* * *

 I finally managed to stagger out to the deck. Madelene was still gushing over Marti, introducing her to some blurry figures I couldn’t quite make out.

  “Marti’s an amazing swimmer. I think she could beat even you in a race Brad.”

 Brad. A jock name if there ever was one.

 “And she’s a good writer David. She’d give you a run for your money if she went to school here.”

 

Hmm David. A journalist name. This one had promise in my book. I whipped out my glasses for a quick peek. The said David was tall and good-looking, and he wore geeky glasses that I realized with horror were the same model as mine! Had I really been dumb enough to buy guy glasses? I shoved them back into my knit bag and walked shyly up, hoping nobody would notice me.

  “Oh Maddie! You remember Meg don’t you?” So much for going unnoticed. Marti grabbed my arm and towed me to the middle of the little circle that was gathering around her.

Something I’d noticed about people is that we’re all divide into two categories: suns and planets.

Marti was definitely a sun. And she always had her planets that revolved around her. I’m her Mercury of course.

From what I could tell of Madelene, she seemed like a sun too, but in the wake of Marti’s friendly kindness she faded, seeming over-done and artificial by comparison.

  Now I was in the center of Marti’s little universe, feeling swallowed whole.

“Are you from Richfield too, Meg?” The writer boy asked me. A fellow brain in a world of beer-swilling apes, he spoke nerd and actually knew how to have a conversation. To my surprise we started talking and got along pretty well. Before I knew it, the two of us had spent the whole party on the deck talking about this and that.

When he said goodbye he asked for my number, a new experience for me.

 

  “Did you have fun?” Marti prodded coquettishly as we walked out to her car. I blushed and nodded. Marti laughed. “David’s nice. He’s doesn’t seem much like Madelene, but I guess they’re actually pretty close.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, unsure of what she was getting at.

  “He’s her brother.”