第18部分(第2/7 頁)

r　hair　was　now　fashioned　into　a　sort

of　messy　chignon；　held　together　with　the　electric　blue　magnetic　bulldog　clip　they　used　to　keep

their　takeout　menus　on　the　door　of　the　refrigerator。　To　make　things　worse；　there　were　stray　pieces

of　pink　towel　lint　in　his　beard。

Maybe　homeschooling　wasn？t　such　a　great　idea。

？Isn？t　there　someplace　you　kids　need　to　be？？　Rufus　asked；　downing　the　remains　of　his　wine。

Obviously；　one　glass　wouldn？t　be　nearly　enough。

？e　on；　Dad；？　Dan　plained。　？It？s　not　like　I？m　never　going　to　college。　I　just　deferred　for　a

year；　that？s　all。？

Rufus　reached　for　the　uncorked　bottle　of　Sangiovese　in　the　middle　of　the　table　and　poured

himself　some　more。　？I　just　spent　eighty　thousand　dollars　on　your　high　school　education；　all

borrowed；　so　it？ll　probably　be　double　with　interest。　Excuse　me　for　not　being　ecstatic。？　His　gray

eyebrows　knitted　together　in　a　furry　single　line。　？Does　Vanessa　even　know　about　this？？　he

demanded　suspiciously。

Dan　ripped　open　a　clear　plastic　packet　of　fluorescent　orange　duck　sauce　with　his　teeth　and

squirted　it　onto　an　egg　roll。　？Not　really。？

Jenny　and　Rufus　both　stared　at　him　in　shocked　surprise。

Dan　looked　up。　？What？？

？Idiot；？　Jenny　breathed　across　the　table　at　him。　She？d　worked　with　Vanessa　Abrams　onRancor　；

the　Constance　student…run　arts　magazine；　and　had　hung　out　with　her　enough　times　to　know　that

she　was　fiercely　independent　and　not　at　all　into　this　sort　of　lovesick…puppy…dog　shit　Dan　was

pulling。　Besides；　wasn？t　she　supposed　to　be　going　out　with　Blair　Waldorf？s　stepbrother

now？　？Idiot；？　she　muttered　again。

Rufus　didn？t　say　anything。　He　just　picked　up　his　glass　of　wine；　carried　i