The Slipper by Jennifer Wilde Read Free Book Online

it.”
    â€œBalzac. I’m impressed, kid.”
    â€œYou’ve read Proust.”
    â€œNot in the original,” Nora said.
    She got up from the desk and stretched, and then she looked around at the litter, finally gathering up a pile of books and lining them up neatly on the desk.
    â€œFriday night,” she complained, “and neither one of us asked to go to the sock hop at the gymnasium. What a blow to my fragile ego. Don’t know if I’ll survive it.”
    â€œYou wouldn’t go to the sock hop if they paid you, Nora.”
    â€œYou’re right, sweetie—Buddy Holly songs blaring on the P. A. system, enthusiastic sophomore boys stomping with giggling freshman girls. Hawaiian punch and cookies. Thrills galore for the true sophisticate. It would’ve been nice to have been asked , though.”
    â€œI was, actually,” Carol said.
    â€œConfession time. Was he dreamy?”
    â€œSweaty palms. He reminded me of the boys in Kansas.”
    â€œHang in there, kid. Someday your prince will come. Listen, I don’t think I can look another bowl of mashed potatoes in the face, not to mention the Jell-O. Why don’t we skip mess call tonight and dash over to the Silver Bell again?”
    â€œSounds great,” Carol said.
    â€œWe’ll make an occasion of it, dress up. Okay?”
    â€œFine.”
    The dorm was abuzz with activity as they left an hour and a half later, dozens of girls rushing down the halls, popping in and out of rooms, hair in pink plastic curlers, bathrobes flapping. Big night. Big dates. Frenzied preparations. Nora was quiet and withdrawn as she and Carol started across the campus. She had changed into a navy blue dress with white polka dots, puffed sleeves with white cuffs and white Peter Pan collar. She wore high heels and hose, the seams carefully straightened, and she had put on red lipstick and a suggestion of dusty blue eye shadow. All dressed up and no place to go. Carol was a great friend, the best, but she wasn’t male. Cute apparently wasn’t good enough, Nora thought bitterly. Not a single boy had asked her out since she arrived on campus three weeks ago. Hundreds of boys, and not a one of them interested in a perky little Jewish girl with personality to spare. That boy had whistled at her the first day, sure. Probably wanted her to fetch a stick.
    â€œSomething wrong?” Carol asked.
    â€œNot really. I’m just in the pits tonight.”
    â€œAny particular reason?”
    â€œIt’s my birthday, dammit.”
    â€œYou should have told me!” Carol protested.
    â€œI didn’t want you to make a fuss. Irving sent me a new sweater. Sadie sent a hot-water bottle and a wool muffler and cap. I got a card from my cousin, Myron Jr. He’s the one with the buck teeth.”
    â€œDinner’s on me tonight,” Carol said. “I insist.”
    â€œAll right, but if you order a cake and sing ‘Happy Birthday’ I’ll break your arm.”
    The Silver Bell wasn’t at all crowded tonight. Only a few of the tables were occupied. Carol and Nora took one near the back, and Nora stared glumly at the plastic bottles of mustard and ketchup. Carol smiled and told her to cheer up, it wasn’t the end of the world.
    â€œThat’s easy enough for you to say!” Nora snapped. “You look like some bloody high-fashion model. You could have any man on campus you wanted. Me, I couldn’t even get arrested. Eighteen years old and never been kissed.”
    â€œReally? Never?”
    â€œMy cousin Myron laid one on me and tried to feel me up the night of his Bar Mitzvah party, but that doesn’t count. I wanted to be kissed by his good-looking friend Eugene Cohen. Eugene was too busy making eyes at Renee Kuppenheimer to know I was alive.”
    â€œNone of the boys at those schools you attended ever—”
    â€œThey were intimidated by me, called me Little Miss Mensa. I had