Vaclav & Lena by Haley Tanner

Author:Haley Tanner
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Magicians, Cultural Heritage, Family Life, General, Literary, Brooklyn (New York, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Fiction, Domestic Fiction, N.Y.)
ISBN: 9780434020430
Publisher: William Heinemann
Published: 2011-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

AN AFTER-DINNER LIST

…

After dinner, Rasia and Oleg watch Russian satellite television in the TV room on the big black leather couch. Vaclav sits on the floor with his legs stretched in front of him and his school binder on his lap. He is studying for an exam in physics, but he knows already that he is solidly grounded in this subject, so he is going over the formulas he needs to know but only to fine-tune, to make sure. Vaclav has a perfect average in physics; it is his favorite subject.

On a piece of lined paper, Vaclav tests himself, copying the formulas he has memorized for the test. As Vaclav does this work, his mind wanders, over and over again, back to Lena. Vaclav needs to go into his room, and be alone, and think of Lena, and this feels for him like a fantastic thing—like having a mystery novel you are reading and you cannot focus on any of your routine daily activities, you want only to go back to your book, want only to spend time in the world of that book and to see what happens next.

In his room, Vaclav lies down on his bed, with all his clothes still on, on top of the covers, which Vaclav realizes feels special, as it is something he rarely does. This feels indulgent, perfect, to lie on his bed on top of the covers, and to think of Lena.

He thinks about what she must look like. This is difficult, because he cannot really even remember what Lena looked like when he knew her.

He thinks about what Lena sounds like, but it is difficult for him to remember Lena’s voice. He thinks that this might be because Lena rarely spoke when he knew her. He remembers her saying things, but he cannot hear her voice.

Lena is turning seventeen today. She must be taller. Vaclav wonders whether she is a short person or a tall person; she was a short person when he knew her, much smaller than other kids their age. She might still be a short person. Vaclav wonders how she wears her hair. She might wear her hair in a ponytail, or short, or might have bangs. Vaclav realizes that she might have piercings in her nose or she might bleach her hair to be blond and then dye it pink. She might be fat or wear big, heavy boots, or she might dress in tank tops that say “princess,” and now Vaclav realizes that there are many years between them, that they might have become different types of people.

She might be the kind of girl he would never want to talk to, a girl who listens to bad music, a girl who talks only to football players, or a girl who smokes outside during lunchtime.

He’s tried to find her on Facebook, but the last time he checked there were 193,000 girls named Lena, and none with her last name. Once he realized that she might have a

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