Read Online Scenes From the City: A Knitting in the City Wintertime Surprise by Penny Reid - Free Book Online

hours.
    “I’m studying.” I returned Fern’s smile.
    She plopped herself down in Dara’s chair, her grin growing. “That sounds boring.”
    I laughed lightly and slipped a piece of paper between the pages of my P-chem textbook to hold my place. I knew this wouldn’t be a short conversation. Over the past two weeks, Fern had been interrupting me more and more. We were often stuck together in the suite. I think the good weather kept her entertained and her options open such that she didn’t usually notice me, whereas the atrocious weather of mid-winter Iowa left her with few choices.
    “What would you like to do?” I asked.
    “Why are you so shy?” she volleyed without warning.
    I flinched a little, confused by the question. “Am I shy?”
    She nodded, her grin still in place. “Yes. You are shy. You speak to no one who doesn’t speak to you first. You never go out anywhere except the library and class and the gym. But you’re not a raging kill-joy psycho bitch like Beth was. You’re nice…just quiet and shy.”
    “Well…” I considered her statement and realized she was right. “I guess I’m not great at initiating friendships.”
    “Why is that?”
    I stared at her for a beat, thought about why I was this way. Probably my upbringing…first because of gymnastics and the hopes for my Olympic future; later it was because of the cancer.
    More likely my reticence was because I typically enjoyed watching people more than I enjoyed actually speaking to them.
    I didn’t particularly want to share either of these theories with anyone. I liked my anonymity, and I liked being normal. I liked blending in.
    I opened my mouth to respond with something generic, but Fern cut me off. “You are so lovely once you actually speak, not boring at all. You should be more outgoing. You are too wonderful to live so quietly. You need to get loud every once in a while.”
    “Okay. I’ll try to do that,” I promised, making a mental note to dedicate time to observing how people get loud .
    As though reading my mind, Fern grabbed my textbook and tossed it to the floor then reached for my hand, pulling me out of my chair.
    “Excellent, let’s start right now. I’ll introduce you to everyone on the floor.”
    “I…what?” My steps faltered a little as I glanced down at myself. I was in my ninja star pajama bottoms and an old green wool sweater. My feet were ensconced in chunky, hand-knit wool socks. I wore no makeup, and my short brown hair was a mess.
    “We’ll start with the girls,” she said, then glanced over her shoulder at me and wagged her eyebrows, “then I’ll introduce you to the boys.”
    I brought us both to a stop just as she opened the suite door. “Should I go change?”
    She wrinkled her nose at me and snorted. “No. You’re gorgeous. You’re an Audrey Hepburn.” She tugged on me again, successfully pulling me out of the suite.
    “An Audrey Hepburn?”
    “Yes, a Grace Kelly, Coco Chanel. You make everything look purposeful, like high fashion. You’re…” she waved her free hand through the air theatrically, “beautiful, gorgeous, you’ve got panache , infectious… joie de vivre! Sagesse, attrait ! There is just something about you, something wonderfully magical and other worldly.”
    I wrinkled my nose at her French flair and descriptions, found it discordant with reality, and decided Fern enjoyed making life dramatic and meaningful when it was really mundane and dressed in ninja star pajama bottoms.
    We started with several of the girls’ rooms. Fern, it seemed, felt free to walk into each suite without knocking. After the first encounter, each presentation followed a predictable script.
    Fern would announce herself like she was a fairy godmother, clapping her hands together to assemble all who were present—which was everyone since it was beyond freezing outside. She then made introductions with flourish, putting me on the spot as the center of attention for a very short time, maybe