Vanished by E. E. Cooper Page A

of nuts back in the glass bowl. Her mom smiled and patted her back as if she had performed a particularly difficult trick. “Okay, you girls have fun with your project.” She waved her fingers at us and swept back out of the room. Brit slumped into a chair.
    We sat in silence. It was like Britney’s mom had sucked all the air out of the room. She wasn’t my mom, but I still wanted to crawl under the table. I tapped my finger in beats of six.
    â€œAnd people wonder why I’m a bitch,” Britney said. “Can’t blame the apple for falling close to the tree.”
    â€œEveryone can’t stand their parents at some point,” I offered.
    â€œBut parents are supposed to like their kids, right? The difference in my situation is that she can’t stand me.”
    â€œI’m sure that’s not true,” I said. At least I wished it weren’t true.
    â€œDon’t feel bad. I have a lifetime of experience in disappointing my mother. I’ve got it down to an art by now.”
    â€œNo way. You are not a disappointment. You’re . . .” Mybrain scrambled for a way to describe her. “. . . you’re Britney.”
    â€œI know you’re trying to help, and I know everyone thinks I have it all together. But the truth is, I don’t. I was so sure I had my life figured out and now it seems like everything is upside down. I’m this huge fraud,” Britney said, her voice cracking.
    My heart wrenched for her. “No one cares if you got into Harvard or not,” I said, though probably plenty of people at school would be all too happy to find out that Britney had failed. It wasn’t that she was disliked; it was more that people wanted to bust her perfect exterior to prove she was human like the rest of us. But those people didn’t matter. “I’m telling you, it’s Harvard’s loss.”
    She didn’t meet my eyes. “Duke’s and Yale’s too. How did you know?” She leaned back, looking up at the ceiling, while I tried to think of how to answer. “Never mind. Beth must have told you. She’s the only one I shared it with. After all, if you can’t trust your BFF, who can you trust?”
    â€œYou can trust us. We love you. Beth only told me because she felt bad and didn’t know what to do.” I wondered if part of why Britney made fun of Ohio State is that she was jealous. It wasn’t as prestigious as Cornell, but it was a good school, and they’d actively recruited Beth. Britney could never stand the idea of someone doing better than her. I wasn’t sure if she ever felt she was good enough.
    Brit picked at her thumbnail. “I didn’t want anyone to know. Sometimes I like my version of reality so much I almost forget the actual truth.” She leaned forward. “Don’t tell anyone about this.”
    â€œI won’t.”
    Britney’s face relaxed. “I knew I could count on you.” She took the stack of papers from my hand. “Now fess up, why did you really want to come over? You’re not looking for a way in on the council, and it certainly wasn’t for my mom’s company.”
    I took a deep breath and jumped in. “No one knows Beth better than you.” Her face was still. “I’m just trying to understand why she left.” When I’d planned this conversation in my head I pictured myself being stoic and logical, but now that it was happening, I wanted to beg her to talk to Beth. To tell Beth that she had to call me, she couldn’t just walk away without a word. Even putting aside whatever else was between us, Beth owed me that much as a friend, didn’t she? But I didn’t say any of that.
    Britney looked out the bay window to the manicured yard. “If Beth didn’t tell you, then it’s not my place to say.”
    A jolt ran up my spine. I knew it. Britney knew more than she was saying. “You