Chapter 85: Progress and Interruption

Saturday, April 13, 1985

We were up bright and early. Fortunately so, since the lumber delivery arrived slightly earlier than expected. Some of the neighbors we hadn’t talked to asked about it and were surprised (but not upset) that we were building a fence. Some of the yards already had fences, but most did not, so we were somewhat pioneers.

One guy griped good-naturedly about no longer having a shortcut through our yard, but agreed that it hadn’t been a good idea for him to use it as a shortcut when he had. He hadn’t ever bothered us, though, so I wasn’t too upset.

We spent the day busily installing posts, building fence panels, and putting them up. While we didn’t go all-out, it was a busy day and we got a lot done. One side fence was mostly done by the time we knocked off work, and the back fence was about one-third done, with all of the posts installed.

We planned to continue the work during the week and next weekend, but it was clear we could easily have this done before Cammie and Mel were here by themselves over the summer.

Mel had a surprise at lunch. She’d gone in around twelve-thirty to ‘cook lunch,’ but had encouraged everyone else to keep working. A bit after one, she called us all in. She had burgers and fixings, but there was also a rather conspicuous cake.

Cammie burst into tears when she saw it. Happy ones, I was sure, just from the look on her face.

“You remembered!” she said, almost jumping into Mel’s arms.

“I’ll always remember,” Mel said, hugging her tight.

It was, after all, the anniversary of Cammie’s liberation. One year ago, Joseph and Magnolia had capitulated in the Hilton’s lobby, winning Cammie her freedom. It wasn’t even much off from this time of day, if I remembered right.

It was a very happy lunch. We didn’t want to make too much of it, but it was a really big deal. So much might have gone differently had we not had that Hilton confrontation. Thank goodness Magnolia had convinced Joseph to give up! Had he dug in his heels and fought to the bitter end, the end would have been bitter indeed.

I wasn’t much of a fan of Joseph right now (nor was anyone around here), but I didn’t hate the man, either. Hopefully, one day, he (and Magnolia) would realize there was more to be gained by at least pretending to be civil adults than by continuing to be jerks.

Not that I knew if Magnolia was a jerk or not. We hadn’t actually heard a peep out of her, really. She had been, but now? Who knew?

I showered and changed for my date, then arrived at Mosher about ten minutes early.

As I was walking to Claire’s room, I spotted a girl who really stood out. Only a few inches taller than Jas, and thin, she had dark purple hair. I might have called it maroon, but it was both darker and more blue-tinted than that. She was wearing a studded collar, studded bracelets, and a black top and skirt with dark purple stockings. I wouldn’t have called her a goth (purple didn’t really fit, though it was close), and she didn’t fit ‘punk’ quite right, either, but she was unusual. I could probably count on both hands (in decimal — no cheating and using binary!) the number of people with hair in ‘unnatural’ colors I’d seen at A&M. Her eyeshadow (lightly applied, not overbearing) matched the purple look, and she had a pale complexion that was likely partly makeup but partly just who she was.

She was, pretty clearly, watching me. I couldn’t figure out her expression, and she might have just been one of those people who really notices other people, but I certainly felt her gaze on me.

I gave her a friendly little wave. She blinked, then nodded to me.

Claire was ready when I got to her room, and greeted me with a hug and a kiss.

“Get a room!” Kay said, giggling a bit.

“Maybe we will!” Claire said.

Kay rolled her eyes but grinned.

As we were leaving, Claire noticed the purple-haired girl watching us.

“Hey, Amy,” she said.

“Hey,” Amy said back, in a particularly flat voice. “Introduce me to your friend?”

“Steve,” I said, offering my hand.

Amy somehow made her face look deeply disapproving without so much as frowning. It reminded me of Jess in ‘Bye Bye Birdie’, honestly, which is high praise.

“I asked Claire to introduce me,” she said.

Claire frowned a bit, and I think was about to apologize — as was I — when Amy’s face transformed. Suddenly, she was laughing.

“Got you!” she said.

“Channeling your inner Wednesday Addams again, I see,” Claire said, chuckling.

“No,” Amy said, deadpan again, speaking in nearly a monotone. “Very clearly, I have an outer Wednesday Addams. My heart is full of unicorns and rainbows.”

There was silence for about five seconds, and then she was laughing again. I was getting whiplash, but it was a good sort.

“Pleased to meet you, Steve,” she said in a perfectly normal voice. “Amy. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” I said, smiling.

“Where are you off to, Claire?” she said.

Claire grinned, and said, “Dinner and a movie. Two movies, actually — ‘Ladyhawke’ and ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’.”

“Excellent choices,” Amy said. “Have a great time!”

“Thanks!” Claire said. “You have a fun night, too!”

“I always do,” Amy said, back to what I was thinking of as her ‘Wednesday’ voice.

We headed over to the stairs, holding hands.

“She’s a hoot,” Claire said, once we were clearly out of earshot. “I wasn’t sure what to make of her at first, and her roommate can’t stand her, but I like her.”

“Why is her roommate out of sorts?” I said.

“She’s prone to saying things like ‘Glad you didn’t die today’ and making it sound like it was a serious possibility. Or threatening to kill someone’s professor for them. I’m ninety-five percent sure it’s...”

She paused, then said, “Not a gag, which is what I was going to say, but ... it’s humor, for her. Her bookshelves are full of Lovecraft and Crowley, plus more modern horror and anything to do with vampires. Her roommate would fit better in a sorority, I think. They’re oil and water.”

“That’s a shame.”

Claire shrugged.

“Not Tiffany’s biggest fan, either. I mean, even the name. She’s... stereotypical ... about it. It’s Tiff-an-ee, and God help you if you call her Tiff or even go too fast and say Tiff-enee. She’s all about fashion and make-up. As you saw, it’s not like Amy doesn’t do makeup, but it’s a totally different sort. Oil and water, again.”

“Ouch,” I said.

“Tiff ... calling her that ‘cuz she’s not here...” Claire said, winking at me, “ ... is a pain in the ass. Amy, meanwhile, is funny and smart and very self-aware. Her style of humor can be completely deadpan, though, and very black. Not always, though, it’s just ... eh. I like her, but I like Wednesday Addams, too.”

“Who doesn’t like Wednesday?” I said.

I realized it just as Claire said it, so I said it along with her: “Tiffany!”

We were laughing at that as I helped Claire into the car, then got in myself.

“So,” she said. “Where to?”

“It’s a surprise,” I said.

She giggled.

“Still? With us actually on the date?”

“I’ll be interested in your reaction,” I said.

“Well, okay, then! It’s not someplace fancy, is it? I’m not dressed for anywhere fancy, though...”

She paused and obviously looked me up and down.

“ ... neither are you.”

I chuckled, and said, “This is perfectly nice date-wear.”

“Not for a fancy date!”

“Do they have places for fancy dates in B/CS?” I said, grinning.

“They must! There are formal dances, after all!”

“True enough. I know of some places where really nice clothes wouldn’t be out of place, but this is definitely not that.”

“Good! I just wanted casual tonight,” she said.

“This should be pretty casual.”

We switched subjects to the movie. She knew I’d planned to see it with Jas and was curious to know what I thought of it. I told her we’d seen it, and that I would have switched movies if I hadn’t enjoyed it, but refused to give any specifics about it.

After a fairly short drive, I pulled up to a Chinese buffet not far from campus.

She looked at it and grinned.

“I haven’t eaten here, but it looks good! And casual!”

“We tried it a couple of months ago,” I said. “I thought it was pretty good.”

I took her hand and walked in. It was a bit better than it’d been on our earlier trip. Maybe their quality varied, or maybe that was an off day.

It still wasn’t as good as Ms. Lin’s place, though. She’d make a killing up here, but probably couldn’t afford to move, both in terms of the restaurant and in terms of herself and her family. Likely her extended family, at that! I still wanted to help her, but that was probably a while in the future.

Dinner was comfortable. We both avoided overeating, but it might have been a bit of a close thing.

Conversation ranged over a wide variety of topics. We still had more to learn about each other, but I think both of us heard the clock slowly ticking away the time when we’d be ‘dating.’ Soon enough, we would (hopefully!) settle into being friends. Maybe occasional lovers, too, if she wanted and wasn’t dating someone, but I wasn’t sure how many people would have that arrangement. Not that Jas would stop it, but I might.

It made sense with anyone who was a core part of my life. Jess, Paige, potentially Angie, and (unlikely, but possible) even Mel might wind up in that role. With someone else? Most likely not, or at least not yet.

Claire loved ‘Ladyhawke’ as much as I’d hoped she would. It really was an excellent date movie, with action, romance, and some humor mixed in. Plenty there for both people in a couple, and plenty of moments where getting snuggly or romantic would feel appropriate.

She also liked (but didn’t quite love) ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’, which had virtually no romance (an interesting subplot with nuns and spankings notwithstanding), only the silliest of ‘action,’ and an overabundance of humor. It was, perhaps, an ideal date movie for me, in that it tested how compatible someone’s sense of humor was with mine. Anyone who couldn’t get into ‘Holy Grail’ was probably not going to mesh well with me on a long-term basis.

By the time it was over, we were pushing two in the morning, and Claire was obviously tired.

Once I started back towards campus, she said, “I had thought we might ... you know,” she said, grinning.

Then she yawned widely.

“But ... tired!” she said.

“Perhaps we should plan another date for next weekend?” I said.

“Yes! One where there’s no late movie, please!”

“Let’s not pick a day,” I said. “I have no idea what might be showing on campus, and we might decide a midnight movie is good.”

“True!” she said. “Just not ... all the time.”

“We could also meet up tomorrow,” I said.

She grinned and sighed, almost simultaneously.

“And here I thought you weren’t interested.”

“Oh, I’m very interested,” I said, wiggling my eyebrows suggestively.

“I’d like that, but ... Kay. It’ll be good if I can tell her I was restrained.”

“Kinky!” I said, wiggling my eyebrows even more.

She blushed and gave me a playful shove.

“You wish!” she said, giggling.

“Maybe I do,” I said, grinning, trying to make sure it came out jokingly.

She giggled a bit more.

“Kay would not approve! She’ll approve of my coming back right after the movie, though.”

“I thought she was good with us,” I said.

“She is, really,” Claire said, nodding and fighting off another yawn. “It’s just ... moderation, I guess? She’s afraid my heart is going to get smashed to pieces and she’ll have to pick them up.”

“Is it?” I said.

“Maybe ... a couple of pieces?” she said, looking thoughtful. “I really like you, a lot. If things were different...”

She trailed off, paused, then said, “But ... they’re not different, and I’m good with that. I’m good with what we have. It’s still good for me. I feel like I’m learning more about myself with you than I have with anyone else I’ve ever dated.”

“I’m glad,” I said.

“That, and I’m both not as horny and also hornier. Simultaneously!” she said, giggling.

“Interesting,” I said, grinning a bit.

“It is! It’s ... I like it.”

“So,” I said. “Just to confirm, because it kinda matters. A couple of pieces, right? We’re not at the ‘we’d better stop before this gets bad’ point.”

She bit her lip, looking thoughtful, then slowly shook her head.

“We’re not. I’m sure of that. You’re ... I like you more than any other boy I’ve dated, by a wide margin, but I really ... well, I maybe love you a little, but I don’t love you, love you.”

She hesitated, then said, “I hope that’s okay to say!”