L8r, G8r (18 page)

mad maddie:

and i have to admit, he looked pretty hot. he hadn't shaved cuz he's been sick, and his stubble was so damn sexy.

SnowAngel:

STOP! UR GONNA MAKE ME PIDDLE MYSELF!

mad maddie:

okey-doke, i'm outta here. i'll call you tomorrow—we can go out for donuts.

SnowAngel:

yes ma'am!

mad maddie:

krispy kreme? half an hr?

SnowAngel:

cya there!

SnowAngel:

hey, zo. i wish you could have come out with us today. we missed you!

zoegirl:

next weekend we'll do something together, i promise.

SnowAngel:

we better, cuz time is going by way too fast and we have to spend as much of it together as possible.

zoegirl:

i know, i know

SnowAngel:

i'm SERIOUS, zo!

zoegirl:

you don't think i realize that? i do. but the same's true for doug. i wish you could understand that.

zoegirl:

he wanted to go for a walk by the chatahoochee. what was i gonna do, say no?

SnowAngel:

a little time apart's not gonna kill you. in fact, it'd probably be good for you. isn't that what those relationship articles say, that yr supposed to maintain your own friends and interests?

zoegirl:

???

zoegirl:

i AM maintaining my own friends and interests. just because we didn't hang out this weekend doesn't make me a bad friend!

SnowAngel:

i never said you were a bad friend. i just love you, and it makes me sad that i never get to c you.

zoegirl:

well please don't guilt-trip me about it. i feel like i'm under so much pressure these days! and if i don't do everything just right, everyone hates me!

SnowAngel:

???

SnowAngel:

where is THIS coming from?

zoegirl:

never mind. we're *all* under pressure, i know that. that's why doug wanted to go for a walk, cuz he hasn't heard from oberlin yet and it's driving him crazy.

SnowAngel:

take a deep breath. everything's gonna be ok.

zoegirl:

it's just that so much is riding on this year. i feel like if i make one false step, everything's going to come tumbling down. and with the whole college thing looming over us …

zoegirl:

i'm going to miss everyone so much. i'm already dreading saying good-bye.

SnowAngel:

then don't! come to UGA with me!

SnowAngel:

with your record, you could apply tomorrow and get in.

zoegirl:

that's a sweet thought … but i don't think so

SnowAngel:

why not? make doug apply 2, and you could BOTH go to UGA.

zoegirl:

i know you're trying to make me feel better, but you're actually not.

zoegirl:

my top choice is still kenyon, assuming i get accepted.

SnowAngel:

*pouts*

SnowAngel:

why kenyon? what makes kenyon so much better than georgia?

zoegirl:

because it's small, because it's got a great liberal arts program, because it's got a strong writing faculty. it's just a really good fit.

SnowAngel:

you sound like yr quoting from a brochure

SnowAngel:

anyway, UGA has all of those things

zoegirl:

plus kenyon's 2 hours away from oberlin

SnowAngel:

zoe, you can NOT make your college decision based on doug!

zoegirl:

i'm not!

zoegirl:

i just … i don't want to go to a state school, all right?

SnowAngel:

*draws back*

SnowAngel:

ok, now i'm a little offended. a state school's not good enough for you?

zoegirl:

*please* don't, angela!

zoegirl:

i just told you how stressed out i feel—you're supposed to be nice to me!!!

SnowAngel:

maddie says yr gonna end up at princeton cuz that's where your mom went.

zoegirl:

maddie's not the ruler of the universe. and i'm not going to end up at princeton, because i'm not gonna get in.

SnowAngel:

you don't know that

zoegirl:

yes i do … because i sabotaged my application.

SnowAngel:

*faints*

SnowAngel:

for real??

zoegirl:

i wrote my essay about swinging on the playground at memorial park and how liberating it is. which is true, but not exactly princeton material. and how i think there should be a National Pigtails Day, where everyone says “screw it” to being grown-up and wears their hair in pigtails.

SnowAngel:

zoegirl:

uh huh

SnowAngel:

oh

SnowAngel:

do you really think that, that there should be a Nat'l Pigtails Day?

zoegirl:

don't you? just to escape from the go-go-go of it all?

SnowAngel:

i suppose. i'm just kinda surprised that YOU do.

SnowAngel:

first you “missed” the early decision deadline, and then you sabotaged your application. why didn't you tell us?

zoegirl:

i don't know, i just didn't. but i am now.

SnowAngel:

what's your mom gonna do?

zoegirl:

what *can* she do?

zoegirl:

if i don't get in, i don't get in. case closed.

SnowAngel:

i'm floored, that's all i can say.

zoegirl:

i've got to go, it's time to take my pill. i have to take them at the same time every night or they won't work.

SnowAngel:

for real?

zoegirl:

i picked 10 o'clock, because that's when i usually brush my teeth and get ready for bed. but then when i was a week and a half into it, i realized that
wasn't such a good idea, because when i go out, i have to bring one with me. like at tilman's party. i brought my pill in my pocket, wrapped in a sliver of aluminum foil, and at 10 o'clock i snuck off to the bathroom and swallowed it.

SnowAngel:

sounds complicated

zoegirl:

welcome to my life. *everything* is complicated!

zoegirl:

hey, mads. i needed a distraction from homework, so i watched big bunny episode 2.

mad maddie:

YUMMY episode 2, you mean. that's what it says when you click on it. yummmmmmy.

zoegirl:

i'm thinking that susie and lulu and the roundheaded boy should stop visiting big bunny. the “sofa” he put out for them? it was a giant baguette!

mad maddie:

yes, but while they were sitting there, he told that delightful story about the turnip. wasn't that a delightful story?

zoegirl:

that story made no sense!

mad maddie:

“it is from eating veg-uh-tuh-buls that i got to be sooooo big and strong. yessss, veg-uh-tuh-buls.”

zoegirl:

uh huh. then why, when lulu said she'd bring him some carrots, did he request a kitty instead?

mad maddie:

he wants a delicious tender kitty to pet and love! weren't you paying attn?

zoegirl:

i think lulu and the round-headed boy need to listen to susie. that's what i think.

mad maddie:

i love susie. susie's my hero

zoegirl:

of course she is, she's a mini-maddie.

mad maddie:

why, cuz she's surly?

zoegirl:

and churlish. yes.

mad maddie:

susie's the only 1 with brains. she TOLD lulu and
round-headed boy not to go back into the forest, but they did anyway.

zoegirl:

she went too, don't forget

mad maddie:

cuz she's a good friend! she had to take care of them.

mad maddie:

you noticed, however, that she was the only 1 of the 3 who did NOT take a seat on the french-bread sofa?

zoegirl:

i don't want lulu to bring big bunny a kitten. lulu better not bring big bunny a kitty, maddie.

mad maddie:

watch and c (heh heh heh …)

zoegirl:

you're so weird

zoegirl:

hey, did you hear the latest? supposedly terri spotted jana's stepmom in some guy's car who *wasn't* jana's dad, and terri, being the good friend that she is, let it slip to everyone.

mad maddie:

what a pal

zoegirl:

i know, can you imagine?

mad maddie:

it would totally suck. it would be beyond humiliating. but given that jana has no problem humiliating ME, i can't muster up much sympathy.

zoegirl:

at least it's distracted her from getting back at angela.

mad maddie:

true dat!