Lessons in Love by Emily Franklin Read Free Book Online Page A

relationship with Charlie has turned from summer fun into full-on romance.
    “You mean, like no posters or anything?” Mary scratches her head, pulling her collarbone-length hair into a ponytail and stretching. Her hair is the color of fancy chocolate, the kind with cinnamon in it, or something equally sweet and appealing. “Because we can get some, if you want…”
    I shake my head and stand up. My feet register the cool floor, instantly bringing me back to summer and waking up in the apartment above Mabel’s café where the sunlight was so intense I once burned my soles. “More like — nothing’s happened yet.” I look around the room. We haven’t figured out where our standard-issue desks should go, nor the future of our wardrobes and beds. I haven’t even looked out the windows properly since it was dark when we came in last night and my bed — right now — is far from the windows.
    Mary gets out of bed and walks over to me, her baggy Princeton t-shirt hanging off her shoulders, the orange of it clashing with her red plaid boxers. She points, “Shirt is from my older brother, Dan, Princeton class of way before us, and these…” she plucks at the flannel of the boxers. “Are Carlton’s.” Just saying his name makes her smile.
    “You guys are really serious, huh?” I ask.
    “Yeah,” Mary says. Then she sighs.
    “What?” I begin the search for first-day apparel, wishing I didn’t care what I wore, but knowing I do. Kind of. A little. Some. Anyway.
    “It’s just hard, you know? Carlton — he and I have been together since the first day of freshman year, okay? And now it’s like we’re looking at places —”
    “Colleges?” I ask and Mary shoots me a look like what else could she possibly mean.
    “And who knows? I could wind up at Stanford and he could be at Uconn…” She tightens her ponytail.
    Hearing her say Stanford makes me think of my own non-interview out there, how I could have applied — or at least looked — and how the rest of my life seemed to take over. My heart skips one normal beat when I think of how crammed fall will be — with college visits and Charlie visits and all of the usual Hadley events, how I could be facing the same thing if things with Charlie continue on track. With a Harvard boyfriend, I could limit my choices to the Boston area, but what if I do that and then we break up? How do you know when something’s serious enough to plan around?
    I know I’m getting way ahead of myself and that right now I have to get dressed for senior meeting, where we’ll get our class schedules, a calendar of senior events, and basically hang out while the underclassmen listen to my dad’s speech. It’s a bizarre feeling to know I’ll miss it. I mean, he’s been my definition of home for so long, but it makes sense somehow — like if I’m here, in Fruckner, and he’s at home — then we’re really apart. And if I’m a senior, it’s just one more step to fully breaking away. Pangs of sadness come through me while I watch Mary rifle through her bureau drawers to find clothing for today. Maybe I can’t plan around anyone or anything just yet.
    “You could always look at colleges together — you and Carlton,” I say. Jeans are too thick for this time of September — it feels chilly now but by noon it’ll be t-shirt weather, with kids basking in the sun on the quad. I need something in-between. I settle on a simple chocolate colored linen dress with red flip-flops Chili and I bought at a tiny seaside hut near Menemsha. Chili. I know I’ll have to deal with her sooner or later — and I just hope she’s not angry about the room situation.
    “Hey, Love?” Mary asks when she’s back form the shower and I’m all set to go. My backpack is first day-light, one notebook, several pens, and a further plea I typed out to Mr. Chaucer about his advanced creative writing class.
    “Yeah?” I figure Mary wants to do the roommate thing — hug or bond — but instead, she