this was straight into film, as she said to Van, who didn't remind her that their mother had never had to walk across a set bleeding from the nose and eyes and ears. “How's your job, Van?” She was feeling magnanimous, usually she didn't really care about anyone but herself, as Vanessa knew only too well.
“It's okay.” Vanessa yawned again. “Actually, it's pretty dull. But I met a nice girl from Connecticut. We thought we'd try and find a place together near Columbia. She's going there too.”
“Oh.” Val already sounded bored, and decided to hang up. “I'll let you know how things go.”
“Thanks. Take care.” They were oddly close, and yet not, linked to each other somehow, but with nothing in common at all. It was a bond Vanessa had always felt and never quite understood. She envied other sisters who seemed so close. She was close to neither of hers, and had always longed for a sister she could talk to and confide in, which was what was so nice about the girl from Connecticut.
And in California Anne was discovering that too. She had discovered a girl walking down Rodeo Drive one day eating an ice-cream cone, and swinging a bright pink purse from her arm. She looked like an ad in a magazine, and she had smiled at Anne. Anne thought she was beautiful, and had noticed her an hour later, eating lunch at the Daisy, sitting by herself, as Anne stopped there for a hamburger. Her mother had given her money for two new pairs of shoes, and she had been wandering along Rodeo Drive, watching the people stroll in the bright sun. It was a hot day, but there was a nice breeze, and she found herself sitting at the next table from the girl with the pink purse. They smiled at each other again, and she spoke up easily. She had soft brown hair, which fell almost to her waist, and big brown eyes, and she looked about eighteen Anne thought, but she was surprised to learn they were the same age, almost to the day.
“Hi, I'm Gail.”
“I'm Anne.” The conversation would have ended there, left up to her, but Gail seemed to have lots to say. She told her that she had seen this neat skirt at Giorgio's, it was white leather, and real soft, and they had great boots too. Anne was impressed at the places where she shopped and told her about the shoes she'd seen further up the street. They discussed the Beatles, Elvis, jazz, and eventually got around to schools.
“I'm going to Westlake next year.” She looked unimpressed and Anne's eyes grew wide.
“You are? So am I!” It was another happy coincidence, in addition to their age. She told Anne honestly that she had had mono, and then a bout with anorexia, and all in all she'd missed a year of school. She was fifteen now, and she was a year behind, she shrugged, and Anne felt as though good fortune had just walked into her life for the first time.
She was honest with her too, to a point, there were some things she intended never to tell anyone, like about the baby she'd given up, but there were other things she could say. “I dropped out for a year, and I'm a year behind too.”
“That's fabulous.” Gail looked thrilled and Anne grinned. No one had ever reacted that way before, and she knew instantly she liked this girl. She was ready for a friend. And she was bored around the Thayers' pool alone every day. Maybe Gail would like to come by sometime. “What did you do when you dropped out?” She looked fascinated by her adventurous new friend, and Anne tried to look blasé.
“I went up to the Haight-Ashbury for a while.”
Gail's eyes grew huge. “You did? Wow! Did you take any drugs?”
Anne hesitated for a fraction of an instant and shook her head. “That stuff's not so hot.” She knew differently, but she also knew the price you paid, and she knew that this girl knew nothing of that life. She looked clean and neat and pretty and well dressed and a little spoiled. She was what some people described as a Jewish American Princess, and Anne was intrigued by her. All the girls at her old school were so dull, and practically no one had even talked to her when she came back from the Haight, but this girl was nothing like them. She had style