If I survived this, I decided, I would make a darned fine mortuary cosmetologist.
"Could I take your swing jacket?" I pleaded. "All I've got is my Columbia Sportswear coat, and it's not exactly businessy."
Lisette had been a couple of sizes larger than I was even before I got sick-with curves in all the right places, of course-but we could share coats and accessories. Not that there was much in my closet that she had an interest in, though she pretended otherwise.
"Sure thing," she said. "And you're taking a real purse?"
"Already put everything in it." I snatched her swing jacket from the sofa and grabbed my clutch and waggled it at her.
"You'd better head down now, then," Lisette said. "You're going to be late."
I paused at the door. "Don't wait up for me," I warned, knowing that she would, anyway.
She laughed. "Of course I will. Who else is going to get me through our game theory homework tonight?"
I smiled back at her, then hurried out the door.
The elevator down was crowded with other students I didn't know who eyed me curiously but didn't interrupt their conversations as they headed down. On the third floor, Geoff Nowak stepped in, all golden hair and bronze skin. He was in most of my classes-had been since freshman year.
"Hey, Shaw," he said, treating me to a dazzling smile. He always called me Shaw because his stepmother's name was Cora, and he said it freaked him out to use the same name for me. "You look a bit dressed up for a date."
"It's more a business thing," I said, returning his smile.
"An interview?" The doors opened on the ground floor, and we all spilled out. "Who's interviewing now? If you're holding out on me...." He treated me to a patently fake threatening glare.
"Not an interview," I said as we went through the double doors. "Tell you later."
Like most of my friends, he didn't know I was sick. I wondered what exactly I'd tell him.
The Bentley was at the curb when we stepped out onto the sidewalk. The chauffeur swung the door open as I approached. Unable to resist, I gave Geoff a jaunty little wave before climbing in.
"Oh, snap," he called out after me, standing frozen on the sidewalk. "Shaw, you've got a lot to explain...."
The chauffeur shut the door and I settled back against the seat with my coat in my lap, feeling a little guilty. Geoff deserved a little teasing, but I had no idea what kind of excuse I was going to give him. Probably not a very good one, I thought.