they were hanging around her neck on a gold chain and slid them
onto her nose so she could examine Serena’s schedule; which was
lying on her desk。 “Let’s see; now。 Mmmm。 Yes。 Right;” she
muttered; reading the schedule over。
Serena sat in front of Ms。 Glos; with her legs crossed; waiting
patiently。 There were no diplomas on Ms。 Glos’s wall; no evidence of
any accreditations at all; just pictures of her grandchildren。 Serena
wondered if Ms。 Glos had even gone to college。 You would have
thought that if she were going to dish out advice on the subject; she
could have at least tried it。
Ms。 Glos cleared her throat。 “Yes; well; your schedule is perfectly
acceptable。 Not stellar; mind you; but adequate。 I imagine you’re
making up for it with extracurriculars; yes?”
Serena shrugged her shoulders。 If you can call drinking Pernod and
dancing naked on a beach in Cannes an extracurricular。 “Not
really;” she said。 “I mean; I’m not actually signed up for any
extracurriculars at the moment。”
Ms。 Glos let her glasses drop。 Her nostrils were turning very red and
Serena wondered if she was about to have a bloody nose。 Ms。 Glos
was famous for her bloody noses。 Her skin was very pale; with a
yellowish tinge。 All the girls thought she had some terrible
contagious disease。
“No extracurriculars? But what are you doing to improve yourself?”
Serena gave Ms。 Glos a polite; blank look。
Who said she needed improving?
“I see。 Well; we’ll have to get you involved in something; won’t we?”
Ms。 Glos said。 “I’m afraid the colleges aren’t going to even look at
you without any extracurriculars。” She bent over and pulled a big
looseleaf binder out of a drawer in her desk and began flipping
through pages and pages of flyers printed on colored paper。 “Here’s
something that starts this week。 ‘Feng Shui Flowers; the Art of Floral
Design。’ ”
She looked up at Serena; who was frowning doubtfully。 “No; you’re
right。 That’s not going to get you into Harvard; is it?” Ms。 Glos said
with a little laugh。
She pushed up the sleeves of her blouse and frowned at the binder
as she flipped briskly through the pages。 She wasn’t about to give