青帝小说

第7部分（第4页）

seventeenth　time　atBlockbuster　on　Seventy…second　and　Lex。　I　guess　that？sone　way　of　preparing

for　yourYale　alum　interview。N　headed　up　the　Merritt　Parkway　toward　Connecticut　in　the　back　seat

of　his　parents？　blackMercedes　SUV　。　On　his　way　to　rehab；　maybe？V　inBarneys　；　of　all

places；　checking　out　a　frayed　black　hemp　driving　coat　with　chain…mail　seams　and　vintage

hook…and…eye　buttons　byCulture　of　Humanity　by　Jedediah　Angel　。　She　looked　tempted；　but　at　that

price　she？d　be　better　off　ripping　up　her　own　clothes　and　fastening　them　together　with　paper　clips。

My　problem　isn？t　getting　into　the　first　row？it？s　which　show　to　go　to。　Theyall　want　me！　Sigh。

Being　popular　can　be　seriously　hard　work。

You　know　you　love　me。

gossip　girl

jande　explore　their　problem　areas

？Five　more　minutes；　ladies；？　announced　Ms。　Crumb　to　her　Constance　Billard　ninth…grade

creative　writing　class。　She　pulled　her　curly　black　hair　out　of　the　way　and　prodded　the　wax　in　her

right　ear　with　the　eraser　of　a　yellow　number　two　pencil。　？Remember；　it？s　notwhat　you？re　writing

about　buthow　you　describe　it。？

None　of　the　girls　looked　up。　They　were　too　busy　writing；　and　besides；　they　really　didn？t　want　to

see　what　Ms。　Crumb　was　doing　when　she　thought　they　weren？t　looking。　They？d　already　been

grossed　out　enough　times。

According　to　the　girls；all　the　female　teachers　at　Constance　Billard　were　lesbians；　but　Ms。　Crumb

was　the　only　teacher　at　Constance　who　was　officially　out。　She　wore　a　rainbow　pin　to　school　every

day；　shared　a　country　house　in　New　Paltz　with　five　other　women；　and　often　referred　to

her　？partner？？as　in；　？The　other　night　my　partner　was　drinking　Amstel　Lite　and　watching　Barbara

Walters；　who　she　has　a　total　crush　on；while　I　sat　in　the　kitchen　and　graded　your　papers。？　Every

year　the　ninth　graders　looked　forward　to　having　Ms。　Crumb？s　creative　writing　class；　assuming

she？d　be　cool　and　down…to…earth　since　she　was　so　forthright　about　her　sexuality。　But　after　a　day　in

her　classroom　her　students　realized　they　weren？t　just　going　to　sit　around　for　forty…five　minutes

talking　about　girl　stuff　with　a　woman　who　liked　girls？they　were　going　to　have　to　write　things

every　day　in　class；　read　them　out　loud；and　then　listen　to　Ms。　Crumb　and　their　classmates　criticize

what　they　had　written　in　a　sometimes　not　very　nice　way。　Ms。　Crumb　was　a　major　hardass；　but　as

far　as　subjects　went；　creative　writing　was　still　a　hell　of　a　lot　better　than　geometry。

Today　Ms。　Crumb　had　asked　the　girls　to　pick　a　partner？　in　the　platonic　sense？and　write　a

paragraph　describing　a　part　of　their　partner？s　body。　Of　course　Elise　and　Jenny　had　picked　each

other。　They　were　beginning　to　do　almost　everything　together。

It？s　odd　that　we　decorate　our　ears　with　earrings　and　don？t　try　to　cover　them；Jenny　wrote。They？re

just　as　indecent　as　the　parts　we　do　cover；　like　bare　holes　that　go　straight　into　our　heads。　My　friend

Elise？s　ears　are　small；　with　a　little　blond　fuzz　on　them。　She　has　good　hearing；　too；　because　she

never　says；　？What？？　and　asks　me　to　repeat　myself。　I　guess　she　keeps　them　pretty　clean。

Jenny　looked　up　and　decided　to　erase　the　last　line　and　replace　it　with　something　e