Alice Alone Read Online Free Page A

sleeping on the floor with a bunch of guys around, it’s going to be under our roof, not off in some divorced mother’s apartment where things could get beyond her control.”
    I hardly even stopped for breath. “Then can we have the party here?”
    Dad blinked.
    “We’ve got more room than Karen, we wouldn’t be sleeping so close together, and if you want you can sit on the couch all night with a broom and poke anyone who gets out of line,” I said, knowing full well that Dad can’t stay awake very long.
    Lester looked at Dad. “She’s gotcha there, Pop.”
    Dad looked as though he’d just been hit with a brick. “Al, I am going to count the days until you leave for college,” he said, half under his breath.
    “How do you know I won’t live at home and go to the University of Maryland like Lester?” I chirped.
    He turned helplessly to Lester.
    Les shrugged. “I don’t know. If churches and libraries do it …”
    “Even Elizabeth can do it!” I said, not at all sure.
    At that precise moment, like a message from God, the phone rang, and when I picked it up in the hall, Karen said, “Alice, Mom won’t let me have the party. I can’t believe this! I was sure she’d say yes.”

    “I’ll call you back,” I said quickly, and hung up.
    “Okay, Lester, you’ve got to help me out here,” Dad was saying. “Al can have the party, and I’ll make the popcorn and order the pizza, but after I go to bed, you’re in charge.”
    “What?” yelled Lester.
    “You know I can’t stay awake past eleven. It’s a Saturday night, your classes have only begun at the U, so you can’t have too much to do yet. I need you. Once Sylvia and I get married, we’ll handle things like this.”
    Lester gave a howl of pain.
    “Thanks, Dad,” I said.
    I went upstairs and phoned Karen. “The party’s still on. Dad says we can have the sleepover here.”
    “Really?” she cried. “Oh, Alice, your dad is so cool!”

3
    A Sudden Announcement
    Once the word got out that Lester was in charge, everyone, it seemed, was coming. Even Elizabeth. We got a lot of calls, though—parents wanting to talk to Dad to make sure he was going to be here. This only made Dad more nervous, and Lester berserk.
    “I really appreciate this, Les,” I said. “Maybe I can make it up to you somehow.”
    “You can hire ten vestal virgins to massage my feet and feed me grapes, but you’ll still owe me,” he growled.
    As Elizabeth and I walked to the bus stop the next morning, she said, “Mom said I could come if I put my sleeping bag next to Lester and not off in some dark corner with one of the guys.”
    “Poor Les,” I said. “And to think his birthday’s on Sunday.”
    Elizabeth stopped walking. “His birthday’s Sunday?”
    “So?” I said. “Alice, we’ve got to get him a cake! He’s giving up one whole night of his life just for us.”
    Every day is sacred to Elizabeth Price. She knows exactly what she plans to do every hour of the day, and how much she expects to accomplish by the time she goes to bed. Maybe I’m envious of her, because too often I just let things happen to me. I react to whatever comes along instead of making things happen. She used to think she was going to join a convent, but lately she’s been talking about marriage and motherhood and even a career. By thirty, she says, she wants to be “settled in.” Career or marriage or both, she wants to be settled.
    No matter how much she tells you, though, you always get the feeling that she’s holding back. That you never quite know the real Elizabeth. Maybe everyone’s like that to a certain degree. Maybe we never tell our friends every thing there is to know about us.
    There was no stopping her where Lester was concerned, however. As soon as we got on the bus, Elizabeth told Pamela and Pamela told Brian, and soon everyone knew that we were planning a surprise party for Lester on Saturday.
    I didn’t get involved. If they wanted to give Lester a cake, it was