CF #2: All-Nighter

B+. A bit heavy-handed with the Don’t Judge By Appearances message, and one bit is somewhat implausible, but it’s entertaining. Certainly better than the first book in this series. And this is the first of several titles shared by CF and RM.

So, Amy Trevlyn (Cathy’s punk friend from the first book) is brooding in her room. She’s not overjoyed to be in Boston, but it’s better than Seattle. How things change! Reflecting on her backstory: two years earlier, she’d come home from London, where she’d been living with Binny Airplane (I’d love to know what it says on his birthcert), to L.A., where her parents were fighting constantly until mom took off. Amy caught up with her in Reno; apparently she’d contracted hepatitis the moment the divorce was final. Mom died and Amy went to Seattle with Grandma, mom’s mom. Dad sends money when she asks for it, but not enough to get back to London. And she has to go to college or he’ll cut her off financially. Again I say, a true punk would say “Fine, I don’t need your money,” and made her own way, in Seattle, SF or wherever. Now she’s waiting for Binny and his band, the Mindbenders, to come to Boston for the start of their U.S. tour. (She’d been writing to Binny during her senior year, but the correspondence must have fallen off at some point, as we’ll see.) She’ll leave with him, or so she plans. 

Meanwhile, school is boring and oppressive, except for sociology, taught by Norman Birnbaum, another liberal. Amy’s roommate is Leslie Schaeffer: shy, nerdy, badly dressed, wants to be a writer. In book 1, Amy dismissed Leslie as “bottom of the barrel”; now she tolerates her, although she’s irritated by the way Leslie is always checking in and out. I get the impression she just wants to remind people that she exists. 

Amy feels restless, goes looking for Cathy, finds her in Nan and Louisa’s room. Amy looks outward more (Cathy, in the first book, kind of had tunnel vision), so we get an overview of Rachel Pirnie “looking like the Queen of Sheba drinking sangria”; Susan McMahon, who is said to resemble Brooke Shields; Adelle Maris, who seems to be Susan’s BFF; super-perky Betty Berke; Louisa (her name is Fenquist, but it still hasn’t been stated), “portly, almost matronly”;  and Nan Deluca, pothead. To go into more detail, Betty is a trip: wears ponytails with ribbons and has a menagerie of stuffed animals. But Amy has some respect for Betty’s having her schtick just like Amy has hers. Very mature attitude! We’ll soon see how put-upon Louisa is, particularly but not exclusively by Nan. And Amy really doesn’t like Nan; she’s out for herself only, not trustworthy. Anyway, Amy is not into all the gossip, and is becoming fed up with Hastings and its student body, especially the boring guys the other girls gush about. How could anyone date these “little boys”, amirite? 

Next afternoon, sociology class. We meet Margot Williams, token black girl, who is an activist without being an overbearing SJW. And we also meet Craig Baldwin, wholesome, conservative, all-American looking…so of course Amy despises him. Prof. Birnbaum starts a discussion on individuals, freedom and society. Naturally, Amy and Craig are on opposite sides, and neither will back down until Nan pipes up…to agree with Craig’s anti-drug stance. Which makes Amy’s head explode.

Nan and Craig are sharing dinner in the cafeteria, which really irritates Amy; really really. After Amy spews about this, at length, to Leslie and Cathy, Leslie observes that this happens a lot in the bodice-rippers she reads: opposites attracting, and jealousy masquerading as disgust. 

Amy finally gets a chance to vent when Louisa shows up in her and Leslie’s room. Nan booted her out because Craig was coming over. Now, that is pretty outrageous: first of all, it’s a suite, so Louisa doesn’t have to leave for them to have privacy, and second, Nan is such an emotional vampire, she owes Louisa some consideration, not the other way around. So Amy storms into their suite, where Nan and Craig are half-dressed and fully stoned; she goes off on Nan, who yells back, and Craig basically disappears. 

And yes, there will be fallout from this. Gossip gossip gossip, which doesn’t bother Amy, but it sure bothers her when she gets called into the dean’s office. Dean Stewart this time, a white-haired conservative from the Greatest Generation, or perhaps earlier. Amy is no stranger to being called into offices, so she’s not intimidated, but I agree with her that it’s a bit fascist that he’s basically putting her on probation because (of) a) Nan made a complaint against her, b) how she looks, and c) her stance in soc. class that rules are made to be broken. Oh, he wouldn’t admit it was Nan who made the complaint, but someone saw her coming out of his office. 

Well, Amy’s ready to take off as soon as Binny gets to the city, but in the meantime, she’s going to get back at Nan by derailing Craig + Nan. They’re going to meet seven pm Saturday at the Phi Beta party, so Amy plans to make sure he’ll get there…but just a few minutes late. Margot has a bunch of Greenpeace posters to put up around campus; Amy volunteers to help, and times it so Craig will fulfill her request to put one up in the boys’ locker room. He’s surprisingly willing to accompany her while she posts all the others, which leads to lunch off campus, and a movie. There’s a mutual apology for what happened a few nights ago, and from there, they’re having a standard getting-to-know-you day. What’s also noteworthy is that when a security guard challenges them, Amy is about to give him both barrels, but Craig placates him with humor. They head for the party in tandem, and Nan being pissed off is the best part of Amy’s day. Or is it the best? She actually had something resembling a good time with Craig, and he certainly enjoyed her company. 

Craig doesn’t drop Nan, exactly, but as time goes on, he spends more time with Amy, and it gets to the point where people are asking if she and Binny are over. Which makes her chew glass, of course, but she’s getting awfully cozy with a guy she claims not to like. She feels very much at ease with Craig, but draws the line at hanging out in his room. It’s not stated, but the impression is that if she was fully alone with him, that would lead to being unfaithful to Binny.

Then we get Craig’s POV. He’s torn between Nan and Amy, but tilting towards Amy: Nan is so possessive, and he can tell Amy is hurting inside. He talks to Lance about doing a story on the Mindbenders, which is the first he hears about their lead singer being Amy’s SO. Which kind of staggers him…but doesn’t make him any less interested. 

Amy is panting with anticipation. She doesn’t plan to stay at Hastings after she sees Binny. This will be the end of her anxiety attacks (!) and might even get her father to notice her. Most of the other Windsorites are temporarily punking out for the show. Cathy wears pegged jeans and a red off-the-shoulder (“Flashdance”) sweater; she’s not sure it’s enough, to which I say, she could wear that to a youth group. Margot is wearing her usual tailored clothing; again, Amy admires her for not being a poser. 

I forgot to mention, the place the Mindbenders are making their U.S. debut (ha) is called The Pit. The layout sounds about right for a punk club. Not much fanfare before the Mindbenders come out on stage. I picture Binny as looking like the lead singer of Human League; the descriptions seem right for 1985 New Wave. Their act is tight, everyone is dancing their ass off, and Amy is losing her mind. Binny! Finally, her punk true love! But she’ll have to wait until intermission to go backstage. 

Now, when I first read this, I was positive that Amy would get to the dressing room and find Binny’s new girlfriend, maybe wife. Fortunately (in the short run), that’s not what happens. He’s plenty happy to see her; the only sour note is when he wonders why they couldn’t see each other before the show. Well, because she didn’t know where he was staying…and Binny winces to hear her saying something so mundane. OMG, has she become, er, middle-class? Shudder! Anyway, after ten minutes, she’s back on the dance floor, the Mindbenders are back on stage, and it takes no time at all for Binny to notice that there’s some kind of connection between Amy and Craig. And Amy has been noticing Craig too: he dances like nobody’s watching, a torn t-shirt looks natural on him, and…uh…what’s going on here? 

After the show, party! Amy turns down several offers of a ride back to campus, of course including one from Craig. Margot decides Amy needs some kind of support, so she goes along. And a good thing she does, because when they get there, it’s no party, just people lying around in a stupor. No food, no conversation, and a very grim atmosphere. And Binny disappeared somewhere. While looking for him, Amy opens a door and startles a guy doing something with a candle and “small, clear envelopes”. He freaks, Binny comes running, and after he reassures the guy, he pushes Amy up against the wall. “You KNOCK before you barge into a room, you understand?!” 

So Amy and Margot are outta there, or so they think. Before they can even find a bus stop, Binny comes along in a van with the other band members. They want to go back to campus, but the van heads for another location. Nothing exactly terrible happens, just that Binny is acting erratically — a “paranoid Napoleon” — and won’t let Amy and Margot leave. Plus, he’s clearly on something, and so are some of the people in his crew. Poor Amy: until last night, she wanted to be with Binny forever, but “stay forever and never leave my side” are often the terms set by a psycho. 

Back on campus, Amy and Margot’s absence is noted. Nan vows to get back at Amy for interfering with her re: Craig. Funny how Nan is presented as evil for thinking this way, yet Amy is perfectly justified in using Craig to get back at Nan. And she gets her chance: Margot has called Windsor, giving Leslie the address of where they’re staying, and while Leslie is trying to find someone with a car, Nan yoinks the address from her. D’oh! 

Also, Craig is in the gym, having his second run-in with the football coach, who doesn’t like any guys other than the football team to use the Nautilus equipment. It’s a good scene, actually: Craig doesn’t back down, but presents a calm and reasonable case. “Furthermore, I take phys. ed., and anyone who takes phys. ed. has a right—“ And when the coach won’t let him finish, he takes it to the dean. Of all the love interests in this series, he’s the one I like best. Certainly the one with the most integrity. 

And what great timing, because Nan is just coming out of the dean’s office, having ratted Amy out for being off campus doing scary drugs. (I’m not sure how being away from campus is an infraction, since it’s not a private college, and the admins would not act in loco parentis. I also don’t understand why a college dean would try to get a student arrested. They usually try to avoid getting the law involved, to save the school’s reputation.) 

At any rate, Margot and Amy escaped out the bathroom window just before the lights and sirens. But they’re still miles from campus. And Amy is shattered. Binny was her only hope, and now he’s lost to her; she can’t go back to school; she’s got nowhere to go. It’s pretty cinematic too, with her torn fishnet tights and smeared makeup illustrating how her tough-girl facade has fallen apart. 

But of course, Craig comes riding to the rescue, in a borrowed car. He promises to help smooth things over with the dean, which he does, along with Prof. Birnbaum (it’s been said before that he is sometimes a go-between for students facing the administration). Once again, no penalty for our heroines, although we don’t get to see the scene play out. Also, Leslie is beating herself up so bad for letting Nan have the address, Amy can’t be angry with her. She does swear revenge on Nan, but simmers down later and agrees to let Nan’s karma catch up with her. Which it will. 

So all that’s left is for Amy and Craig to have a Genuine Date. A movie, pizza, and Amy with her hair down, made up like a coed, and wearing jeans, a turtleneck, and a down coat. And she tells Craig her story that she’s never told to anyone. And at the end of the evening, smoochies. No, she doesn’t change permanently, but she’s a lot less tense and combative. Love will do that to ya!  

There’s also a subplot with Cynthia Woyzek. She’s on scholarship and works in the cafeteria, scowling at everyone, and Amy doesn’t have time for her and the  “chip on her shoulder the size of a redwood”. The Sunday before the Mindbenders show, Agatha (Cynthia’s roommate, the Texas deb) wants to talk to Amy about Cynthia: would it be okay for her to attend the Mindbenders show? She feels so left out and all. Which Amy can’t fathom: what’s so terrible about being left out at this dump, and since when does anyone need an invitation to go to a bar? Thing is, I think I wouldn’t go out of my way to attend this show, because there’s no mention of tickets, a guest list, or even a cover charge. So the Mindbenders are a bar band, essentially. I probably wouldn’t have hauled ass across the city on a school night just for a bar band. OTOH, if it’s what everyone is doing…I had a similar experience my freshman year of college, when it seemed that everyone (and in such a small school, it might really have been everyone), was going off campus to see Dangerous Liaisons, and not one person asked if I wanted to come along. Grr… Anyway, the morning after the show, everyone’s talking about how awesome it was. Cynthia overhears this, snarls a sour-grapes comment, and almost cries when she’s alone. In talking it over with Agatha, she thinks lack of money is what’s keeping her from being social, while Agatha tells her her attitude is the real barrier. It’s hard to unravel, and that’s why the next book focuses on Cynthia. 

There’s also a foreshadowing. Terry Smith, super jock, was mentioned in the last book, and now we meet her roommate, Mary Anne Duffy, who is devoted to her SO, Bill Rivers, at Boston University. She and Bill are spiritually linked, she can’t stand it sometimes how in love they are…When Terry asks point-blank about birth control, Mary Anne is gobsmacked. Birth control? But she’s Catholic! The rhythm method is foolproof, right?…Right? _______________________

Constant references to Amy’s Mohawk (but it has to be a faux-hawk. Or the author didn’t know from New Wave hairstyles) and what color she’s spray-dyed it. She gets off on staring back at people staring at her. She wears a shirt that says “Kill ‘Em All, Let God Sort ‘Em Out.” (I have always wondered, all who?) Craig wears his old high school warmup jacket.

We meet Lance Tuchman, editor of the school paper. We get a glimpse of Kim Joffrey, who has the only single on their floor, and is practically a ghost girl, and Jacqui Orsini, music major, violinist, but not entirely devoted to her music.

Amy wonders if Cathy sees anything in John Wickland besides his looks. Yanno, I think that may be all there is to it.

Agatha attends a Baptist church, but only because the denomination she really belongs to is “so rare and Southern” that it’s not represented in Boston, so Baptist is as close as she can get. I generally like Agatha, but she’s a real pig when she shrieks at the sight of one of those Greenpeace posters and calls it “propaganda…practically subversive.” (Young Republican propaganda is okay in her book, because they’re “an established organization.”)

Amy and Rachel don’t seem to be friends: after the confrontation with Nan, Rachel asks what happened, but in a way that’s almost mocking Amy. “And you took care of it, I gather?” Later, Amy mentally dismisses everyone in Windsor, including “Miss Rachel Gucci and her airs.” Although I wonder if that was supposed to be Adelle, who earlier she’d also thought of as Miss Gucci (Susan McMahon being Miss Cover Girl).