interesting rich people

[self_composed]

The party guest list includes a wide range of interestingnesses of rich people. There's a fellow who sits on various boards of various faceless corporations; there's two who started startups and swept up a few million dollars that way; there's a small handful of professional philanthropists, who have oodles of money from various sources and make a hobby of distributing the interest to worthy pet causes; there is a congresswoman, and a state senator, both from New York but apparently willing to travel to the West Coast on occasion. There's also a lot of dull old money who do this sort of thing and nothing but all the time, but they still concentrate a lot of financial leverage, and Bella would rather have ins with them than not, as long as she can.

She bikes up - speeding shamefully, hexing herself radar detection, and cutting the trip in half from its estimated time to just eight hours on the road. Tegu can go very very fast.

Alice made her a new dress for the occasion - this one's autumny, mostly a dark red-brown, with leaf patterns in deep gold and burnt orange swirling up around and soft ruffles in the same colors around her knees and puffing out over one shoulder. It stands out more than the little black dress - which is fine. She would like attention, and just being the hostess's son's girlfriend will not quite get her there at a rich people party, she thinks.

Comments

[edgeofyourseat]

"To each her own, I guess," says Marisa, with the air of one who definitely does not believe herself.

[self_composed]

"Well, I know Lisp, I just get sick of staring at parentheses after a while," says Bella. "I'm trying to be versatile though."

[edgeofyourseat]

"Versatility is good," says Marisa. "Are you in college?"

[self_composed]

"Freshman at Stanford," Bella says. "My dad lives here, though, and also there's Laney, so I'm going to be up for the occasional weekend, and a party's a decent excuse for it to be this weekend and not another."

[edgeofyourseat]

"Well, come talk to me if you change your mind about parentheses in the next four years, and there might be a job interview in it for you."

[self_composed]

"Ooh. Thanks," says Bella, smiling brightly. "That's very kind of you!"

[edgeofyourseat]

"Well, I like helping out my friends," she says. "And my friends' friends. And my friends' sons' friends, apparently."

[self_composed]

Bella giggles. "That doesn't make it any less kind."

[edgeofyourseat]

"In that case, thank you," she says. "And you're welcome."

[self_composed]

Bella grins, and says, "I don't think I ever told you my name. I'm Bella Swan."

[edgeofyourseat]

"It's nice to meet you, Bella Swan!"

[self_composed]

"Likewise. How do you know Laney's mom, anyway?"

[edgeofyourseat]

"Knitting," says Marisa, "believe it or not. I met her at a local stitch'n'bitch in New York a few years back. She didn't stick with knitting for long, but she stuck with me."

[self_composed]

"Nice," Bella says approvingly. "My grandmother taught me to knit once, or tried. Couldn't remember how to cast on after I got home."

[edgeofyourseat]

"Try Youtube," Marisa advises.

[self_composed]

"That would probably help," agrees Bella. "I really love the internet."

[edgeofyourseat]

"Don't we all," laughs Marisa.

[self_composed]

"Enh, my dad doesn't really understand it," Bella volunteers. "My mom does though, at least well enough to operate her laptop and email me, and find urban legends to believe."

[edgeofyourseat]

"Ooh." She snickers. "A crushing indictment of the older generation. But not, I must say, an inaccurate one."

[self_composed]

"Plenty of people my age are at least as bad," laughs Bella. "But the people my age who are terrible with computers don't have tech-savvy children - well, I hope - to mock them."

[edgeofyourseat]

"Somewhere in the world, I'm sure there is a teen mother with a five-year-old supergenius patiently telling her to power-cycle the modem again," says Marisa.

[self_composed]

Bella chuckles. "Probably. It's a big world."

(And it will be hers, all hers.)

Eventually Marisa goes to talk to Judith and Bella goes to eat a sausage thing and talk to other Rich People, most of the remaining ones of which are not particularly Interesting and one of whom corners her to talk about his inefficient, ineffective literacy program for children in Portland and how warm-fuzzy it makes him feel for fully twenty minutes.

Eventually people start to leave. Bella drifts over to Alice and leans her head on his shoulder.

[edgeofyourseat]

"Hi," he says, hugging her. [How'd your getting to know the rich people go?]

[self_composed]

[I like Marisa, she's cool. That one guy Arthur is kind of a creep. The fellow with the literacy program is tiresome.] "Hi."

[edgeofyourseat]

[Yeah, Arthur's an asshole,] Alice agrees. [Didn't know he was the kind of asshole who hits on teenagers, but it doesn't surprise me.]