Execution of Innocence Read Online Free PDF

December 23. Dick must have noticed when she turned toward him for he suddenly took a step back, as if dazzled. She enjoyed his surprise.
    “He's a great guy,” she said. “Everything I always dreamed of.”
    Dick collected his thoughts. “I heard he flunked American history. Does he have a brain?”
    “He is a very warm and caring person.”
    “I'm sure those qualities will get him far in this world.”
    She smiled mischievously. “He has other wonderful attributes as well.”
    “Get off it, you can’t be sleeping with that moron.”
    She grabbed her books and slammed her locker shut.
    “Shut up, Dick,” she said in a hard voice. “And stop dreaming about what you can’t have.” She started to step past him as he blocked her way. “What?” she snapped.
    “I want to help you,” he said.
    “I don't want your help,” she said.
    “Yeah, you do.”
    “Get out of my way or I'll scream.”
    He spread his arms. “I heard you applied to Stanford.”
    She stopped. “So?”
    “So what do you think your chances of getting in are?”
    “Pretty good.”
    “Liar. You have a three point seven five GPA and an eleven hundred combined SAT score.”
    “I see you've been doing your homework.”
    “The privileges of power,” he said. “You're not going to get in.”
    She paused. “I'm taking the SAT over.”
    “You’ll improve a hundred points, nothing more. You have to face reality, Mary. You won’t get in.”
    She would have snapped at him except that what he was saying rang true. In her mind, she always blurred the scores of the people who did get accepted. She just went about her business, studied as much as she could, and hoped by good luck and God's grace she’d squeak by. Dick was not simply trying to psyche her out, she sensed.
    “All right,” she said. “Let's have a reality check. What can you do to help me get in?”
    “My father knows several important alumni at Stanford.”
    Mary frowned. “I didn’t know he went there.”
    “He didn’t, he went to USC, but he spent a lot of time in Palo Alto and big business types travel in the same circles. He even knows Stanford’s chancellor.”
    “You’re kidding?”
    Dick held up a hand. “I swear. When you're standing on the fringe, a well-placed word with the right people can make all the difference.” He leaned closer. “I've already talked to my dad about you. He wants to meet you.”
    Mary eyed him suspiciously. “And then?”
    “What do you mean? Then you get accepted.”
    “And what do I have to do in return for this extraordinary help?”
    “Nothing.” Dick shrugged. “You can ask me to the Sadie Hawkins dance.”
    “I’m going out with Charlie Gallagher. I can’t go anywhere with you.”
    He turned away. “Suit yourself.”
    “Wait,” she said quickly. He paused, and she stepped up to him. “Why is it so important I go to Sadie Hawkins with you?”
    “It’s not so important. But I think it would be the least you’d want to do for me after I helped you with the rest of your life.”
    Mary scratched her head. “We could go to the dance.”
    “Don’t look so excited.”
    “You know what I’m thinking.”
    “What?”
    “What else you might want,” she said.
    He was annoyed. “I don’t want anything. Didn't you have fun last time we went out?”
    “Yeah. Until you tried to rape me.”
    “I didn’t try to rape you. I tried to seduce you. There's a difference.”
    “And you should learn the difference.”
    He turned away. “Have a nice day, Mary.”
    “Wait!” She grabbed his arm. “I accept your offer. I’d like to meet your dad. I’d like to go to the dance with you. But on one condition. I don’t want Charlie to know.”
    “He'll hear about it.”
    “No. You don't know Charlie. He hardly talks to anyone on campus. He has absolutely no interest in the social scene. If I don't tell him about the dance, he won’t know.”
    He grinned. “I always knew you were a tramp at heart.”
    “I'm not going to