Doreen by Ilana Manaster Page A

Misha.”
    â€œLay off, Gordon.”
    â€œI think she looks great. You look great, Meesh,” said Miyuki.
    â€œI didn’t get a nose job, okay?”
    â€œSure, sure. Maybe your nose is just smaller than we all remember it.”
    â€œMaybe it is!”
    â€œOr maybe her face grew, but her nose stayed the same size.”
    â€œShut up, Frankie!”
    â€œYeah, Frankie, leave her alone. She’s obviously still recuperating.”
    â€œUgh! I hate you guys.”
    â€œWhat do you think, Doreen? Oh wait. You didn’t know Misha before. Well, picture the same girl, with a less refined central canal.”
    â€œGordon, I am going to kill you.”
    â€œSave me, Doreen! She’s fierce! Help! Help!”
    Heidi was right. When they heard that she was a cousin to the Gibbons-Browns, no further questions were asked about Doreen’s background. They were tired of one another now, in their final year, and boys and girls alike regarded Doreen with enthusiasm, happy for fresh society. The boys were especially keen—suntanned, with new muscles from summers spent on boats, they were keyed up around the new girl like wind-up toys come to life.
    â€œMisha, don’t be embarrassed. You look great. Truly! We’ve been waiting for you to do the snip for years. Doreen, she looks beautiful, doesn’t she?”
    â€œWhat? Oh.” Doreen smiled and touched Misha’s hand. “You do. You are beautiful.”
    â€œHuh? Thanks.” Misha blushed.
    â€œSee, Meesh? And Doreen here knows a thing or two about beauty.” Gordon held Doreen’s gaze for a moment. “Don’t you?” he said quietly. Then he returned to Misha. “Anyway, you needed something to go with your new rack!”
    â€œThat’s it. You’re dead.”
    â€œDoreen! Help! She has the nose of an angel but the devil’s inside her!” He hid behind Doreen’s back, his hands on her shoulders, while Misha pelted him with bread. Doreen giggled.
    Slight of build, Gordon Lichter had a lovely, almost girlish face with long lashes and blond hair that was always falling in his face. He was pretty and nonthreatening, like a boy pop star, and though he was not exactly a genius, he was not an idiot, either, and the family was lousy with dough. They had homes around the world, a private jet, a Park Avenue penthouse. A girl could certainly do worse, Heidi thought. She had briefly considered making a play for Gordon herself, but she was at least two inches taller than he was, five with heels, and neither would want to look ridiculous.
    But Doreen was smaller than Heidi, and look at how flushed he was to be near her!
    â€œThat’s enough,” said Heidi. “Gordon, sit down. Misha, you look phenomenal. Besides . . .” She paused. She had the attention of the entire table. “Now you can finally drink from a mug!”
    Everyone laughed, even Misha. Heidi stood up and gave Gordon a signal to sit in her seat beside Doreen, and he did her bidding. She moved to the other end of the table, engaging in limited conversation while watching Doreen out of the corner of her eye. She looked gorgeous, an absolute natural! What had happened to that awkward, pimply girl from the previous night? Look at how Gordon hung on every word, every gesture. Very promising , Heidi thought, encouraging him with her eyes.
    And there was something else. The scene in the cafeteria was such an old one. Heidi might have closed her eyes and imagined it all ahead of time, like an old movie she’d watched too many times. But Doreen changed that. Just having her there introduced a new level of interest for Heidi. And it was such a relief. Heidi ate her salad, she watched Gordon flirt with her new friend, and she felt awake to her surroundings as if it was her first day, too.
    Later, when they were safely outside the cafeteria, Doreen embraced Heidi. “That was the most wonderful time I ever had in