“I think she figured I’d be at school all the time and wouldn’t need any. The school provides just about everything, and there really isn’t a whole lot on Mars to spend money on.” This was all getting exasperating. I sighed. “Can I get back to you?”
“The dress isn’t going anywhere. Not until you order it, anyway.”
Angelyn had done this before. Lots of times. She must have had closets full of nice clothes stashed somewhere. I couldn’t even imagine that. It seemed … excessive. On Mars, those bright fantastical colors would be covered by brown dust in seconds.
I spent a day gathering intelligence. Recon. Surreptitiously, like I was just curious and not desperate for information. Ethan had a suit he planned on wearing; his family had ordered it and had it sent to him, knowing he’d be going to fancy parties. I didn’t ask Tenzig—I’d started blushing whenever we ended up in the same room—but I expected that he had a suit like Ethan’s. I kept stealing glances at Tenzig, wondering what he was up to. He always seemed to be watching me, which was kind of creepy, but kind of … not. He started sitting next to me at lunch, even. It meant one of two things: my status after rescuing Angelyn had gotten so great that he thought sitting next to me made him look good, or else he liked me, which felt weird.
Marie had stopped talking to me, which made time back in the room awkward. That didn’t surprise me, but it made me sad. I was absolutely relieved that Ladhi and Ethan kept sitting with me at lunch. I wished I could find a way to tell them how much I appreciated that, without sounding awkward or weird.
Finally, I messaged Mom about the dress.
Dear Mom:
I’ve got a problem. There’s a banquet coming up—it’s supposed to be a big party thing, everyone’s really excited, and apparently everyone gets dressed up in super-nice clothes. Like skirts and dresses and suits things. I’ve never worn a skirt, but I guess I’m supposed to. One of the girls here—a friend, Angelyn—said she’d help me buy a dress. But I don’t know how much money to spend. I’ve never really had to worry about stuff like that, you know? So, I wondered—do you have some money you could give me to buy a nice dress? Otherwise I’ll just wear my school uniform. Thanks.
Oh—school’s fine, and Charles is fine. I know he probably hasn’t written you. But he hasn’t taken over the school. Yet.
Your Daughter, Polly.
P.S. I don’t know what Charles is wearing to the banquet. He probably has it all figured out on his own.
* * *
Mom answered my note the next day. She must have sent a reply as soon as she got my message. A day was pretty much absolutely the soonest my message could be transmitted to Mars and have her message get back to me. It gave me an idea how important this whole banquet with nice clothes thing was.
Dear Polly:
Your banquet sounds marvelous! Of course you need a nice dress for it. This is one of the reasons I wanted you to go to Earth—you’d never have such an experience on Mars. I’ve opened an account on Earth for just such purposes, for you and your brother. The access codes are attached—it’s set to your and Charles’s biomarks. Don’t worry about amount or expense. Just listen to your friend’s advice and have a good time. Snap some pictures for me, if you think of it!
It’s so nice to hear you’re making friends and getting along so nicely on Earth.
Love, Mom
She’d never sounded so excited about anything. It made me nervous.
Ladhi, it turned out, already had a nice dress. She’d brought it with her, in fact. Belt stations apparently had more parties than Mars did. She showed me the outfit, and it was gorgeous—a light, filmy fabric that wouldn’t have added much to her weight allowance. It draped around her in some complicated pattern that made her look so much better than the school uniforms, showing off her graceful limbs and coloring.
Which was the point, I realized. None of us really looked good in our school uniforms. I hadn’t thought about it in those terms before. But I still thought I looked pretty good in my Mars clothes—they made me look like I came from Mars. I almost changed my mind about what to wear, but I’d already ordered the dress.
Marie had a dress, of course. All the offworld girls but me had known to get dresses. Mars was the only place that didn’t have a tradition of formal clothing. I had to think about that.
Last of all, in study hall fifteen minutes before lights-out, I cornered Charles.
“What are you wearing to the banquet?” I asked him.
“It’s a surprise.”
“Oh. Because Mom sent us money to buy nice clothes. Apparently, we need nice clothes.”
“Yes,” Charles said. “She’s had investment accounts on Earth for years, that’s how she’s paying for tuition here.”
“Oh.” I hadn’t even thought about how long Mom must have been planning this, to collect all that money. “So, do you need money?”
“No. I’ve got it all worked out,” he said. “What are you wearing?”
“Angelyn helped me find something.”
“That’ll be interesting,” he said, with that superior arc in his brow he always got.