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The day goes by quickly, with finals and a lot of people checking out early. Lindsey gives Daria and me a ride home, chatting away excitedly about her ski trip.
Her grandfather has an enormous lodge in Winter Park, and each of his kids uses it at different times. Lindsey’s branch of the Darling family, the Londons, the McGintys, and Todd’s family go out every year to go skiing.
I feel a little twinge of jealousy at being left out, but it’s a family tradition, so it’s not like I can be mad about it. Besides, spending a week in a secluded lodge with Preston Darling does not sound like my idea of a good time.
Daria isn’t going either, since her family’s not part of Faulkner’s elite. Only high society gets invited to Darling events or whisked off to their vacation homes, she explains. I feel bad for her, since she’s been friends with these girls since she was a kid, and every year she has to watch them all leave without her. I wonder if it makes her feel a little better now that I’m around to be excluded as well.
“When we’re seniors, our parents said we could bring our friends out,” Lindsey says on the way home. “So I’m officially inviting both of you right now.”
“I’ll be the cutest snow bunny on the slopes,” Daria says, even more animated than usual. “And I’ll find some hot ski bum to show me the ropes and take me to his cozy lodge.”
“Is he going to carry you off into the sunset on a big white snowboard?” I ask.
“Hell, yeah,” she says. “I’ll be his snow princess for the week.”
“You sound like my six-year-old sister,” I tell her. I can imagine Lily saying something just like that, probably with the addition of a reindeer named Sven.
We’re all spending the night at Lindsey’s, since it’s our last time to see each other before the two-week break. My aunt went to bat for me on that. Now I owe her, but as long as she doesn’t make me talk about Dad, I’m fine with that.
I’m just about as excited to have a night with the girls as I am about Christmas break. I’ve been spending a lot of time with Lindsey, but I always have to be home early. I’m left out every time Daria, Elaine, and Lindsey go to parties or even to each other’s houses. For once, I’m not the only one sitting at home while my friends are out having fun.
We pull up to Lindsey’s enormous house and circle the fountain in the courtyard before she zips her little yellow Corvette Z06 into the garage next to a white Escalade truck.
Inside, Daria hugs Mrs. Darling like they’re besties, and they start chatting it up and giggling together. I’ve never seen this side of Mrs. Darling, and I can’t help but gape.
“They’re always like that,” Lindsey assures me as I stand there awkwardly, wishing I was the one who could bring her mom out of her reserved, polite shell. “We’ve been friends so long she considers Daria family. Let’s go upstairs. They could be a while.”
Not wanting to hang out in a common area and risk her creepy brother showing up, I agree and follow her upstairs. Her mom may consider Daria family, but she still doesn’t invite her on their exclusive ski trips.
We hang out listening to music until Elaine gets there. She and Lindsey start talking about the ski trip, and I end up telling Daria about creepy George. She heard the story about the shoes, but when I tell her about his little pep talk she’s in stitches again.
“I have to see this guy,” she says, wiping her tears of laughter away. She makes a mockingly stern voice and says, “We’re looking for someone whose work blows us away. Will you blow me…away, I mean?”
She laughs uproariously, in her usual larger-than-life style. Lindsey and Elaine look at us, Lindsey with curiosity and Elaine with annoyance. “We have to go to the mall and see Sky’s pervy manager,” Daria says.
Despite my protests, ten minutes later we’re piling in Elaine’s Land Rover and heading to the mall. I’m surprised Elaine wants to go, but she says she wouldn’t miss it for anything. I’m sure it’s just one more reason she’ll have to make fun of me.
In the food court, we find David working the counter at Juice King.
“Is that him?” Elaine asks, looking amused.
“No,” I say, glancing sideways at her. “That guy goes to our school.”
“That’s who you work with?” Daria asks, stifling laughter.
I already have the nervous giggles from the prospect of taking my friends to work to gawk at my boss. It seems contagious, and after a few minutes we’re all giggling like idiots while we walk around the mall. I marvel that I’m not on the schedule to work when I notice how many people are there, like the entire town chose this night to do their last-minute shopping.
“Did Jared the shoe guy ever call you?” Lindsey asks as we turn down that wing of the mall.
“Oh my god, I totally forgot about that,” I say, laughing with embarrassment.
“Well, we’re already here, let’s go see him,” she says, hooking her arm through mine and dragging me that way. I’m riding the high of being included, being in Lindsey’s orbit, and I feel daring being with my friends, so I go along. Even Elaine is laughing and seems to have dropped her act for the moment.
We make our way to the store where Jared works. A few people give us dirty looks about all the noise, but we don’t pay them any attention. In the store we look around but there’s no sign of Jared. I’m a little relieved—I may be more daring than my usual Connecticut upbringing allows, but I’m still not sure I want to confront some random guy about not calling me, especially since I didn’t want him to call me in the first place.
My nervousness about seeing him has only made me more silly, and Daria and I goof around while Lindsey looks at shoes. I find a pair of pink heels with feathers on them and show them to Lindsey.
“You should get these,” I say, bursting into laughter at the horrified look on her face as she holds them out like they might bite her.
