The Darlings Are Forever

by Melissa Kantor

  “Hi,” Natalya said. She forced herself to put the clutch out of her mind, and smiled at Ana.

  Ana patted her hair, which was big with hair spray. “Your mother’s running a little late, but she’ll be ready in a few minutes. How’s school?”

  “It’s okay.” The last thing Natalya felt like doing was explaining all the complexities of her life at Gainsford to Ana. She could barely understand them herself. And what was Ana supposed to do if Natalya suddenly started spewing about some bag that cost a thousand dollars, and how she’d waved at a girl who hadn’t waved back?

  Better to say nothing. Natalya sat down, relieved to hear her phone buzz. She took it out of her bag, the bag she’d barely thought about when she’d left her apartment that morning, the bag she now hated.

  Family photo thing running late. I’ll text when it’s over. Waaah! Your darling v

  Natalya was still replying when her mother pushed open the glass door between the reception area and the spa proper.

  “Sorry, sweetheart.” In her white pants and top, her mom nearly blended into the white wall behind her. “I’ll be ready in just a few minutes.”

  “It’s okay, Mom.”

  Her mother blew her a kiss, then slipped back into the spa. Behind her, Natalya heard the elevator doors open, and then a tall blond girl walked past the couch Natalya was sitting on and said something quietly to the receptionist, before taking a seat on the other side of the room.

  Natalya had only half noticed the girl’s entrance, but when she sat down and picked up a magazine, Natalya realized she went to Gainsford. She wasn’t a freshman, but Natalya had definitely seen her in the hallways. Pretending to read Vogue, Natalya kept looking over at the other girl. Her skin was perfect; she definitely did not need a facial. So what was she there for—laser hair removal? A leg waxing? Jane’s mom had taken Jane, Natalya, and Victoria to get their legs waxed right before the summer, and Natalya had vowed never to do that again. It was one thing to do what you were afraid to do.

  It was another to get your legs waxed.

  The girl glanced up just as Natalya was looking her way. Natalya felt bad. What if the girl had some weird, unsightly, body-hair thing, and the sight of a fellow student made her totally embarrassed? But she just gave Natalya a vague smile, as though she couldn’t quite place her. Then she slipped her iPhone out of her Marc Jacobs bag and dialed a number.

  “Hi, it’s me,” she said.

  As the girl talked, Natalya realized that her mother could come back at any second. What if, since she was going back to work after their coffee break, she hadn’t changed out of her uniform into her street clothes? What if the girl sitting here was a client of her mom’s? Would she say something to people at school? How weird would that be, if some random girls came up to her in class or at lunch and said, Your mom waxes my eyebrows.

  Natalya felt sick, sicker even than she’d felt when she saw the price of the Juniper Bush purse. Her heart was pounding and her hands were sticking to the magazine, and for a second she was afraid she might actually vomit. She stood up and made her way towards Ana’s desk.

  “Yes, dear?” Ana turned to her with the same warm expression she’d worn before, but this time Natalya couldn’t fake a smile.

  “Um, could you tell my mom—” her voice was a whisper.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

  Behind her, Natalya could hear the Gainsford girl still talking into her phone. She risked raising her voice a notch. “Could you tell my mom I’ll meet her at the Starbucks on the corner?”

  “Of course. Do you want me to ask her to come out?” Ana’s hand was on the phone.

  “No!” Natalya’s voice was sharper than she’d meant it to be. “I mean, don’t bother her,” she added quickly, already moving toward the elevator. “I’ll wait for her there.”

  “Okay, dear. Have a nice day.”

  Natalya frantically pressed the down arrow. “Thanks,” she called over her shoulder as the doors mercifully opened.

  Only when she was out of the building and standing on the bustling Fifty-ninth Street sidewalk did she realize that, in addition to everything else, she’d just stolen a copy of Vogue from her mother’s place of business.

  VICTORIA FELT AS if the photo shoot had lasted until midnight, even though her phone told her it was only two o’clock in the afternoon. The People photographer and the campaign’s press liaison had pushed and prodded her and moved her from one end of the couch to the other, told her to look up at her father “lovingly,” talk to her sister “seriously,” and sit with her mother “comfortably.” At the very end of the photo shoot they’d asked her to put on an apron and mime serving chocolate chip cookies to her family, and she knew that was the photo they were going to use.

  She could see the copy now. Though the candidate is only in his late forties, he somehow has a daughter who’s a 1950s housewife.

  When Victoria finally reached the Fourteenth Street station, she climbed the stairs and turned south, toward Act Two, where Jane and Natalya had been waiting for her for the past two hours. As she took out her phone to tell them she was just a couple of blocks away, she saw someone walking down the block ahead of her. He had shaggy brown hair and was wearing a pair of faded jeans and an old-school leather bomber jacket against the chilly, overcast day.

  Slung over his left shoulder was a camera.

  Victoria felt her heart begin to race in her chest.

  Could it be…Jack?

  Doing a quick mental check of her outfit (white skinny jeans, long-sleeved green T-shirt, blue hoodie, blue Chuck Taylors—nothing memorable but nothing to be ashamed of), she walked a little faster, but not too fast. Jack (or the person who looked very much like Jack from behind) was walking slowly, as if he had nowhere in particular he had to be. Finally he stopped and turned slightly in her direction.

  Victoria gasped.

  It was Jack.

  Had he seen her? She froze as he lifted his camera to his eye and focused on a spot across the street. He adjusted the lens, then took the picture. A second later, he started walking again. He hadn’t seen her.

  Victoria followed him.

  Her phone buzzed and she glanced down at the screen. It was a text from Jane.

  Just bought awesome T-shirts! Where r u?

  Victoria looked up. Jack had turned the corner, and she hurried to follow him. He was walking faster now, as though he had someplace to be.

  Victoria hit Reply, then typed back. I m heading west on Christopher.

  A second later her phone buzzed.

  ?????

  Jack was taller than Victoria, and he had long legs, so she was practically running to keep up with him. He had a great walk, relaxed and confident, as if he were strolling through a city he didn’t just live in but that he belonged in. The street was crowded, and Victoria let people come between them, so if he turned around he wouldn’t see her. But then she let him get too far ahead, and she actually had to sprint to keep him in sight.

  Her phone buzzed again.

  V!!!????

  She risked losing him in order to type back a response.

  I m stalking Jack.

  Hustling to catch up with him, she nearly tripped on the uneven sidewalk as she read Natalya’s text.

  Who is Jack?

  She barely slowed down to type an answer.

  Camera boy.

  It took a second for the reply to come, but when it did, she knew Jane had written it, even though it was sent from Natalya’s phone.

  So he IS cute.

  Victoria grinned at her screen. There was no need to answer that. Instead, she texted, I m heading south on eighth.

  Was this what it was like to be a spy? Victoria liked the feeling of trailing Jack, knowing where he was without his knowing where she was. Not that he would have cared, exactly. Who’s on Eighth Avenue? Victoria Harrison? Oh, isn’t she that weird silent girl in my bio class?

  We r heading w on bleecker, Jane texted.


  Eighth Avenue was less crowded than Christopher Street, but there were still a lot of people around. She noticed a couple of men look at Jack. She smiled to herself as she imagined calling after them, Hey, I saw him first!

  As they headed south, the crowds thinned until there was almost no one on the sidewalk between Jack and her. If he turned around he would definitely see her. She was debating the risk of letting the distance between them grow, when he made a sudden left turn.

  Victoria followed him. They were on a small block with brownstones on one side and a basketball court on the other. This must have been Jack’s destination, because he slowed down and crossed the street, leaning against the fence to watch the game.

  There were literally no other pedestrians on the block, and Victoria ducked back to Eighth Avenue to avoid being seen. She reached for her phone again.

  Meet me @ corner of 8 & Leonard.

  She stayed on the Eighth Avenue side of the corner for a long minute before realizing that maybe Jack had just paused to check out the game and was planning to continue on. In that case, standing where she was, she would have no idea that he’d left. There had to be a way for her to watch him without standing on Leonard Street, where he would absolutely see her.

  She leaned forward to peer around the corner.

  If Jack had turned around, the bewildering sight that would have met his eyes was a girl in his bio class, wrapped around the corner of a building, her legs on Eighth Avenue, her torso on Leonard Street. Luckily, he didn’t turn. Instead, he pressed his camera to his eye and began shooting pictures of the game.

  Victoria studied him, barely aware of her uncomfortable position. Jack was utterly focused, as if the chaos of the city didn’t exist for him. As he moved closer to the fence, following the play by crouching and kneeling, he seemed to be engaged in a beautiful dance, one for which only he could hear the music.

  Suddenly, there was a voice whispering in her ear. “Agent Jane Sterling reporting for duty, sir. Do you have the target in your sights?”

  Victoria giggled and, without turning, pointed toward Jack. Jane leaned past her, gave Jack a quick glance, then swung back to Eighth Avenue, her back pressed against the building. Without speaking, she gestured for Natalya to take a look, but Natalya was doubled over with laughter.

  “Shhh!” warned Victoria, even though Natalya was miraculously managing to keep her laughter perfectly silent.

  “What’s the plan?” whispered Jane, her back still up against the wall.

  Victoria turned to face her. “I don’t know. I don’t have a plan. This is a no-plan situation.”

  “Roger that,” said Natalya, and then she began laughing hysterically.

  “Stop!” said Victoria, but now she was laughing too. Only Jane kept a straight face.

  “Okay, then, this is the plan,” Jane whispered. “On my signal, we’re going to turn the corner, and we’re going to walk down the block really, really, really slowly. Got it?”

  Victoria nodded.

  Natalya nodded.

  Jane gave them the thumbs-up, and they turned and began walking down Leonard Street at a snail’s pace.

  “What if he doesn’t see us?” asked Natalya, eyes focused straight down the block.

  “What if he does see us, you mean?” corrected Victoria, eyes equally focused on a point ahead of her.

  “Wait, we want him to see us, don’t we? I mean, you want him to see us. I mean, see you, right?” asked Jane. She stopped walking.

  Victoria stopped walking also. She turned to face Jane, keeping her back to Jack. “I don’t know!” she hissed, grabbing Jane’s forearms.

  “You better decide quick,” Natalya whispered, barely moving her lips. “I think he’s coming this way.”

  “Act natural,” Jane ordered. She reached into her bag and pulled out something pink. Then she spoke in a completely normal voice. “So I bought this shirt for you. We each get one.”

  Victoria couldn’t focus at all on the piece of material Jane was holding in her direction.

  “It’s okay,” Natalya muttered. “He turned around again.”

  “Do you like it?” asked Jane calmly.

  Without actually being aware of what she was doing, Victoria unfolded the pink T-shirt. Scrawled across the front in hot pink lacy letters dotted with rhinestones were the words foxy lady. She cracked up. “I cannot wear this!”

  “Of course you can,” Jane insisted. “If we can wear it, you can wear it. Because we are all foxy ladies!” She snapped her fingers and spun around. “I’m thinking of wearing it to my audition Tuesday.”

  “Oh my god, he is coming!” Natalya yelped.

  “Act natural!” Jane warned.

  Victoria bunched the shirt up like it was a piece of incriminating evidence and, not knowing what else to do, shoved it in her purse. Her heart was pounding so fast she was sure it was using up beats it should have been saving for later, as if these moments of stalking Jack were literally taking days or maybe even years off her life.

  “He’s definitely coming this way,” muttered Jane, and at that moment she spun Victoria around so she was facing the direction Jack was coming from.

  Victoria felt her hair fan out around her, then settle across her face as she came to a stop. She looked out at Jack as though through a picket fence.

  He was crossing Leonard Street at an angle, and when he saw the girls, he hesitated, then squinted at Victoria. From the middle of the street, he waved. “Hey.”

  Victoria swiped at her hair. “Hey.”

  He was still standing in the street. She couldn’t decide which would be worse: if Jack realized she’d been stalking him or if he got hit by a car.

  “You’re Victoria,” he said.

  Should she say, You’re Jack? Or did that make it obvious that she liked him? But he’d just said her name. So maybe she should say his.

  “Do you guys know each other?” Jane sounded so natural, Victoria actually believed Jane didn’t know the answer to her question. It was amazing. She glanced at her friend. Jane’s face was open, curious. She was smiling at Jack as though she were prepared to be friendly if he turned out to be someone Victoria knew.

  No wonder Jane had been accepted to The Academy for the Performing Arts.

  Jack closed the distance between them, and Victoria felt a sense of relief as he stepped out of the street and onto the sidewalk. “I don’t know. Do we know each other?” he asked, smiling at Victoria as if they were in on some private joke.

  Victoria felt herself smiling back, even though she had no idea what the joke was. “We go to school together,” she told Jane and Natalya, who already knew.

  “Oh,” said Natalya and Jane together.

  For a second Victoria was scared they were going to start cracking up. Then she was scared she was going to start cracking up.

  “We have Biology together,” added Jack. He put one foot up on a low fence surrounding a tree and placed his camera on his knee.

  “Biology,” Jane repeated, and now Victoria could hear in her friend’s voice that she was about to lose it.

  Jack cocked his head to the side as he studied Victoria. She could not get over how cute he was. His skin was perfect, and his eyes were the color of the Caribbean on a cloudy day. “So, let’s see: I know your name. And I know that you don’t like to have your picture taken.” He looked up at the sky, then snapped his fingers. “And I know that you know how paramecium reproduce.”

  Victoria blushed so fiercely she could practically hear her cheeks sizzle. She couldn’t have thought of something to say if her life depended on it.

  Once again, Jane came to her rescue. “Do you live near here?”

  Jack shook his head. “I’m doing a photo assignment.” Without turning around, he gestured toward the basketball court with his elbow. “We’re supposed to take action shots with a wide depth of field.”

  “Cool,” said Victoria.

  Cool?! Had she really just said “Cool”?

  But Jack
didn’t seem to think her response was the lamest ever. “Yeah,” he agreed. “I thought so too.”

  A quiet beeping made him reach into his pocket and take out his phone. He touched it, and the beeping stopped. “That means I have to go,” he explained.

  “Oh,” said Victoria. Was it obvious from her voice how disappointed she was?

  “Where are you going?” asked Jane.

  Victoria was half embarrassed that Jane had asked, half glad. She wanted to know the answer.

  “Lincoln Center,” he answered.

  “Are you going to a concert?” asked Jane.

  “Jane!” Natalya said, slapping her lightly on the shoulder.

  “Sorry,” said Jane. “I’m just really nosy.”

  Jack shrugged. “I don’t mind. Yes, I’m going to a concert.” He looked at the three of them, his eyes lingering on Victoria. “If I had an extra ticket, I’d invite you.”

  Oh my god. Oh my god. OH MY GOD! “Oh.” She hesitated, then just said it. “If you had an extra ticket, I’d go.”

  Jack smiled at Victoria. Victoria smiled at Jack.

  She could have stood there smiling at him for the rest of her life.

  Finally, he dropped his foot from the fence. “Good to know.” He gave a little wave to Jane and Natalya. “Nice to meet you.”

  “You, too,” said Jane.

  “Oh…yes,” said Natalya. “Very nice.” Though her back was to Natalya, Victoria could tell that Natalya was doing all she could not to crack up.

  “Bye,” said Jack, looking into Victoria’s eyes with his own deep gray ones. “I’ll look for you Monday.”

  “Bye,” said Victoria. She couldn’t bring herself to say she’d look for him Monday.

  It was too true to speak out loud.

  As Jack headed down the block, Jane and Natalya, standing behind her, burst into laughter.

  “Guys!” Victoria hissed, slapping at them without turning around. “He’ll hear you!”

  “Sorry,” mumbled Natalya, still laughing.

  “Sorry,” agreed Jane, also laughing.

  By now Victoria was laughing too. The three of them collapsed onto the steps of the nearest brownstone.