Much to everyone’s surprise, by mid-October it almost felt as though they had always been a co-ed school. As Henry Blanchard had predicted, the students had stopped staring at each other all through class. The boys had stopped lusting after the cute girls long enough to listen to their teachers occasionally. The boys and girls had started joking around with each other in the cafeteria, around the campus, in the gym, the way high school kids did and not like aliens who had just arrived from two different planets. Simon was enjoying teaching them. It challenged the students and added balance and reality to have boys and girls in the classroom. Gillian still said she loved her new job, and all was well in their world.
In the third week of October, they had their annual parents’ weekend, and even the parents noticed how easily the kids were mixing, how at ease they seemed with each other, with genuine camaraderie, and how congenial the atmosphere was. Many parents tried to come but some couldn’t, for valid reasons. But it was always lonely for the students whose parents weren’t there. Other parents tried to compensate for it, and included their children’s friends. Neither of Chase’s parents could make it, but he had known they couldn’t. They were both on location, working on films. He and Jamie Watts hung out together, and the Wattses were happy to include Chase when they went off campus to dinner, which was allowed on parents’ weekend.
Steve Babson’s father hadn’t come either. He never did. His mother said he was on call, but he always had some excuse. His mother came, and seemed nervous and shaky. She took Steve out to dinner, had three glasses of wine, and a cocktail first, and he drove her back to her hotel, since he had his license. He walked back to school, hoping no one at the restaurant had noticed how much she drank. It was the only nearby restaurant where parents could take their kids, and the place was jammed with students from Saint Ambrose and their families.
The Yees had come but always stayed separate from the other parents. They had a list of teachers they wanted to speak to, and managed to get a few minutes with each of them, although that wasn’t the purpose of the weekend. Parents’ weekend was to get a feeling for how their children spent their time out of the classroom. Tommy said that all his parents cared about were his studies and his grades, which were fine so far. But fine was never good enough for them. They expected him to be top of every class.
Gabe Harris’s father came and had a long talk with Gillian about what teams his son was on and how he was doing, and if they were the right ones for him. His mother hadn’t been able to get the day off from the restaurant she managed, and she had to stay with Gabe’s younger siblings in New York. Gabe’s father made no effort to meet the other parents, and felt out of place with them. He spent time alone with Gabe, talking about what colleges he was going to apply to, and which schools gave the best athletic scholarships, which he had thoroughly researched.
Both Russos were there in full regalia, dressed to the teeth, as loud and showy as they always were. Joe Russo was driving a new red Ferrari, and Adele was wearing a shocking pink mink jacket with jeans and high heels. Rick looked like he wanted to climb under a rock the entire time they were there. Joe made sure everyone knew how much he had donated to the school. They mortified Rick every time. He hated it when they came to visit, and that they flaunted their money in everyone’s faces. Unlike them, he was always discreet about it, or tried to be.
Vivienne’s mother drove up from New York, and her father canceled at the last minute. He’d promised to come from L.A., but a meeting came up that he couldn’t miss. The atmosphere was tense between Vivienne and her mother, although she was very impressed with the school, and thought Chris would have been too. She was sorry he hadn’t seen it. She didn’t say anything overtly nasty about him, but Vivienne could tell how angry she still was and how hurt. Nancy implied that the meeting that had kept him from coming was probably only an excuse, and more than likely he was with his girlfriend. Her father had been vague about her and Vivienne hadn’t met her yet. The bitterness of their divorce in progress hadn’t dissipated, and Vivienne doubted that it ever would, although her mother refused to discuss it with her. Whatever the reason, she was sad that he hadn’t come. She wouldn’t see him now until Christmas, since she was spending Thanksgiving with her mother in New York.
Several of the boys hovered around Vivienne, and she introduced Chase and Jamie to her mother. They were very polite, Chase said he was from L.A. too, and Jamie introduced his parents, who were standing nearby. They chatted for a few minutes, and Nancy questioned her daughter afterward, asking if she was interested in either one.
“They’re just friends, Mom,” Vivienne said with a dismissive look.
“They seem like they like you a lot,” although she knew Vivienne had that effect on men of all ages, and was blasé about it. She had been faithful to her boyfriend for two years, but she didn’t seem interested in either of these boys, and said she didn’t want to get so deeply involved again.
“There are eight girls to a hundred and eighty-six senior boys, Mom. They don’t have anyone else to gawk at.” She blew off their attention as without consequence, although her mother thought both were very good-looking, well brought up boys. And she was even more impressed when she heard who Chase’s parents were.
There wouldn’t be a full senior class of girls until the current freshman class graduated, and thereafter. For now it was slim pickings for the senior boys, but Vivienne wasn’t looking for romance. She was still adjusting to the school, and all she could think about was getting into college and back to California as fast as possible. She was working on her applications every weekend. She hadn’t decided who to give her recommendation forms to yet. She wasn’t close to any of her teachers, and had only met with her advisor, Charity Houghton, the headmaster’s wife, once since school started. She was writing her essays, and wanted to be finished with the application process when she left for California for Christmas, so she’d have time to see her friends. Zoe and Lana couldn’t wait for her to come and she still FaceTimed with them almost every night.
She’d made friends with one girl in her dorm, Mary Beth Lawson. She was from Washington, D.C., and her parents worked for the government. She was vague about what they did, and Vivienne wondered if they worked for the CIA. They visited each other in their rooms at night. Vivienne liked her, but they were still getting to know each other. It wasn’t the same as Zoe and Lana, whom she had known since she was seven and had gone all through school with every day.
* * *
—
Adrian Stone spent most of the weekend in his room. Neither of his parents had shown up, as usual. They refused to be at the school at the same time, and they could never agree which of them should attend the weekend, so neither came. He didn’t really care. He spent most of the weekend in the computer lab, or alone in his room. Everyone else was out, and it was peaceful. He didn’t have to talk to anyone or make excuses for his parents, which he had to do all the time. No one noticed his absence, which was a relief. He was afraid he might get into trouble for not going to the big parents’ lunch in the cafeteria on Saturday or the brunch on Sunday. He went down after everyone had left, said he had the flu, his parents hadn’t come, and the kitchen staff let him take a plate of food back to his room.