Scenes From the City: A Knitting in the City Wintertime Surprise by Penny Reid Page B

manifestos and beleaguer me with pointed glares. I would laugh good-naturedly and give a noncommittal shrug, feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable each time.
    Last week I saw him at a party. Now that I’d succumbed to Fern’s overtures and pressure to socialize, I’d gone to my very first party, and Greg was there. Upon seeing him, I promptly spun on my heel and maneuvered to a different room. I left shortly thereafter, unable to relax.
    If I knew he was going to be part of a group gathering, I didn’t go.
    If I saw him on campus, I walked the other way.
    I’d spotted him at the gym several times and took an alternate route to my destination.
    I was outright avoiding him. Our short exchanges had yielded the strongest attraction and connection I’d felt for another person. Avoiding Greg felt like the smart thing to do if I wanted to find a connection with someone else.
    As well, the thought of facing him again now that he knew I’d never even been kissed filled me with metric tons of dread.
    “Oh my God, why? What happened?” Gail nearly squealed the question, grabbing the other blonde girl’s hand as though the news might make her lose her balance.
    “I don’t know the particulars, only that Vanessa has been crying non-stop, and Greg was the one who broke up with her. I don’t think she saw it coming.”
    “She’s gorgeous.” Maddie said this wistfully, her eyes losing focus. “If she can’t keep a boyfriend, then what hope do the rest of us have?”
    “Don’t be so dramatic, Maddie.” Gail scrunched her nose. “Maybe she didn’t know how to keep her man happy. Greg is…well, that’s a lot of man right there. Vanessa might be beautiful, but beauty fades. Greg knows that.”
    The other blonde chimed in, “Yeah, she had her chance. They’ve been dating for over a year.”
    I felt my eyebrows jump at the calculating look in their eyes. It seemed that I wasn’t the only one who’d appreciated Greg from afar.
    The absurdity of the situation hit me abruptly, and I almost laughed out loud at myself. I’d received the news of Greg and Vanessa’s break up with the same greedy, hungry appetite as any girl who likes a boy with a girlfriend. In my fantasies the fact that Greg no longer had a girlfriend might mean that I had a chance with him.
    I looked around at the starry eyes of these three girls, all imagining the same fantasy, all beautiful in their own way, and I recognized that reality painted a very different picture. But more than that, I didn’t like what I saw: three lovely girls celebrating the heartbreak of a fellow female.
    My competition days were long over. Besides, I’d never been a person who could feel joy at the sorrow of another.
    I chose to embrace the feelings of melancholy instead, that a nice girl like Vanessa had apparently had her heart broken.
    I tsked . “I hope she’s okay. I’ve only met her a few times, but she seems really nice. Does she have someone to talk to?”
    All three of them stared at me. After a brief moment each of them had the decency to look various shades of ashamed.
    “Uh…yeah. Vanessa and her roommate, Carly, are really tight. I’m sure Carly will help her deal.”
    “That’s good.” I nodded, then repeated something Fern said often, “Girls need to stick together, support each other.”
    Gail looked me up and down, like I was strange and she was suddenly uncomfortable.
      “That’s right,” she said, then took a step back. “I have laundry to do. Come on, Maddie.”
    Maddie gave me a shy grin, and the three girls disappeared down the hall.
    I watched them go, then turned to my own suite and shut the door behind me. I was greeted by rare silence, q uiet enfolded me. It was Thursday. Fern was at class then would be gone till all hours as she had no classes on Fridays. Dara was gone, and stillness replaced the constant soundtrack of her breakups and makeups with Hivan.
    For the first time in months, I had a quiet evening to myself.
    I would not