Read Online Prep: A Novel by Curtis Sittenfeld - Free Book Online Page B

enormous crush on him, which struck me as both predictable and pathetic—of course Dede would fixate on the most popular guy in the class. Liking him was like saying the Grateful Dead was your favorite band, or saying chapel was boring, or the dining hall food was gross. But I knew that Dede had no chance with Cross. Yes, she was rich, but she was also Jewish, and, with a big nose and the last name Schwartz, she wasn’t the kind of Jewish you could hide. She took care of herself, her legs were always freshly shaven, her hair always smelled good, but she simply wasn’t that pretty.
    Once in the mail room I’d seen Dede and Cross Sugarman and a few other people standing together. Dede had been shrieking with laughter, looking up at Cross and pulling on his arm with both her hands, and the expression on his face had been one of such mildness, such utter detachment, that I’d actually felt a pang for Dede.
    “If Cross thought Sophie was bringing him down, he probably wouldn’t be going out with her,” I said.
    “He’s almost broken up with her like five times,” Dede said. “The main reason he’s dating her is because she’s a junior.”
    I laughed. “That makes Cross sound kind of lame.” To utter such a statement felt pleasingly blasphemous.
    “You don’t know him the way I do.”
    “I didn’t claim to. I’ve never even talked to him.”
    “Exactly.” Dede was standing before the mirror above her bureau. She applied lip gloss and rubbed her upper and lower lips together while looking at her reflection with wide, serious eyes. “He’s trapped in an unhealthy relationship,” she said. “He doesn’t like her that much, but he feels obligated to her.”
    “Maybe you should go for someone without a girlfriend.”
    “Oh, I don’t
like
Cross. We’re just good friends.” Dede turned from the mirror. “You’re not going to Boston, are you?”
    “No.”
    “I am.”
    “I can tell.”
    “Aspeth and I are going shopping on Newbury Street. And we’re having lunch at this Thai restaurant that’s supposed to be super-cool. Don’t you love Thai food?”
    I had never had Thai food before, which Dede probably could have guessed.
    “Like Pad Thai,” she said. “Yum, that’s my favorite. Have you seen my tortoiseshell headband?”
    “No.”
    “You’re not hanging out here all day, are you, Lee?” she said. “You should do something fun. Surprise holiday only happens once a year.”
    “Of course I’m not staying here,” I said.
    “You’re going to the mall?”
    Without thinking, I nodded.
    “It’s kind of a trashy mall,” she said. “Remember that time Aspeth and I took a taxi there? It was a waste of time. The shopping is much better in Boston. Oh, but you’re probably going to the movies, huh?”
    I nodded again.
    “What movie are you seeing?”
    I hesitated. “Actually,” I said. “Actually, the reason I’m going to the mall is that—well, I’m getting my ears pierced.” As I said it, I felt blood rush to my face. I had never considered getting my ears pierced; I wasn’t even sure my parents would allow it.
    “Oh, Lee! That’s great. That’ll look so good. And you’ll wear dangly earrings, right? Not just studs?”
    “Yeah, I guess.”
    “This is going to be such an improvement.”
    It occurred to me to take offense, but it was clear that Dede was only trying to be supportive. There was something guileless about her—all her unpleasantness was close to the surface, like the earth’s crust; once you got below it, she was strangely innocent.
             
    Dede was right; the mall was kind of trashy. The lighting was bright white, and the floor was made of shiny, fake-looking orange bricks. Several of the spaces where stores had once been had chrome grates pulled over them; behind the grates, they were dark, and vacant except for a few boxes or a lone office chair. I walked past a store selling clothes for plus-sized women, a music store, and then a string of