Page 59 of All These Beautiful Strangers

Teddy gave a dark laugh. “Average. You say that like it’s the worst possible thing a person could be. And you’re wrong. You don’t know her like I do.”

“Listen,” I said, standing and clapping my hand on my brother’s shoulder. “You may think I’m being unfair, but I’m just trying to look out for you. You can be many things and make it in this family. Be stupid, be rebellious, be frivolous, be vain. But you can’t be average. And Grace is average. She won’t survive us. So do everyone a favor, and just fuck her and get it over with.”

It happened very fast: one moment I was standing there with my hand on my brother’s shoulder, and the next, he grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and slammed me up against the wall. He was red in the face and breathing all heavy, and I saw the fury in his eyes.

I laughed.

“Careful, Teddy,” I said. “Your feelings are showing.”

Eugenia had finally given in to the fact that I was going to marry Margot. I think the thing that helped her to get over it was her love of planning an event where the Calloways would be the main attraction. Wedding planning gave my mother plenty to focus on besides her dislike of the bride.

When I woke up the next morning, I found my mother and Margot sitting side by side at the breakfast table. Fabric samples were spread out in front of them.

“What are my favorite two women in the world up to?” I asked.

“Hey,” Olivia said, offended. She was sitting a little ways down the table with a fashion magazine and glass of OJ in front of her. I ignored her.

“We’re picking our color palette for the wedding,” Margot said brightly.

“Oh, can I see?” I asked, reaching for one of the swatches in front of them on the table.

My mother swatted my hand away. “You’re a man; you don’t get an opinion,” she said.

“Why not?” I asked.

“Because you’re color-blind.”

“I am not color-blind,” I said.

My mother sighed and held up two swatches of white fabric. “What color are these?” she asked.

“White,” I said.

“Precisely what I’m talking about,” she said. She pointed to the swatch on the left. “This is egg cream,” she said. “It has a yellow base.” She pointed to the swatch on the right. “And this is moonlight. It has a blue base. Honestly, it’s like night and day.”

I squinted at both of them to get a better look. “They look the same to me,” I said.

“Precisely,” my mother said, and clucked her tongue. “Color-blind.”

“Fine,” I said, conceding. I picked up the pitcher of coffee and poured myself a cup. “I’ll just get my coffee and be on my way then.”

Margot and my mother ignored me, already tittering away about the color of the tablecloths. That’s when I glanced out the window and saw them: Teddy and Grace on the front lawn. They were snowshoeing. Grace had on a pale cream peacoat and a wool hat pulled low over her ears. The tip of her nose was red with the cold. Teddy pushed her down into the snow. She laughed. She looked ridiculous lying there on her back with the giant webbed shoes strapped to her feet, sticking up. She pulled on Teddy’s leg and he fell down next to her.

Grace started to move her arms and legs back and forth, forming a snow angel. It was like a fucking Hallmark card or something.

Then, Teddy leaned over, tucked Grace’s hair back behind her ear, and kissed her. Something tugged in my gut, and I looked away.

Fifteen

Charlie Calloway

2017

It was tradition at Knollwood for upperclassmen to spend the first weekend in October at a retreat at Camp Wallaby in Maine. I had never been to camp as a kid, but I pictured melting marshmallows over an open campfire, and singing “Kumbaya” with a long-haired hippie with an acoustic guitar, and spending the day canoeing and braiding friendship bracelets. Cheesy, harmless stuff. But Harper Cartwright was quick to set us all straight on the bus ride up: this was no relaxing weekend retreat we were headed to.

“It’s more of a ‘get your shit together’ wake-up call,” Harper said, leaning back in her seat.

Apparently, everyone was forced to meet one-on-one with a guidance counselor, who reminded you that you were about to make one of the biggest decisions of your life.