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.“Shush,” she said.But it was true: when we were alone, she had said to me that she was worried Melanie was setting herself up to get hurt again by going out in public so soon with Gabriel.“People will ask too many questions and assume they’re permanently back together, which will make it much harder if they ultimately decide it isn’t working,” she had said.Now suddenly it was A Good Idea? “She’s just being Rickie,” she told Melanie now.“Ignore her.”“Yeah,” I said.“Ignore me even though I’m right.” I stumbled toward the stairs, each step igniting a new pain, to go score a couple of Advil from my parents’ bathroom.21.I had already started my community college classes: Shakespeare, abnormal psych, and economics.I wanted to try out different subjects since I knew I wasn’t going to be a bio major when I transferred to a four-year college.At first I sat by myself in every class, but one day a girl asked if she could borrow a pen, and we chatted for a while when psych class ended.She was twenty-three, not that much younger than me, and was also stuck living at home, although in her case it was so she could take care of her mother, who had been paralyzed in a car accident.From then on we always sat together in psych and sometimes went out to lunch together afterwards.And there was a friendly guy in Shakespeare who started chatting with me one day.He was only nineteen and had an energetic puppyish quality that was pretty endearing.I kind of liked playing the role of the older and wiser adviser with him.So now I had a seatmate in that class too.My classes were all on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so I was free to have lunch with Mel when she asked me and Mom to join her one Tuesday.She picked us up at home and, saying she had a craving for smoked salmon, took us to Barney Greengrass, the restaurant at the top of Barneys in Beverly Hills.“I have a confession,” she said when we were all seated.“You guys are here under false pretenses.Well, sort of false.We are eating lunch.But as soon as we’re done—and no stalling, Rickie—we’re heading downstairs to try on dresses and we’re not stopping until we all find the perfect thing to wear to Casino Night.”“I think that’s a great idea,” Mom said, but then she added, “For you two.I already have plenty of things I can wear.”“Oh, come on,” Melanie said.“When was the last time you bought yourself a new dress, Laurel?”“It’s been a little while,” she admitted.“But I haven’t changed size in ages, so all my good dresses still fit.” I had to give my mother credit: she really hadn’t given in to any kind of serious middle-age spread.It wasn’t that she was all that thin or buff—she was a solid woman with a slightly thick waist and always had been—it was just that she was consistent, didn’t overeat, kept busy all day, and moved briskly around town, taking Eleanor Roosevelt on almost daily walks.She might not have been a size four, but she had been on the thinner side of ten for as long as I’d known her and maybe that’s why she always looked so healthy.In a town full of skeletal women with fake tits, she was abnormally normal, and definitely of sound mind and body.Too bad she was so annoying.Melanie wagged her index finger at Mom.“Well, I want you to look fashionable on Casino Night.You’re on the board of trustees, for goodness’ sake.And since Rickie and I are the point people for this whole event—”“If you count picking a caterer who they didn’t even use as being ‘point people,’ ” I cut in.“And you just want to look good because you’re going with Gabriel.”She picked up a breadstick and irritably snapped it into two.“I just want us all to look our best.Is that so crazy?”“Not at all,” Mom said soothingly.“I’ll look for a dress, Mel.”“Me too,” I said, and they both stared at me in surprise.I shrugged.I wanted to look nice on Saturday.Sue me.My mother pulled a dress off of a rack and held it up.“This would look great on you, Rickie.”I glanced at it.“Uh-uh.It’s red.”“So? It’s a nice color for you.”“Forget it.”Melanie came up as Mom was reaching to hang the dress back on the rack.“Oh, my god, I love that!” she said.“You want to try it on?” Mom asked, holding it out to her.She shook her head.“Not for me, for Rickie.It’d be perfect for her.”My mother beamed.“That’s what I thought.”“Aren’t you going to try it on?” Mel asked me.“It’s red,” I said.“Which would look great with your coloring.And it’s got that Audrey Hepburn vibe.” Melanie took it from my mother and held it up to my body.“It’s totally gamine-like or whatever the word is.You have to try it on.”“Okay, okay.” I took it from her.“She’ll listen to you but not to me,” Mom said to Mel.“Don’t be such a drama queen.” I headed toward the dressing rooms with the red dress and several others draped over my forearm.Inside, I tried on the dresses I had picked out myself.They were all black.They all looked okay.None of them looked great.Then I tried on the red dress.It had wide red satin straps that revealed the prettiest part of my collarbone and shoulders and a narrow red silk bodice that tapered to an even narrower waist, emphasized by a belt in the same matching satin.The skirt flared out below, becoming unexpectedly full.The cut was kind of old-fashioned, a little girly, and it shouldn’t have suited me at all, but it did.Even my crazy short hair looked good with it—the wide straps and low bodice made me realize I had a long and actually kind of graceful neck.I could hear Mom and Melanie talking to each other from a couple of dressing rooms near me so I called out to them.“You guys want to see this?” We all emerged from separate cubicles, Melanie in a sky blue dress that wasn’t zipped all the way up the back yet and my mother in a navy dress with her pants still on underneath [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.“Shush,” she said.But it was true: when we were alone, she had said to me that she was worried Melanie was setting herself up to get hurt again by going out in public so soon with Gabriel.“People will ask too many questions and assume they’re permanently back together, which will make it much harder if they ultimately decide it isn’t working,” she had said.Now suddenly it was A Good Idea? “She’s just being Rickie,” she told Melanie now.“Ignore her.”“Yeah,” I said.“Ignore me even though I’m right.” I stumbled toward the stairs, each step igniting a new pain, to go score a couple of Advil from my parents’ bathroom.21.I had already started my community college classes: Shakespeare, abnormal psych, and economics.I wanted to try out different subjects since I knew I wasn’t going to be a bio major when I transferred to a four-year college.At first I sat by myself in every class, but one day a girl asked if she could borrow a pen, and we chatted for a while when psych class ended.She was twenty-three, not that much younger than me, and was also stuck living at home, although in her case it was so she could take care of her mother, who had been paralyzed in a car accident.From then on we always sat together in psych and sometimes went out to lunch together afterwards.And there was a friendly guy in Shakespeare who started chatting with me one day.He was only nineteen and had an energetic puppyish quality that was pretty endearing.I kind of liked playing the role of the older and wiser adviser with him.So now I had a seatmate in that class too.My classes were all on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so I was free to have lunch with Mel when she asked me and Mom to join her one Tuesday.She picked us up at home and, saying she had a craving for smoked salmon, took us to Barney Greengrass, the restaurant at the top of Barneys in Beverly Hills.“I have a confession,” she said when we were all seated.“You guys are here under false pretenses.Well, sort of false.We are eating lunch.But as soon as we’re done—and no stalling, Rickie—we’re heading downstairs to try on dresses and we’re not stopping until we all find the perfect thing to wear to Casino Night.”“I think that’s a great idea,” Mom said, but then she added, “For you two.I already have plenty of things I can wear.”“Oh, come on,” Melanie said.“When was the last time you bought yourself a new dress, Laurel?”“It’s been a little while,” she admitted.“But I haven’t changed size in ages, so all my good dresses still fit.” I had to give my mother credit: she really hadn’t given in to any kind of serious middle-age spread.It wasn’t that she was all that thin or buff—she was a solid woman with a slightly thick waist and always had been—it was just that she was consistent, didn’t overeat, kept busy all day, and moved briskly around town, taking Eleanor Roosevelt on almost daily walks.She might not have been a size four, but she had been on the thinner side of ten for as long as I’d known her and maybe that’s why she always looked so healthy.In a town full of skeletal women with fake tits, she was abnormally normal, and definitely of sound mind and body.Too bad she was so annoying.Melanie wagged her index finger at Mom.“Well, I want you to look fashionable on Casino Night.You’re on the board of trustees, for goodness’ sake.And since Rickie and I are the point people for this whole event—”“If you count picking a caterer who they didn’t even use as being ‘point people,’ ” I cut in.“And you just want to look good because you’re going with Gabriel.”She picked up a breadstick and irritably snapped it into two.“I just want us all to look our best.Is that so crazy?”“Not at all,” Mom said soothingly.“I’ll look for a dress, Mel.”“Me too,” I said, and they both stared at me in surprise.I shrugged.I wanted to look nice on Saturday.Sue me.My mother pulled a dress off of a rack and held it up.“This would look great on you, Rickie.”I glanced at it.“Uh-uh.It’s red.”“So? It’s a nice color for you.”“Forget it.”Melanie came up as Mom was reaching to hang the dress back on the rack.“Oh, my god, I love that!” she said.“You want to try it on?” Mom asked, holding it out to her.She shook her head.“Not for me, for Rickie.It’d be perfect for her.”My mother beamed.“That’s what I thought.”“Aren’t you going to try it on?” Mel asked me.“It’s red,” I said.“Which would look great with your coloring.And it’s got that Audrey Hepburn vibe.” Melanie took it from my mother and held it up to my body.“It’s totally gamine-like or whatever the word is.You have to try it on.”“Okay, okay.” I took it from her.“She’ll listen to you but not to me,” Mom said to Mel.“Don’t be such a drama queen.” I headed toward the dressing rooms with the red dress and several others draped over my forearm.Inside, I tried on the dresses I had picked out myself.They were all black.They all looked okay.None of them looked great.Then I tried on the red dress.It had wide red satin straps that revealed the prettiest part of my collarbone and shoulders and a narrow red silk bodice that tapered to an even narrower waist, emphasized by a belt in the same matching satin.The skirt flared out below, becoming unexpectedly full.The cut was kind of old-fashioned, a little girly, and it shouldn’t have suited me at all, but it did.Even my crazy short hair looked good with it—the wide straps and low bodice made me realize I had a long and actually kind of graceful neck.I could hear Mom and Melanie talking to each other from a couple of dressing rooms near me so I called out to them.“You guys want to see this?” We all emerged from separate cubicles, Melanie in a sky blue dress that wasn’t zipped all the way up the back yet and my mother in a navy dress with her pants still on underneath [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]