Lolly gave her mother a big hug before she left for school, wishing her a happy Valentine’s Day. “Text me after the doctor and tell me what’s up with Kimmie, okay?” she added, genuinely concerned about her little sister, at least for a moment. Lolly suspected that there was no hope of Kimmie getting better until this day was over and done with. After all, what girl wanted to be reminded there wasn’t a boy out there thinking of her the way Lolly knew Steven was thinking about her?

II

Anna was checking in at the front office of Greenwich Academy before homeroom because she had received an excused absence to attend the Westminster Dog Show in Manhattan. She had missed a half day of school the day before so she could see both her dogs show in their gender-specific Newfoundland breed groups. Gemma, failing to win top honors as Best Bitch, had received the Award of Merit, which, though still an honor, meant she wouldn’t advance further. But her brother, Jon Snow, short for “Jon Snow of the Wall,” had won Best of Breed. This meant he would advance and would be shown in the Working Dog group, which was to be judged at noon. If he won there, he’d advance to the main event of the evening, where he would compete for Best in Show on national television. Anna knew the competition was stiff and told herself she’d be fine if Jon Snow didn’t win, and that she should consider herself blessed to have gotten this far. She planned to stay and watch the festivities til the final dog won the polished pewter gallery bowl and was declared Best in Show.

She turned in her homework to May, the front office secretary, who was dressed in red from her shoes to her velvet red headband. “Don’t forget to check in at the theater…”

Greenwich Academy had instituted a new policy the Valentine’s Day of Anna’s freshman year that prohibited girls from receiving deliveries during classes. Being a school filled with predominantly wealthy girls, there was a lot of pressure on their boyfriends to send outrageously excessive gifts. It became competitive. (For years the Brunswick boys joked about V-Day having more casualties than D-Day, as some Academy girls broke off entire relationships if their beloved beaus didn’t come through with something truly breathtaking, or worse presented a subpar gift that underwhelmed its recipient.)