started rinsing off the plates and putting them in the dishwasher. “Seriously, though, my dad would kill for an in with Melinda Anton. Work’s slowed down so much for him the last couple of years. All the studios are cutting back—no one’s throwing parties anymore. But someone like Melinda Anton will always have money, you know? If she started using him . . .”
“I had no idea,” I said. “About your dad and work, I mean. I’m sorry.”
“He doesn’t like to tell people.” She shrugged. “Anyway, things are tough all over.”
“You wouldn’t know it at Coral Tree. Girls come to school in five-hundred-dollar outfits, and the cars they drive are unreal.”
“Maybe people who send their kids to private school are so rich to begin with that they’re not affected by the economy.”
“Some of them could be getting financial aid, too, I guess.” We were, even with Mom and Dad’s faculty discount. And I assumed Webster was, too, since he had said stuff about not having as much money as other kids at the school. But it wasn’t something people talked about. “It’s not like you can tell who’s getting it and who isn’t,” I added.
“Anyway, my dad said if things don’t get better pretty soon, we may have to move to a less expensive city.”
“Like where?”
“I don’t know. But I don’t want to move.” She paused to scrub at a platter way more intently than was necessary. “There’s this guy . . .”
“You’re dating someone? Diana, that’s fantastic.”
“Don’t get too excited,” she said. “He’s a total nerd.”
“I’m sure he’s cute,” I said sincerely.
“ I think so. But it’s not like I can be choosy.”
“Stop it,” I said. “Any guy would be lucky to have you.”
“Spoken like a true cousin.”
Studying Diana’s intelligent and good-natured face as she leaned over to put the platter in the dishdrain, I felt a flicker of uneasiness: even she saw advantages to cultivating Derek Edwards as a friend, without knowing or caring much about either his personality or his principles. Honest, straightforward, decent Diana.
It made me sad for her. It made me sad for him. It made me sad for the world.
And it made me all the more desperate to prove that I wasn’t like everyone else that way: I valued people because of who they were deep down, not because of their names or their parents’ clout.
And I intended to prove that to myself and everyone around me.
Chapter Six
N o,” I said to Juliana at school on Friday. “No way. Nein . Nyet . Non .”
“I’m not going without you.”
“Then don’t go. I’ve run out of languages I can say no in, anyway.”
“Forget I even asked.”
But she looked so disappointed that I groaned and actually surrendered. “I hate it when you’re all noble and self-sacrificing! Fine—I’ll go. But not happily.”
She threw her arms around me. “Thank you, Lee-Lee! You’re the best sister ever. I’ll call Chase right now.”
So that’s how I found myself committed to going with Jules and Chase to a party thrown by Jason Bigelow, the captain of the lacrosse team, and a guy I’d never even met.
It was Layla who first alerted the rest of the family to the fact that a stretch limousine had pulled up in front of our house on Saturday night. “Oh my God, oh my God!” she squealed, looking out the front window. “It’s like a block long! You guys are so friggin’ lucky!” All her squeals brought my parents and Kaitlyn running into the hallway to see.
“This is exactly what I’m talking about,” my father said as Juliana and I arrived downstairs. “This kind of excess. Please, girls, remember that this isn’t normal, okay?”
“They know that,” Mom said. “Our girls have good heads on their shoulders.” And then she strode out the door.
Juliana gasped and we both lunged for her, but she was already charging down the walkway to where the chauffeur was opening the door of the long dark car. Chase
“I had no idea,” I said. “About your dad and work, I mean. I’m sorry.”
“He doesn’t like to tell people.” She shrugged. “Anyway, things are tough all over.”
“You wouldn’t know it at Coral Tree. Girls come to school in five-hundred-dollar outfits, and the cars they drive are unreal.”
“Maybe people who send their kids to private school are so rich to begin with that they’re not affected by the economy.”
“Some of them could be getting financial aid, too, I guess.” We were, even with Mom and Dad’s faculty discount. And I assumed Webster was, too, since he had said stuff about not having as much money as other kids at the school. But it wasn’t something people talked about. “It’s not like you can tell who’s getting it and who isn’t,” I added.
“Anyway, my dad said if things don’t get better pretty soon, we may have to move to a less expensive city.”
“Like where?”
“I don’t know. But I don’t want to move.” She paused to scrub at a platter way more intently than was necessary. “There’s this guy . . .”
“You’re dating someone? Diana, that’s fantastic.”
“Don’t get too excited,” she said. “He’s a total nerd.”
“I’m sure he’s cute,” I said sincerely.
“ I think so. But it’s not like I can be choosy.”
“Stop it,” I said. “Any guy would be lucky to have you.”
“Spoken like a true cousin.”
Studying Diana’s intelligent and good-natured face as she leaned over to put the platter in the dishdrain, I felt a flicker of uneasiness: even she saw advantages to cultivating Derek Edwards as a friend, without knowing or caring much about either his personality or his principles. Honest, straightforward, decent Diana.
It made me sad for her. It made me sad for him. It made me sad for the world.
And it made me all the more desperate to prove that I wasn’t like everyone else that way: I valued people because of who they were deep down, not because of their names or their parents’ clout.
And I intended to prove that to myself and everyone around me.
Chapter Six
N o,” I said to Juliana at school on Friday. “No way. Nein . Nyet . Non .”
“I’m not going without you.”
“Then don’t go. I’ve run out of languages I can say no in, anyway.”
“Forget I even asked.”
But she looked so disappointed that I groaned and actually surrendered. “I hate it when you’re all noble and self-sacrificing! Fine—I’ll go. But not happily.”
She threw her arms around me. “Thank you, Lee-Lee! You’re the best sister ever. I’ll call Chase right now.”
So that’s how I found myself committed to going with Jules and Chase to a party thrown by Jason Bigelow, the captain of the lacrosse team, and a guy I’d never even met.
It was Layla who first alerted the rest of the family to the fact that a stretch limousine had pulled up in front of our house on Saturday night. “Oh my God, oh my God!” she squealed, looking out the front window. “It’s like a block long! You guys are so friggin’ lucky!” All her squeals brought my parents and Kaitlyn running into the hallway to see.
“This is exactly what I’m talking about,” my father said as Juliana and I arrived downstairs. “This kind of excess. Please, girls, remember that this isn’t normal, okay?”
“They know that,” Mom said. “Our girls have good heads on their shoulders.” And then she strode out the door.
Juliana gasped and we both lunged for her, but she was already charging down the walkway to where the chauffeur was opening the door of the long dark car. Chase
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