Fantasy Summer

by Susan Beth Pfeffer

  “That’s not fair,” Annie said. “How do you expect anybody to beat that?”

  “It’s easy, believe me,” Ashley replied. “How about if my roomie goes next? Tell us all your dirtiest secrets, Robin.”

  Robin paused from putting her underwear away in the top drawer of the dresser to think about just what her dirtiest secret might be. “My name is Robin Schyler,” she said, and then she giggled. “I think you’ve all heard that before,” she explained. “I don’t think I have any really dirty secrets. You know, except the normal ones. I cheated on an algebra test two years ago and didn’t get caught, but I think about it sometimes. Does that count?”

  “Not unless you cheat on a regular basis,” Ashley declared.

  “I don’t,” Robin said. “I’m really very wholesome and normal. I live with my parents and my younger brother in a small town in Ohio. It’s a couple of hours away from Cleveland. My father’s a doctor, and my mother works part-time as a librarian. I’m here to intern under the art director. I take photographs. I’m pretty good at that, actually. And that’s just about it.”

  “We can’t all be tormented,” Ashley said cheerfully. “Besides, things will probably be a lot easier this summer if I’m the only one suffering all the time. At least in this room.”

  “Fine,” Robin said. “I’ll be the stable one. I can handle that.”

  “Me next, I guess,” Annie said, and Robin went back to her unpacking. “My name is Anne Powell, but everybody calls me Annie. I live with my parents in Boston. Actually in the suburbs. And I have an older brother, but he’s in college now. Michael. I mean, that’s his name. My parents are both professors. There are a lot of professors in Boston. I am expected to do well in things, and I generally do. Only I’d like to do better. I really like being best at things. I’m going to be interning with the feature-articles editor. I’ve already been named as feature editor of my school newspaper for next year. I don’t think I want to spend the rest of my life editing, though. It’s just one of the few things a teenager can do that at least gives her the illusion of power. I think what I’d really like to do is be Secretary of State. Or maybe, if I could, the dictator of a small Latin-American country! I really think I was born to dictate.”

  Torey and Ashley laughed. Robin decided she was truly happy she and Annie agreed not be be judged on the other’s behavior.

  “We’re down to you, Torey,” Ashley said. “How do you feel, knowing you’re rooming with a power freak for the entire summer?”

  “Comforted somehow,” Torey said.

  Robin turned around to get a good look at Torey. She hadn’t had that much of a chance to really check her out before. Once she looked, though, she was startled at what she’d missed.

  First of all, Torey was tall, taller than any of the rest of them, and none of them was really short. Torey looked about five-feet-eight, or maybe even an inch or two taller. Her hair was genuinely blond, an assumption Robin was unwilling to make about Ashley’s, even though Torey’s hair color was considerably lighter. Her eyes were Paul Newman blue, and she had the kind of cheekbones models killed for. But it wasn’t even that Torey was strikingly pretty. All the girls in the room were pretty, Robin realized. Even Annie, who, as always, was just a little plumper than she’d probably like. There was something more to Torey’s looks. There was a maturity to her that Robin was unaccustomed to seeing in teenagers. Her face was almost powerful in its serenity and strength. Robin breathed a sigh of relief that she was rooming with Ashley instead of Torey. Wildly unhappy neurosis she could handle a lot more easily than all the self-assurance she could sense in Torey.

  “I’m Victoria Jones,” Torey began. “Torey for short. I have two younger sisters and a younger brother. We live with our parents in Raymund, New York, which is in the Catskills. The land we live on is very beautiful. We have a large garden, and grow just about all our own produce. We can what we don’t eat in the summertime, and that helps us get through the winter. We keep chickens too, for their eggs.”

  “Do you live very far from New York?” Annie asked. “The Catskills are pretty close, aren’t they?”

  “It was a four-hour bus trip,” Torey replied. “But the bus stopped everywhere. The summer people say it’s a three-hour drive. This is my first time in New York, though, so I really don’t know any better than that.”

  “You live three hours from New York and this is only your first trip?” Ashley asked. “That’s terrible. If I lived that close to New York, I’d be here constantly. I go to St. Louis constantly, that’s how desperate I am.”

  “I guess I’m not desperate, then,” Torey said. “It costs money to go to New York. You have to understand, we don’t have any money for things like that.”

  “What do you have money for, then?” Ashley asked. Robin marveled at her nerve. Ashley was a girl with a dazzling lack of manners.

  “Not a heck of a lot,” Torey said, and smiled. “We get by, but it isn’t easy. Nobody has a lot of money in Raymund except for the summer people.”

  “You mean you’re poor,” Ashley continued. “You’re poor, and everybody in Raymund is poor, too. There aren’t that many rich people in Ashley, either. My grandfather sees to that.”

  Torey laughed. Robin gave up unpacking and started watching. She didn’t know either of the girls well enough to be sure, but it seemed to her they actually were enjoying each other. Annie, Robin noted, just looked uncomfortable.

  “There are worse things than being poor in Raymund,” Torey said. “It’s a good town, and people really care there. When I found out I’d gotten the internship, my high school organized a car wash to get me the money for the bus ticket down. And the supermarket where I work had a flea market in its parking lot and the money went to buy me two new suitcases. The editor of the newspaper where I work part-time didn’t give me anything, but he said when I got back I’d get a raise.”

  “How big is Raymund, anyway?” Annie asked.

  “It’s real small,” Torey said. “I guess around three thousand in the summer, less in the winter. We all depend on the summer people and the hunters and fishermen.”

  “My family has a summer house,” Ashley declared. “It’s even worse than our winter house, because it’s farther away from civilization. You’re really stuck there. That’s where I’d be now if this internship hadn’t come through—at our summer house, spending July and August slowly going crazy.”

  “Don’t do that here, okay?” Robin said. “I wouldn’t mind, except we are roommates, and I can’t stand the sight of crazy people.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Ashley said. “Besides, this summer is going to be perfect. Didn’t you know that? This is going to be the one perfect summer we’ll all look back on when we get old and decrepit like my grandfather.”

  “I’d like this summer to be perfect,” Robin admitted. “I could really use a perfect summer.”

  There was a knock at the door. Robin, still the only one standing, walked over and opened it.

  “Oh, good, you’re all here,” a woman said, walking into the room. “My name is Jean Kingman and I’m publicity editor for Image. More to the point, I’m in charge of the four of you for this summer.”

  At that, all the girls examined her carefully. She looked to be in her early thirties, very attractive, and fashionably dressed. A genuine New York career woman, Robin decided. Just the kind they would all pretend to be this summer.

  “First of all, call me Jean,” the woman continued. “Different people are going to tell you to call them by their first names, or not, depending on who they are and how formal they are, but I’m a first-name sort of person. You have to be in publicity. I feel like I know you all already, but I guess I should say hello to you individually. You’re Torey, right?” she said, advancing to the chair Torey was in.

  Torey rose and shook Jean’s hand. “I am,” she said. “It’s good to meet you.”

  “Likewise,” Jean said. “And Robin opened the door for me, right?”


  “Right,” Robin said, uncertain whether she should go back to unpacking.

  “Ashley,” Jean continued. “That’s a fabulous outfit, Ashley. Don’t even think of wearing anything that short to the office. We are very conservative at Image.”

  “I’ll be sure not to,” Ashley said. “Thanks for the warning.”

  “And you’re Annie,” Jean said. “Oh, Annie, you’ve gained weight, haven’t you?”

  “A few pounds,” Annie admitted. Robin turned around to give her cousin a closer examination. As far as she could see, Annie was her standard weight.

  “That won’t do at all,” Jean said. “From now on you’re on a strict diet. Ask Laura Cleary tomorrow for one. She’s our health-and-nutrition editor, and believe me, she knows all the diets in the book. We can’t have you so plump for your makeover session.”

  “All right,” Annie said, and Robin could see she was blushing.

  “The rest of you look fine,” Jean said. “And Annie will too, after a month or so of dieting. You know one of you is going to be on the cover of the February issue of Image. That’s really something to aspire to.”

  In spite of herself, Robin agreed. She wished it didn’t matter to her, especially since she was sure she’d never be the one to be picked. But to be the cover girl of Image, if only once, was a dream so perfect it didn’t matter that it was probably meaningless as well.

  “You girls are going to have a wonderful summer,” Jean assured them. “A summer girls all over America will be dreaming about. We expect you to work, of course. You’re not here just to be paid tourists. But we have plenty of fun in store for you too.”

  Robin stopped unpacking. She wanted to learn as much about the work and the fun as she could.

  “For starters, there’s a small dinner party I’m here to herd you to tonight,” Jean said. “Nothing fancy, and nothing too tiring, but we thought you might like to meet the editors you’ll be working with and their assistants in a nonoffice situation. And we’ve arranged for you to go to the theater a few times each, and to a special press screening of the new Dan Keller movie. We’re doing an interview with Dan, of course, to coincide with the opening of the movie. And since Image has corporate memberships to most of New York’s museums, you’ll have free admission to just about any museum you care to go to.”

  “Are we going to have any time to ourselves?” Ashley asked.

  “Of course you are,” Jean said. “I should have known you’d be the one to ask that, Ashley. One girl does every summer. But we do have rules, fairly strict ones. They have to be strict, because we’re in charge of you for the summer, and that’s a heavy responsibility. The rules are going to sound pretty standard, but I have to tell you what they are. First of all, no drugs, no drinking, no nothing illegal. Image will not tolerate a scandal. And that is non-negotiable. Just one hint that you’re drinking or taking drugs of any sort stronger than aspirin and you’re out on your ear. Straight back to Mommy. Is that clearly understood?”

  The girls nodded. It was a sensible rule, Robin knew, but she wished Jean hadn’t sounded quite so stern about it.

  “Now, about boys,” Jean said. We have you staying in this convent of a hotel where no boys are allowed in your rooms. By the way, this also greatly increases the safety of this hotel, which is the other major reason you’re staying here. New York is not always a safe place to be, especially if you’re not used to it. But that’s a whole other topic. As a matter of fact, at lunch on Monday one of the other editors is instructed to give you a safety lecture. I’m here to tell you about the rules and regulations.”

  “Are there more?” Ashley asked. Robin was grateful to her for being willing to ask the attention-getting, absolutely necessary questions.

  “We were discussing boys,” Jean said. “Image wants you to have a great summer, and that obviously involves boys. There’s going to be a large party for you next weekend, and another one at the end of the summer, and if any of you need an escort for those parties, we will happily supply you with one. If you meet a nice boy during the course of the summer, of course you can go out with him and have a fine time. We will not be chaperoning you twenty-four hours a day, any more than your parents would be. But there are curfews that you’ll be expected to obey. Eleven o’clock on weekdays, and midnight on weekends. You’ll sign in every evening downstairs in the lobby, and if you haven’t by one minute past curfew, someone at Image, probably me, will be immediately notified. We’ll allow two curfew violations during the summer, if they aren’t outrageous. You know, ten minutes or so late, we’ll forgive you twice. Three strikes and you’re out. And if you’re a half-hour late the first time, you’ll be on probation for the rest of the summer, and believe me, that won’t be a lot of fun for any of us. Any questions?”

  Ashley was silent. So Robin was surprised when Annie was the one to open her mouth.

  “My grandmother lives out on Long Island,” she said. “And she wants me to visit her for a weekend soon. Actually she said all the girls were invited. How do I handle that?”

  “You go and you have a great time,” Jean said. “Just have your grandmother call me so we can arrange the details. Honestly, girls, Image wants you to be happy this summer, and that certainly includes visits with grandmothers. You can check out of the hotel for a weekend, if you’re going to stay with anybody your parents have approved of before you got here. That was one of those endless forms your parents filled out for us, a list of people you could visit. But believe me, all those weekend visits will be carefully checked out. Don’t think you can say you’re visiting Granny and go off to the Hamptons for the weekend with some fabulous Columbia student you just met. You won’t get away with it. Is that clearly understood?”

  “Are the big parties fancy?” Torey asked. “I didn’t bring anything fancy to wear.”

  “Not too fancy,” Jean said, smiling warmly at her. “I’m sure if we have to, we can improvise something. Ashley can help. She’s our fashion apprentice, after all.”

  Robin made a quick mental inventory of the clothes she’d brought, and said a silent thank-you to her mother, who had insisted she bring two party dresses.

  “One final note, and then I’ll be going,” Jean said. “I have a couple of errands to run, and then I’ll meet you downstairs in the lobby to take you to the party in an hour. That should be enough time for you all to shower and change.”

  Robin waited nervously to learn the last, and presumably worst, restriction on them.

  “New York can be a big, scary, tough city,” Jean said. “And just being away from your parents can be an unsettling situation. I want you to know I’m here to help you. If you have any questions or any problems, feel free to ask me. I’m going to be handing each of you some papers. On one of them is the basic schedule for this summer. We have some events already prescheduled, like next week’s radio appearance and the TV interview we have set up for next month. National cable, so that should be a special incentive to you, Annie, to lose those pounds.”

  Annie scowled. Robin didn’t blame her.

  “I also have listed local churches and synagogues if any of you would like to attend services,” Jean continued.

  “Oh, good,” Torey said.

  “And at the top of every piece of paper I’ve listed both my office and home phone numbers,” Jean said. “I have a machine, so if I’m not in, you can leave a message for me, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. The editors you’ll be specifically working with are also likely to give you their home numbers, so you’ll have some backups if you need them. Don’t hesitate to call if you need help. We want to make everything as easy and pleasant for you as we possibly can. Is that understood?”

  The girls all murmured yes.

  “Fine,” Jean said, getting up. “Now I’ll be leaving, to give you all a chance to curse me out in private. I’ll meet you in one hour, and I don’t like to be kept waiting. Nobody at Image does. Keep that in mind when you start work tomorrow. All right. See yo
u downstairs in an hour.” She walked to the door and let herself out.

  “She took her chains and shackles with her,” Ashley said. “You think we should call her back and remind her?”

  “She had some nerve harping on Annie’s weight like that,” Robin said. “Like it was some kind of crime not to be skinny.”

  “When you’re at somebody else’s party, you have to play by their rules,” Torey declared. “They want us to be as free from problems as possible. And that includes having us weigh what’s right for their cameras.”

  “Torey’s right,” Annie said with a sigh. “I just don’t know how I’m going to manage a dinner party when I’m absolutely famished and I can’t eat anything.”

  “How am I going to manage all of New York City when I’m psychologically famished and can’t eat a thing either?” Ashley asked. “Just how much wild living do they think I can cram in before eleven o’clock at night?”

  “More than most of us could even dream of,” Torey said. “Come on, Annie. Let’s get back to our room and become perfect for tonight.”

  “I will if you will,” Annie said, and followed Torey out of the room.

  Robin watched them leave, and then looked at Ashley. A summer spent with a saint, a sinner, and a would-be dictator on a diet. Just the sort of summer the readers of Image were dreaming about at that very moment. In spite of herself, she smiled. That would certainly be the last time she believed what she read in the magazines.

  3

  It was more confusing than the first day at a new school.

  Meeting some of the editors at a small dinner the night before had probably been a great idea, Robin reflected as she tried to keep track of everything her guide, Shelley Haslitt, was showing her. But she’d come close to falling asleep in her salad bowl, and by the time the main course was served, her mind had stopped functioning altogether. She just hoped nobody judged her based on her behavior that night. She couldn’t even remember speaking, just nodding when she thought that was appropriate.