I Was Told It Would Get Easier(67)

“People,” she said. “This morning we are talking about challenges. You”—she pointed to Alice—“you start. Let’s hear what challenges you face, shall we?” Then she went over to the coffee station and poured herself a bucket-sized cup of coffee.

I was next to Will. I leaned over. “What’s up with her?”

He turned his head to whisper in my ear, which tickled. “Dinner last night was a disaster. I’ll tell you after.”

Alice cleared her throat, glanced nervously around the circle, and said, “Um, I guess I’m challenged by the patriarchy.”

Casper coughed into his hand, “Bullshit.”

I turned and looked at Will, but he closed his eyes and shook his head. Later, he mouthed.

“I’m sorry?” Alice didn’t look very sorry.

“I said bullshit,” said Casper. “You are a girl, yes, and as such you face some institutionalized sexism, but you are about as protected as it’s possible for a girl to be. You’re white, you’re wealthy, you’re pretty, you’re healthy, and yes, that rhymed, but the point I’m making is you’re a special, special princess. The patriarchy will make an exception.”

“Hey, I had acne in eighth grade,” replied Alice hotly. “It needed lasers.”

Casper frowned at her. “And daddy got you lasers, didn’t he?”

I looked at my mom, who had taken a cup of tea to her chair and then leaned back far enough so she could fold her arms and rest her chin in her hand. She returned my gaze and shrugged. Then she leaned over and whispered, “I guess we missed the worm-turning convention.”

“Hey, where’s Alice’s mom?” I asked, looking around. Mom shrugged again.



* * *



? ? ?

It turned out, I learned later, that dinner at the Beekman Arms had Not Gone Well. Right at the beginning Cassidy had stood up and addressed the table.

“I’ve had a report from several colleges that a parent on this trip attempted to influence admissions staff by offering bribes.” There was a shocked silence. “Literally, cash bribes.”

“It wasn’t me,” said Casper’s mom.

“Nor me,” said Will’s dad. “I don’t have a bribe to offer, unless it’s offering to install shelves or something.” No one was laughing.

Sam’s mom asked, “Did they say which parent it was?”

“No,” said Cassidy. “As I said before, E3 has a stellar reputation, and they were doing me the courtesy of informing me rather than the FBI. I doubt they’ll give us a second chance if it happens again.”

Dani Ackerman spat out her drink. “The FBI? Why?”

“Because bribery is a federal offense.”

“But they wouldn’t take the bribes.”

Looooong silence.

“Or so you just said,” Dani added weakly.

According to Will, the rest of the dinner had been pretty stony.



* * *



? ? ?

Of course, I didn’t know that during the breakfast. After Alice and Casper’s little spat, it was Will’s turn and he, at least, tried to lighten the mood.

“Um, challenges. Let’s see. There are the obvious ones, like my relative impoverishment, but to a certain extent those are counterbalanced by my education and incredible personal charm.” He coughed. “And my impressive vocabulary.”

I laughed, but no one else did. Then it was my turn. Because I didn’t know what had happened, I opened my mouth and stuck my foot right in it.

“I guess the biggest challenge is getting into college, right?”

Casper snorted. “Yeah, unless you bribe your way in.”

I frowned. “Why would I do that?”

“You might not,” he said. “But other people could.”

I was confused. “But isn’t that sad? All this stress and effort to get into college. How can it possibly be worth it?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “At your school they apparently like to cheat on exams and bribe admissions people, so you’re the perfect person to explain it to us.”

I turned to Will, who didn’t say anything at first, but then said, “Casper, Emily didn’t cheat or bribe anyone, don’t pick on her.”

“But maybe she understands why her people think it’s okay to game the system, while the rest of us work our butts off.”

I opened my mouth to say whoever these people were, they weren’t my people, but Mom beat me to it.

Still leaning back, she said, “I’ll tell you why. Most parents don’t think it’s okay to bribe or cheat, but we’re constantly told that getting our kids into a good college will be some kind of insurance against the future. Our influence over your lives is coming to an end, and we’re desperately trying to do one last thing to help you out.” She took a sip of tea. “We’ve spent the last sixteen years preparing you to be adults, and when we look at the future, it’s pretty clear it’s a crapshoot. If a fancy college degree will help you, fair enough, let’s obsess about that.” She finished her tea and got up to get more, muttering, “It’s utterly pointless, of course, because the world could end tomorrow, or you could get hit by a bus, but it’s all we’ve got.”