Kimmie’s phone dinged and she couldn’t help glancing at it. It was a notification reminding her she needed to pick up her new dress from Bergdorf’s that was being tailored.
“Anna, are you still going to be in the city tomorrow night? It’s Jaylen S.’s sweet sixteen party. Her father rented out the entire 1 OAK club. You should come! I’d be happy to have someone else there I like.”
Anna frowned slightly. “I’m not big on the club scene, but maybe. Steven mentioned it last night.”
“I see you in lavender. Do you own a lavender dress?” Kimmie asked.
Anna laughed in response. “Who doesn’t? But I don’t have it here. I’m sure I can scrounge up something to wear. If I go.”
Kimmie stood up quickly. “Well, obvi Lolly doesn’t need a shoulder to cry on anymore, so I’m gonna go. Hey, I have to go pick up my dress at Bergdorf’s. I don’t suppose you’d have any interest in coming with me?”
Normally Anna would have jumped at the chance to go to her favorite store, but she knew this would only lead to more boy talk, which she was no longer in the mood for.
“Ooooh, I’d love to, but I can’t.”
It was then that Kimmie’s sister walked into the dining room, humming. She was wearing an oversized men’s terry cloth robe and her hair was wet from showering.
“Kimmie, what are you doing here?” Lolly asked.
“I stopped by to check on you, but I hear you’re doing more than fine,” Kimmie answered, quickly adding, “I mean, after your talk with Anna last night.”
“That’s exactly right,” Anna said casually.
Lolly was on another planet, barely listening to either of them. All she knew was that she was starving and had planned to ransack the fridge for something to eat with Steven in bed.
“Anna, is there any pie left?” Lolly asked in a dreamy voice. “Steven wants some.”
Anna nodded with a smile. This confirmed her suspicions. Lolly must have decided to forgive her brother for his transgressions, and in the process, also decided to give up her V-card. Anna thought it was probably a good thing, because now the date of their “screw-a-versary” was legit.
“Lolly, are you stoned?” Kimmie asked her sister. “You look totally high.”
Lolly smiled. “In a way … In a way…”
XVII
Jaylen S. was the youngest daughter of retired NBA basketball legend Maceo S., who was now a popular sports commentator for ESPN. Rumor had it her sweet sixteen was going to be one of the biggest bashes of the year, even though it was only February. Her father had rented out 1 OAK in the Meatpacking District. The adults would be in the VIP area while every socialite teen who was anybody danced the night away. Jaylen S.’s godfather had been one of her father’s teammates and was now a part owner of the Miami Heat. He was apparently showing up with his own kids and a private plane full of their hard-partying friends from South Beach.
The thing about new money versus old money? New money was way more fun. Old money came with lots of baggage—outdated and uptight societal rules of behavior that frowned on being showy with your inherited cash. New money had no such restrictions. If anything, it was expected for the nouveau riche to throw it and show it as much as possible.
The theme of Jaylen’s party was ’90s Hip-Hop. And the invitation was the coolest one Kimmie had ever received … once it was explained to her. She had been delivered a small box containing a little black plastic square object with a tiny screen and two AAA batteries. When she popped the batteries in, the screen lit up green but remained blank. Thinking it was broken, she showed it to Devon M., the law student who stayed with her and Lolly whenever their mom was out late or traveled.
“Where did you get this?” Devon asked, turning the object over in her hands.
“It’s supposed to be a party invite, I think,” Kimmie said. “What is it?”
Devon explained that it was a pager, a popular form of communication in the ’90s before everyone had cell phones. “Haven’t you ever heard of a beeper?”
Kimmie shook her head. “What does it do?”
“People used to use it to send phone numbers. You would call the number back when you got to a pay phone. Doctors used them mostly, so they could be reached outside of the hospital. Drug dealers used them, too, but eventually the cool kids adopted the look as well. Some beepers could receive text messages.”
On cue, the pager vibrated and emitted a series of high-pitched beeps, startling them both. Just as Devon had explained, a message appeared. Jaylen’s illin’ 90s hip-hop par-tay deets arrivin’ soon … ish!
Devon couldn’t shut up about the invite for the next ten minutes. She even took a picture to show her boyfriend. She calculated the cost of such an elaborate invite, and said it had to be at least five Gs if not more. Kimmie had been surprised by Devon’s interest. Devon rarely got personal with her, mostly because her mother had specifically ordered Devon not to become friends with her daughter. “Kimmie needs a French tutor and positive role model for the nights when I’m out late, not a BFF, got it?”
Kimmie couldn’t help but brag a little, telling Devon about Jaylen’s famous father and his many celebrity friends. Though if she was being honest, she had no idea exactly what an old-school ’90s hip-hop party would be like. She’d never listened to much rap; Kimmie’s musical tastes were more along the lines of Lorde, Billie Eilish, and Lana Del Rey. Later that night, Lolly tried to explain the significance of ’90s hip-hop to her, which made Kimmie roll her eyes. She knew her sister worshipped at the altar of Taylor Swift, and she only knew about “old-school rap” because Steven loved it. Kimmie once caught Lolly making a “hip-hop terminology” cheatsheet and she told her she’d get better grades if she applied even half as much effort to her homework. Lolly deadpanned: “Bih please, the right bf is way more important than school.”
Lolly later told her that a lot of girls were planning on dressing like Fly Girls, which was yet another ’90s term Kimmie needed explained to her. Lolly was of course horrified at the idea of girls showing up to a party wearing jeans and high tops and informed Kimmie that she was going to wear a dress, and she should do the same.
“Make sure it’s short. This may be the only chance to dress like a total ho-bag until Halloween.”
Kimmie thought of this moment now as she stared at herself in the mirror at Bergdorf’s. She wondered if Vronsky would approve of her new Zimmermann dress. She stared at her reflection, annoyed she hadn’t made it another inch shorter when she had the chance three days ago. The saleslady recognized Kimmie’s look of doubt and quickly suggested that perhaps what the dress needed were some sexy new heels to go with it. Relief flooded through Kimmie. That was exactly what she needed.
In the second-floor shoe salon, Kimmie tried on eighteen different pairs of heels and finally landed on a pair of Azzedine Alaïa signature cut-out white leather booties with a four-inch heel. They cost over twelve hundred dollars and she charged them to her mother’s store credit card knowing that she’d have a few weeks before her mother spotted them on her statement. Her rationale was simple: her mother would surely be so pleased about her daughter landing Vronsky as her new boyfriend, all she’d have to do was explain how these shoes helped her get him. She’d still get in trouble, but Lolly had already paved the way for such behavior as she had been obsessed with fashion since middle school, throwing tantrums if she didn’t have the latest designers to wear. Kimmie had never cared much about everyday clothes, though her competition dresses were always Vera Wang.