Last Night at the Telegraph Club(9)

“Well, I know what your dream was,” Shirley said to Lily.

“What?”

“Didn’t you want to go to the moon? What a funny dream!”

“It’s not funny,” Lily objected, feeling faintly stung. “Sure, I wanted to go to the moon. I still do. Wouldn’t you?”

“Heavens no,” Shirley said. “There’s nothing to do there.”

“I’d want to go,” Kathleen said.

They all turned in surprise to look at her, and she looked back at Shirley.

“Was that your dream too?” Shirley asked, her tone faintly condescending. “Make a note of it, Lily, for the report.”

“No, my dream when I was a child was to be Amelia Earhart. But going to the moon is a great dream.”

“Have you ever been in an airplane?” Lily asked.

“Yep. When I was in eighth grade my Wing Scout troop got to fly. We weren’t up there for very long—we had to take turns—but it was amazing.” Kathleen’s face lit up when she talked about the flight.

“What was it like?” Lily asked. “Was it scary?”

Kathleen smiled. “A little at first, but as soon as we left the ground I wasn’t scared anymore. There was too much to look at.”

Lily was about to ask more—she wanted to know all about the flight—but Shirley said, “Let’s move on. We only have twenty minutes. Next question is what’s your dream now. Will? What about you?”

Kathleen’s smile disappeared. Lily frowned at Shirley, but Shirley was looking at Will.

“Well, I don’t want to be a basketball player anymore. That’s kid stuff. I’m going to be a lawyer. Do you still want to be an actress?”

Shirley laughed a little selfconsciously. “Don’t be silly. I want to get married and have a family, obviously.” She looked at Lily. “You’re next. What do you want now?”

Lily couldn’t decide whether Shirley was goading her or not. Her tone was politely interested, but whenever Shirley sounded that way, it usually meant she was up to something. “Well, I guess I want to find a job like my Aunt Judy’s,” Lily said. “She works at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a computer,” she explained to Kathleen.

“Really?” Kathleen brightened up again. “What exactly does she do?”

“Oh, she does math. They design rockets there—not my aunt, but the engineers.”

“Are you taking Advanced Math with Mr. Burke?” Kathleen asked. “Next period?”

“Yes, are you?”

“Yep. I heard he only gives one A each semester.” Kathleen leaned back in her chair and pointed her pencil at Lily. “I bet you’ll get it.”

“Oh no. If that’s true, the A will go to Michael Reid—”

“Girls, you’re getting off track,” Shirley interrupted. “What’s the next question? Oh, name three steps you can take to achieve your dream.”

“But Kathleen hasn’t said what her current dream is,” Lily objected.

Shirley’s expression tightened. “So what’s your current dream, Kathleen?”

Kathleen’s eyebrows lifted slightly at the curtness of Shirley’s tone, but she didn’t comment on it. “I still want to be a pilot.”

“And how will you achieve your dream?” Shirley asked.

“Well, step one is to go to college, maybe major in aeronautics or engineering. Step two—”

“I didn’t think you were college material,” Shirley said.

Lily stared at her friend in shock. She had no idea what had gotten into her, but Kathleen didn’t seem entirely surprised. She merely smiled slightly before she responded.

“Cal takes anyone in the top fifteen percent of their graduating class,” Kathleen said. “I’m not going to have a problem. Neither will Lily. But I don’t think we’ll see you there.”

Shirley’s cheeks turned pink, but before Lily could do anything to defuse the situation, Miss Weiland arrived at their group. She smiled benignly and asked, “How are you doing? Any questions?”

“We’re fine,” Kathleen said. “Lily’s taking excellent notes, and Will’s going to be our chairman.”

“That’s good to hear,” Miss Weiland said. “I’m glad you’re working so well together.”

After Miss Weiland moved on to the next group, the four of them sat in silence for a moment. Will looked slightly stunned. Shirley was still red-faced, while Kathleen was the only one who looked calm. Lily was strangely thrilled by what had just happened. No one ever stood up to Shirley like that.



* * *



—

After school, Shirley waylaid Lily at her locker and asked, “What are you doing Saturday?”

“I don’t know, why?” Lily asked as she packed up her book bag.

Shirley leaned against the wall next to Lily’s locker. “Will invited us to a picnic in Golden Gate Park. I think Hanson and Flora are coming, too. You should come.”

“I have to study,” Lily hedged. She and Kathleen had been the only girls in Advanced Math, and she’d gotten the distinct sense that the teacher anticipated neither of them would last long. She was determined to prove him wrong.