Normal by Francine Pascal Page A

school. “Let’s get over there. I just have to buy some beer on the way.”
    It was a quarter to four when the three of them got to the Mercer Hotel. The tall, graceful building loomed over them, shining in the afternoon sun.
    Jake had to admit that the hotel idea was brilliant. He would never have mustered the audacity to try that kind of thing himself. He didn’t have the money, either. He wasn’t familiar with the Mercer Hotel, but one look at the brass signs and the row of car service limousines lined up in front told him that the place wasn’t cheap.
    Liz and Jake were both carrying bags from the Korean deli around the corner. Each bag had two six-packs of Stella Artois beer—Liz had insisted on the best the deli had, even if it was something like four dollars a bottle. Jake had tried to pay, but Liz was much quicker, slapping down a fifty-dollar bill before he’d even gotten his hand near his wallet.
    â€œI’m not drinking,” Jake told Gaia as they moved through the hotel’s revolving doors. The lobby was big and dark and air-conditioned. “I’ve got a sparring session at the gym in about an hour.”
    â€œOkay,” Gaia said.
    â€œJust so you know,” Jake went on. Liz was leading them toward the banks of elevators; they had to sprintto keep up. “In case you wanted to get me drunk and take advantage of me.”
    â€œI stand warned,” Gaia replied, cracking a slight smile.
    â€œCome on, lovebirds,” Liz called out over her shoulder, as her perfectly manicured index finger stabbed at the elevator button. “I do believe it’s party time.”
    The Princely Aura
    COMING THROUGH THE DOOR INTO the hotel suite, Gaia could tell the party was already going full blast. She could hear techno and hip-hop music coming from different directions and an endless cacophony of loud voices. The crowd was right in front of them, packed into the suite’s living room, with kids filling the couches and chairs, and opened cans of beer littering the glass coffee table, where a half-circle of kids were loudly playing quarters. Gaia could see doors into other rooms, with more kids moving through them. The suite was huge.
    Old Gaia would have checked out this scene and turned right back around in a heartbeat. But this was new Gaia. And so she took a deep breath and tried to immerse herself in the crowd.
    But the first face she saw was not making this new commitment to social behavior any easier.
    Tannie Deegan. Of course.
    â€œYou’re totally right!” Tannie was squealing. “Oh my God, Chris. You’re, like, totally exactly right. . . . ”
    Gaia turned to Liz. “You invited the Friends of Heather?”
    â€œFriends of . . . ” Liz squinted in confusion. “Who’s Heather?”
    â€œThose girls,” Gaia explained. Liz was leading them toward the bedroom, where, sure enough, Gaia could hear the squeals of more FOHs. “From Starbucks yesterday? The vultures.”
    â€œOh God, you’re right. It’s them. ” Liz looked pained. “I guess Chris must have.”
    Jake led them through the big white door into the suite’s master bedroom. It was a big, bright room with a gigantic king-size bed. A smaller crowd had gathered in the room. A boom box was playing slightly mellower music. A bar to one side held a big bottle of vodka and some mixers and an ice bucket. The air-conditioning was blasting; the room was nice and cool. Out the huge picture window Gaia could see the bright sky and the tops of the buildings near the hotel and, if she craned her neck, a little bit of the river between the buildings in the distance.
    Chris Rodke was, without question, the room’s center of attention. Gaia recognized him immediately—theprincely aura from the previous day was intact. He was reclining on the wide bed with his shoes off, leaning comfortably on the headboard with a