stains could be potentially disastrous for my jeansâand I smiled at Zelda, who was no longer looking at me. She was carefully pushing Tedâs hair behind his ears.
âSo howâs New York?â one of Zeldaâs guy friends called out to me. He was wearing a cord vest over a white V-neck shirt and jean shorts. Weird.
âBusy, you know,â I said with a shrug.
The guy nodded. âEveryone is so formulaically unconventionally busy there.â
âUm, right.â
I turned to survey the lawn. Students wereeverywhere, walking on the paths that led between the big, brick buildings. Night had fallen, and there was laughter everywhere. Two girls were walking toward me, wearing long, crinkly A-line skirts and silvery collections of bangles on their wrists. They had faces like little foxes, snuggled close to each other, telling secrets. When they had almost reached our group, the one in the belted cardigan, who was wearing her hair in two long braids, dropped her bottom lip in mock horror and yelled, âGet your hands off my boyfriend!â
For a moment I thought she might be referring to me, but then I saw Zelda jump away from my brother. She had been giving him a head massageâat least, thatâs what it looked like.
âI wasnât â¦,â she began, stammering.
âI know, you goose,â the girl with the braids said. She sat down next to Ted, folded her legs up underneath her, and kissed him. The other girl, whose dark hair was arranged in one of those artfully messy ponytails, sat down, too, and gave me a crooked smile.
âIâm Lara,â she said. She was sharper looking than the other pink-cheeked girl who was currently rubbing noses with my brother. âIâm visiting forthe weekendâthatâs probably why you donât recognize me.â
âOh yeah? Iâm visiting too. Is your high school in the city?â
Lara laughed and put a hand over her mouth. âHigh school? No, no. Iâm visiting from Sarah Lawrence, which isnât
quite
the city.â
âLara, this is my brother, Jonathan,â Ted said, looking up from Laraâs friendâs neck. Lara smiled at me like I was a whole new person. âAnd J, this is my girlfriend, Margot.â
The girl with the long braids leaned forward and kissed me. For a moment I thought she was going to
kiss
kiss me, but then she just gave me the double kiss that seemed to be the clique norm. âItâs
so
good to finally meet you,â she said. âTed has just told me so many great things about you.â
All I could think of to say was, âOh, yeah?â because I had never heard of Margot, or even imagined that Ted had a girlfriend. But then, it really
had
been a while since weâd talked. I hoped my mouth wasnât hanging open as I took in the sight of Ted as half of a coupleâa really, really good-looking one. Luckily, Margot was still beaming despite my lack of words.
âSo, are you going to apply to Vassar?â she asked.
âMaybeâitâs really pretty here. And the people seem â¦â I broke off because Margotâs face had gone from happy to horrified.
âJonathan, what are you wearing?â
âExcuse me?â
Everyone in the little circle stared at my feet. I did, tooâI couldnât help but think,
yeah, theyâre garish, but theyâre not
that
bad
. The silence, meanwhile, continued for an uncomfortably long time.
âMargotâs a vegan and really committed PETA person,â Ted said gently.
âI mean, are those crocodile?â she said. âDo you know what kind of torture they put those animals through, just to get some flashy shoes?â
âUh, no ⦠I mean no theyâre not croc. Croc-o-dile.â Margot was looking at me in disbelief, but I couldnât help but continue. âTheyâre vinyl, in fact. I only buy vinyl and other, um, non-hide clothing
Lightnin' Hopkins: His Life, Blues