Page 33 of Devil in Disguise
“Bellevue,” Sydney said, like that should mean something. “But we met at the Bush School. In kindergarten,” she added, in case Dyma hadn’t gotten the point about her own outsider status. It kind of made her want to scratch her armpits, or possibly pick her nose.
“That sounds nice,” Jennifer said. “Bellevue. It means, ‘beautiful view.’ Does it have one?” Which was reaching, and was also making Dyma furious. Who were these girls to patronize her mom? What was so special about them, other than the Bush School, whatever that was? It sounded like a dirty joke. She wondered if she should say that. Ha.
“I guess,” Sydney said.
“The main thing is that it’s expensive,” Cassandra said, then sighed. “Chinese parents. Did I mention?”
“Plus it’s near Microsoft,” Sydney said. “Since that’s in Redmond,” she explained to Jennifer. “In Westside.”
“Do your parents work for Microsoft too?” Jennifer asked.
“No,” Sydney said. “Nintendo. But most of the parents are in tech. They have to be, to afford the tuition, since it’s up to thirty-three thousand a year now.”
“Nintendo?” Jennifer said. “That will be exciting to Dyma. She loves video games.”
“Well, not Nintendo so much,” Dyma said as Sydney exchanged a glance with Cassandra and they both suppressed smiles. “More for kids, Mom.”
“I guess you know now that I’ve never played them, then,” Jennifer said. “Let’s see. Which wardrobe is Dyma’s?”
“The one next to the door,” Sydney said. Of course it was.
“Look at all the room, baby,” Jennifer said, her bright, cheerful, I’m-just-fine mask firmly in place, heading right on over to open everything up. “You’ve got storage drawers, and we can put up the hooks we brought here on the inside of the doors, and hang some under your bed, too. This is going to be perfect, though I’m glad we didn’t bring too much. Here, let’s get this stuff off the cart, and I’ll take it back down for somebody else. We’ll make your bed as soon as I’m back. Everything always feels better once your bed is made.”
She grabbed the bag of bedding off the cart, and was all set to start shifting boxes. Dyma didn’t want to let the bed thing go, but what was she going to do? She said, “Stop doing that, Mom. Harlan’s going to kill me if you’re moving boxes. He justsaidthat,what, six hours ago?Did you even listen?”
Her mom said, “You know he’s overprotective.” She told the girls, “My boyfriend. I guess you can tell I’m pregnant. Dyma’s going to have a baby brother next month. Not every college freshman can say that, I guess.”
They didn’t say anything, though they were probably already mentally composing their texts to their fellow Bush School alumni about their trashy roommate and her even trashier mother, and Dyma got the bags and boxes off the cart, then got it out the door with Jennifer following behind. It shut behind them, and she told Jennifer, “Well, that went well. I’m extremely optimistic.”
“Give it time,” Jennifer said. “Maybe just go easy, in the meantime.”
“You mean don’t ask if we can braid hair?” Dyma asked. “Or just don’t suggest a cage match? How far am I supposed to go here? I’m not looking at their list of rules. I’mnot.How could you let them do that and not say anything? And just act so …cheerful?Also, why didn’t you say that Harlan was your fiancé, at least? Not to mention who heis.”
Jennifer said, “Because that’s how I win. I’m above it all. I don’t notice. They can take me on my own terms or not at all, and I can be privately amused by their misconceptions. What does it matter to me? And you’d better figure out how you’re going to handle it cheerfully yourself before you go back in there. That’s my advice. Even if you end up switching rooms or something, you’ve still got to live with these girls in the meantime, so think about how you’ll do it.”
Dyma said, “Excuse me? You’re supposed to be tactful. Also on my side.”
“Iamon your side, baby. Always. And right now, that means keeping you from getting stabbed with a fork in your sleep. Or, knowing you, stabbing one of them. You don’t have to love them. You just have to get along for now. That could mean keeping your mouth shut.”
“Do you evenknowme?” Dyma asked.
Her mom laughed, shoved her hair back again, which worked about as well as it had the first three times, and said, “I’m taking this thing back downstairs. Five minutes, and I’ll be back to help you unpack.”
“Wait. Mom.” Dyma gave her a gentle hug. “There’s a café in the art building. Look it up on your phone, but it’s really close. Maybe go over there and have a cup of tea or something first. Besides, don’t you have to pee?”
“Well, yes,” Jennifer said. “But we need to get you settled.”
“Mom. Please. Go get a cup of tea and have a rest, and then come back. I’m fine.”
Jennifer took off with the cart, but turned after a few steps and said, “Remember. No cage matches. No stabbing. Don’t make me have to come back up here and bail you out.”
Dyma gave her a salute. “Got it. Also, Mom?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
Her mom paused a second, then waved and left.
