Mariana had ironed her blond hair smooth and sprayed it into a perfect formation, rising from her hairline and sweeping back and down to her shoulders. Her dress was gold lamé; her coat, mink. Her eyes were made up so heavily she looked like she was in disguise, though the effect was also strangely sexual. Her elegant, narrow hands fidgeted in her lap, grasping for a cigarette as she stared silently out the passenger window.
Beth wished, for the first time, that she had one of Lily’s little white pills. Maybe that would make her forget whatever was about to happen tonight.
“Remember your manners,” Mariana said into the silence of the car, as if a conversation had just been happening. “These are people from your father’s company. You have our reputation to maintain.”
At the wheel, Julian snorted. Beth agreed with him. She couldn’t imagine what kind of reputation Mariana thought they had.
“Just be nice,” Mariana said, her voice thin with exasperation, like she was on the edge of tears. “Be nice. For once. That’s all I ask.”
In the back seat, Beth stared out the window, unable to look at her mother anymore. She’d skipped school for two weeks before the school finally called her mother and reported it. She hadn’t had any reason to do it, except that school was boring and she was curious how long it would take for the school to get up its courage and call home. The result was predictable: Mariana showed up at the school, wearing her mink at eleven o’clock in the morning, demanding answers about where her daughter was. Claire Lake didn’t have any private high schools, so Beth went to the public school, which made the scene even more exciting.
Beth knew that she should probably be embarrassed, but instead she’d felt a detached curiosity, because the whole thing was theater. No one, including Mariana, actually cared where Beth was. The school cared about pleasing the wealthiest family in town, and Mariana cared that Beth wasn’t nice. It was all a drama, like on TV.
Lily was the only one who really cared about Beth, about whether Beth was happy, about whether she would get what she wanted. And now Lily wasn’t coming. Most likely, now that she was an adult and not a helpless little girl, she would never be invited over again.
Beth wondered where Lily was right now.
The party was at another house in Arlen Heights, this one a large old-fashioned mansion with a circular drive. The house was lit from every window, and Beth could hear classical music as they pulled up.
“It’s lovely,” Mariana said as they got out of the car, an automatic compliment.
Julian snorted and said nothing. Beth agreed with her father again.
“Tom Fenegan will be here,” Julian said. “I need to talk to him about a few things. I expect we’ll spend part of the night in the study.”
“Of course,” Mariana said. “I haven’t seen Helen in a long time. We’ll need to catch up.”
This was her parents’ code: I won’t be spending the evening anywhere near you. Fine with me. Beth blinked hard and followed her parents up the drive, trying not to wobble drunkenly on her high heels.
The air inside at the party was stiff, as if everyone had dressed up but no one actually wanted to be there. Beth spent half an hour with a glass of champagne in her hand, painfully drunk, sweating in her green dress, and wondering why she was here before the answer to the puzzle presented itself in front of her. He looked about nineteen, he was handsome, he was wearing a tux, and he was the son of the house. He introduced himself as Gray.
Beth shook his hand, aware that hers was ice-cold.
“I’ve been told to introduce myself,” Gray admitted amiably as he stood next to her. “I can’t say I mind, because you’re pretty. Also, we’re the youngest people here. Pretty boring, huh?”
He had the easy manner of a boy who had known from birth that he’d own everything—knowledge that flowed in his blood. No one had ever told him no. No one had ever wanted to. Just like me, Beth thought.