You Must Remember This

Chapter 29: Drive Those Chorus Girls Insane

Frank lived closest to Tom and thus was the first one picked up. He had made Tom promise to keep his coming a secret from the others, and Tom was all too happy to do so. Mr. Langley made the bold move of stepping out of the car to greet Frank, as Tom had told him he was an honored guest:

"Our future president! Tom's told me so much about you—please, call me Steve."

"Whatever he's told you is undoubtedly more exciting than the truth," Frank reassured him. Frank had thought wearing a suit would be too impractical, even if it made a statement, so he wore jeans and a Heller-branded sweater. "Should I put my suitcase in the trailer?" Mr. Langley was driving farther north after he dropped off the kids to go hiking with some of his coworkers, and thus realized the inevitable necessity of more storage space.

"What do you think you're going to be studying in college? You strike me as a future lawyer."

"Finance, maybe, just something to pay the bills, you know." Frank considered taking the middle seat in the back of the van for the most foot room, but as he was about to do so, Tom reminded him (as if he should have known) that John always sat there, and so Frank shifted to the right. Mr. Langley was surprisingly enthusiastic about chatting up his new arrival, knowing from the past two trips that he wouldn't get any other chance:

"You must be a busy guy. What are you most looking forward to at the lake? Tom told me you weren't much of a swimmer, but don't worry, neither am I. That's more of a teenager thing to do."

"I've had a busy year, and sometimes it's nice to settle down and read a little," Frank said while waving his copy of Lolita.

"Lolita, that's a very mature book, I'm impressed," Mr. Langley marveled. Mr. Langley didn't read much in his spare time, a trait he instilled in Tom, but that didn't make him illiterate by any means.

"One must always have something sensational to read in the car. Is this John's house? I imagined it to be a bit bigger."

"Yep, it's John's," Tom commented. John climbed into the van as he normally did and was about to sit in his usual spot when he realized the seat next to him was occupied; this wasn't what was supposed to happen. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on vacation like the rest of you. I come in peace." John immediately needed some fresh air to clear his head, and decided that he would very much like to sit by a window, and so he went to sit behind Mr. Langley. Juliet was still next on the list; as soon as she entered the van and saw John directly across from her, she knew that there was something terribly wrong, and the thrill of knowing exactly what resolved quickly when she sat down in John's normal spot and saw Frank to her right, reading some sort of book, and seemingly unaware she was next to him. Why did nobody tell her this was going to happen? The fault clearly lay with her for not psychically knowing; her entire vision for that week's entertainments had to be scrapped. This was the good sort of surprise though: she would finally have someone to talk to who understood her point of view and did not treat her as secondary. After her embarrassment and her unreasoning joy she was consumed with wonder at his presence, and this wonder finally manifested itself in a tap on his shoulder.

"Surprise!" she said, as if he were not the one who had surprised her. Frank looked up and was just as astonished as she before he remembered that this was supposed to happen. This was not an all-expenses-paid vacation but a social gathering with his classmates, just like any other.

"What a nice surprise it is indeed to see you here, Juliet. I would have never expected it," he responded with a tinge of sarcasm.

"I'm so glad I finally convinced you to come. This is going to be so fun! What book are you reading? I'm delighted to see your literacy isn't all an act."