Doreen by Ilana Manaster Page B

my life! Thank you! Thank you so much!”
    Did Heidi notice that where there had been rolls of fat only one night before there was now muscle and bone? Did she wonder how such a remarkable transformation was possible? If she did, it was for no more than a moment. She’d seen something exceptional in Doreen from the minute she laid eyes on her. That it was more available for everyone to enjoy, why would Heidi question that? Why would she want to? Her thoughts were not of the past, near or distant, but of the future.
    â€œI have a good feeling,” said Heidi. “I think we are going to have a lot of fun together this year.”
    With a smile, Doreen threaded her arm through Heidi’s and leaned her head on her shoulder. They walked like that, side by side, all the way back to the dorms.

The introductory lunch had gone better than Doreen could ever have imagined. The Chandler Academy elite had smiled at her warmly, accepting her into the fold as Heidi’s friend and natural participant in the upper echelons of East Coast society. Like she belonged there all along! How unexpected! Returning to her room, Doreen’s happiness bubbled into laughter.
    Doreen remembered the pride on Heidi’s face as she introduced her to one handsome boy and then another, to a flock of elegant, long-limbed girls. Life, so dark and hopeless to her once, seemed suddenly sweet and full of possibility. And she was beautiful now, too. She, Doreen Gray, was lovely. Was it still true? How? Certainly this must be a dream. But the full-length mirror reassured her. There she was, the stunning girl from Biz’s photograph, staring back from the glass. It was a miracle!
    After she left her room that morning, she assumed she would never see that exquisite mirror-girl again. But the shock on Biz’s and Heidi’s faces when they saw her confirmed what she’d seen in the mirror was no temporary hallucination. They saw it, too. And at lunch the kids treated her differently. Of course, traveling beside Heidi had its benefits, but this was something deeper than that. When you were beautiful, people wanted to be near you. You could be interesting without saying a word. When you were beautiful, the world stepped aside to let you pass. How marvelous life would be now, Doreen thought as she admired the way her borrowed dress came in at her waist. Sad little Doreen Gray was a thing of the past; replaced by this resplendent thing, a lovely girl, a beauty.
    But she didn’t have all day to stare at herself; she had to get ready for Gordon Lichter. He’d invited her for a tour around campus. Gordon looked like a boy from a movie! A boy like that would never have smiled at the old Doreen. He would not have studied his own lovely fingers, embarrassed to be in her presence.
    â€œGood riddance,” Doreen said aloud. She plucked the photograph of her former self off her desk and was about to rip it up, but then something made her want to keep the picture around—as a reminder of the pathetic creature she had once been. Carefully, she replaced the picture in the nightstand drawer. Knowing how far she’d come would make her glory even sweeter. She would keep the picture for herself, and only herself. It would be her delicious little secret.

“A shopping trip? In New York?” Doreen blinked, trying to comprehend the suggestion. Heidi’s perfectly done face loomed over her bed. It was early enough to seem like it might still be night. “Right now?”
    â€œWhy not?” said Heidi. “It’s Saturday. If we leave soon we can just go for a day and be back by tonight.” She tossed a Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress onto the bed. “Put this on. I’ll do your hair. Up, I think. You need to look older and comfortable and sophisticated.”
    â€œBut Heidi, I don’t have money for that.”
    â€œYou think you can scrape together bus fare?”
    â€œI