"Yeah, babe, on Friday," Adam says into his iPhone. He looks up at Bella and nods. She takes that to mean he and someone will possibly go to the concert and hopes that whoever is "babe" can't come.

"Yeah, good, it should be awesome," he says. Bella shrugs.

Adam has the most financial resource and the least natural intelligence of them but still, he is no slouch. He comes from the opposite coast and blooms in the New England campus society, his blonde blue-eyed casual style nicely suited to the overachievers who need just the same to feel themselves cool.

He clicks off, shuts the phone in half, grins at his friends. He lingers on Daphne. His grin slips into a sensual curve that resembles a red velvet couch.

"Hey man, where's the best place to get one of those iPhones?" asks Ethan.