登陆注册
10436300000002

第2章 PROLOGUE

Mary Moorhead became my best friend the day I arrived at Maroon Bells School for Girls in Aspen, Colorado, last September.

Normally Mom would have driven me, but she'd gotten into a fight with her most recent ex-husband, George, the night before, and he ended up taking the Subaru. I thought that after the divorce he would be out of the picture but what do I know about relationships.

So instead, it had taken me six hours and two bus transfers to get there from Denver, and then ten minutes to lug my three overstuffed duffel bags up the two flights of stairs and across the wood-planked hallway floors to my assigned dorm room in Crawford Hall. The door was open when I got there.

A girl stood with her back to me in front of a floor-to-ceiling framed photograph of the Venus de Milo. You know, that ancient Greek statue that's so famous? The half-naked one with no arms and big boobs. The framed photograph, at least eight feet tall, was stark. It only revealed the statue against a white background. The frame leaned against the wall directly opposite the doorway.

The girl had a roll of paper towels in one hand and a bottle of Windex in the other.

She was talking. "At first, I thought it was a black-and-white picture. But look." She leaned in, practically pressing her nose against the glass. "When you get really close, you see the color: gray and green and brown streaks and shadows in the marble. There's a pattern to them. My boyfriend, Stephen, showed me that."

She stepped back and squirted the glass with Windex, still not turning around. She was barefoot, in faded jeans and a chocolate brown V-neck.

"You know, it really should be called the Aphrodite of Melos, not Venus de Milo," said the girl. "They're pretty much the same person, I mean, they're pretty much the same goddess. The goddess of love. Most people call her Venus, like the Romans. But the Greeks called her Aphrodite and this is a Greek statue, so, I'm just saying. Her name should be Aphrodite of Melos." She swept her paper towel across the glass with a squeak. "It's the only print of this photograph in the world."

I slowly lowered my bags to the floor.

"My boyfriend gave it to me," she said.

The girl gave a final swipe, then spun around, tossing her honey blond bangs out of her face and shaking her head. "I know, I'm crazy. I'm sorry. I just love this picture. You must be Peggy Nakamura." She held out her hand. "I'm Mary. Welcome to MBSG."

I took Mary's hand and shook it. A really sparkly bracelet peeked out from the sleeve of her V-neck. I wondered if they were diamonds in it. Probably. This was Aspen. "Hi," I said. "I, um. Nice to meet you." I looked at the floor, or more precisely, at my Pumas.

"Pumas!" Mary said. "Clydes? I love them."

"Thanks," I said, embarrassed by how dusty they were. I'd had this pair of old-school Puma Clydes for just a few months, but I wore them every day. "They're old, but…" I shrugged and reached up to pull my ponytail tight. I remember wondering, at that moment, why I hadn't gotten a haircut before leaving Denver. It was halfway down my back, and I had split ends.

"Don't worry," Mary said. "You'll be fine here. Venus, I mean Aphrodite, is on your side." She blew her bangs out of her face and smiled. "And I'm your friend now." It was a soft soul-smile, the real kind.

My granny used to tell me about different kinds of smiles. Margaret, she said, they say the eyes are the window to the soul, but it is the smile that tells the truth. I hadn't heard her voice since she died last spring, but I could remember exactly the slow, deliberate way she talked. A soul-smile cannot be faked.

Right away, I trusted Mary's smile. But it's what she said next that really made me decide to like her.

"Want to go get a latte?"

That was five months ago, the first day of my junior year at Maroon Bells School for Girls in Aspen, Colorado.

同类推荐
  • Oh Yeah, Audrey!

    Oh Yeah, Audrey!

    It's 5:00 a.m. on Fifth Avenue, and 16-year-old Gemma Beasley is standing in front of Tiffany & Co. wearing the perfect black dress with her coffee in hand—just like Holly Golightly. As the cofounder of a successful Tumblr blog—Oh Yeah Audrey!—devoted to all things Audrey Hepburn, Gemma has traveled to New York in order to meet up with her fellow bloggers for the first time. She has meticulously planned out a 24-hour adventure in homage to Breakfast at Tiffany's; however, her plans are derailed when a glamorous boy sweeps in and offers her the New York experience she's always dreamed of. Gemma soon learns who her true friends are and that, sometimes, no matter where you go, you just end up finding wkkk.net with hip and sparkling prose, Oh Yeah, Audrey! is as much a story of friendship as it is a love letter to New York, Audrey Hepburn, and the character she made famous: Holly Golightly.
  • Meditation for Daily Stress
  • The Peculiars

    The Peculiars

    This dark and thrilling adventure, with an unforgettable heroine, will captivate fans of steampunk, fantasy, and romance. On her 18th birthday, Lena Mattacascar decides to search for her father, who disappeared into the northern wilderness of Scree when Lena was young. Scree is inhabited by Peculiars, people whose unusual characteristics make them unacceptable to modern society. Lena wonders if her father is the source of her own extraordinary characteristics and if she, too, is Peculiar. On the train she meets a young librarian, Jimson Quiggley, who is traveling to a town on the edge of Scree to work in the home and library of the inventor Mr. Beasley. The train is stopped by men being chased by the handsome young marshal Thomas Saltre. When Saltre learns who Lena's father is, he convinces her to spy on Mr. Beasley and the strange folk who disappear into his home, Zephyr House. A daring escape in an aerocopter leads Lena into the wilds of Scree to confront her deepest fears.
  • The Gathering
  • The Player
热门推荐
  • 重生后BOSS每天都在打脸

    重生后BOSS每天都在打脸

    (包月会员全本免费读)前世,牧若安把奸人当闺蜜,最终惨死在火海中。重生后,她发誓一定要贱人血债血偿,辱我者,甩脸,欺我者,踩脸,纠缠我者,不要脸,却不想某妖孽男死皮赖脸的求负责。世人都知冷亦尘冷血无情,杀伐果断,却每天都在打脸。“老婆,我错了,脸好疼。”【1v1宠文】
  • 十里青春沉旧都

    十里青春沉旧都

    后来的黄之倩已是一个成熟稳重的人,淡去的是她曾躲进的回忆。 周晓晨熟悉的脸颊,湿漉漉的眸子滑过夏雨,映着一场纷飞的冬雪。 那校园,略显破旧的一方天地,但离开时分不清解脱还是不舍。 十里青春沉旧都,故去梦里亡人哭。
  • 神医毒妃:无良皇家商女

    神医毒妃:无良皇家商女

    选秀被皇帝当众羞辱,成为家族耻辱。当夜兄长欲行不轨,她只能以死抵抗!再次醒来不过区区几日对她却是第二次重生!冲喜丫鬟所生又怎样?暗杀挑衅陷害,都难敌她步步为营洞察先机!内斗主母兄妹,外斗王爷宠妃!再让曾羞辱过她的皇帝成为裙下之臣!然而谁料曾深爱的男人,却视她为仇人欲除之而后快……
  • 开拓孩子视野的108个好故事

    开拓孩子视野的108个好故事

    童年的书包里,总是装着吃不完的零食、看不完的故事书;童年的脑海里,总是想着阿拉丁神灯和灰姑娘的那双水晶鞋。童年是美好而又纯真的,童年又是充满希望和幻想的。一片片枫叶悄悄地张开。童年稚嫩而好奇的眼睛,一个个好故事深深地印着童年…
  • 爆笑穿越:纨绔女相师

    爆笑穿越:纨绔女相师

    她本是二十一世纪被誉为神偷界一枝花的苏九九,一觉醒来,却穿越到了临安国纨绔风流的丞相李漠然身上。御书房伴读的第一日,便与相看两不厌的邪恶太子杠上,从此……“太子、太子,丞相今日举办宴会,把太子您邀请来赏花的大臣,全部都给截去了……”某太子拿着茶杯的手微微一颤,而后淡定的说道:“无妨,随他去吧!”“太子、太子,丞相把您在春风楼包的花魁,给抢回府当小妾了……”某太子眼光微闪,压下了心中的火气,带着几分咬牙切齿的说道:“无妨,随他去吧!”“太子、太子,丞相在皇宫里,把林国夫人给打了……”某太子把手中的茶杯轻轻的往桌上一放,脸色平静的说道:“无妨,随他……什么,你说李断袖把姨母打了,那还不快前边带路……”且看二十一世纪绝色神偷如何化身为异界丞相,公子红妆,祸乱天下……
  • 百分九的倾城绝恋

    百分九的倾城绝恋

    NINEPERCENT(百分九)去上学会发生什么有趣的事呢!范丞丞的爱情原来是一场骗局,林彦俊爱的人是自己的未婚妻,朱正廷高能宠妻无时无刻不散狗粮。
  • 京城恋人曲

    京城恋人曲

    一段纯情、苦涩爱情的诞生与破灭,让人不得不感叹;若定是与非,谁解千百恨。
  • 西山许真君八十五化录

    西山许真君八十五化录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 空中花园

    空中花园

    四个下岗失业、生活落魄的老知青,老大、博士、老鼠和二姐回到辽宁北部的群山之中,在凭吊已故战友小羊羔的墓地旁,他们选择了第二次下乡创业,谱写了一曲21世纪的青春之歌。当年山洞里的一夜情,父辈们的嗜血的恩怨,子女们的爱情游戏交织在一起。作者把亲身经历过的故事融入自己的审美取向和浪漫情情,同读者一起感叹人生的爱恨情仇。
  • 无不朽

    无不朽

    所有的灾祸,都源自于人心。诸天万古,亿万生灵,大世的繁华如同最后的夕阳,近在咫尺的黑暗涌动着令人心悸的灾祸。他是诸天主宰之一,走向即将落幕的繁华,欲挽狂澜,欲救天倾,付出巨大代价却一无所获,收到的是世人的唾弃和诋毁,诸天万域再也没有他立足之地。一世又一世的尝试,他终于有了一劳永逸的方法,世间众生,仍旧可救!自此世间再无长生不朽者!