It was a longstanding tradition for Kristin's family to have Thanksgiving dinner with their neighbors from two doors down, the Santinis, who arrived around noon. Mrs. Santini immediately swept into the kitchen to help with the cooking, while Mr. Santini joined Kristin's father outside, where he was preparing to grill the turkey.
With them was their daughter Nicola, who had been a year behind Kristin in school. Jenny found her quite striking, with dark hair, incongruously bright blue eyes, and olive skin. But when Kristin introduced them, Nicola just stared right through Jenny, then looked back at Kristin and started telling a story about someone they'd gone to high school with.
That pattern continued through the day; Nicola either ignored Jenny or was icy to her, if not downright hostile. It was the only discordant note in what was otherwise a wonderful Thanksgiving meal, full of delicious food and pleasant conversation. A couple of times Jenny caught Kristin staring Nicola down, giving her a look that said "Cool it," but it had no effect.
At dessert Jenny asked Nicola to pass the pumpkin pie and Nicola pretended not to hear, continuing to fiddle with her phone. When Kristin reached around Nicola to pick up the pie, Nicola stared daggers at her. As soon as dessert was over Nicola excused herself, none too politely, and went home.
Afterwards Kristin's father and the Santinis retired to the living room while Carol, Kristin, and Jenny cleared the table.
"Jenny and I will do dishes," volunteered Kristin. "Right Jen?"
"Sure thing," said Jenny.
When Kristin's mother had left the room she said to Jenny, "I'm sorry about Nicola."
"Yeah, what was that all about?" asked Jenny.
Kristin sighed. "Well, she and I have always been pretty close, right? So, when I came home for the summer after my freshman year, I was used to getting laid a lot. But this is a small town and you have to be careful. So as the summer went on I got more and more horny... and Nicola and I were spending a lot of time together... and one thing led to another.
"So we started sleeping together," Kristin continued. "And it happened again the next summer, and then this last summer. We usually get together at the holidays too. So she's jealous."
Jenny thought for a second. "But how does she know we're..."
"Oh, she knows," said Kristin. "She doesn't miss much." And it was true, Nicola was very sharp. But she'd been a bad student in high school, never studied much or did homework, and as a result when she applied to Bowmore College she'd been rejected. This was one more reason, Kristin realized, for her to resent Jenny.
