第18部分(第3/7 頁)

t　out　of　the　dining　room；

down　the　hall；　and　into　his　office；　slamming　the　door　shut　behind　him。

Dan　shrugged　his　shoulders　and　opened　up　another　packet　of　duck　sauce。　？I　really　don？t　know

what　everyone？s　problem　is。？

Jenny　was　about　to　tell　him　what　an　ignorant；　presumptuous　asshole　he　was　when　her　baby　blue

Nokia　began　to　jingle　with　the　first　few　notes　of　？Happy　Birthday　to　You；？　the　Raves　recording

she？d　sung　backup　for。　She　bit　her　lip；　still　glaring　at　Dan　with　her　big　brown　eyes。

？It？s　your　phone。　You　better　answer　it；？　Dan　told　her　with　his　mouth　full。

？Fine。？　Jenny　reached　into　her　imitation？Louis　Vuitton　Calla　Lily　purse　and　pressed　the　yes

button　on　her　phone。　It　was　probably　Elise；　calling　her　from　Cape　Cod　to　plain　about　how

bored　she　was　of　eating　lobster　with　her　parents。　？Just　to　warn　you；　I？m　in　a　really　bad　mood；？

Jenny　said　in　greeting。

There　was　silence　on　the　other　end。

？Hello？？　Jenny　demanded　impatiently。

？Yes？　Is　this　Jennifer　Humphrey？？　a　polite　male　voice　replied。

Oops。

She　sat　up　straight　in　her　chair。　？Speaking。？

Jenny　reminded　Dan　of　someone　just　then；　but　he　couldn？t　quite　place　who。　Their　mother；　maybe？

Except　the　only　real　memory　he　had　of　his　mother　was　of　her　trying　to　teach　him　how　to　tie　a　tie

when　he　was　only　five。　He？d　kept　messing　up　because　her　perfume　was　so　pungent；　it　had　made

him　dizzy。

？This　is　Thaddeus　Moore；　director　of　admissions　at　Waverly　Prep；？　the　man　introduced

himself。　？Do　you　have　a　moment？？

Did　she　ever！

？Yes；？　she　answered　cautiously；　her　heart　beating　so　hard；　she　could　practically　feel　her　ribs

cracking。　Dan？s　pack　of　Camel　filters　was　sitti