Arietta didn’t imagine that going to a random wealthy person’s house party at the beginning of that summer would change her life forever. She put on a simple green dress, barely touched her hair, then grabbed a ride to the mansion on the beach, telling herself to play it cool.
Although the party had expensive champagne and better beer than Arietta was used to, she was surprised to find that it wasn’t so different from parties she’d frequented back at college. Plenty of people swam in the pool and the ocean, and sausages and burgers sizzled on the grill. Music pulsed from speakers, and a few drunk guys argued about what album to play next. Ariettahung around with Marjorie and Susie for a while, dipping their toes into the pool when they got too hot.
And then, Fred came over and sat down beside them, grinning broadly. For reasons Arietta never understood, he only had eyes for Arietta. It felt like fate.
The first night that Fred ever took Arietta out on a proper date, they got into a terrible argument about the politics of public education, of all things, and Arietta stormed out of the restaurant. Fred chased her and begged her forgiveness. She demanded that he listen to all of her points on the subject and see her side. They sat by the beach, talking for ages, finding ways to relate to one another. Arietta had the sense that Fred had been in a wealthy bubble for years. She wondered why he wanted to dip his head out of that bubble and meet her where she was.
Fred kissed her for the first time that night. Arietta figured he was dating many other people, and this would be their only date. But he called the lifeguard dorms that night and told her that he’d had a really good time. “I don’t want you to work at that beach anymore,” he said. “I want to spend all my time with you.”
Arietta obviously refused to quit her job. She needed money for her upcoming semesters, and she guessed that her relationship with Fred wouldn’t last a month.
That summer, Fred and Arietta spent as much time together as they could. They ate burgers, went sailing, swam in the ocean almost every day, and drove around wildly, listening to music. Arietta hated the feeling of chaos that came over her as she fell deeper in love with him. But it was intoxicating, too.
Not long before summer ended, Fred invited Arietta to his parents’ place to meet his family. His parents and brother would head back to Boston soon enough, leaving their summer home empty for the offseason. Fred had to return to his job in Boston as well, where he worked with his father doing something withother people’s finances. Arietta couldn’t fully keep track of it, mentally, maybe because it bored her so much.
But Arietta couldn’t imagine why Fred wanted to introduce her to his parents. Marjorie, who was achingly jealous of Arietta’s relationship but also keen to hear every new development, told her it meant he wanted to marry her.
“That’s laughable,” Arietta said, although she felt the truth of it like a stone in her stomach.
She did her makeup very carefully before Fred picked her up, trying to imitate how the women at the beach where she’d worked all summer did theirs. Everything had to be precise yet understated. Her true beauty had to come through.
Fred’s parents were gorgeous forty-somethings who’d known what it was like to be wealthy since birth. They looked Arietta up and down as though she were a bit of trash they’d found on the beach, then poured her a glass of very expensive red wine and asked her about herself. Arietta heard herself gush about her love of science and her dreams of translating difficult-to-understand scientific principles into journalism. “I wish I could research everything myself and pursue a career in medicine,” she explained. “But my brain doesn’t go in that direction.”
Fred’s mother found it difficult to understand why she wanted to work so hard. “Is it your parents?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. “Do they push you to pursue this?”
Arietta laughed. “Not really. It’s always been my thing.”
His mother looked at Fred and let out a confused laugh. “Where on earth did you find her, Freddy?”
Fred gazed at Arietta across the veranda table, from which they could see a miraculous view of the Nantucket Sound. Arietta couldn’t believe that this house was usually empty. For much of the year, nobody looked out at this view because it belonged only to Fred’s family, and views like this were not cheap.
9
After a long run around Yale campus one afternoon, Shannon returned to her apartment and realized her grades for the previous semester were online. Grad school at Yale used a very different grading scale, from Honors to High Pass to Pass to Fail. Shannon had always received either an Honors or a High Pass grade, which was necessary to remain in good standing at the university. This time, however, her professor had taken into account her most recent laboratory experiment—the one she’d struggled over immediately after her father’s stroke—and failed her.
Shannon sat in the shadow of her living room in a state of shock, gaping at the grade. It didn’t make a lick of sense to her. Although she’d struggled with the experiment, and although it had taken her several tries, she’d eventually nailed it and written a killer lab report to boot. She’d assumed she’d get at the very least a High Pass, if not Honors.
Now, with a Fail on her record, Shannon knew that her standing at Yale was up for discussion. She knew that she could be kicked out, if not this summer, then next semester.
Something about it did not sit right with her. Was it possible that she’d really lost her mind so completely? Was it possible that she’d lost track of her own intellect?
Shannon got to her feet and left her apartment without bothering to shower or change out of her running clothes. Before she knew what she was doing, she realized that she was walking directly toward Cole’s apartment. She stopped short and laughed at herself. This had been her habit for years. When something went wrong, she went to Cole. But she couldn’t go to Cole anymore because Cole had a new girlfriend. Cole hadn’t even been in contact to see how she was after her father’s stroke.
Shannon rerouted to Russell’s place, as Russell lived two blocks from Cole and was usually home during the day. She knocked on the door without a second thought, then entered when Russell hollered, “Come in!”
She found Russell on the back porch, readingCatch-22. Sunlight made his dark, long hair glow. He wore exercise shorts with holes in them and an old band shirt. He smiled at her till he realized she couldn’t bring herself to smile back. “What’s up?” he asked, setting his book to the side.
Shannon sat on the floor of his porch, pulling her knees to her chin. She told him about the bad grade and how confused she was about it. “I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
“Maybe you should contest the grade,” Russell suggested.
Shannon groaned. “Won’t that make it worse? I mean, if the grade is deserved? It’ll be so embarrassing if they look into it and I’m wrong.”
Russell was quiet for a moment. “But you really think you deserve better.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Then what do you have to lose?” Russell asked.