Chapter Thirty-Four - KATYA
The house is not big. Lily wasn’t lying. It’s small, ultra-modern, and looks brand new. It sits on a lot right across the street from the west end of the CSU campus, and it’s sandwiched in between a Greek fraternity on one side and Greek sorority with a for-sale sign in the yard, on the other.
As if that wasn’t enough to make my stomach twist with apprehension, there is a metal sign over the front door engraved with the words The Antimony Association.
So… not a house. Right.
“Lily,” I say with as much patience as I can muster up. “Tell me again who these people are?”
“Oh, there’s Lauren!” Lily exclaims. Completely ignoring me. Lauren is greeting a group of young men and women on the concrete slab outside the open front door that must be the new version of a porch. All of them are dressed up like they are going to a board meeting instead of a science-nerd college brunch, and they all look decidedly upper-class, despite Lauren’s insistence to the contrary yesterday morning. “Lauren!” Lily calls. She runs up to her—leaving me to traverse the front walkway alone—and gives her an excited hug.
“There you are!” Lauren says, looking down on Lily with a benevolent smile. Like she’s some kind of queen. And then Lauren meets my curious gaze. “I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to make it.”
“Hi, Lauren,” I say. “This is a very nice house. Is it yours?”
“My parents’,” Lauren says, reaching for my hand to give it a squeeze. “They bought the lot a few years before I came to school. It took almost a year to rebuild after they tore the old house down. But it was definitely worth the wait, don’t you think?”
“So you have always lived here?” I peer past her to try to get a glimpse of the interior décor. “By yourself?”
“Stop asking questions,” Lily says, annoyed with me. “It’s just a house, Kat. We’re here to have fun.”
“Would you like a tour, Katya?” Lauren says, ignoring my sister. “I’d love to show you around.”
“Sure,” I say, thrilled at her offer to sanction my inevitable snooping.
“Great. Lily”—she turns to look at my sister—“why don’t you go out back where we have the tent set up? Michelle could use some help.”
“Sure,” Lily says, giving me a sisterly glare. “Но не задавать слишком много вопросов, Катя.”
Since when does my sister speak Russian? Her accent and grammar is terrible, even to my mostly untrained ear, but still. I don’t remember her taking Russian at Parson. And we never spoke it. I can understand it, but I don’t really speak Russian. Not off the cuff like that. Unless she came prepared…
“Oh, that’s adorable!” Lauren says. “You two have your own secret language. I love it!”
Lauren tugs on my hand just enough to let me know we’re moving on to the tour. But my mind is stuck on Lily’s warning. Don’t ask too many questions, Katya.
“So the old house,” Lauren says, leading me into the front room, “was over a hundred years old.”
“Wow,” I say. “I’m surprised you were allowed to tear it down. I thought they had a historical society here?”
“They do.” Lauren laughs. “But my parents are good friends with the mayor.”
“You’re from where again?” I ask, taking in the sleek modern furniture. I happen to love sleek modern furniture, and I know this stuff does not come cheap.
“The Western Slope,” she says. “We run cattle over there.”
“How fun,” I say, eyeing the artwork on the walls. Is that an original Berndnaut Smilde photograph? “How big is your ranch?” I ask, stopping to admire the large framed photo of a hovering man-made cloud inside the halls of some extravagant building.
“A hundred and fifty thousand acres.”
“Well.” I almost choke as I look away from the captivating photo. “That is some spread you have.”
“Do you like this photo? Lily tells me you’re kind of a big deal in the art world.”
“Lily exaggerates,” I say, noting how she skipped right over the part where she admits to unhumble beginnings. “Where was this taken?” I ask, pointing to the photograph. “I don’t recognize this location.”
“Oh, it was a private commission. That’s the Tate Modern in London.”
“Uh-huh.” I turn away from the art and look around nervously for the back door, ready to get the fuck out of here. “You should probably have that thing locked up. It has to be worth quite a bit.”
“Oh, we have the best security,” Lauren says, wrapping her arm in mine to lead me towards the stairs. “We use ShrikeSafe. They are the best, I hear.”
My heart is in full-on gallop mode when I hear the name Shrike come out of her mouth. And all I want to do right now is go grab my sister and get the hell away from this creepy chick.
“Let me show you the upstairs. We absolutely adore Lily, Katya. I just want to let you know she’s a delight in every way. So smart, so pretty.” I don’t even have a chance to object to climbing the stairs with her, that’s how smooth her transition is.
When we get to the top, she points to the line of bedrooms. There are a lot of bedrooms, and this house is definitely longer than it is wide, because it’s certainly not anything close to as small as it appeared from outside. “Only Michelle, Angie, and I live here at the moment. But I think Kelly is moving in next week. And we hope that Lily will move in as well.”
“Hmmm,” I say, controlling all the feelings I have right now. “I really don’t think this is her cup of tea, you know? She likes her dorm.”
“Oh, come on, Katya. We both know you don’t want her here. So stop pretending. I want us to be friends. If there’s something you don’t like about us, just say so. Maybe I can fix it.”
“Yes, well, I don’t really know you ladies well enough not to like you. I just think that a… what is the Antimony Association? A club? A sorority? Whatever it is, I just don’t think it’s the right place for Lily.”
“She has told me how much you despise the sisterhood.”
Oh, good God. Can she be any more dramatic?
“And I must say, I’m surprised. You are strong, and smart, and pretty. You have carved a place for yourself. And she tells me you did it alone. But why go it alone, Katya, when you don’t have to? Why not harness the support of other smart, pretty, and better-connected young ladies? Wouldn’t it have been much easier to get where you are if you had help?”
I sigh, like I’m trying to be patient. “Look, Lauren. I get it. You’re all about helping others and everyone needs help some times. But I’m just not interested, OK? And I’d prefer if you left Lily out of it as well. We’ve worked really hard to get to this place and while it was tough going it alone, we like it that way.”
Lauren is nodding her head. “I totally understand. Lily asked me to try to talk you into it, but I respect your decision. How about we just forget about it and go enjoy the festivities outside?”
“Perfect,” I say. She doesn’t twine her arm in mine as we descend, but that’s A-OK with me. When we get back to the living room there’s even more people at the front door. The girl I recognize as Kelly is directing people to go around the side of the house to the back yard. But Lauren leads me further inside to a long dining room with a table that seats twelve, and then into the large commercial kitchen where there are about a dozen people busy cooking and setting up serving trays.
“This is some brunch you’re having,” I say to Lauren as we pass through without a word to the caterers.
“It really is. We only do this twice a year,” Lauren explains. “Once in the fall for Initiation Week. And once in the spring for Scholarship Week.”
Yeah, I’m so done with these girls. Initiation Week? “And what does initiation consist of?”
“Oh, they’re science fairs. Lily told you that, right? Everyone has an exhibit and they present them at the brunch. Her project is amazing. She’s been working on it for so long. Last month she was so afraid she wouldn’t get results worth publishing.”
“Publishing?” I ask. “She thinks she’s going publish her science fair results?”
“Katya, this is what I’ve been trying to tell you. We are no ordinary science organization. The Antimony ladies work with some of the best mentors in the country. The world, in some cases. Lily couldn’t afford to travel last semester, so I got Professor Albright from Cornell to come here.”
“You what?”
“And Lily didn’t disappoint. Albright loved her so much, she’s offered her internships in her lab at Cornell for both winter and summer break. Free of charge, of course,” Laurens adds, as if money was my biggest concern right now.
I decide to just stop asking questions. Obviously Lauren knows more about what my sister has been up to than I do, so why pretend? Why make a fool of myself? And wasn’t that Lily’s warning to me? Don’t ask too many questions, Katya.
Fine. Lauren stops at the double doors which presumably leads to the back yard, and turns to smile at me. “She’s really going places, Katya. And I hope you and I can be friends. We’re the same age, right? We really need to go out and have drinks in the near future.”
“Sure,” I say, just to make her stop talking.
I get a smile for my acquiescence and she opens both doors in a dramatic reveal.
And the scene outside is absolutely drama. The yard, for one, is several lots long. There is a fence, but standing up here on the porch, I can see over it. And on the other side is a street.
But that’s not the only dramatic thing happening in the Antimony back yard. There are tents. Seven of them, all made of a light-colored canvas. There are more than a dozen servers walking around with trays filled with tall fluted glasses and tiny little finger sandwiches. One of the tents is filled with musicians who look like they are just about ready to start playing. Not a band, like you’d see at most college parties. But a string quartet all dressed up in black and white. And the people. There has to be more than a hundred people here.
I let out a breath.
“It’s something, right?” Lauren says with a wide smile.
“Yeah,” I say, trying to take it all in. “It sure is something.”
“Oh, there’s Lily now. Come on, let’s go join the party, Katya.”
I follow Lauren into the crowd. People part for us—her, I should say. Her minions playing up her role of benevolent queen to perfection. Everyone is dressed in fine clothing and I’m suddenly self-conscious about my choice of dress.
I look like some kind of bohemian who came out of the alley compared to these people.
“Hey,” Lily says, coming up to kiss Lauren on both cheeks. Are we European now? She speaks Russian? She greets people with cheek kisses?
Where am I?
“You look stunned,” Lily says to me, laughing.
“Well,” I say, looking around. “You said small brunch. So obviously I was not expecting this.”
“I know.” Lily giggles as she takes a sip of whatever is in those tall fluted glasses. “You’d never have come if I told you how big this was. But I’m so glad you’re here.” She twines her arm in mine in a sisterly gesture of love.
I try my best to keep smiling.
“Katya,” a girl says off to my right. I recognize her as Michelle from the coffee shop yesterday. “So glad you could make it. And I love those boots. You must love them too.” She laughs. “They look like you’ve been wearing them forever.”
If that’s a dig at my outfit, or my money situation, or anything else, I don’t give her the satisfaction of being annoyed. I just smile and look her over. “White. You and Lily, both—”
That’s when I realize they are all wearing the same dress. Lauren, Michelle, and another girl, who I think is Angie—one of the token thugs, as she referred to herself, from yesterday—are all wearing sleeveless white dresses with silver pins. Something I hadn’t noticed on Lily when she was at my house today.
Right. Time to go.
“Lily,” I say, looking down at her with my best unconcerned expression. “I have to go.”
“Awww.” Lily pouts. “But the quartet hasn’t even played yet. And you didn’t have a finger sandwich.”
I pat her hand and widen my fake smile. “I’m afraid I can’t miss that appointment I told you about. But it was so lovely to meet you all.” I nod at each of the girls. “And I really do hope we can get that drink sometime, Lauren. Just let me know when you have time and I’ll clear my schedule.”
“OK,” Lily says. “Do you want me to walk you out?”
“No, no,” I say. “I can find my way. But don’t forget about me tomorrow. I’ll see you for coffee?”
“Yup,” Lily says. “See you tomorrow.”
I take deep, deep breaths as I find my way out of the back yard and walk down the street to where I parked my car. I smile at everyone bustling along on the sidewalk. Even if they are not dressed for the party. Everyone.
But when I am safely inside the privacy of my car, I let the panic take over. I stick my head between my legs for a full three minutes as I get my hyperventilation under control.
I’m going to be late to the meeting and I don’t care. I need one more trip to my secret phone. “Please, Mariel,” I whisper to myself. “Get here soon.”
Nothing about this is right.
Everything about this is wrong.
I feel like I’ve missed something very important. Like it’s about to slap me in the face and I will never see it coming because it’s too damn late.
I start car, the panic coming back, and put it in gear. Speed away from this house. This place that is so clearly murky. So clearly manipulative. So well-funded, and perfect, and just out of reach to everyone but a chosen few.
How could my sister miss that? How, after all the things I’ve told her about? After all the things I’ve warned her about?
I know how. But I don’t even allow myself to think the words. I won’t.
I won’t, I won’t, I won’t.
But I will make a promise to them right now. If the Antimony Association thinks they can steal my sister away with pretty parties filled with poisoned promises…
Well. Then let it be a surprise when their world comes crumbling down from all directions.