BooksBarbecue
Back Nobody in Particular
Chapters (61)
  1. Copyright Notice
  2. Dedication
  3. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  4. ONE DANNI
  5. TWO ROSE
  6. THREE DANNI
  7. FOUR DANNI
  8. FIVE ROSE
  9. SIX ROSE
  10. SEVEN DANNI
  11. EIGHT ROSE
  12. NINE DANNI
  13. TEN ROSE
  14. ELEVEN ROSE
  15. TWELVE ROSE
  16. THIRTEEN ROSE
  17. FOURTEEN DANNI
  18. FIFTEEN DANNI
  19. SIXTEEN ROSE
  20. SEVENTEEN DANNI
  21. EIGHTEEN ROSE
  22. NINETEEN ROSE
  23. TWENTY DANNI
  24. TWENTY-ONE DANNI
  25. TWENTY-TWO DANNI
  26. TWENTY-THREE ROSE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR ROSE
  28. TWENTY-FIVE DANNI
  29. TWENTY-SIX ROSE
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN DANNI
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT ROSE
  32. TWENTY-NINE ROSE
  33. THIRTY DANNI
  34. THIRTY-ONE DANNI
  35. THIRTY-TWO ROSE
  36. THIRTY-THREE DANNI
  37. THIRTY-FOUR ROSE
  38. THIRTY-FIVE ROSE
  39. THIRTY-SIX DANNI
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN ROSE
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT DANNI
  42. THIRTY-NINE ROSE
  43. FORTY DANNI
  44. FORTY-ONE ROSE
  45. FORTY-TWO DANNI
  46. FORTY-THREE ROSE
  47. FORTY-FOUR DANNI
  48. FORTY-FIVE ROSE
  49. FORTY-SIX ROSE
  50. FORTY-SEVEN DANNI
  51. FORTY-EIGHT ROSE
  52. FORTY-NINE ROSE
  53. FIFTY ROSE
  54. FIFTY-ONE ROSE
  55. FIFTY-TWO DANNI
  56. EPILOGUE ROSE
  57. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  58. Also by Sophie Gonzales
  59. Praise Page
  60. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  61. Newsletter Sign-up

Well, that’s a loaded comment if I’ve ever heard one. Still, at least she’s acknowledging me. “I don’t see it like that at all,” I say. “Honestly, I’m tired. I haven’t slept much.”

“I know,” Molly says. “You were up all night suffering through passive-aggression. I don’t know how you got through it.”

“All I mean to say,” I catch her gaze out of the corner of my eye, “is that I’m running out of patience for people who won’t simply say what they mean. I can handle criticism. I deserve it, even. So, why not dole it out?”

Molly turns to me coolly. “I guess the thing is, you don’t get to choose what consequences you get for your behavior. That’s why they’re consequences.”

Eleanor glances from me to Molly, something akin to panic on her features. “You know,” she says at full volume, waving her spoon at us. “Everyone is so obsessed with pumpkin soup, but I really don’t get the hype. Give me potato and leek any day.”

Molly and I stare back at her blankly.

“Right?” Eleanor prods. “Molly?”

Molly shrugs and pushes her half-empty bowl away from her.

Eleanor turns pleading eyes onto me. She’s spot-on, of course. This is neither the time nor the place for Molly and me to have it out.

Tomorrow, I think, I will make a point of claiming a seat next to Eleanor. Even if I have to chain her to my side.

SEVEN DANNI

My piano instructor, Caroline Al Sarraj, knows her shit. So she should, I guess—she used to play for the Royal Symphony Orchestra before she became a private tutor. She doesn’t only work for Bramppath—apparently there aren’t enough of us who play piano and the harp, her specialties, for it to be worth it. So, she comes here on Tuesdays and Fridays.

I’m nervous as hell when I play for her—she’s a literal symphony pianist, of course I am—but she doesn’t even try to put her critiques in a compliment sandwich. With Caroline—at least, for the first part of our lesson—it’s criticism on the rocks, hold the ice. Slow down, speed up, more emotion, ease up on the pedal. She even tells me to smooth out my legato, and my old teacher, Mrs. Fitch, always told me I was a natural at legato.