had more friends than he could count, and never once noticed Victoria as she navigated the overcrowded hallways of the high school. And why would he? He was country club, she was park district. He had a car, she took the bus. He summered at the Cape, she summer-girled. It was the Scott Simons of the world that Victoria swore she would never have to skulk from again they day she left Tenaqua. Well, Welcome Home Vicky.
“Hey - I know you!” He said with great self-satisfaction.
Mother, I am going to strangle you when I get home. I’m out of the house for ten minutes, looking like the Unibomber’s little sister, and it’s old home week at the pharmacy. She kept her head down and kept walking towards the back.
“You had the best voice. I’d know it anywhere. Veronica, right? I sat behind you in Biology sophomore year.” Victoria didn’t get a chance to answer. “Don’t you remember?”
Remember? It was a year of torture for Victoria. She couldn’t bring herself to turn around once all year long. Oh, but she wanted to.
She shook her head no and shrugged her shoulders, and quickly put on her sunglasses. “Thanks Conney.” She started for the door.
Scott followed her to the door. He wasn’t going to make this easy for her.
“Scott Simons! Class of ’86.”
Okay, Victoria didn’t know anybody who referred to themselves by their high school graduation year. Maybe Scott Simons was a nerd after all. She couldn’t help herself, she stopped and turned to look at him.
“How’ve you been? My God, you look fantastic!” he said.
This was fairly amusing as Victoria was wearing Bud’s sweatpants, had no makeup on and hadn’t had a proper blowout in months. She had gained at least 10 pounds since she left New York and was on a clear path to gain 20 more. Most of her hair was in a ponytail, and a good third of it had fallen out during the last episode of “Chelsea Lately”. Maybe his eyesight was going, since it didn’t look like anything else was.
“Great to see you, ah...Scott,” as if she didn’t know. “Gotta run!” She turned, hopped into Bud’s Buick and almost hit a Tenaqua police car trying to peel out of there.
###
When she pulled back into her mother’s alley, there was a black pickup truck blocking the garage. Jesus Christ, she thought. Can’t the damned workers learn to park their cars? What was a service truck doing at her mother’s? It was almost 6:30 at night. For a second, she was worried that a pipe had burst, then her annoyance erased her concern.
She parked her car in the middle of the alley and got out to knock on the driver’s door and tell him to park his goddamned car somewhere else. The truck was a piece of shit with tinted windows - great, there was a drug dealer parked outside of her mother’s house. Just as she was about the knock on the window - drug dealer or no, the guy was blocking Victoria’s way - the car door swung open nearly taking Victoria down.
Michael Towner got out of the car and looked at Victoria. The woman standing in front of him looked nothing like the Park Avenue Princess he met in her apartment a few weeks ago in New York. She looked like a heavily medicated soccer mom. The Park Avenue was front and center once she opened her mouth.
“Excuse me, I’m going to have to ask you to move your - vehicle,” she called out at him.
“Hey - I know you!” He said with great self-satisfaction.
Mother, I am going to strangle you when I get home. I’m out of the house for ten minutes, looking like the Unibomber’s little sister, and it’s old home week at the pharmacy. She kept her head down and kept walking towards the back.
“You had the best voice. I’d know it anywhere. Veronica, right? I sat behind you in Biology sophomore year.” Victoria didn’t get a chance to answer. “Don’t you remember?”
Remember? It was a year of torture for Victoria. She couldn’t bring herself to turn around once all year long. Oh, but she wanted to.
She shook her head no and shrugged her shoulders, and quickly put on her sunglasses. “Thanks Conney.” She started for the door.
Scott followed her to the door. He wasn’t going to make this easy for her.
“Scott Simons! Class of ’86.”
Okay, Victoria didn’t know anybody who referred to themselves by their high school graduation year. Maybe Scott Simons was a nerd after all. She couldn’t help herself, she stopped and turned to look at him.
“How’ve you been? My God, you look fantastic!” he said.
This was fairly amusing as Victoria was wearing Bud’s sweatpants, had no makeup on and hadn’t had a proper blowout in months. She had gained at least 10 pounds since she left New York and was on a clear path to gain 20 more. Most of her hair was in a ponytail, and a good third of it had fallen out during the last episode of “Chelsea Lately”. Maybe his eyesight was going, since it didn’t look like anything else was.
“Great to see you, ah...Scott,” as if she didn’t know. “Gotta run!” She turned, hopped into Bud’s Buick and almost hit a Tenaqua police car trying to peel out of there.
###
When she pulled back into her mother’s alley, there was a black pickup truck blocking the garage. Jesus Christ, she thought. Can’t the damned workers learn to park their cars? What was a service truck doing at her mother’s? It was almost 6:30 at night. For a second, she was worried that a pipe had burst, then her annoyance erased her concern.
She parked her car in the middle of the alley and got out to knock on the driver’s door and tell him to park his goddamned car somewhere else. The truck was a piece of shit with tinted windows - great, there was a drug dealer parked outside of her mother’s house. Just as she was about the knock on the window - drug dealer or no, the guy was blocking Victoria’s way - the car door swung open nearly taking Victoria down.
Michael Towner got out of the car and looked at Victoria. The woman standing in front of him looked nothing like the Park Avenue Princess he met in her apartment a few weeks ago in New York. She looked like a heavily medicated soccer mom. The Park Avenue was front and center once she opened her mouth.
“Excuse me, I’m going to have to ask you to move your - vehicle,” she called out at him.
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