Alicia glares at her. “Will you just let her talk?”
“Peter never got over his ex-girlfriend, Genevieve,” I say, sniffling. “She was the one who posted
that video of us in the hot tub, and Peter found out and he didn’t tell me.”
“Perhaps he wanted to spare your feelings,” Alicia says.
Vehemently Stormy shakes her head, so hard her earrings whoosh. “The boy is a dog, pure and
simple. He ought to treat you like a queen, not this other girl Genevieve.”
Alicia accuses, “You just want Lara Jean to date your great-grandson.”
“So what if I do!” With a gleam in her eye she says, “Say, Lara Jean. Have you got any plans
tonight?”
At that we all laugh. “I can’t think about any boy but Peter right now,” I say. “Do you still
remember your first love?”
Stormy’s had so many—could she possibly? But she nods. “Garrett O’Leary. I was fifteen and he
was eighteen and we only ever had a dance, but the way I felt when he looked at me.. .” She shivers.
I look to my left at Alicia. “And yours was your husband, Phillip, right?”
To my surprise she shakes her head. “My first love was named Albert. He was my older brother’s
best friend. I thought I would marry him. But it was not to be. I met my Phillip.” She smiles. “Phillip
was the love of my life. And yet I never forgot Albert. How young I was once! Stormy, can you
believe we were ever so young?”
Stormy does not give her usual blithe reply. Her eyes go moist, and as softly as I’ve ever heard her
speak she says, “It’s all a million lifetimes ago. And yet.”
“And yet,” Alicia echoes.
They both smile at me fondly, with such true and genuine affection that new tears come to my eyes.
“What will I do now that Peter’s not my boyfriend anymore?” I wonder out loud.
“You’ll just do what you did before he was your boyfriend,” Alicia says. “You’ll go about your
day, and you will miss him at first, but over time it will ease. It will lessen.” She reaches out, touches
her papery hand to my cheek. A smile plays at her lips. “All you need is time, and you, little one, have
all the time in the world.”
It’s a comforting thought, but I don’t know if I believe it is true, not completely. I think that time
might be different for young people. The minutes longer, stronger, more vibrant. All I know is that
every minute without him feels interminably long, like I’m waiting, just waiting for him to come back
to me. I, Lara Jean, know he isn’t, but my heart doesn’t seem to understand it’s over.
After, energies renewed, tears dried, I am with Janette in her office, going over party details. When
she offhandedly mentions the sitting room, I freeze. “Janette, the sitting room isn’t going to be big
enough.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. The main activities room is booked for bingo. They have a standing
Friday night reservation.”
“But this party is a huge event! Can’t the bingo people be in the sitting room just for one night?”
“Lara Jean, I can’t move bingo. People from all over the community come here for that, including
the leasing agent’s own mother. There are a lot of politics at play here. My hands are tied.”
“Well, what about the dining room?” We could move all the tables and set up the dance floor at the
center of the room and then put the refreshments on a long table against the wall. It could work.