The Smartest Girl in the Room

by Deborah Nam-Krane

  What was it about him? Emily wondered. There was nothing wrong with him, but there was nothing spectacular. He was well-groomed but nothing special, average height, average hair color, average skill. But these guys thought he was the best thing since the invention of the cell phone.

  Jessie snorted. Emily turned around. "It’s really easy," she said gesturing toward Joe. "All you have to do is act like you care about what they’re saying."

  "Most of the time, he does," Zainab said.

  Emily frowned. "Zainab, Jessie. Jessie, Zainab."

  Zainab shook Jessie’s hand. "Nice to meet you."

  "You’re not with that guy, are you?"

  "No," Emily answered for her quickly. Zainab raised her eyebrows at her, but she shrugged.

  "Good!" Jessie said a little too loudly. "You can do much better."

  The doorbell rang again. This time Zainab answered it.

  "Oh, hey Zainab!" Drew said as he walked in thirty seconds later.

  "And so can you," Jessie said to Emily.

  "Um, thanks?" She turned to Drew. "Hi."

  He seemed to brighten. "I’m glad you made it. Sorry I’m late. What did I miss?"

  Jessie shrugged. "Drunks and rapists, but we made Richard leave, so now everybody’s safe."

  Zainab and Drew laughed while Emily looked at Jessie. When she looked back, she saw Drew looking in the direction of the kitchen. He seemed to go blank. Emily followed his gaze and saw that he had settled on Joe. "Do you know Joe?"

  "Obviously," Jessie smirked.

  Drew looked back at Emily. "Uh, no. Sorry- that’s why I was staring. I haven’t seen him before."

  "Zainab can introduce you," Jessie said. Zainab scowled and Emily tried not to laugh.

  "What? No, that’s okay. I’ll just go say hi myself." Emily watched him walk into the kitchen then shrugged.

  "He’s a jerk," Jessie said.

  "So is there anyone you do like?" Zainab asked.

  Jessie stared at Zainab then Emily. "I like you two," she said after a moment. "Lousy taste in guys, but otherwise you seem okay." She put her arms around both of their necks. "But I will like you both a lot better if we can get out of here."

  Emily sighed. "And that sounds like a plan. Don’t start!" she said as Zainab started to open her mouth. "He’s not going to miss you."

  Zainab looked toward the kitchen. "I think you’re right. Alright ladies, where to?"

  "I sort of like that Princess Café-thingy on Newbury Street."

  Emily rolled her eyes. "Aw, man." She’d been able to forget Mitch up until now.

  "You don’t like it?

  "No, it’s just that I... um, I’ve been there before."

  "Oh, Em!" Zainab said after a second. "Then let’s go somewhere else."

  Jessie sneered. "What? You went there with some guy and now you can’t go there again? Screw that. We’re going!"

  Emily stood up straighter. "Yeah, we’re going." She wasn’t going to let some jerk ruin the same night twice.

  Jessie punched Emily on the shoulder. "That’s what I’m talking about!" She grabbed the coats and threw Emily hers. "It’s been real!" she shouted to the men in the kitchen.

  Drew looked like he was starting to say something, but Jessie shooed them out the door before Emily could stop.

  Jessie giggled once they were in the cold night air. "Would you believe that’s actually better than a lot of Richard’s other parties?"

  They arrived at the café a minute later. There were more people than there were last Friday, but not so many people that they couldn’t find a seat.

  "What are you guys having?" Jessie asked when they got to the counter.

  "Just some coffee and a croissant," Zainab answered.

  "I’ll just get some chamomile tea," Emily said.

  "What? Guys, this is dinner, and I’m buying."

  "Who said anything about you buying?"

  Jessie frowned and turned to the girl behind the counter. "Ignore anything these two say. We’ll have three pieces of the ham and cheese quiche-"

  "I’m a vegetarian!" Emily piped up. "Don’t ignore that."

  "Fine, two pieces of the ham and cheese, one pieces of the spinach and cheese. We’ll also have three slices of the chocolate cake, two lattes and a pot of tea."

  The girl smiled as she rang the order in. "Is that everything?"

  "For now." Jessie pulled out what looked to Emily like a black American Express card. She hadn’t realized those were even made. She was more impressed that the total came to just under thirty dollars after tax. She’d never dreamed of spending that much in a café in two weeks, let alone one sitting.

  "Who are you?" Emily blurted out as soon as they sat down with their food.

  "Jessie Bartolome," she said as she took a bite of her quiche.

  "Bartolome? As in the Bartolome library?"

  "Well, not me, but one of my great-grandfathers or something like that."

  Emily tapped the air with her finger. "So is Richard a Bartolome?"

  "No, the lucky bastard. His dad was a Hendrickson."

  "I think I’ve seen that name on some reports," Zainab said before she sipped her latte.

  "I think I’ve seen that name on a couple of buildings downtown."

  "Don’t be impressed, ladies. With the exception of Richard, every single one of them sucked, and the Bartolomes are worse." She winked. "Present company excluded, of course."

  "Of course," Emily said, raising her cup of tea as she did so.

  CHAPTER 9

  While Emily had been at the café, Mitch had been having sex with Kyra across town.

  She had asked him to come to her apartment at six-thirty that night. She lived in a swanky building on Marlborough Street. They talked a little bit about where they might go in Ireland, and then she poured him some Italian Barolo, which she declared to be the best she had ever tasted. After his first glass, she laughed that his face was turning bright red. He looked in the mirror and laughed as well. Mid-laughter, she kissed him. He kissed her back.

  It was nine-thirty before she came up for air. "That’s going to make Ireland interesting."

  "Yeah, I’ll say," he said, looking up at the ceiling. "Definitely something else to look forward to."

  She rolled over and started nibbling on his ear. "And what else were you excited about?"

  "Hardly in the same ballpark, but I was looking forward to some of the Irish History, Ancient and Twentieth Century, and of course the Poli Sci classes and, um," he laughed. "I can’t remember anything else now."

  He rolled over and kissed her. He was ready for another round. She seemed to like the idea, but then suddenly popped up. "I’m sorry, I’ve got to get out of here." She started gathering her clothes.

  Mitch propped himself up on his elbows. "You have to leave right now?"

  "Yeah," she said, putting on her clothes. "An out-of-town friend is coming in, and I signed on for pickup."

  "I can give you a ride."

  Kyra looked up. "That’s okay. The train station is really close by."

  "But it’s late-"

  "Trust me, I’m a big girl." She finished getting dressed then gave him a kiss. "But call me on Sunday. Let’s do something then, okay?"

  "Uh, yeah, sounds great," he said a little dazed.

  Mitch got out of bed and took a shower, dressed and left her apartment. He got into his car and drove away smiling. He put in The Cure and sang to himself, then got home to find his parents watching an old movie on TV. "Guys, you do know there is something called a DVD player, right?"

  His father looked at his watch. "And you do know that there is something called a telephone, right? These days you can even fit them into your pocket and take them with you, or so I hear."

  "Since when do you need me to call home?"

  "It’s a parental prerogative," his mother said. "Last week was a fluke, but twice in a row and we get worried."

  Mitch tightened his jaw. "Yeah, well, I think I’m back a lot sooner
this time." Without another word, he walked up the stairs.

  He was brushing his teeth, looking eye to eye with himself in the mirror when suddenly he started gagging. He couldn’t stop, and two minutes later he was vomiting. "Ugh!" he rinsed his mouth out and went back to his room.

  "Honey, are you alright?" his mother called from downstairs.

  "Yeah, I’m fine."

  He shuddered a bit, then closed his door and changed. He turned out the light and got under the covers. Barolo must be too sophisticated for me. He closed his eyes for a moment then opened them again. The room was too quiet. He shut his eyes tightly for a moment and tried to relax. Whatever, he thought, trying to sound casual to himself.

  As he drifted off to sleep, he had two parallel thoughts: Sunday and the call he never made.

  CHAPTER 10

  Emily, Zainab and Jessie were still at the café at ten-thirty when Jessie’s cell phone rang. "Oh, go screw," she muttered as soon as she heard the ringtone. She answered it and repeated herself. "I’m with her now, and her friend Zainab. Well, you didn’t say when." She curled her lip. "No, I’m not telling you where we are. Because we’re nearby and we’ll be coming home soon and you can just calm the Hell down." She sat up straight. "Yeah, that does make me feel much better. I hope she’s not home now. Just shut up. I’ll be home when I want." She hung up. "Richard says hi," she said flatly.

  "Hi," Zainab said after a moment.

  Emily could picture Richard’s face. "Uh huh. That sounded like we need to get you home, and it also sounded like Michael isn’t there."

  Jessie scoffed. "There’s a special Do Not Enter sign around my house that has Michael’s name on it. Aunt Lucy’s pretty useless, but she was pretty serious about that."

  Emily looked at Zainab, who nodded then turned to Jessie. "You know, Emily’s sleeping over my house tonight. Why don’t you join us? We can watch bad movies, eat some popcorn, drink a few beers."

  "You two can have the beers," Emily mumbled.

  Jessie smiled, and Emily realized how young she was. "That’s really nice of you guys, but I think Richard’s taking me back to school tomorrow and all of my stuff is at the house. But let’s do it when I’m back for break."

  "Back to school," Emily repeated. "And where is that?"

  "Connecticut."

  "Boarding school?"

  "Yeah."

  "How old are you again?"

  "Fifteen."

  "Right. No beers for you then."

  "Oh, Jesus." Jessie turned to Zainab. "Where did you get her from?"

  They left the café and walked along Newbury Street. Jessie wanted to look in every window and make snide comments about how ridiculous everything looked, but when they got to Dartmouth Street she groaned. "Turn left."

  They crossed Commonwealth and Emily smiled in spite of everything. She loved the way the Commonwealth Avenue Mall looked when lit up at night. They crossed Marlborough. Did Jessie live in Cambridge and were they going to walk across the Charles?

  They stopped at the corner of Beacon. "Yep, this is me."

  "Wow," Zainab whispered, looking at the large house. "I didn’t think they had houses like this in Boston anymore."

  "You guys should come for the Christmas party when I come back and I can show you what a piece of crap it is on the inside."

  Emily giggled. "I don’t see how we can resist!"

  Zainab hugged Jessie. "It was nice to meet you."

  "I bet you say that to everyone."

  Emily hugged Jessie too. "Well, I don’t, but it was. You sure you’re going to be okay?"

  Jessie nodded. She seemed tired. "I’ll be fine. But you can text me tomorrow just to make sure."

  "You got it."

  Jessie opened her door then waved to the both of them. They stayed until she closed it, then Zainab turned to walk back up Dartmouth.

  "Zainab, wait," Emily said. "Can we walk up Commonwealth to Kenmore? It’s kind of beautiful now."

  "Sure."

  They got onto Commonwealth and Emily smiled. Between the lights and the arching trees, she felt like they were walking on a magical path. But she didn’t want to get anywhere right now.

  "You think Jessie’s going to be okay?" Zainab said after a moment.

  "Yeah. That Michael guy sounds like a piece of work, but Richard seems like a nice guy."

  "I’m sorry about Mitch."

  "Speaking of pieces of work?"

  Zainab chuckled. "His bill is being voted on soon. Do you want me to vote against it?"

  "Zainab! Isn’t it sort of a good bill? And won’t Joe be pissed at you?"

  "Forget about Joe. I can vote anyway I want."

  "Don’t vote against it because of me. I’d feel like a jerk. But it’s nice to know you love me more than you love Joe."

  "To Hell with Joe."

  "To Hell with Mitch."

  "To Hell with Drew?"

  "Oh, God! Not even."

  They took the train from Kenmore to Zainab’s house. Emily made some popcorn and then they put on an episode of an old show called The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Zainab fell asleep on the couch before it was over. Emily sighed.

  She was now alone without anyone to distract her from her loneliness and disappointment. She wanted to cry, but she wasn’t going to cry or even tear up. Someday this would be nothing.

  She looked at the dark-haired man on the screen, trying to stop someone from passing secret documents to the enemy. That was something, she thought. So was graduating. So was Zainab. So was Jessie. Mitch was... no, she wasn’t even going to think his name again.

  "To Hell with him," she repeated to herself, then focused on the television, determined to finish the episode.

  CHAPTER 11

  The next morning Mitch got in his car and drove to the university. He got out and walked down St. Stephens Street. He stopped in front of the unassuming white building which no one would know was the Hillel of the university. He looked at the calendar of events. There was a Shabbat service this morning, but it wasn’t until ten-thirty. He felt his hands grow clammy and his breath stop in his throat. Maybe he shouldn’t go in. But then he remembered how fitfully he had slept.

  He was about to walk up the stairs when he heard a girl exclaim, "You have no shame, do you?"

  Mitch turned around. On the street was a pretty young woman with curly dark hair and pale skin. She was facing a tall, broad shouldered man.

  "What can I say? I'm not trying to impress anyone."

  She walked up closer to him and pointed her finger at his chest. "I find you following me again and I will make you as miserable as you've made me. You aren't even supposed to be in Boston right now!"

  "What are you going to do?" the man smiled, bending down to bring his face closer to hers. "Tell on me?"

  Mitch took a step off the stairs. "Is there a problem?"

  As he got closer, he could see that the man was drunk. Not hung over, but drunk. The man smirked, turning to Mitch. "Just a friendly disagreement."

  "Except we're not friends," the woman spat. She looked at Mitch. "I was just going inside. You too?" Before he could say anything, she walked away.

  Mitch didn't like bullies. "I think the lady said you should leave."

  The man scoffed and turned away. "And the lady always gets what she wants."

  Mitch made sure the other man was out of sight before he followed the woman inside. "What was that?"

  She took hung up her coat. "I'm sorry. Actually, I’m Miranda, and I usually do a much better job of keeping my life away from here."

  "That guy- was he stalking you?"

  "Believe me, that is the least of his crimes."

  Mitch's eyes widened. "Has that guy hurt you?"

  "God, no, but I almost wish he would so I could turn him in."

  There were a couple of questions Mitch wanted to ask to, but it was early, and he was tired. "Okay… I'm Mitch, by the way. Is the Hillel always this exciting?"

  "Not on Saturdays."

  Mit
ch didn't think she was funny, but he smiled anyway. "I guess you can have the rabbi first."

  "He's not here yet."

  "Oh." Mitch was disappointed. "So what are you doing here?"

  "I'm the chair of the Event Committee. I just wanted to double-check some details."

  "Maybe you should talk to him instead," Mitch said gently.

  "He’s heard it all before." She looked at him. "What are you here to talk to him about?"

  He hadn't forgotten. "It’s kind of complicated."

  "It isn’t any fun if it’s simple."

  "Then this is hilarious. I think I met the perfect girl last week. Beautiful, intelligent, funny, into science fiction and- " He paused, "What?"

  Miranda was smiling. "I'm sorry, you remind me of a good friend of mine. So what's the problem?"

  "She’s nineteen."

  Miranda waited for a second. "And?"

  "And I’m twenty-two. And she’s nineteen."

  "And you’re worried about what?"

  "I’m worried that she doesn’t know what she wants."

  Miranda raised an eyebrow. "Or that she doesn’t know what you’ll want?"

  "Not just that, but yeah, I have thought about it."

  "The sex isn’t as perfect as she is?"

  "I haven’t even kissed her."

  "So what are you here for exactly? Permission to date someone who is three years younger than you are and even legal to marry?"

  "Not exactly."

  "Oh. There’s someone else… because there’s always someone else."

  What did that mean? Mitch thought. "I’m not like that. But... sort of."

  "Someone you were interested in before, who only now became available?"

  "Someone I met two days ago and slept with yesterday."

  "Because you’re so in love with this other girl?"

  "Yeah, I think so."

  "Is there more to this story? Because I don’t get it."

  "I’m going to Ireland in a few weeks, and this other girl is going with me. The first one- Emily- she’s not."

  "And now you won’t be alone."

  Mitch let that sit in the air for a moment as he felt Miranda’s blue eyes dig into him. "And now I won’t be alone."