Another Faust by Daniel; Dina Nayeri

Author:Daniel; Dina Nayeri
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Candlewick
Published: 2010-04-14T05:00:00+00:00

Still no response.

199

"Well, you have yours, right? The Indo-Aryan languages? Punjabi, Gujarati, Kashmiri? You see?"

After a moment, she saw that they didn't care. That they weren't looking for a lesson. That she had once again misread the moment. So she cleared her throat and whispered in a faint, singsong voice, "Klingon, Wookie, Elvish..."

No one got the joke.

***

At lunchtime, Marlowe's halls filled with popped collars, hot-pink cell phones, and bento boxes full of unagi. Bice stood aimlessly outside the library, surveying the chatting teenagers in their Marlowe uniforms, their gray-and-navy blazers, slacks and skirts, and crisp white shirts. She was tempted to turn around and go home. Or to stop everything and explore the school alone. Or to just hide right there for a few more minutes. More than anything, Bice hated crowds. She thought she'd return to the library, spend the lunch hour reading or deciphering another family of languages, maybe some Native American ones. But then from the corner of her eye, she spotted Belle walking urgently toward the girls' room. Forgetting about her pathetically short list of lunch options, Bice got an overwhelming desire to look out for her sister. She followed her into the bathroom, shrinking back into the corner as Belle entered a stall. The door to the bathroom suddenly opened again, and Bice had to duck behind it as a bouncy blonde with a ponytail walked in and started knocking on each stall.

"I'm in here, Mags," Bice heard her sister's hoarse voice coming out of the stall. "Don't worry. There's no one else in here."

Bice wondered what they were doing lingering in a bathroom.

200

Shouldn't Belle be off making her lunchtime entrance? Belle's dining hall entrances were never discreet. When she drifted through the heavy double doors, the whole school turned to watch, dropping their half-eaten sandwiches, abandoning their candy bars and conversations. When she approached a table, people made room, desperate to be closer to her. She was Marlowe's collective addiction, permeating the heart of the school with every gust of wind.

Maggie tried to step inside, but there was very little room in the stall. They let the door swing open carelessly. Inside, Bice saw the two of them hovering over Belle's handbag. In turn, each of them reached into Belle's bag and popped a handful of pills. Maggie almost had a fit of giggles, and Belle had to put a hand over her mouth to silence her. Bice, feeling sad and shocked, found the first opportunity to leave her hiding place and duck into an empty classroom.

***

Ever since that fateful day in late July, "fugly Friday," as she called it, Mrs. Wirth would not come near the Health and Racquet Club in Rockefeller Center, where all the ladies congregated after a long afternoon of "shopping till they drop!" ("they" being the servants.) The ladies would sit around the fitness lagoon discussing how tacky the phrase "bargain hunting" was, how wacky a kiwi-amino acid smoothie tasted, and how delectable the physical trainers looked when they demonstrated the ellipticals.

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