A Summer in Paris Read Free Page B

already knew? Goodness, then why didn’t you say anything when you first came in? Surely you didn’t think your father and I would say no to a wonderful opportunity like this, did you?” she added, beaming.
    “No, I didn’t think that.” Jennifer picked up her paper napkin and nervously began folding it over and over again. “Mom, this might come as a great surprise to you, but I didn’t plan on saying anything about the Paris thing because, well, I don’t want to go.”
    “You don’t want to go!” both her parents cried at the same time. They sounded like a chorus. Jennifer would have started laughing if she hadn’t been bracing herself for what she knew was coming.
    She took a deep breath. “Mom, Dad, I want to stay here in Weston this summer.”
    “Here ... in Weston?” Dr. Johnson repeated, incredulous.
    “Jennifer, what are you saying?” Her mother looked stunned. “Surely you can’t mean it. Why, any girl in her right mind would jump at the chance—”
    “I’m not ‘any girl!’ I’m me. And not only am I not jumping at the chance, I can’t think of anything I’d rather do less.”
    “But why?” Dr. Johnson demanded, still puzzled. “I don’t understand.”
    “Look, this is my last summer before college. All I want to do is stay home, get a summer job in town, see my friends, spend time with Danny....”
    “Oh, is that all.” Ms. Johnson sounded relieved. “You’re afraid you’ll miss Danny. Or maybe that he’ll find another girlfriend while you’re gone. Well, honey, I can assure you that Danny is just a high school romance, a sweet case of puppy love that you’ll soon begin to see as nothing more than-”
    “It’s not puppy love!” It was all Jennifer could do to keep from leaping out of her chair. “Danny and I really care about each other! It’s not fair of you to say something like that. Besides, if I’m old enough to go to France by myself, then I’m certainly old enough to decide how I want to spend my summer!”
    “You do have a point,” her father said. Her mother, meanwhile, was nodding.
    Jennifer was annoyed at how calm they were— and how irritating she was finding them at this moment. She would have found it more satisfying if they had started yelling at her. Instead, they were logical, thoughtful ... and totally in control. That was the problem with having a father who was a psychologist and a mother who was a lawyer. Between the two of them, they were always at least two steps ahead of her.
    “I’m sure I speak for your father when I say that we both understand how you’re feeling right now,” Louise Johnson said. “This is a difficult, confusing time for you. Of course you feel strong ties to your childhood. You’re not sure if you’re ready to grow up.”
    “Resistance to growing up and being on your own is very common,” her father chimed in. “In many ways it’s a terrifying prospect.”
    “I can’t stand it when you go all analytical and understanding on me,” Jennifer mumbled.
    “Your mother and I both know that this whole time is difficult for you, honey,” her father said. “But it’s about time you spread your wings a little. You’re almost eighteen, and it’s time to leave the nest, to venture out into the world a bit—”
    “I’m not a blue jay, for goodness sake!” Jennifer cried. “And I don’t see what’s wrong with being happy exactly where I am.”
    “What’s wrong with it,” her mother said calmly, “is that people don’t grow unless they take a few risks. You can’t spend your whole life hiding in a little town like Weston, Connecticut.”
    “I am going to Hartford in the fall,” Jennifer reminded them meekly, but her words went unnoticed.
    “Goodness, Jennifer,” her mother was saying, “the chance to live abroad, to expand your horizons, to feel comfortable somewhere other than the place in which you grew up....”
    “Dad?” Jennifer looked at him with desperation in her blue eyes.
    “I’m with