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washed through her. Her mom was okay. She sounded medicated, but okay. Ariana swallowed fiercely. "How
are you? Where are you?" "I'm still here, but I'm going home soon. I just signed all the paperwork a few
minutes ago, so they should be letting me out in at least seventy-two hours." She laughed weakly. "Things
take forever around here." "I know, Mom." Ariana hated it when her mother called. She loved talking to her,
loved telling her everything that was happening with classes and teachers and friends, but still, she hated the
calls. Her mother always sounded so fragile, so weak, as if one wrong word, one wrong intonation, would
break her. And Ariana knew-dreaded, really-that the time would come when she wouldn't be able to fix
her anymore.
"So, sweet girl, tell me everything. How is Billings House?" For a brief moment, Ariana heard something in
her mother's voice lift. She heard hope. Hope, and the sound of a doctor being paged in the background.
"Good, Mom. Really great." Ariana searched her mind for something to tell her mother that would make her
happy. She had a feeling that her recent existential crisis concerning the loss of her virginity wasn't that
something. "And things are going great with Daniel. We're leaving on Tuesday for Vermont."
"That's right!"
Ariana could hear the unfamiliar sound of a smile in her mother's voice. She rolled over to her side, glancing
back at the photo of the two of them, and the tears surfaced again. The white Christmas lights around her
window blurred together. "The lodge where we're staying is supposed to be really incredible," Ariana said,
letting a single tear slip down her cheek. "Apparently the vice president stays there every year." She couldn't
believe she was regurgitating the same boring stories Daniel had lulled the entire table to sleep with the night
before. But she knew that these stories were exactly the kinds of stories that her mother lived for. "Oh, you're
going to have such a fabulous time. Be sure to tell Daniel I said hello. And Dr. and Mrs. Ryan. Be sure to give
them my best as well."
"I will, Mom." Ariana closed her eyes and forced her voice to stay steady. "But I'm going to miss coming
home this year. Are you sure you don't want me to change my plans and fly down to Atlanta?"
"No, no," her mother said, too quickly. "Don't be ridiculous. You go with Daniel. I want you to go. You
know I've always liked him so much." She paused. "I'm so proud of you, Ariana. So happy for you. You have
everything I've always wanted you to have ...everything I didn't get to have." "I know. I just don't want you
to be alone." Ariana bit her lip. "Promise you'll call me if you need anything? I don't know how great my cell
service will be in the mountains, but-" "Oh, for heaven's sake, Ariana, I'll be fine!" Her laugh was strained.
There was a brief pause and the sound of muffled voices. "I have to get off the phone now," she said. "I'll talk
