Anna, embarrassed by the praise, quickly corrected her. “I’m not showing them myself, my handlers Lee Ann and Ali will be doing the honors. But it’s true, I’m a girl who prefers the company of animals to people.” Vronsky studied her face while she spoke, barely registering her words. She was truly the most stunning girl he had ever seen, a perfect blend of Eurasian beauty: almond eyes and sleek shiny dark hair combined with high cheekbones and a perfect WASPy ski-slope nose.
The conversation ended abruptly as a commotion erupted outside of the train. There was suddenly lots of shouting and people running by their window.
“Wait here, let me see what’s going on,” Vronsky said. Anna nodded, stepping toward Vronsky’s mother and helping her sit back down.
He returned a few minutes later followed by Steven, reporting it was safe for them to leave now. Anna asked what was going on, but both boys exchanged looks and remained silent. Anna demanded, “Tell me; I want to know.”
Vronsky gravely explained that a homeless man was the source of the uproar. The man had two dogs and was insisting that one of them had jumped out of his arms onto the tracks and was hit by the train. Anna gasped at the news. “Our train? Oh god, is it true?”
Her eyes were already welling up when Vronsky, compelled to be honest with Anna despite her reaction, confirmed the ugly truth. “I’m afraid so.”
“That’s so awful!” Anna cried, not bothering to wipe away her tears. She felt a roiling in her stomach. This is a bad omen, she thought. The four of them were on the platform heading to the escalator when Anna turned to see two police officers on the scene, one of them placing the still howling homeless man in handcuffs. Anna stopped walking. “Why are they arresting him?”
Steven explained that the homeless man had shoved the train conductor during the commotion. He then put his arm around his sister trying to usher her onto the escalator, but she refused to move.
“But what about his other dog? Didn’t you say he had two? What’s to become of that dog?” Anna pulled away from Steven and took two steps forward, but Vronsky put his hand on her arm and gently stopped her.
“No, don’t. I’ll go make sure his other dog is taken care of. Can you make sure my mother gets home for me?”
Anna met Vronsky’s eyes and immense relief flooded through her. “You will? That’s so sweet of you. Of course, we’ll take your mom home.”
Geneviève remained silent during the exchange, proud of her son for stepping up to do the right thing, but aware that he was far more concerned with doing the right thing for the beautiful girl’s sake than the dog’s.
Vronsky’s mother had boasted a great deal about her son’s accomplishments (romantic and otherwise) on the train, so Anna was already impressed, but this move was above and beyond. What kind of sixteen-year-old boy possessed the type of heroic goodwill she’d just witnessed? It was like her pain had become his as well. In that moment she felt as though his crystal blue eyes had seen her secret self, which was ridiculous because how could such a thing be possible when they had only just met?
VII
Dustin had no problem picking out Kimmie from the swirling mass of skaters at Wollman Rink. She was wearing a deep purple faux fur jacket with matching earmuffs, and even though her knee was not 100 percent, she was still the best skater on the ice. She moved with such grace and ease, Dustin couldn’t take his eyes off her and was embarrassed to discover he had been holding his breath while he watched. He walked to the railing, unsure of how to get her attention, finally deciding he’d call out the next time she skated by. But three times she whooshed past, and three times he was unable to speak as he stared at her beautiful face. Eventually two middle school boys in hockey skates playing tag crashed into a few novices and a little boy belly-flopped onto the ice, landing so hard that he spun a full 720 degrees in his navy Patagonia snowsuit directly into Kimmie’s path.
“Kimmie, watch out!” Dustin’s voice was so urgent that several people, Kimmie included, looked his way. In one bunny hop movement, Kimmie made a full stop an inch from the fallen boy. She bent over and helped the little guy to his feet and delivered him back to his parents. As Dustin watched this small kindness, he felt a pressure in his chest that made him wonder if there were any known cases of teenagers dropping dead of heart attacks.
Kimmie skated straight to him with an expression he couldn’t read, so he quickly pulled off his own hat, reasoning that perhaps she didn’t recognize him. He gave her a friendly wave. Kimmie smiled and waved back, stopping in front of him with a dramatic flourish, the shavings of her braking blades hitting the low guardrail.
“Hey, Dustin. Are you here to skate?” she asked.
“I suck at skating. Shitty ankles,” he replied. “I’m here for you.” His words jumbled out faster than he wanted, and he winced. “Not here for you in a creepy stalker way, or anything.”
“I didn’t think so. You seem too serious to be a stalker and too nice to be a creeper.”
“I would think stalker sorts are actually very serious,” he replied, still unable to control his words around her. “But I’m not one … yet.”
She laughed at this, cocking her head in surprise at his dryly delivered wit. “So now that you have my attention, whatever will you do with it?” she asked, flushing with embarrassment because what she’d meant as a joke came out sounding far flirtier than she’d intended.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to be cryptic. Steven sent me. Steven, your sister’s—”
She frowned, interrupting him. “I know what Steven you’re talking about.”
“Yes, of course you do.” This was going quickly from bad to worse.
“And what news do you bring from the scoundrel that is Steven from the House of K.?” she asked, straight-faced.
“Uhhh…” Dustin hesitated.
Kimmie laughed at his confusion. “Don’t tell me you’re the one guy who hasn’t watched Game of Thrones?”
Dustin smiled with relief. “Oh no, I’m a fanboy. I’ve read all the books.”
“Me, too,” she admitted, even though her mother once advised her that boys don’t always like girls who read books. “Seriously, what does the dickhead have to say?”
Of course, Kimmie had already heard the news from her sister, which meant Steven had sent him on a ridiculous mission with the sole purpose of getting him some face time with Kimmie.
“You know?” he asked, wanting to verify what he suspected to be true.
“I do. Lolly texted me all about ‘Brad.’ She’s okay, isn’t she? I told her I’d come and get her, but she said no.”
“I didn’t see her myself. But I’m sure she’s fine, or rather as good as can be expected. Honestly, I didn’t want to get involved, but Steven asked me to come, as a favor. The rink’s on my way home.” Even though he knew he’d said enough, Dustin kept going anyway. “I’m Steven’s homework tutor. We were friends when we were little because of our moms,” he added, helping her connect the dots on why a guy like him would be friends with Steven.
“I know,” she said simply, which made Dustin wonder whether she knew because she had specifically inquired about him after they had met, or whether this was news she had learned from Lolly in everyday conversation. If Tasha and Stephanie, the two chatty girls from the party, had taught him anything, it was that teenage girls seemed to talk about anything and everything with one another. Chatting was like breathing for them.