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"I regretted not going to bat for you when you had your … disagreereement More like a war of words She and the TA had debated about one line frorace"--and Sophie had found herself on the verge of tears She’d had to leave the hall before the period ended She’d dropped the class the next day
"If it makes you feel better, after that, a bunch of us started challenging her," Russell said "‘Poetry isn’t math’ was our battle cry"
It hat Sophie had said to the TA A sort of retroactive relief--or maybe vindication?--crept over her She’d had defenders in that class Wingmen Even if she hadn’t noticed them Hadn’t noticed his at school She kept her head doore blinders It was a survival tactic Only now did she wonder if it was a stupid survival tactic, like wearing a life jacket made of lead
"I asked about you, after the class Got so city and all," he said with a teasing smile "But I never spotted you forso pretty fierce, not fit for coain, but it was different, less oozy, more shy, and about a thousand times sexier "But then you "
"What? Is Ned like your spirit guide?"
He laughed That big, open-chested laugh "We lived all over, so every year All the places I lived, The Simpsons was like this one constant They had it everywhere, solish, sometimes dubbed, didn’t matter It was my co all those places sounds pretty great to s are not always how they seem"
The look they exchanged was like a road ht "So as it really like?" Sophie asked
"Ever see that movie Lost In Translation?" Sophie nodded She loved that film "Like that, over and over But times a thousand because I’et black In Korea, they called hed "Before Obama’s presidency, I was Michael Jordan"
"Is that why you came to school here?" Sophie asked "Because you knehat to expect?"
Russell looked at her a while before answering "Yeah Soht I was crazy for corand statement Like, hey, this is how it’s always been for hed, a little sadder this tiot that and even if they did, being here isn’t really punishing them Beyond the expensive tuition" He threw up his hands "Well, at least they’ve got a good journalisram"
"And an excellent liberal arts curriculuirls who talk to theht I read about the," Sophie said, a little flustered by the beautiful comment Also by the fact that they’d reached her dorm "This is et your Hanukkah on?"
"Okily dokily," Sophie said
The suite was empty Kaitlynn, Madison, and Cheryl had already left for the holidays, though they’d littered the suite with holiday cheer Being in here alone with Russell, Sophie was suddenly knee-shakingly nervous, so she started talking in the sahts "And here is our fake tree, threaded with the traditional offerings of popcorn and candy canes And you’ll notice the tinsel everywhere, not sure what that sye Mylar And if you breathe deep, you’ll catch a whiff of pine-scented potpourri Welco to carry on the joke of the Rudolph sweaters But ht that the joke fell flat
"Shohere you live," Russell said softly
Sophie’s quarter of the suite was like that thing on Sesas is not like the other No posters or corkboards with friendship collages On her bookshelf she had a fralamorous and kind of ondola in Venice They’d had the sa her Sophia, crooning a song in Italian to her
Russell was looking at the picture "That henart show," Sophie explained Growing up, there’d been so many times she’d wished her mom could be a lawyer or a banker or a producer, the kind of jobs some of her friends’ parents had But when her ious Biennale, and Luba had sold a ring so Sophie could accompany her, she’d been so proud of her uns It didn’t hurt that the trip had beenof canals and alleys, the packed art galleries, andof so She hadn’t felt that way in a long tiht
"What kind of art does your h not the traditional kind with clay or marble She works in abstract forms" She reached to her top shelf and pulled down a ser scale," Sophie explained "Like one piece could fill this room Alas, my roommate Cheryl said she needed a bed so we couldn’t keep one here"
For a second, she iht one of her er installations But then she remembered that Cheryl had see ti now "Your anizes bake sales" Sophie had taken it as a veiled big-city con of her otherness, but only now did she wonder if perhaps she hadn’t missed Cheryl’s droll brand of sarcasm