yourself."
Two-thirds of the way through the book, I still couldn't see the point of Ms. Daniels's exercise.
Did she really expect ten million pictures of Renaissance churches to inspire one twenty-first-
century portrait?
"Hey."
I looked up to see Sam standing by the end of the couch. I hadn't even heard him come in. "Hey,
yourself," I said.
"Thanks again for coming Friday night." He took off his glasses and rubbed one of the lenses
with his shirt-tail. "It was great having you there." He put his glasses back on and gave me a
really nice smile.
"It was great being there," I said. "Thanks for inviting me." With everything that had happened since I'd left Sam in the city, I'd almost forgotten how cool it had been to be at the gallery. I was
actually really glad to see him.
"Did you make it back in time for the 'big game'?" he asked, putting quotation marks around the
last two words.
"Ha, ha. As a matter of fact, I did."
"What a Renaissance woman you are," he said. "Art. Sports." He looked down at the book in my lap. "And you're even looking at pictures of the
193
Renaissance." He shook his head in mock amazement. "Incredible."
"You're hilarious."
"It's a gift." He looked around the room. "Seen Ms. Daniels?"
"She's got a meeting."
He whistled softly to himself. "No worries," he said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.
"Catch you later."
"Later," I said.
Sam's interruption seemed as good an excuse as any to give up on my self-imposed exile and go
find Jessica and Madison in the cafeteria. But then I flipped to the end of the book, and suddenly
I was staring at a reproduction of The Dancers. It was a little weird to come upon a painting I felt so possessive of there in Art Through the Ages for everybody to see. I looked at Matisse's
strange, fluid figures and touched my finger to the shiny page. Maybe I could--
"Hel- lo!"
"Okay, we can't live without you." It was Madison and Jessica.
"Hey, check this out." I turned the book toward them.
"Cool," said Madison, but she didn't really look at the painting.
"We have the sickest gossip for you," said Jessica. "Kathryn and her boyfriend broke up," said Madison.
194
"No way," I said.
"Way!" said Madison. "She wanted to go to the prom with him, and he said he didn't want to
party with a bunch of high-school kids. He's, like, thirty years old or something."
"He's twenty," Jessica corrected her.
"Whatev," said Madison. "Isn't that crazy?"
"Totally," I said, closing the book. I'd deal with my self-portrait later. I stood up and grabbed Connor's jacket, dropping Art Through the Ages on Ms. Daniels's desk as I walked past.
"I wonder if she'll ask a junior, like Jane Brown did," said Jessica, holding the door for me.
Sam accepting an invitation to the prom seemed so mainstream of him. I figured he must really
like Jane.
"Just as long as she doesn't ask a sophomore," said Madison. "We three are the only sophomores going."
"Speaking of which," said Jessica, "do you want to look at dresses after school?"
I shook my head. "Can't," I said. "I'm meeting Connor."
At three-ten, when I got to the exit by the senior parking lot, Connor was already there.
And he was talking to Kathryn Ford.
Kathryn's tiny, perfect shoulders were up against a locker, while the rest of her body formed a
triangle with the wall and the floor. Connor stood over her, looking
195
into her Barbie-blue eyes and nodding emphatically. She reached up and brushed something out
of his hair.
"Hey, Lucy!" Somehow sensing my presence, Kathryn swiveled her head in my direction but left
the rest of her body facing Connor, like a praying mantis.
Or a cobra.
I walked over to where they were standing. "How's it goin', Red?"
"Um, okay." Standing so close to Kathryn, I suddenly felt enormous, like one of those giants that entire towns must unite to defeat. "Thanks again for the ride Friday," I said to her.
"Oh, sure," she said. "Tonight, though, it's me passed out in the passenger seat." She hip checked Connor. "You ' re driving, right?"
"No way, Jose," he said. "Senior City Night? I'm crawling."
"Well, I gotta cruise," said Kathryn. "See you kids later." She peeled herself off the wall and brushed her hair forward over her right shoulder. It positively gleamed. Gleamed. As if she'd
stepped out of a Pantene ad. "Bye, bro." Kathryn stood on her tiptoes and wrapped not just her
arms but her entire body around Connor. While they were still embracing, she turned to me.
"Doesn't he just give the best hugs?"
Kathryn, perhaps you'd to take a bite of this shiny, red apple I have in my hand. I made it
specially for you.
196
"Oh, yeah," I said, snapping out of my reverie. "Totally."
Finally they let go of each other, and Kathryn started down the hall.
"Come on," Connor said to me, shouldering the door open. "Let's go get something to eat." As we crossed the senior parking lot, it was hard to erase from my mind the memory of Kathryn
pressing her body up against Connor's. What if tonight in the city he suddenly realized he was
tired of me, that I wasn't fun enough or cool enough or ... Kathryn enough? But just as I was
picturing the two of them riding off into the sunset together, Connor's SUV towering protectively
over Kathryn's mini, Connor picked me up and threw me over his shoulder.
"Who's my girl?" he asked.
"Connor, put me down!" I screamed.
"Say it," he said. "Who's my girl?" He mock slapped me on the butt.
"Connor," I repeated, laughing, "put me down."
"Not until you say it."
"I am!" I yelled. "I am. Now put me down."
"That's more like it," he said, and when he put me down and wrapped his arms around me, the
perfect kiss he planted with his perfect lips perfectly deleted the image I'd just had of my
perfectly princeless future.
***
197
At dinner my stepmother not only directly addressed me, she actually made my day.
"Lucy, your father and I discussed it, and we want to thank you for being such a big help on
Saturday night. We really appreciate it. You should feel free to make whatever plans you want
for Friday night."
I didn't even wait for my dad to call, just hightailed it downstairs as soon as dinner was over and
dialed Connor's cell.
"Yo, what's up? It's Connor. You know what to do."
"Hey, it's me," I said. "I have good news. Call me later." After I left the message, I realized Connor hadn't known I was grounded--I'd told him I needed to be home right after our afternoon
deli-run, but I hadn't told him why. So maybe my being un-grounded wouldn't qualify as good
news to him.
Still, it was good news to me.
The day after Senior City Night was Senior Cut Day. I didn't know if it was Connor's being
absent, but everything seemed a little unreal, like I was walking around in a watercolor instead of
a three-dimensional world. I couldn't focus at all. In math, Jessica took advantage of Mr.