Chapter Ten Maya

Chapter Ten

Maya

October 2011

A rush of warm air loosened the wind-chilled skin on my cheeks as I crossed the threshold into Sterling Club, the fringe on my dress brushing my thighs with each step.

“This place is insane.” I looked around, awestruck as if we’d entered another world, something on the edge of reality, like a movie, or a dream. A beautiful girl swept past, her feather boa tickling my arm, expensive perfume lingering in the air.

“Let me take your coat, dear.” The strongly accented English came from behind me. I whirled around to find a housekeeper behind me with dark wiry hair, bushy eyebrows, and an unreadable expression. She had a sturdy frame and looked to be about fifty.

“Oh, um—”

“Hi, Marta,” Daisy said, along with a few words in what might have been Ukrainian. Daisy was good with languages and loved to befriend everyone. “This is my friend Maya.”

Marta gave a small nod and took our coats. “Marta’s worked here forever,” Daisy explained. “She knows where all the bodies are buried.”

“Wait—what bodies?”

Daisy giggled. “Oh my god, your face! It’s just an expression. Come, I’ll give you the tour.”

I struggled to keep up as Daisy strode through the party. She greeted a tall guy with a kiss on the cheek. He winked at me as we swept past. We passed the ballroom, where a packed dance floor spilled out around a DJ, and continued down a hall. On one side, glass doors stretched to high ceilings, and on the other, nineteenth-century portraits of important-looking white men hung, their eyes following as we passed.

As Daisy led me up the grand staircase, the sound of a wind chime made me look up. A glowing chandelier swayed precariously overhead, its crystals trembling.

“Tonight we invited all the people we’re hoping will bicker.” At the landing, she handed me a glass of champagne that seemed to appear out of thin air.

“Thanks.” I took a long sip and wondered how many glasses it would take to ease my nerves.

Daisy led me down a dark hall, and with every step, the sound of clinking glass, music, and laughter rose. But there was something else there too. Underneath, obscured by the low throb of music, was a quiet hum…At first, I thought it was the wind outside, but no, this was something darker, like a whisper in a language I didn’t understand.

Daisy was still talking. “Does that make sense?” She was looking at me as if I’d missed what she’d said.

“Um. Sorry, I— What were you saying?”

She heaved an exasperated sigh. “In order to get in, you need at least one gold card from a member, which I’ll give you, but the entire club will have to vote. Since you don’t know anyone, it’s really important to make a good impression…so to that end, I told them your grandfather is a wealthy Chinese investor.”

I nearly choked. “Wait, what—”

Daisy waved her hand through the air. “Look, I just fluffed up your résumé a bit. Your grandparents must invest in something. ”

What was I expecting? I couldn’t seriously think they’d let in someone like me. Daisy was right. I could pretend. I had to pretend. I had to let them think that I didn’t need them, to let them think that I was a connection that they needed to make.

I felt a new jolt of anxiety as Daisy pushed open the doors at the end of the hall to reveal a spectacular library filled to the brim with people. I’d been to a couple of the eating clubs before, but this was the first time I’d experienced a party like this.

Daisy charged in and threw her arms around a tall, slender guy, who picked her up and twirled her through the air. “Come on, Maya!” she yelled over the music.

As we made our way through the party, Daisy jutted her chin in the direction of a clean-cut man in a bow tie and whispered, “Jackson speaks eight languages. Top recruit for the CIA.”

She pointed at a couple making out against a wall. “Those two went full-on Animal Planet in the middle of the soccer field. During a snowstorm!”

A blond guy with a comb-over. “Rumor is his family owns the stolen Rembrandts from the Gardner Museum.”

After grabbing champagne at the bar, I followed Daisy out to the terrace and through a maze of attractive young men in suit jackets and bow ties drinking whiskey and smoking cigars.

On the other side of the club, we entered a single restroom, and after locking the door behind us, Daisy unearthed a pill from her purse.

“Want some?” She was carefully dissecting the pill with her nails.

“What is it?” I eyed the capsule with its tiny blue beads, suddenly apprehensive.

“Extended-release Adderall.” Daisy poured half the pill’s tiny beads on her tongue and handed the other half to me, which I held awkwardly.

Someone knocked on the door. “One second,” Daisy shouted, then gestured for me to hurry up. Without thinking, I poured the tiny beads onto my tongue like she did and took a drink of champagne.

Downstairs, she grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the packed dance floor. The lights were low and flickering and there was this wild energy, this intensity, like a spell had been cast over the room.

The bass of the music pulsed through my chest, deep into my body, and for the first time in longer than I could remember, I could let go. I felt so alive. So free.

Before long, sweaty bodies pressed against one another. On one side, a flapper made out with a guy in an unbuttoned shirt, his hand unhooking her bra. On the other, a red-haired guy in a bow tie was passed out drunk on the floor.

“Want to dance?” A tall, dark-haired guy was standing in front of me. There was something thrilling about his eyes, his self-assured way of carrying himself. Everyone carried themselves this way in Sterling, and I wondered if that kind of confidence was inherited along with immeasurable wealth. Maybe the posture came with the genes.

Before I had a chance to respond, he’d pulled me in and in less than thirty seconds reached for my face with both hands. His lips met mine with such intensity that I jerked back in surprise. But after I recovered, I kissed him right back. This was how I had always pictured college. Dance floor make-out: Check.

I found Daisy near the champagne tower afterward. “That guy you kissed is Kevin Francis,” she said. “I got the Adderall from him.”

Behind her, a drunk guy attempted to pull a glass from the center of the champagne tower, sending the delicately balanced pyramid crashing to the ground.

I yanked her out of the way as shards of glass exploded on the floor. “Whoops,” Daisy giggled, then started to sway. “I think I need some air,” she said.

As we talked on the back patio, movement overhead drew my eye. A tall blond girl leaned on the railing of the upstairs terrace, surrounded by a group of wide-eyed look-alikes. There was something refined about the way she moved, her long fingers resting against her collarbone, shoulders pulled back and neck outstretched like a swan. Light seemed to radiate from her, everyone around her soaking itin.

“Wait, isn’t that—”

“Cecily St. Clair, president-elect of Sterling Club. She’ll take over running the club next semester,” Daisy said with a hint of jealousy. “She’s brilliant. She was a ballet prodigy at the age of twelve, got into Juilliard at sixteen, but decided to go to Princeton instead. Started a company in high school that connected professional dancers to product lines for endorsement. Sold it freshman year. And yes, that’s St. Clair as in the family who owns half of Manhattan.”

For a moment, I saw it. The life I’d been dreaming of. One where we would drink champagne in each other’s rooms as we tried on designer dresses, dance late into the night, and swap stories the next morning about the wild nights we’d had. This was my chance. I took a deep breath and turned to Daisy. “Can you introduce me?”

“Sure, why not?” Daisy said, then shot me a warning look. “Just don’t screw it up.”

—

“Hey, Cecily,” Daisy called out once we’d made our way over.

Despite the alcohol pumping through my system, I was suddenly aware of the sweat slicking my palms, the steady thud of my heart.

Cecily twisted to face us. “Daisy, hi! I’m so glad you made it. Love this look on you.” She ran her hand over Daisy’s fringed dress.

“This is my friend Maya,” Daisy said, and Cecily fixed her gaze onme.

Oh no. Was I smiling too much? I tried to relax the muscles in my face.

“Hey, nice to meet you,” I said. Nice to meet you? Too formal. Think. “I’ve heard so much—” No, not that. But it didn’t matter, she’d turned away and was listening to Daisy instead.

After whatever Daisy said, Cecily tossed her head back in laughter. Then she turned back to me. “So, why do you think you’d be a good fit for Sterling Club? I mean, I assume that’s why you’re here…”

“I—uh—”

Luckily, Daisy stepped in. “You know, Maya went to Sacred Heart with Alex Bain.”

Cecily’s eyes widened. “Do you know him?” Something had changed in Cecily’s expression, like she was seeing me clearly for the first time.

Humiliation whipped through me as I remembered the way he’d pass me in the hall like I didn’t exist. And his cruel laugh after he’d drenched me in beer outside Cottage.

“Uh, we weren’t exactly close,” I told her. “He was the captain of the football team.”

To my relief, a girl interrupted us, slinking an arm around Cecily’s waist. She had an air of confidence, even more than the others, with long jet-black hair that poured down her back and perfect winged eyeliner. She was obviously from Cecily and Daisy’s world—her stiff black dress, while not Gatsby-themed, could have been a work of art.

She gave me a once-over. “Who’s the girl scout?”

“This is Daisy’s new friend,” Cecily said. “She went to Sacred Heart with Alex Bain.” Why was she looking at me differently now?

Her friend’s eyes went wide. “Your ex?” Ah.

“We hate him,” Cecily explained.

I nodded, grateful I’d gone with the truth. “He’s a total dick,” I added.

Her friend jutted a hand toward me. “Kai Ling.”

Ling was my mom’s maiden name, and I felt an immediate kinship. “Maya. Nice to meet you.”

“Daisy, is this your friend whose grandfather is an investor in Hong Kong?” Kai asked, turning to me. “My parents are too. Is he in real estate?”

Oh god.

I glanced at Daisy, who gave me a subtle look back. “Yeah…I mean, well, he was. He invested in…buildings—uh, commercial real estate—until he passed away.” The lie burned in my throat, but then it was done.

“I’m sorry to hear,” Kai said.

As the girls discussed the upcoming member selection process, something about them drew me in. The easy, lyrical way in which they spoke, their confidence and witty banter. I studied the way they held themselves and tried to imitate it. The whole world was open to them, and they knew it.

At one point, I could feel Cecily’s eyes on me as Kai whispered something in her ear. I held my breath, praying I hadn’t messed everything up earlier.

“So, bicker’s soon. You should come.” Cecily’s eyes shimmered, and my heart beat faster.

This was the opportunity I’d been waiting for.

I nodded, trying to contain my excitement. “Yeah, maybe, I mean, yes, I’d love to.”

“Great. We’ll see you there.” Cecily sashayed away, Kai trailing close behind.

Daisy dragged me to a corner and gave my arm a squeeze. “You did great!”

I grinned back, but over the course of the night, an unsettling thought lingered: Why would they want someone like me?