The next morning, she drove back to Alexander’s house and they talked for hours, going around and around, crying and yelling at various times. Alexander told Anna he still loved her and wanted to work things out. He believed that even though Anna said she loved Vronsky, it wasn’t true, that she’d been taken in by his looks and fun nature. But he was wrong for her in so many ways. Alexander shouldered some of the blame. He had been too wrapped up in his own life and of course she deserved fun and dancing and he wanted to be the one who gave it to her. He begged Anna to take some time, at least a few weeks, to really think things through and consider giving him one more chance. If she would do this for him, and if she decided that she still wanted to end things, then he’d do everything he could to make sure her reputation wasn’t harmed and would never speak ill of her to anyone. He’d even go so far as to deny the truth and tell people that Anna had not betrayed him with Vronsky.

Half-heartedly, Anna agreed to take a few weeks, but she told Alexander that she would see Vronsky at least once to let him know her plans, though nothing would happen between them. She said that during the next two weeks Alexander could no longer consider her his girlfriend. She was free from all obligations. Alexander agreed to the terms but urged her to avoid spending time with Vronsky alone as it would only cloud her judgment. By the time they had finished wheeling and dealing in heavy emotional currency, it was dark out and pouring rain, but it didn’t matter. She was too drained to give a damn.

XIII

Kimmie spent the morning with her mom at PS 137, a public school where she was enrolling as a new student. Danielle wasn’t happy about her daughter’s decision to leave Spence, but she was too afraid to argue against it. Kimmie’s return home, with her new purple hair, black leather jacket, Doc Martens, and dark nail polish, had set her on edge. Kimmie had heard her parents fighting the morning her father picked her up from the airport. She went straight to her room, and her dad stayed with her mom to talk in the kitchen. She’d told her father in the ride over about her decision to leave Spence and asked him to tell her mother about it. He didn’t want to do it, but Kimmie forced his hand, casually reminding him he never once visited her out in Arizona and hadn’t even bothered to pick her up. “I’m fifteen, Dad, you really want me to blame you for everything when I’m your age?”