All Good Women Read Online Free Page B

interested in journalism. And you wrote poetry, too.’
    Wanda nodded. ‘Still do. In fact I had quite a lot running through my head during those gruesome typing exercises. Got to do something to preserve your sanity.’
    Anna gobbled the rest of her sandwich, surprised at her appetite.
    Wanda could barely conceal her pleasure about eating with Ann Rose, the girl she used to admire from a distance. ‘Is your father still at the factory?’
    â€˜Good memory. You’ll make a great writer. Yes, but he got promoted to foreman last year. Mind if I smoke? Would you like one?’
    â€˜Go right ahead,’ said Wanda, ‘but no thanks.’
    Ann watched the smoke rise. She noticed Wanda biting her fingernails. First days were tough on everyone. ‘Who were your friends at Lowell?’
    â€˜Oh, you wouldn’t have known them.’ Wanda grew shyer, intensely aware of the differences — Ann a year older and the school brain — but she had resolved to be more forthright with people in this new course. ‘Emmy Yamamoto and Sarah Murdoch.’
    â€˜I think. I knew Sarah. Wasn’t she in art studio?’
    â€˜Yes,’ Wanda said. ‘She knew your friend Carol Sommers. Whatever happened to Carol? I always thought she was going to New York to make it big.’
    Ann inhaled sharply. Then she stubbed out her cigarette and looked at her watch. Hell. She thought everybody knew. She considered excusing herself to the lavatory and then caught the panic on Wanda’s face. She breathed deeply; if she told this story often enough, she might start believing it.
    â€˜She did go to New York.’ Ann could smell the anger in her sweat. ‘And it was very hard for her.’ She struggled to hold back the tears.
    Wanda wished she hadn’t asked.
    â€˜Too hard,’ Ann blurted. ‘They found her in a bathtub, with her wrists slit.’
    â€˜How tragic for you.’ Wanda reached for her hand.
    Ann looked up, startled. No one had really consoled her in the year since Carol’s death. ‘Such a waste.’ ‘So sad for her family.’ ‘If we had only known, we might have been able to help her.’ But no one had acknowledged Ann’s feelings. She was only a friend.
    Wanda watched Ann carefully.
    â€˜Yes.’ Ann’s voice was steady.
    â€˜I remember how close you were.’ Wanda forced a smile. ‘I always envied your friendship. The two of you going to football games together. And didn’t you have the same coats — dark brown with black collars?’
    â€˜Yes.’ Ann smiled, herself. ‘Yes, she was a good friend and I miss her.’
    â€˜I’m sorry.’ Wanda pulled back her hand. ‘And I’m sorry I brought it up.’
    â€˜No, no,’ Ann began, ‘it’s fine. You didn’t know …’
    A buzzer rang. The two looked at each other. ‘Like being back at Lowell,’ they said in unison and laughed.
    â€˜Except that we have the same teacher all day.’ Wanda shook her head. ‘What a Lulu.’
    Upstairs, they parted for their desks. ‘Lunch tomorrow?’ Wanda asked boldly.
    â€˜It’s a date if I can bring another girl, Moira.’ Ann was cheerful. She had no good reason to refuse — only a nagging sadness about Carol. Well, best to get her mind off that. They would talk about other things tomorrow. Ann had hardly asked about Wanda.
    Wanda walked back to her desk grinning. She was in the same class with the famous Ann Rose. Howard would be pleased. And Mama would be very impressed. Perhaps this would stop her questions about whether Tracey was the right place. Wanda could hardly believe it. Throughout high school she had wanted to be Ann Rose: the beautiful, brilliant girl who didn’t know she was the awe of teachers and students alike.
    â€˜Asdfghjkl;qwertyuiop’. What would Mrs Longnecker say when she found out her star writer was