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  ‘You really think they’ll take us to places like that?’

  Pamela grinned. ‘I doubt it, but I’ll get there on my own. Well, hopefully not completely on my own, if you know what I mean.’

  ‘I’ve never been to a nightclub in my life,’ Sherry confessed.

  ‘Neither have I,’ Pamela said. ‘The closest thing to a nightclub in my hometown is a strip joint and a couple of bars where old guys gamble in a back room. And that’s what I’ll be going back to when this summer is over. So I’m planning to take advantage of what the Big Apple has to offer while I’ve got the chance.’

  ‘You’ll need an escort,’ Sherry remarked. ‘Like you said, you can’t go to those kinds of places alone, can you?’

  ‘Of course not,’ Pamela agreed. ‘And anyway, I gotta find someone to foot the bill. Like a sugar daddy.’

  Sherry tried not to look shocked. ‘You mean, an old rich man?’

  ‘Well, I’d prefer a young good-looking one,’ Pamela said cheerfully. ‘Did you notice that photographer at the dinner last night? He looked pretty fine to me.’

  ‘He’s got to be at least thirty,’ Sherry pointed out. ‘Wouldn’t you rather go out with someone a your own age?’

  Pamela considered this. ‘That Ricky wasn’t bad,’ she acknowledged.

  ‘What about that boy from the mailroom?’

  Pamela made a face. ‘He looks like a hood.’

  Sherry thought back. Maybe his hair was a little greasy. And he hadn’t smiled at all. She wasn’t sure why she’d even mentioned him.

  ‘Besides,’ Pamela continued, ‘boys who work in mailrooms don’t have any money. Anyway, I’m not looking for a boyfriend. I just want to have some fun.’

  The elevator doors opened, and as they stepped out into the lobby Sherry was regarding her with curiosity. Who didn’t want a boyfriend? This comment intrigued her and she wanted to hear more. Maybe she should invite Pamela to join her and the others on their jaunt to Times Square. But recalling Linda’s comments back in the samples closet, she had a feeling the blonde wouldn’t exactly be welcome.

  In any case, Pamela had her own plans for the afternoon. ‘Wanna go shopping?’ From her handbag she withdrew the discount-coupon booklet they’d each been given the night before. ‘If I’m going to hit the hotspots, I’ll need something to wear.’

  ‘Thanks, but I’ve got plans,’ Sherry said. They walked out of the building and on to Madison Avenue, baking under the hot July sun. ‘Maybe I’ll see you at dinner,’ she told Pamela. ‘Of course, I’m referring to the dining hall at the residence, not Sardi’s,’ she added with a grin.

  Pamela laughed. ‘OK, dining hall tonight. But mark my words, we’ll make it to Sardi’s before the summer’s over.’ She strode off, and Sherry wasn’t surprised to note that her hips actually twitched. The girl positively exuded confidence.

  She didn’t see Linda and Diane in front of the building, but then she spotted them, waving to her from across the street, in front of a drugstore. As she walked to the corner crosswalk, she barely felt her feet on the pavement. It was too hard to believe that she was really, truly walking on a street in New York City.

  She’d seen images of New York of course, in photos and movies and on TV, and she’d thought she was prepared for it. But the impact was so much more than she had anticipated. How could she have known that looking up at skyscrapers would make her dizzy? How could she have imagined the cacophony of horns and the rumble of trucks, the drivers who stuck their heads out of the windows and yelled in frustration at the vehicle in front of them? From the sidewalks, the buzz of a million simultaneous conversations. Everyone seemed to be moving in accelerated motion, like they were all late for some terribly important appointment. Construction noises, drilling and hammering … all of it punctuated by intermittent sirens.

  She joined the crowd at the corner. Even when the light turned green, she didn’t want to step into the street before looking both ways. Could she trust these angry New York drivers to actually stop? But she had no choice — she was swept across with the crowd.

  As she headed towards Linda and Diane, she tried to remember what she knew about the girls. Not much, really. All eight girls, including herself, had introduced themselves at the welcome dinner the night before, but their respective hometowns and interests had become a bit of a blur in her mind.

  It didn’t really matter. She knew instinctively that Linda and Diane were the kind of girls she would hang out with. They weren’t Southern, but in every other way they fit the mould of Sherry’s clique back home. Diane’s auburn hair was styled in a chin-length flip, just like her own, and she wore a light green shirtwaist dress that was identical to the light blue one in Sherry’s closet. And resting on the round collar of Linda’s crisp white blouse was a gold circle pin very similar to the one in Sherry’s jewellery box. She’d bet anything they’d both been cheerleaders at their high schools, or homecoming queens, or members of their local department store’s Teen Board — popular, all American girls, just like she was. Typical Gloss girls.

  They were both looking a little impatient, and Linda had another reason to appear unhappy.

  ‘I had to buy some aspirin — this noise is giving me a headache,’ she said. ‘Now I need something to wash them down with.’

  ‘There’s a diner over there,’ Diane said, pointing up the street. They started in that direction.

  ‘Sorry I’m late,’ Sherry apologized. ‘That boy Ricky wouldn’t stop talking.’

  Their expressions changed. ‘Well, aren’t you the lucky one!’ Linda exclaimed. ‘He’s only the most eligible guy here.’

  ‘I guess he’s cute,’ Sherry conceded. ‘Seems kind of conceited though.’

  ‘He’s got a right to be,’ Diane said. ‘Didn’t you catch his last name? Ricky Hartnell. As in Hartnell Publications. The name over the door to the building. He’s the boss’s son.’

  ‘Oh.’ She tried to look suitably impressed. ‘Well, he’s not my type. Too full of himself.’

  ‘Don’t be so quick to brush him off,’ Linda advised. ‘He’d be a real catch.’

  ‘Except I’m not fishing,’ Sherry told her. She tugged on the chain around her neck and pulled out the ring that had been hidden under her blouse.

  Linda’s eyebrows went up. ‘Going steady, huh?’ She immediately topped that, fingering a thin gold chain around her neck and lifting the pendant from which dangled two Greek letters.

  ‘You’re lavaliered,’ remarked Sherry, impressed.

  ‘He’s a Sigma Chi at the University of Illinois,’ Linda told her. ‘I’ll be starting there in September.’

  They entered the diner, which wasn’t too busy, and took seats at the counter.

  ‘Do you have Tab?’ Linda asked the waitress.

  ‘Yeah. Three Tabs?’

  Personally, Sherry would have preferred a real Coke and not this new sugar-free version, but she could just imagine the disapproving looks from the other girls. Any opportunity to avoid calories was to be taken advantage of — another rule.

  ‘You’re lucky to be already dating a college boy,’ Diane said to Linda. ‘You guys must be pretty serious.’

  ‘He’ll give me his frat pin next year,’ Linda informed them. ‘And we’ll get engaged when I’m a senior. Then, when I graduate, we’ll move to Chicago, where Bill will be in law school. I’ll teach elementary school for a couple of years. Then we’ll want to start a family, so we’ll move to the suburbs. Probably Lake Forest.’

  Diane made no effort to hide her envy. ‘You’ve got your whole life planned.’

  Linda nodded happily as their drinks arrived.

  ‘University of Illinois,’ Sherry repeated. ‘That’s a huge school, isn’t it? What do you want to do there?’

  Linda lowered her voice, as if she was about to reveal some amazing secret. ‘I want to become the sweetheart of Sigma Chi.’

  Sherry had been thinking more along the lines of what Linda would major in, but she nodded politely
. ‘That would be pretty neat.’

  ‘No kidding,’ Diane exclaimed. ‘There’s a Sigma Chi where I’m going, Ohio State. My sister’s already there, and she told me that every year, when they choose their new sweetheart, the whole fraternity sings to her outside her dorm.’

  Linda nodded. ‘Or outside the sorority house —’ her forehead puckered — ‘which is something I’m really worried about.’ ‘

  ‘Getting into a sorority?’ Sherry asked.

  Linda shook her head. ‘Oh, I’ll get into one. The big question is, which one will I choose? Bill, that’s my boyfriend, he says the sweetheart is usually a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. But I’m a Tri-Delt legacy. And my mother would just about kill me if I don’t pledge Tri-Delt.’

  Sherry understood. A friend back home, Tommie Lynn, had told her about legacies. If your mother had been a member of a certain sorority, you were pretty much guaranteed an invitation to join that one. Tommie Lynn had been very relieved to know that the Chi Omega chapter at the University of Georgia was one of the best sororities, since her mother had been a Chi O at another school.

  Diane bit her lower lip. ‘My mother didn’t go to a university.’

  ‘But you won’t have any problem getting into a sorority,’ Linda assured her. ‘Didn’t you tell me you were captain of your cheerleading squad? They’ll all want you. What about you, Sherry? Do you know what you want to pledge?’

  ‘There aren’t any Greek organizations where I’m going,’ Sherry told her. ‘It’s a small women’s college in Atlanta.’

  Something close to horror crossed her companions’ faces.

  ‘It’s a family tradition,’ Sherry explained. ‘My grandmother went there, and my mother.’

  Their expressions didn’t change.

  ‘But my boyfriend’s going to Georgia Tech,’ Sherry added. ‘I’m sure he’ll join a fraternity there.’

  Their faces cleared. ‘Oh, well, that’s OK then,’ Linda said. ‘You’ll have a social life. Is there a Sigma Chi chapter at Georgia Tech?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Sherry admitted. She could have been having this exact same conversation with friends back home. ‘Y’all ready to go to Times Square?’

  Diane giggled. ‘“Y’all” — that’s so cute!’

  Wishing fervently that other regions had accents as distinctive as the South, Sherry just smiled and fished in her bag for change. The girls paid and left the diner.

  ‘There’s a taxi stand across the street,’ Linda pointed out.

  ‘Oh, let’s just take the subway,’ Sherry urged. It was another item on her must-see list, and besides, she was on a budget. She checked her map. ‘There’s an entrance on the next block and Times Square is just two stops from here.’

  ‘What do you think of the other girls?’ Diane asked as they walked.

  Recalling her efforts to not make snap judgements, Sherry demurred. ‘Kind of too soon to tell, isn’t it?’

  But Linda already had formed opinions. ‘Some of them don’t look like Gloss girls to me. That platinum blonde, for example. She seems kind of trashy.’

  ‘And the girl from Boston, she looks like a beatnik,’ Diane added. ‘The artsy type, you know? Probably writes poetry.’

  ‘Which one’s your roommate?’ Linda asked Sherry.

  ‘Donna. Tall and thin, long brown hair …’

  Linda frowned. ‘I don’t remember her.’

  ‘She’s kind of quiet,’ Sherry admitted. Actually, Donna was more than quiet. In the twenty-four hours since they’d met, she’d barely been able to get a word out of her.

  They descended the steps to the subway, purchased tokens and passed through the turnstiles. Then it was down more steps to the tracks.

  Immediately Linda wrinkled her nose. ‘It smells down here,’ she murmured.

  She was right, but Sherry was too distracted by the New Yorkers waiting on the platform to take much notice. She’d never seen so many different-looking people in one place — young and old, all shapes and sizes and colours. People who looked prosperous standing right alongside people who looked like beggars. There were people like this back home — you just never saw them in the same place. It was a lot to take in.

  There was a distant but thunderous noise, and seconds later the train pulled into the station. The doors opened, and the crowd on the platform surged forward, propelling the girls into the car.

  There were no empty seats, so they all clutched hanging straps as the train jolted forward. And it was too noisy to talk. But the trip was so fast it didn’t matter — within a few minutes they arrived at the 42nd Street station. Once again, it wasn’t necessary to make any effort to leave the train — they were pushed out by people behind them, and then up some stairs, across a platform, up more stairs and finally they emerged on to a street.

  And what a street it was. Even in broad daylight, it was completely lit up, with neon signs and marquees and enormous billboards advertising everything from soft drinks to cigarettes. If Madison Avenue had been energetic, the corner of Broadway and 42nd Street was positively manic. Instinctively, the three girls linked arms as they proceeded through Times Square.

  There were a lot of movie theatres, all featuring films that Sherry couldn’t imagine appearing on a screen back home, with names like Circus of Sex, Wild Pussycats and Tantalizing Teens. They passed storefronts and businesses that made no attempt to disguise what lay beyond their doors: peep shows, topless bars, sex shops. At tables on the sidewalks, shady-looking men urged passers-by to gamble their money on card games. And in practically every doorway stood a scantily clad and heavily made-up woman. Sherry tried not to stare, but it was impossible. These women made Barbie Doll back at Gloss look like Little Miss Goody-Two Shoes.

  ‘This is gross,’ Diane whispered, and Sherry could understand her reaction. It was all nasty and seedy and disgusting. And yet, it was like passing a car accident on a road — you couldn’t help but look.

  A man with a pockmarked face and a creepy smile fell into step alongside them. ‘Hey, pretty ladies, where you heading?’

  ‘None of your business!’ Linda snapped.

  He wasn’t put off. ‘New in town, huh?’ As he linked his arm through Diane’s, she let out a shriek that would have summoned the entire population of Sherry’s hometown to her side. On this street, no one seemed to have heard her, but at least it sent the man away.

  ‘I want to get out of here,’ Diane wailed. ‘Now!’

  Personally Sherry thought she was overreacting, but she put an arm around the sobbing girl. ‘C’mon, let’s head back to the subway and we’ll go to the residence.’

  ‘I have a better idea,’ Linda declared. ‘We’ll go to the Plaza Hotel and have tea. My parents always do that when they’re in New York.’ She went to the kerb and flagged down a yellow cab.

  Sherry walked Diane to the taxi, but she herself didn’t get in with them.

  ‘Aren’t you coming?’ Linda asked.

  ‘Um, no, I think I’ll go back to the room and work on the assignment,’ she said. ‘I’ll see you at dinner.’

  She watched as the taxi sped away. The Plaza Hotel was another item on her must-see list, and she wouldn’t have minded spending a little money on a cup of tea there. Only a few years ago, she’d read the stories about Eloise, a little girl who lived at the Plaza, to her kid sister, and she’d been just as enthralled as little Beth.

  So why hadn’t she felt like going with the others?

  On the second floor of the residence, Sherry stopped in front of room 212 and unlocked the door.

  For a moment, she just stood there and surveyed the room. Gloss had guaranteed pleasant accommodations in the letter, and the magazine had lived up to its promise. Two single beds, two desks, two bureaux, a decent-sized closet and an adjoining bathroom. The beds were covered with blue and yellow patterned spreads, the walls were painted a matching yellow, and the curtains at the small window picked up the blue colour.

  It certainly didn’t compare to what she had
back home though — a big, lovely pink and white room that she’d never had to share. Her record player, her own pink princess phone extension, her homecoming queen crown hanging from one side of the movie-star mirror on her vanity table, and the newly added prom-queen crown on the other side. The huge picture window, with rose-patterned curtains that provided the perfect frame for the dogwood trees outside. This room had a window, but it looked out on an alley lined with garbage cans.

  Glancing at the clock radio on the desk, she saw that it was now five thirty. What would she be doing right now, back home? Playing tennis at the country club, with Elaine or Carol or Tommie Lynn? Or just finishing a game probably, since she’d have to be home and at the dinner table by six thirty. Maybe she and her tennis partner would be indulging in a sundae or a milkshake at the club snack bar, assuring each other they were simply replacing the calories they’d burned on the court.

  Then home, where she might find a letter from Johnny. He hadn’t been very good about writing since he left for that summer job in Washington DC, but she supposed working for a congressman was pretty time consuming.

  She remembered the day he told her about the job, the morning after the senior prom. It had been a spectacular evening. She’d worn floor-length pink taffeta, purchased for the occasion on a special shopping trip to Atlanta, with the wrist corsage of pink tea roses that Johnny presented her when he arrived to pick her up. He’d looked so handsome, in the light blue tuxedo he’d rented. They’d danced all night in the gym, which had been decorated beyond recognition with sparkling lights and streamers and balloons. In accordance with tradition, there were no curfews that night, and they’d ended the festivities at three in the morning at a fancy breakfast set up in Tommie Lynn’s basement. And at some point in the early hours, when she and Johnny found themselves alone together, she’d let him get to second base for the very first time. She’d heard that some girls went all the way on prom night, she’d even heard that this was a tradition, but she wasn’t ready for that. Still, she had to admit, she liked the feeling of his hand on her bare flesh, and for a brief moment she actually considered letting him progress to third base. But she controlled herself — third base would have to wait till he gave her his fraternity pin.