第7部分(第2/7 頁)

　the　show　and　enjoy。　I？ll　be　there　of　course；　and　there　are　some　people　I　want　you

to　meet。　You？re　already　a　moviemaking　goddess；　babe。　You　totally　rock。？

？Cool；？　Vanessa　replied；　slightly　appalled　that　he？d　actually　told　her　she　rocked　not　once

buttwice　。　？So　what？s　the　designer？s　name　again？？

？Cult　of　Humanity　by　Jedediah　Angel；？　Ken　repeated　slowly。　？SixP。M。　Friday　at　Highway　1。　It？s

a　club　in　Chelsea。？

？I？ve　heard　of　it。？　It　was　the　type　of　place　Vanessa　normally　avoided　like　the　plague。　？I　guess　I？ll

see　you　there。？

？Fan…fucking…tastic！？　Ken　enthused。　？Ciao！？

Vanessa　hung　up　and　rubbed　at　a　glop　of　dried　sugaring　paste　on　her　wrist。　Then　she　picked　up

the　phone　and　dialed　Dan？s　number　without　even　looking　at　the　keypad。

？Hello？？　Jenny　answered　on　the　first　ring。

？Hey　Jennifer；　it？s　Vanessa。？　Vanessa　always　called　Jenny　Jennifer　because　Jenny　had　asked　her

to。

？I？m　not　sure　if　Dan　will　talk　to　you。　He　wouldn？t　talk　tome　；　and　he？s　been　locked　in　his　room

ever　since　he　got　home。　It？s　so　gross？there？s　cigarette　smoke；　like；pouring　out　from　under　the

door。？

Vanessa　laughed　and　flopped　back　on　her　black　pillows。　Everything　in　her　room　was　black；

except　the　walls；　which　were　dark　red。　？How　do　you　know　he？s　not　in　there　putting　gel　in　his　hair？

That　new　haircut　looks　pretty　high　maintenance。？

The　two　girls　snickered。

？I？ll　go　see　if　I　can　get　him。　Hold　on。？

？What？s　up？？　Dan　picked　up　the　phone　a　minute　or　two　later。　He　sounded　distracted。　？Jenny　said

it　was　an　emergency。？

Vanessa　lifted　her　leg　in　the　air　and　tugged　at　another　sugaring　strip。　It　appeared　to　be　glued

permanently　to　her　skin。　Talk　abou