nervously。 ？Of course。Yeah。 It？s you。？
？In all my glory。？ Greg noticed the rectangular…shaped bottle that Dan was gripping as though his
life depended on it。 ？You brought something！？
？Yeah； some absinthe。？ It was the most literary thing he could find。The kind of thing Rimbaud or
Shelley might have drunk。 Plus； it was the only unopened bottle in the musty cracked…glass
dentist？s cabinet his dad stored liquor in。
？Awesome！？ Greg took the bottle。 ？Should I fix us a drink before everyone gets here？？
？Sure。？ Dan followed his host down the bookshelf…lined hallway toward the living room。 ？I
could use a little some…thing to loosen me up。？
Just a little though； right？ That stuff is so strong it？s like 。 。 。 illegal。
？There？s shlomeone； I mean； someone； there？s 。 。 。？ Dan slurred。 His tongue felt like it was the
size of an eggplant。 ？Doorbell； dude。 They？re here。 It？s time！？ he added； attempting to sit up。
？It？s time！？ Greg leapt up off the low brown leather couch that he and Dan had been sinking
further and further into the more shots of absinthe they drank。 They？d allotted an hour for
planning their opening remarks； but they？d spent most of the time pouring absinthe over lumps of
sugar； then swallowing the sticky； sweet mix in one gulp。 Dan picked up the sterling absinthe
spoon they？d been sharing and popped it into his mouth。
Taste of metal on my tongue。 Poison the color of envy？I？m delirious； you？re delicious； I？m
deluded and delusional。I？m lost without you。 I need you。
Dan grinned。 It was true？absinthedid inspire。 He teetered a little as he crossed the living room？s
shiny wood floors to retrieve his backpack； where his notebook waited for him。 He had to get that
fragment down on paper before he forgot it。
？Look who？s here；？ Greg called。 Dan dropped the bag？ poetic fragment already forgotten？and
tried to focus on the faces of the people who were streaming into the room； which suddenly
seemed to be spinning。 Because they？d sent their pictures he felt like he？d met them already。
There was the cute Charlotte Bront？ girl。 And the insane vampire…lover。
？Everyone grab a drink。？ Greg pointed： ？Bar？s over there。 Plenty more ice in the fridge。 Then I
guess we can all just sit in a circle and introduce ourselves。 Sound good to you； Dan？？
Dan nodded； suddenly unable to form a single word。Sit。 Yes； that sounded like a good idea。 He
lurched through the surprisingly thick crowd？just how many people had been at the door？ Or had
the doorbell rung more than once？ How long had he been digging around in his bag for that
note…book； anyway？ He collapsed back onto the leather couch。
？How about another？？ Greg pointed at the silver tray set with a tiny bottle of pale green liquid
and a bowl of sugar cubes。 Then he took off his glasses； and Dan noticed for the first time that
Greg had millions of tiny freckles all over his face。
？But 。。。my speech；？ Dan murmured。 ？I need to？？
？You need to calm down。？ Greg gently pried the sterling spoon from Dan？s hand and balanced it
on the rim of the glass。 He deposited a sugar cube on the spoon and poured a thin stream of the
potent green liquor over it。
？That was in my mouth；？ Dan protested。
？Doesn？t bother me。？ Greg grinned； and then used the spoon to give the liquor a quick stir before
popping it between his lips。 He pulled the spoon out of his mouth and slipped it back into Dan？s。
Ew； thanks for the germs！
Greg slipped off his beaten black leather Doc Martens； then stepped up onto the couch； almost
stepping on Dan？s thigh as he did so。 He shook the ice in his glass to get the attention of the
assembled pany。 ？Okay； everyone； grab your drinks and settle in。We？ve got a lot to cover
tonight。？
The room was filled with voices； but Dan was having trouble focusing his hearing。 He was
grateful Greg seemed to have everything under control。
？I？ll hand the reins over to our other fearless leader now。？ Placing one hand on Dan？s shoulder to
steady himself； Greg hopped off the couch and took a seat on the battered wooden floor at Dan？s
feet。
？Thank you； Greg。？ Dan wobbled a little as he studied the group。This is it。This is our salon。And
you？re their Gertrude Stein。 ？Gadies and lentlemen； wele to our first meeting of our first salon
of the inaugural meeting of our group。？ He burped quietly。 ？I？m so pleased to excite you and tell
you about exciting and books。 These things I believe and you believe and we all believe together
that about books and books are good and change our lives and make us happier。 And it matters to
us； doesn？t it？ It really does。？
Dan paused。 The only sounds besides the clink of ice were a couple of muffled titters from across
the room。 His tongue felt thick and dry and he knew he was having trouble with his pronunciation；
but he was determined to get his opening remarks out。 He？d spent so long drafting their mission
statement and fielding e…mails and had gone through revision after revision of his speech？he
wasn？t going to go and blow it just because he？d had one drink too many。
One？
？We were going to start today with the reading from the book that I liked that I found that day at
the Strand。 That？s where I work。 Where？s that book？ Greg； do you know where I left that book？？
？Hey； hey。？ Greg laughed。 ？Why don？t we put off the reading for now and maybe just go around
the circle or some…thing？ We can all introduce ourselves。 Dan and I have been reading your
e…mails； but we？re looking forward to a chance to getting to know you guys in real life。？ Greg
helped ease Dan back into his seat on the couch。 ？Why don？t you go first？？ He nodded at a girl
sitting cross…legged on the floor near the coffee table。 Her head was half…shaven and she was
sporting a tattoo of a cockroach on her skull。 She seemed to have a very toned body； but her face
looked weirdly misshapen。
The misshapen…faced girl nodded back。 ？Yo； what？s going on； my name？s Penny；？ she
barked。 ？Favorite book； totally got to beSexing the Cherry； you know how it goes。 I just finished
school； heading out to Smith in the fall； but I？m so psyched to be here right now； meeting some
cool book…lovers； you know？？ She turned to glance at the strawberry redhead to her left； who was
hugging her knees and sipping shyly at a cup of cheap white wine。
？H…h…hey；？ strawberry…head whispered。 ？I？m Susanna。 My favorite book isThe Awakening。 I？m
from the East Village； I？m thinking of going to Bennington when I finish school next year； and I
love Tori Amos。？
？You totally look like her；？ interjected Penny。
Susanna blushed； looking down at the ground。
？I guess I？ll go next；？ blurted out a gaunt guy who looked about fourteen； dressed in a gray suit
plete with bright maroon bow tie and sitting in a rocking chair across from Dan。
？Yes； please do；？ replied Greg； slipping Dan a bottle of water。
Mister Considerate！
？I？m Peter； I？m about to start my sophomore year at NYU； and my favorite writer is definitely J。
D。 Salinger。 In fact； as my honors thesis； I？m thinking of memorizingRaise High the Roofbeam；
Carpenters in its entirety。？
Dan sipped the bottle of tepid water。 That sounded vaguely familiar？he sort of remembered
having read an e…mail from a devoted Salinger fan； but for some reason he was having trouble
remembering things。
Like his own name？
？Anyway；？ Peter continued； ？I？m glad I made the cut。 Word on the blogs is that this group is
pretty exclusive。？
？I heard that too！？ exclaimed the girl sitting next to him； a prim brunette whose milk…white face
was framed by perfect brown ringlets。 ？And I？m so lucky that you were willing to include two
Salinger enthusiasts。 My name is Franny； and yes； I？m named after the Salinger book； and yes； it？s
obviously my favorite book in the world。 I？ll be starting at Vassar next year and； um； well； I guess
I hope I make some new friends today。？
Maybe she？ll meet her Zooey？
？Vanessa；？ Dan murmured； running his hands over the soft…prickly stubble on the back of her
head as she kissed him ever so tenderly。 ？You came back to me。？
？Er； Dan？ It？s me； Greg。 Are you okay？？
Greg？s voice snapped Dan back to reality。 He sat up and rubbed his eyes。 ？Oh； sorry； I think I
was nodding off there。？
？It？s okay。You？ve been sleeping for about an hour。？
？I have？？ He stood up and then sat down again quickly。 Whoa。 ？I was just listening to that girl
talk about liking Salinger and that？s the last thing I remember。。。。？
？That girl？？ asked Greg； pointing out the curly…haired Franny； who was sprawled on the floor
across the room while Peter； her fellow Salinger fan； tickled her neck with his tongue。 ？She； uh；
connected with a fellow book lover； as you can see。？
？What？s going on？？ Dan looked around the room； which had grown considerably darker。 It
seemed like all twenty…two salon…goers were hunkered on the floor in pairs； or in small groups。 No
one seemed to be doing much talking； and if they were； it certainly wasn？t about books。 On the
room？s other big couch； Dan counted seven legs and eight arms。 The half…bald punk girl； Penny；
was getting her multiply pierced ears worked over lovingly by that redhead Susanna？s tongue
right in front of him。 Dan frowned。 His elite literary gathering was turning into anorgy。 And he
could have sworn someone had been kissing him right before he woke up。 But who？ There
weren？t any girls there with pletely shaved heads。
？Don？t worry； Dan；？ murmured Greg； slipping an arm around his shoulders。 ？We？re all just
having a good time getting to know one another。You know； it？s like we wanted； right？？
Dan nodded。 Itwas？
Greg reached out and cupped Dan？s chin gently with his hand。 ？We？re all passionate people；
passionate about books； passionate about life。？ Squeezing Dan？s chin playfully； Greg pulled
Dan？s face close to his and kissed him； softly； on the lips。
Dan yanked his face away。 Excuse me？What the fuck？
Greg smiled and kissed Dan again； this time letting his warm tongue slip over Dan？s lips。 Dan
was about to pull away again； but his hand involuntarily ran up the back of Greg？s neck and into
his short； pri