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A cab ers flip- flops Eliza ss in the trunk

"Park Avenue and Sixty-third, please," she told the driver God, it was good to be home

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port authority, take two: irl written all over her

Mara Waters consulted the grubby piece of paper in her hand Mr Perry had said so about the Hampton Jitney, but as she looked around the Port Authority complex, she couldn

't find signs for it anywhere She was getting anxious She didn't want to be late for her first day

She still couldn't believe she was in New York! It was so exciting to see all the flickering neon lights, the mobs of people, and to experience the brisk, rubberneck pace--and that was just the bus station! In Sturbridge the bus station was a lone bench on a forlorn corner You'd think they'd spruce up the place a bit to herald the occasion of so that dead-end town, but no

When the phone call came the day before, she just couldn't believe her luck There she was, dressed up as the Old School Mar underneath an itchy powdered wig and shepherding coh the nineteenth century, when

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the news caotten the job as an au pair! In the Hamptons! For ten thousand dollars for two ine At the very least, enough to pay for her college contribution and h left over for the sweet little Toyota Camry she had her eye on from Jim's uncle's used-car dealership

Of course, Ji him for the summer Actually that was the understatement of the year Jim had been p-i-s-s-e-d It had all happened so quickly that Mara hadn't even had a chance to tell hiuy who liked Maraplans without him, or plans that didn't include him, or, really, any plans at all that he hadn't approved of beforehand This whole Ha had blindsided him It, like, totally ruined his plans for the Fourth of July! He was going to show off his souped-up El Dorado at the local auto show Who was going to help hi him?

She and Jim had been inseparable since freshood for him, but they were mostly related to her, so ere they supposed to say? Mara felt a twinge of guilt for leaving but brushed it away She had other things to take care of at the moment She walked up tentatively to a uniforlass

"Yeah?" he asked curtly, annoyed at being interrupted

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"Hi there, sir Could you please tell me where the Hampton Jitney is?"

"You wan' da Longuylandrail?"

"No, urn, it's called the Jitney?"

"Jipney?"

"It's a bus? To the Hamptons?"

"New Joisey transit ovah theh" He shook his head "You wan' da Haht Ave"

A passenger waiting on line overheard and chirped, "You won't find the Jitney here; it's on Third Avenue"

"But really, you're better off taking the train Less traffic," piped a lady holding several shopping bags behind him

"Forget the train Jitney's worth it"