My Ex-Life by Stephen McCauley

Author:Stephen McCauley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Flatiron Books

24

As soon as she stepped onto the street, Mandy had an urge to comment on the heat and humidity, just like every predictable customer that came into Beachy Keen. Unlike them, though, she had no one to say it to.

Cars were not allowed out on Perry Neck, but the streets were packed with sweating people staggering along with stupefied expressions and limp hair, as if they were waiting to be herded to some cooler, happier place. She let herself be swept along by the crowd for a little while, just beginning to accept the fact that she’d lost her job and probably with good reason. She’d had a bad attitude about the store even before she was hired. She never said anything insulting to any of the customers, but maybe her feelings showed through.

The only person who wouldn’t freak out and start accusing her was David, but she couldn’t call him. He had enough on his plate already, and he and her mother were going to a party at Amira’s house this afternoon. She wondered if drunk David would be as supportive.

She broke away from the pack and headed off the Neck and toward the center of town. The Village Green, as Elaine had told her to call it because it sounded more quaint. Well, she had, even though the Village Green was more like a traffic island in the middle of two busy streets. There were a few benches there and a couple of planters that the garden club maintained annually until late August, at which point they gave up watering and let the geraniums and impatiens wither and die. There were a couple of suffering trees in the middle, too, so there was at least the hint of shade.

As she was halfway across the street to the green, she saw that Lindsay was sitting on a bench there with a girl on either side of her. She couldn’t turn around because she’d get hit by a car, and besides, it would look too weird. With what seemed like telepathy, Lindsay looked up at that instant and made eye contact with her.

It was obvious why Lindsay never called her anymore and didn’t answer her texts. The two other girls, both sitting up on the back of the bench, were popular. Lindsay was moving up the food chain. Michelle was a skinny blonde who was alleged to have “an amazing voice” and was treated like a reigning pop star whenever she sang at talent shows or in a school play. Mandy found her high, reedy vocals grating, but she did envy her ability to get up on stage and actually pull off a performance. Whether or not Michelle was a great singer, she had confidence, and when you came down to it, confidence might be the root of all talent. She had over ten thousand followers on Instagram, mostly because her family had vacationed in Lake Placid last summer, and Michelle had bumped into Lana Del Rey and her sister on the street and taken a series of photos with them that made it seem like they were best friends.

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