第30部分(第6/7 頁)

s。　Usually　he　left　sticky　notes　on　the　fridge　that　read；　A　GUY　CALLED；　and　then

the　time　of　the　call；　to　the　minute？like　that　was　helpful。

Vanessa　dug　for　her　phone；　not　all　that　thrilled　with　the　interruption。　Flirting　with　Dan　was　so　fun

now　that　he　was　supposedly　gay。　She　flipped　open　her　phone。　？Hello？？　？Lil？　sis！？　？Ruby？！？

Vanessa　hadn？t　spoken　to　her　sister　since　she　returned　from　Prague　and　kicked　her　out。　Fun　times。

So　why　was　she　calling　now？

？What？s　up；　girl！？？　Ruby　yelled；　sounding　uncharacteristically　manic。　？God；　it？s　great　to　hear

your　voice！？　？Um；　you　too。　What？s　going　on？？　Vanessa　tried　to　keep　her　voice　neutral；　but　she

was　still　mad　as　hell　at　her　sister　and　wasn？t　about　to　forgive　her　without　first　receiving　some

serious　ass…kissing。　She　crossed　her　arms　over　her　chest；　waiting　for　Ruby？s　apology。　Maybe　she

and　Piotr　had　broken　up　and　she　wanted　Vanessa　to　move　back　to　Williamsburg　and　into　her　old

room。　She　could　almost　smell　the　sweet；　burnt　scent　of　the　sugar　factory　directly　across　the　street

from　their　apartment。　Soon　she？d　be　having　breakfast　at　Eat　and　late…night　coffee　at　Diner

surrounded　by　pale；　skinny　boys　with　hair　that　looked　like　it　had　been　cut　with　a　butter　knife；　her

days　of　decoding　Dan？s　flip…flopping　sexuality　finally　over。　。　。　。

？Listen；　V；　I？m　sorry　I？ve　been　out　of　touch　for　so　long；　but　I？ve　just　been　really　busy。　。　。　。？

Vanessa　gripped　the　receiver　with　one　hand　and　stuffed　a　pillow　back　into　its　case　with　the　other。

Right。　She？d　probably　been　busy　holding　Piotr？sbrush　。　Ick。　Vanessa　shivered　at　her　own

perverted　thought　and　threw　the　pillow　onto　the　almost…made　bed。　Dan　sat　on　the　end　of　the　bed；