Terry didn’t hesitate. “Drowning is way better. It’s right up there with hypothermia for a peaceful way to go.”
“You could say it was death by other people’s selfishness,” I mused. “Both times.”
Arden pointed at me. “Yes. I like that.” Her fingers flew across the screen of her phone. “First a train, then a boat. All we need to round out the trifecta is one that happens on an airplane.”
Lydia gave her a look.
“Which is obviously not going to happen in one of Mary’s books. Duh.” Arden flicked herself in the forehead.
“There were some carriage rides that definitely took a turn for the worse,” I offered by way of consolation.
Arden’s lips parted. I could practically see the question hovering, but before the words emerged a boy wearing a glowstick headband trotted up to Lydia. He spread his arms wide as if about to fold her into his embrace. Which was strange, as I would not have pegged her as the hugging type.
“Lydia!” He raised his arms even higher, palms up.
“Danny,” she replied, poker-faced.
He shimmied his shoulders. “Do you know what time it is?”
Lydia’s coolness melted into a grin. “Let’s do this.” She held out her hand, allowing him to tug her into motion. The two of them disappeared without a backwards glance.
“Is that her boyfriend?” I asked. Another question hummed underneath:Do youallhave boyfriends?Surely Terry would have mentioned that fact vis-à-vis Alex Ritter’s attentions.
“Lydia will dance with anyone,” Arden explained. “Good luck getting her to make a more serious commitment, though.” She glanced at me. “I think you’re going to be really good for her.”
I pointed to my collarbone.Me?
“If you tell her someone’s worth her time, she might actually listen. Let down her guard for once. Take a chance on love—or at least like.”
There was an edge to her voice I would have liked to explore further, but at that moment our lavender-haired hostess reappeared, beckoning urgently to Arden.
“Either she wants me to make snack mix, or somebody spilled something and she needs a stain removal consultation. Those are my two superpowers.” Arden’s brows drew together. “Will you guys be okay?”
“Sure,” I said, though part of me was tempted to grab her by the ankle and hold on.
Terry and I exchanged a look. It was the first time we’d been alone, without Arden’s effusiveness or Lydia’s strict focus to keep the conversational ball rolling. A lot of people assume two introverts will automatically be comfortable with each other, but sometimes it’s the opposite, due to a double helping of awkward silence.
“Did they have parties like this at your old school?” I asked, before the quiet could grow too entrenched.
“Maybe.” She glanced my way, gauging whether I would accept this as an answer. “I didn’t have much of a social life.”
“Really?”
“It was a bad year.” She looked down. “I kind of split up with my friends.”
An unspokenyou too?trembled on my tongue. “What happened? I mean, if you don’t mind talking about it.”
Terry played with the clasp of her purse. “Puberty, I guess? I started wearing contacts, because glasses make my nose sweat, and then I got my braces off and ... stuff.”
I heard the words she wasn’t saying:I turned beautiful. To some it would have sounded like a Cinderella moment. What more could a woman want from life than to win the beauty lottery? But I’d read plenty of stories in which prettiness was more of a curse, like wearing a target on your face. Helen of Troy, anyone? Not exactly an aspirational lifestyle. Far better to have a noble brow, or graceful figure, or some other subtly striking feature for the discerning admirer to notice, preferably after they learned to appreciate your strength of character.
“I went through something similar,” I told Terry, in an effort to bolster her spirits. “Not the transformation part”—I circled a hand in front of my face—“but with a person from my old school.” My brain shied away from the wordfriend.
“Really?”
She sounded interested, or at least desirous of a distraction, so I gave her the broad-strokes version of the Shunning.
“People suck,” Terry said when I finished.
