第4部分(第2/7 頁)

？Thanks。？　She　pulled　two　cigarettes　out　of　the　pack　and　stuck

them　both　between　her　lips。　Then　she　flicked　on　her　mint　green　Bic　lighter；　puffing　on　them

simultaneously　before　handing　one　to　Jenny。

Jenny　sucked　on　it　hesitantly。　After　Nate　had　broken　up　with　her；　she？d　tried　to　take　up　smoking

as　part　of　her　new　jaded…woman　image；　but　they？d　given　her　such　bad　sore　throats；　she？d　had　to

quit　after　only　a　few　days。

？So；　have　you　checked　your　e…mail　today？？　Blair　asked　her；　cocking　a　freshly　plucked　eyebrow

mysteriously。

Jenny　coughed　out　a　lungful　of　smoke。　？My　e…mail？？

Blair　smirked　to　herself。　Even　though　that　blond　boy　in　Bendel？s　had　been　kind　of　dorky　looking；

he　and　Jenny　would　make　a　very　cute　couple。　The　beanpole　and　the　big…breasted　cutie…pie。　？Forget

it；？　she　replied　even　more　mysteriously。　？Just　be　sure　to　check　it　regularly　from　now　on。？

Of　course　now　Jenny　wanted　to　sprint　back　to　school　to　check　out　her　e…mail；　but　she　couldn？t

just　abandon　Elise；　especially　not　when　two　more　senior　girls　were　walking　toward　the　stoop　to

join　the　smoking　party。

？My　fucking　feet　are　killing　me　in　these　boots。　It？s　like　Japanese　foot　binding。？　Kati　Farkas

plopped　herself　down　beside　Blair　and　unzipped　her　peacock　blue　Charles　Jourdan　ankle　boots。

？Stopwhining　about　those　boots；？　Kati？s　glued…together…at…the…hip　friend　Isabel　Coates　moaned。

Isabel　leaned　against　the　stoop？s　metal　railing　and　took　a　sip　from　a　paper　cup　full　of　whipped

cream？topped　hot　chocolate。　She　was　wearing　a　Kelly　green　Dolce　&　Gabbana　coat　from　a

weekend　sample　sale。　It　was　buttonless　and　tied　at　the　waist　with　a　thick　black　cord；　like　a　Kelly

green　monk？s　rob