

  “Well, Dad,” Laurie smiled slightly, “considering the fact that you're already in ...”

  Mr Saunders nodded. “I'm sorry to barge in, babe, but your mother and I are both worried.”

  “She told you David broke up with me?” Laurie asked.

  “Uh, yes, she did,” Mr Saunders said. “And I'm sorry about that, babe, I really am. I thought he was a nice boy.”

  “He was,” Laurie said. Until The Wave, she thought.

  “But, uh, I'm concerned about something else, Laurie. About something I heard on the golf course this evening.” Mr Saunders always left work early on Fridays to play nine holes of golf in a twilight league before the sun went down.

  “What, Dad?”

  “Today after school a boy was beaten up,” her father said. “Now I got this story second-hand, so I don't know if it's all accurate. But apparently there was some kind of rally at school today, and he had resisted joining this Wave game or said something critical about it.”

  Laurie was speechless.

  “The boy's parents are neighbours of one of the men I play golf with. They just moved in this year. So the boy must have been new at school.”

  “It sounds like he would have been a perfect candidate for joining The Wave,” Laurie said.

  “Maybe,” said Mr Saunders. “But Laurie, the boy is Jewish. Could that have had anything to do with it?”

  Laurie's jaw dropped. “You don't think ... Dad, you can't believe there's anything like that going on. I mean, I don't like The Wave, but it's not like that, Dad, I swear it isn't.

  “Are you sure?” Mr Saunders asked.

  “Well, I, uh, I know everyone who was originally in The Wave. I was there when it began. The whole idea was to show how something like Nazi Germany could have happened. It wasn't for us to become little Nazis. It's ... it's — "

  “It sounds like it's got out of hand, Laurie,” her father said. “Has it?”

  Laurie just nodded. She was too shocked to be able to say anything.

  “Some of the men were talking about going to the school on Monday to talk to the principal,” Mr Saunders said. “Just, you know, to be on the safe side.”

  Laurie nodded. “We're going to put out a special issue of The Grapevine. We're going to expose this whole thing.”

  Her father was quiet for a few moments. “That sounds like a good idea, babe. But be careful, okay?”

  “I will, Dad,” Laurie said. “I promise.”

  13

  For the last three years during the football season, sitting with Amy at Saturday afternoon games had become a habit for Laurie. David, of course, was in the team, and while Amy didn't have a steady boyfriend, the guys she dated were almost always football players. By Saturday afternoon, Laurie couldn't wait to see Amy; she had to tell her what she'd learned. It had surprised Laurie that Amy had gone along with The Wave so far, but now Laurie was certain that as soon as Amy learned about the boy who was beaten up, she would quickly come to her senses. Besides, Laurie sorely needed to talk to her about David. She still couldn't understand how something as dumb as The Wave could have made David break up with her. Maybe Amy knew something she didn't know. Perhaps she could even talk to David for her.

  Laurie got to the game just as it was starting. It was by far the best turnout of the year, and it took Laurie a moment to spot Amy's head of curly blonde hair in the crowded bleachers. She was way up, almost at the top row. Laurie hurried to an aisle and was about to start up when someone yelled, “Stop!”

  Laurie stopped and saw Brad coming towards her. “Oh, hi, Laurie, I didn't recognize you from behind,” he said. Then he did The Wave salute.

  Laurie just stood there without moving.

  Brad frowned. “Come on, Laurie, just give me the salute and you can go up.”

  “What are you talking about, Brad?”

  “You know, The Wave salute.”

  “You mean I can't go up into the stands unless I give The Wave salute?” Laurie asked.

  Brad looked around sheepishly. “Well, that's what they decided, Laurie.”

  “Who are they?” Laurie asked.

  “The Wave, Laurie, you know.”

  “Brad, I thought you were The Wave. You're in Mr Ross's class,” Laurie said.

  Brad shrugged. “I know. Look, what's the big deal? Just give me the salute and you can go up.”

  Laurie looked up at the crowded stands. “You mean everyone in the stands gave you the salute?”

  “Well, yeah.
In this part of the stands.”

  “Well, I want to go up and I don't want to give The Wave salute,” Laurie said angrily.

  “But you can't,” Brad replied.

  “Who says I can't?” Laurie asked loudly. Several students near them looked in their direction.

  Brad blushed. “Look, Laurie,” he said in a low voice. “Just do the stupid salute now.”

  But Laurie was adamant. “No, this is ridiculous. Even you know it's ridiculous.”

  Brad squirmed slightly. Then he looked around again and said, “Okay, don't salute, just go ahead. I don't think anyone's looking.”

  But all at once Laurie didn't want to join the people in the stands. She had no intention of sneaking anywhere to join The Wave. This whole thing had just gone insane. Even some of The Wave members like Brad knew it was insane. “Brad,” she said. “Why are you doing this if you know it's stupid? Why are you a part of it?”

  “Look, Laurie, I can't talk about it now,” Brad said. “The game's starting, I'm supposed to let people into the stands. I got too much to do.”

  “Are you afraid?” Laurie asked. “Are you afraid of what the other Wave members will do if you don't go along with them?”

  Brad's mouth opened, but for a few seconds no sounds came out. “I'm not afraid of anyone, Laurie,” he said finally. “And you'd better shut your mouth. You know, a lot of people noticed you weren't at The Wave rally yesterday.”

  “So? So what?” Laurie demanded.

  “I'm not saying anything, I'm just telling you,” Brad said.

  Laurie was aghast. She wanted to know what he was trying to say, but there was a big play on the field. Brad turned away, and her words were lost in the roar of the crowd.

  Sunday afternoon Laurie and some of the staff of The Grapevine turned the Saunders' living room into a news­room as they put together a special edition of the paper devoted almost entirely to The Wave. Several members of the newspaper were not there, and when Laurie asked those present why, they seemed reluctant to answer at first. Then Carl said, “I have a feeling a few of our comrades would prefer not to incur the wrath of The Wave.”