Anastasia at This Address Read Free

can start appearing at the same places as if by accident," Daphne admitted.
    "Doesn't that take a lot of your time, sleuthing around like that?"
    Daphne sighed. "Every waking minute. I miss a lot of good stuff on TV. And it's why I didn't have time to finish
Johnny Tremain
for English class. I couldn't explain that to Mr. Rafferty, of course, so I had to tell him that I lost the book."
    "
See?
" Sonya said loudly. "Every one of us, we're sacrificing our lives for this stupid pursuit of men. Meredith, if you didn't spend all your time thinking about Kirby, you could think about clothes instead, or something else equally worthwhile. And Daphne—you could have gotten an A on the
Johnny Tremain
test if you hadn't been spying on Eddie Cox instead. And Anastasia—
    "Forget it," Anastasia interrupted her. "I already figured it out for myself, Sonya. And I hadn't told you guys yet, but I've already given up the pursuit of Steve Har——? Harcourt? Hartley? See? I can't even remember his last name."
    Her friends began to laugh. They had reached Sonya's house and stopped at the end of the long driveway.
    "I'll see you guys in the morning," Sonya said. She looked at her watch. "Four o'clock. Great. I have time to do my homework, start reading a book for extra credit, wash my hair, make some brownies, iron my gymsuit. Maybe I'll paint my bedroom. In the old days, of course, I would just be holed up in my room, plotting and scheming, writing Norman Berkowitz's name all over my notebook. What a relief to be finished with such adolescent pursuits."
    Anastasia, Meredith, and Daphne watched Sonya walk up the driveway toward her house.
    "Look," Anastasia pointed out. "She has a new, ma ture look to her. A more self-confident walk. A self-assured way of holding her shoulders."
    "What a woman," Daphne murmured in an awed voice. "I admire her."
    "I'm going to do it, too," Meredith announced. "This is it, guys. I've given up men." She took a deep breath. "I'm trembling. It was tough. But I think I'm going to make it."
    "Good for you, Mer," Anastasia said. "It
is
tough. I know, because I already gave up Steve What's-his-name."
    "That leaves only me," Daphne said. "And I suppose I should join you. You know, my
mother's
given up men. Ever since she and my dad got divorced and she became a feminist. She quit curling her hair and everything. She doesn't even wear lipstick anymore. She says makeup is just a stupid ploy to attract men. She threw all her Revlon products away."
    "I admire that," Anastasia said fervently.
    "What about deodorant?" Meredith asked uncertainly. "Can you still use deodorant if you give up men?"
    Daphne nodded. "Yeah. My mom does. Deodorant's okay. But no perfume."
    They began to walk toward the apartment building where Daphne lived with her mother. Each afternoon, after school, the four girls took a circuitous route so that they could see each other home. Today was the day that Sonya Isaacson's house was first and Anastasia's was last.
    Sometimes they arranged their route so that they would pass the houses of Eddie Cox, Steve Harvey, Kirby McEvedy, and Norman Berkowitz. On the days when they casually walked past all the boys' houses, they didn't reach their own homes until almost dark.
    "Look at that," Daphne said, standing on the steps to her building. "See the clock on the front of the bank over there? Four-twenty. Look at the
time
we save if we don't prowl around looking for men! That does it. I'm joining up. No more pursuit of Eddie Cox."
    "Your mom will be proud of you," Anastasia told her. "But, Daph—and Meredith—could we call them
boys?
I mean, instead of
men?
"
    They pondered that.
    "No more pursuit of boys," Daphne said. "Yeah, okay. I never pursued men, anyway."
    "Okay," Meredith agreed. "We've given up boys. We can do our homework for a change."
    "And watch
Wheel of Fortune,
" Daphne pointed out, grinning. She waved and went inside her building.
    Anastasia and Meredith trudged on, talking about how their grades