Yolo (35 page)

SnowAngel:

what's wrong???

zoegirl:

you know my creative writing class that I love so much? my professor said I suck, and that I'll never be a writer, and that I should give up now and never take another writing class again.

zoegirl:

I'm not kidding. she did!

SnowAngel:

she did not. what really happened?

zoegirl:

in class she passed out access codes for registering for CW 200, which is the next creative writing class. only the creative writing track is a “selective” track, meaning your professor has to say you're good enough if you want to keep going.

zoegirl:

like, the first creative writing class you can just sign up for. but after that, you have to get permission.

SnowAngel:

but Zoe, yr an amazing writer. there's no way yr prof didn't pick u to go on.

zoegirl:

except she didn't!

zoegirl:

she announced at the beginning of class that she knew we all wanted to go on to the next level, but that unfortunately that's not the way it works and it wasn't within her power to change the system.

zoegirl:

then she passed out the access codes—right then and there—and *everyone* in the class got one except for me and a girl named Stephanie.

zoegirl:

and do you know what Stephanie writes about? bugs! every single short story she wrote was told from the point of view of an aphid! I AM NOT KIDDING!

zoegirl:

so Bug Girl and I, we're the ones who suck. we're the only two kids in the whole class who are such bad writers that we're not allowed to keep writing!!!!

SnowAngel:

Zoe! oh, honey!!!!!!!

SnowAngel:

((((((((((((HUGS!)))))))))))))

SnowAngel:

cld u go talk to her or something? yr prof?

zoegirl:

yeah, right. NO WAY.

SnowAngel:

but you ARE a good writer. it's got to be some kind of mistake.

zoegirl:

it wasn't. my professor gave me this sad, pitying look and squeezed my shoulder, as if to say, “so sorry, I know this is a tough blow.”

zoegirl:

maybe she was trying to be nice, I don't know. but all it did was make me that much closer to crying.

SnowAngel:

ack. Zo. I am SO sorry.

SnowAngel:

ah, crap—Maddie calling. one sec . . .

zoegirl:

Angela?

zoegirl:

come back! I thought you said no phone calls in public places, so get off the phone with Maddie and come back to me!

SnowAngel:

Zoe. SHIT.

SnowAngel:

starting new txt thread so Mads can be part of it, but prepare yrself: it's bad!!!!

zoegirl:

what's going on???

mad maddie:

my parents. they hate me

zoegirl:

what?

SnowAngel:

they don't hate her.

SnowAngel:

they don't HATE you, Maddie. in fact I'm sure they feel absolutely terrible.

SnowAngel:

but Zoe, they're not letting Maddie come home for Thanksgiving!!!

zoegirl:

WHAT?

mad maddie:

yeah, I know, that's great, huh? might as well kill myself now.

SnowAngel:

MADDIE. don't you even say that.

SnowAngel:

and Zoe, they've all of a sudden decided they don't have enough $ for her plane ticket.

zoegirl:

didn't they already buy it? Thanksgiving break is in a week and a half!

mad maddie:

yes, but then they took this stupid financial
planning class. they've decided to live a “cash-based life,” and since the ticket was exchangeable, they exchanged it.

mad maddie:

now—if I live that long—it'll be my stupid coming-home-for-Christmas ticket.

mad maddie:

GOD. they hate me—and I hate them!

SnowAngel:

what did Ian say?

mad maddie:

 

SnowAngel:

Maddie?

mad maddie:

 

zoegirl:

Maddie, you're sending text bubbles with no texts in them. that is not helpful.

mad maddie:

fuck helpful. fuck everything. I can't even talk about it right now, so good-fucking-bye.

zoegirl:

I think I ran for so long because I had so many things to process.

zoegirl:

1) Doug,

zoegirl:

2) being axed from the creative writing program, and

zoegirl:

3) Maddie.

zoegirl:

of all of them, Maddie's the biggest. so I was thinking . . . could WE buy her a ticket?

zoegirl:

she really needs to come home. she kept saying how that was the only thing keeping her going, you know?

zoegirl:

so, I don't know. throwing it out there.

zoegirl:

all right, I've got to shower. talk soon!

SnowAngel:

it's driving me bonkers!

zoegirl:

me too, BECAUSE I WANT TO FIX EVERYTHING FOR HER AND I CAN'T!

zoegirl:

I've got exactly $123.07 in my bank account, and that's it.

SnowAngel:

and I'm so rich, I have 32 whole dollars and some random cents.

SnowAngel:

so that, combined with what I've got, brings us to . . .

zoegirl:

$155, give or take

SnowAngel:

it is annoying how fast you do math

zoegirl:

it is annoying how poor you are!

zoegirl:

kidding. kind of.

zoegirl:

I've searched the airline sites, as well as ones like Travelocity and Kayak, and the cheapest ticket I can find costs $461.

zoegirl:

oh, and that's just for one-way. a round-trip ticket is $589.

SnowAngel:

but we can't give up. Maddie's seriously depressed, Zoe.

zoegirl:

I know. I asked if maybe she could spend Thanksgiving with one of her suitemates, and she said she'd rather stay in the homeless shelter.

SnowAngel:

with Jermaine!

SnowAngel:

nvm, bad joke.

SnowAngel:

it's a strange thing for her to say, tho, cuz Maddie used to like her suitemates . . . didn't she? and now she dislikes them so much that she'd rather eat turkey with sad dirty ppl?

zoegirl:

well, things with Zara and the Esbees have been going downhill. even so, I'm sure she was just being dramatic.

zoegirl:

have you talked to Ian?

SnowAngel:

briefly, but he had class. do that math magic of yrs and tell me how much we need to buy her that ticket, on top of what we already have.

zoegirl:

$434, and my stupid parents say that they “can't interfere with the decisions Maddie's parents have made,” so there goes that possibility.

SnowAngel:

mine said the same thing. my mom said she'd be happy to help if Maddie's parents asked her to, but that she doesn't want to go to them offering money because of dumb “I'm sure they don't want charity” reasons.

zoegirl:

when we are parents, we will help our kids when they need help! promise?

SnowAngel:

duh!

SnowAngel:

Ian will be more than happy to chip in, I'm sure, but I doubt he'll have that much. how can we raise $400???

zoegirl:

I don't know. is it even possible for us to raise $400?

SnowAngel:

Shut. Your. Mouth.

SnowAngel:

oh dear. did that sound harsh? I don't mean to sound harsh—I just don't want to think anything but positive thoughts!

zoegirl:

I want to get Maddie to Atlanta as much as you do, but we can't just snap our fingers and make it happen.

SnowAngel:

so then, what? are you suggesting we give up?

SnowAngel:

WE ARE THE WINSOME THREESOME! WE DO *NOT* GIVE UP!

zoegirl:

but Angela . . .

SnowAngel:

what happened to the Zoe I used to know? where's the spirit? where's the guts?!!!

zoegirl:

whose guts?

SnowAngel:

*your* guts, stupid!

zoegirl:

um, am I normally a girl with spirit and guts?

SnowAngel:

yes. no. kind of!

zoegirl:

I'm the quiet girl in the corner, Angela. I'm quiet and I read books. remember?

SnowAngel:

but you still have spirit and guts, like how you got over Doug by becoming a runner and how you kiss girls and how you got up in front of millions of ppl and read yr story. all of that. takes. guts!

zoegirl:

I'm hardly a runner, I kissed ONE girl, and I got kicked out of my writing class. I got told I *couldn't* be a writer, remember?

SnowAngel:

Zoe, you're being annoying. your teacher can tell you that you can't take the next creative writing class, but she can't tell you not to write.

zoegirl:

oh

SnowAngel:

yes, and what does she know anyway?

SnowAngel:

if you want to be a writer, then you'll keep writing, because that's WHAT YOU DO. you don't give up.

zoegirl:

what are you leading up to?

SnowAngel:

that we're not giving up on Maddie either. that we'll get her to Atlanta one way or another!