Stargazer by Laurie Petrou

Author:Laurie Petrou
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oldcastle Books
Published: 2022-04-12T10:33:24+00:00

21

The girls returned to campus early, telling their parents they had assignments that they needed to get back to finish. It was now 1996, their second semester at RBU about to commence. Aurelle wanted to bask in the solitude of their cottage. Diana was determined to escape the grim quiet of her family home and get to work at the Den, putting her ideas from the break into practice. Almost immediately upon returning, she threw herself into her work, spending long hours at the studio. She had returned to school galvanized, determined to make something of herself, something to be noticed, by Grace, by Marianne, but also to shine in the world. She painted constantly, and had begun to push her body athletically again as well, remembering the thrill she got from physical demands. She hiked and skated, using both means to get to the studio, often leaving Aurelle the keys to the car on the dining room table while she slept late.

‘Where are you going?’ Aurelle asked one afternoon, still in her pajamas, her eyes dark and hooded.

Diana looked at her. ‘To work,’ she said, which meant to the studio. She gestured at the bright sky outside their many windows, her keys jangling in her fist as she did so. ‘You might want to get out and greet the day before it’s over.’ Aurelle rolled her eyes and Diana dropped her hands to her sides, frustrated, but softening. ‘Do you want to come with me?’

‘No thanks. Nothing to do there.’

‘Well, I’m sorry, Aurelle, I can’t provide activities for you. I have work to do.’

‘I never asked you to.’

‘Will you come across later? Want me to come back for you?’

‘I’ll go myself,’ Aurelle said, then: ‘Sorry, I’m just tired. I’ll have a nap and find you later. I’ll hike around.’ She forced a smile. ‘It’ll be refreshing.’

Diana nodded, thinking it more likely that Aurelle would hitch a ride with a student passing on the road. She now often found her friend wandering through parties on campus, so drunk or high that it seemed like an act of self-harm or revenge, so specific and determined was her longing to dissolve and disappear.

The whole campus knew who Aurelle was now. In one of her classes, a discussion had developed about class and wealth in The Great Gatsby, and when Aurelle had tried to make a comment about Jay Gatsby’s empty life, she’d heard Leanne, with whom she’d talked at great length about books at a party and who was one of a number of scholarship kids, mutter, ‘Easy for you to say.’ Another student had laughed and put her hand over her mouth, shrugging when Aurelle caught her eye.

‘I’m sorry,’ Leanne had said. ‘But my sympathy does not lie with the Gatsbys of the world. I mean, you basically live on West Egg.’ Aurelle had opened her mouth, then shut it again, for who was she to say anything?

Later, she’d mentioned the incident to Diana.

‘You’re lucky.’ Diana said simply, as she had many times.

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