Misty (Wildflowers 1)

"Poor people can behave just as poorly," Jade reminded her.

They looked like they could get into a real argument, so I quickly went on with my story.

"The second time we left school together, I went to his house and got the tour. His mother was just on her way out to a meeting. Charles Allen made sure to perform the proper introductions, however.

"Perform was his word. He told me he felt most of the things he did for and with his parents had always felt like little scripted acts.

"'Mother,' he said, 'I'd like you to meet Misty Foster. Misty, this is my mother, Elizabeth Howe Fitch.'

"Wow. I take it that his parents are very formal," Jade said.

"That's an understatement. His father's name is Benjamin Harrison Jackson Fitch:'

"I bet it takes him forever to fill out forms," Star quipped.

"He probably doesn't fill out anything," Jade returned. "He has lawyers who do it for him, I'm sure."

"Can I continue?" I asked them. They both zipped up their lips.

I went on.

"His mother offered her long, thin, bejeweled fingers. The moment I touched them, she pulled them away as if I might be diseased. Charles Allen told me not to be offended by that. His mother had a thing about contact. She absolutely hated hugging and was an expert at the false kiss."

"What's that?" Cathy asked Star and Jade turned as if just remembering she was there.

"She kisses the air and not your cheek. Charles Allen said she even kissed his father that way. He said he had never seen his mother and father kiss on the lips."

"No wonder he had a woman on the side," Star said. I nodded.

"How did Charles Allen kiss?" Jade asked with a sly smile and impish eyes.

"Not very well at first. He took me through the house that day, as I said, and we played some PingPong in the game room. There's also a pool table and a hockey game in it. He showed me their gardens, pool and tennis court and then, he took me to his room. It was as big as my parents' bedroom, only his has a built-in television set and CD player, and everything. You should see his closet. It's so organized, color coordinated. And his drawers, the socks, underwear, everything looks brand new. Some of his things are even in wrappers!

"We sat and talked for a while about each other's home life. He claimed he didn't see his father that often before the divorce, but now he said it was more of an organized, scheduled meeting. Once a week, he had to go to his father's office and give him a report about his schoolwork. --

"I think what bothered me about his world was how formal everything was. All of his servants called him Charles Allen. His mother called him Charles Allen and, although I never met him, I imagined his father did, too. Everyone was so . . . proper. It made me uncomfortable.

"Anyway, toward the end of our little talk, which he called a tete-a-tete. . . ever hear of that?"

Jade nodded, but Cathy and Star shook their heads.

"We were sitting on this small sofa in his room. He was on one end and I was on the other. There was enough space between us to put another person, and toward the end of this little talk as I said, he paused, looked at me with those heart-melting eyes and said, 'I've always wanted to talk to you, but I never could think of anything to say until I heard about your parents divorcing.'

"'At least one good thing has come out of it,' I said and he laughed.

"Charles Allen has two definite kinds of laughs. One, sounds more like a robot, each sound perfectly spaced from the other and always the same amount, like ha, ha, ha. It's hard to explain, but his other laugh, what I call his real laugh, is soft. It makes his eyes brighten and does something cute in the corner of his mouth. You're looking at me as if I'm crazy, but you've just got to see and hear it to understand.

"Of course, I knew what he meant. He had always had a crush on me. For a moment I didn't know what to say, and then I said, 'I was always hoping you would speak to me.' Of course, that was a bright, white lie, but he obviously was pleased.

"'Most of the girls in our school are vapid,' he said. I didn't know what vapid meant. I thought we had recently had it on a vocabulary test, but I hadn't studied for that test and I failed it.

" know what you mean,' I said. It seemed like the thing to say, which pleased him again.

"'I thought you might,' he told me. 'I bet there really isn't anyone with whom you care to share your feelings concerning your parents' divorce,' he added.

"Then he sat back and started to describe what it was like for him, really like. . . how he thought of his family in terms of this big, powerful train, and how it was running along efficiently and perfectly, but all of a sudden the chief engineer and his assistant got into a dispute and the train began to sway with its wheels screeching around turns for a while until it went off the tracks and came to a grinding halt. I didn't know what to say. It sounded . . smart and yet, it sounded silly, too, until he added, 'Sometimes, I feel like jumping off the train. How about you?'

"Yes, I thought, I do. I want to run away. Maybe that was a good idea. I told him and he and I got into this great discussion about how we would live on our own. I actually began to think it was possible. He knew how to get some of his money. It sounded. . . romantic.