Chapter 29

2:15 p.m. Sunday

Regan was surprised that her parents wanted to drive the girls back to the school. The few times she had ventured home during the semester, a car service had returned her to the C-B campus.

This time, though, Rita and Robert were waiting by the door when the girls brought their bags down the stairs. Robert carried the luggage out to the waiting SUV and they headed on their way.

"I'm sorry I didn't get to you see you in your gown last night, Joy," Rita said, turning around in the passenger seat to face the group in the back.

"It was nothing special," Joy said, shrugging. Being around Regan's mother always made her uncomfortable. Having the woman's full attention focused on her was almost unbearable. She wondered how Regan had withstood it for 18 years.

"You looked pretty," Regan corrected. "You should have seen it, Mom. It was a strapless black gown with purple sequins – sort of like the one we looked at for me, only Joy looked a lot better in hers than I did in that one!"

"Isn't that the one I liked?" Robert asked with a laugh.

"And that was reason enough not to buy it," Rita replied, winking at the girls in the back. "The fact that it made Regan's skin look washed out was secondary to the fact that you approved of it."

"I wish you could have come out to join us for dinner," Rita continued.

"I was going with the son of one of Dad's clients," Joy said, barely avoiding rolling her eyes toward the car roof.

"And I'm sure the guy was a complete asshat," Robert chimed in, again laughing. "Did I use that word in the correct context?"

The trio in the back couldn't help but laugh along with the adults in the front.

"Yeah, Dad, you got it right," Regan replied.

"On both accounts," Joy added. "You used the word correctly and you described my date correctly."

"I'm sorry you didn't have a good time," Rita said. Joy was convinced the woman was speaking sincerely.

"I had fun," Joy replied.

"She ditched her date about two minutes in and joined us," Ruth added helpfully. "He didn't join us at the after-party."

"Ooh, ooh, ooh!" Regan said excitedly. "I go to school with a girl that knows Andy!"

"Really?" Rita asked. "Who?"

"Katrina Littledove," Regan said.

Rita looked puzzled as she searched her memory for the name. Almost all the girls at C-B had parents who had approached her with investment ideas.

"She's on scholarship," Robert informed his wife.

Regan's laser-like gaze shifted to her father.

"Did you find out about her when you were looking into Andy?" she asked in a tight voice.

"Your father heads up the scholarship committee," Rita said in a conciliatory voice. "He's the one who checks to ensure they're receiving all the aid they need."

"Sorry, Dad," Regan said sheepishly.

"No, it's OK," Robert replied. "But I'm not going to apologize for trying to look out for you – and I'm not going to stop."

"How does Katrina know Andy?" Rita asked, hoping to keep the conversation light.

"They went to elementary school together," Regan answered. "They were neighbors until Andy's grandmother kicked them out of the house. When I get my trust fund money, the first thing I'm going to do is buy whatever nursing home that hateful old woman lands in and boot her to the curb so she can see what it feels like!"

"She lives in a condo in Lakeland, Florida," Rita said. "But I would recommend that you talk to Andy before you do anything like that."

"I think missing out on a grandson like Andy might be punishment enough," Robert said. "How is Katrina enjoying school? Her grades have been stellar. Your mother's foundation is helping her attend Berkeley in the fall."

"Really?" Joy asked. "Does she know that?"

"Probably not," Rita said. "Truthfully, I don't have much to do with it. That's Robert's thing. We provide scholarships to every school Regan has attended – even the ones she's left. It's something Robert insisted upon when we decided she should attend private school."

"The first ones we visited were exclusively rich, white kids," Robert said, frowning through the windshield.

"No offense, Mr. Riley," Joy cut in, "but C-B is pretty much still all rich, white kids. Yeah, we have a few scholarship students but I think there are only three or four people of color on the entire campus."

"I'm doing what I can," Robert said with a sigh. "We get very few minority applicants and, sadly, we're about the only group who even considers minority applicants. We selected Clairborne Benedict before we ever moved out here and put the scholarship program into place the semester before Regan transferred in. Katrina Littledove was one of the first students to apply. She was at Country Day, which is a fine school, but C-B was closer to her parents. She has a brother with a physical disability and she's an excellent student so we helped her out."

"I didn't know about this," Regan said.

"No," Rita said. "We purposefully kept this information from you. We didn't believe that you were mature enough not to seek to capitalize on the fact that several students on the campus owe their attendance to your family. To be blunt, until a couple of weeks ago, I still was of that opinion. I know I certainly would have taken advantage of the situation when I was your age."

Regan grew angry at first but nodded her head when she considered what her mother had said.

"You're right," she said. "I probably would have pressured them into doing my homework or cleaning my room or something."

"It's that assessment that shows me I was wrong about your maturity," Rita said softly. "You thought about the facts behind my statement before lashing out."

"You weren't wrong," Regan said. "Up until a few months ago, I still would have done those things. In a way, being stuck there for eight weeks was good for me. I had to think about my decisions and their consequences for once. I know you don't want to hear this, but meeting Andy helped that along. I saw how he reacted and thought about how different his actions were from mine."

"I saw the change close up," Ruth said, putting a companionable hand on Regan's arm. "She and I ... we didn't get along very well. I'm sort of a..."

"Smartass?" Regan supplied when Ruth trailed off to search for a better word.

"Well, that's what I was thinking but I didn't really want to say it," Ruth agreed. "I saw that I could rankle Regan – and she saw that I was physically scared of her. I was a pretty brutal few months."

"You bullied Ruth?" Robert asked, glancing up sharply in the rearview mirror.

"Yeah," Regan admitted.

"Not really," Ruth said at the same time. She kept speaking because Regan was looking at her hands in shame. "It wasn't bullying. She didn't make fun of me or threaten me if I didn't do something she wanted done. It was her ... aura, I suppose. I mean, everyone knows Regan. Her family's reputation preceded her – and, I think some of the changes you've insisted upon at C-B irritated some of the administrators. I didn't get along with my roommate last year. We just were too entirely different people. I had a bad summer and I was already angry when I came back to school.

"I took it out on Regan the first few days. The thing is, she didn't put up with it. I was complaining about something one day and she told me that if I didn't shut up, she was going to kick the ... uh, crap ... out of me. I realized that she was entirely serious. So, I resorted to the things my roommate did last year that ... irritated ... me. I, God this sounds awful, but, well, I stopped bathing more than once or twice a week. I knew firsthand how irritating it can be to live in a room that smells like a rancid teenage girl. I lived with it for an entire year.

"I only planned to do it for a week or so. But then I saw how mad it made Regan – and how frustrated it made my parents – so I kept it up. My parents stopped visiting completely on the weekends. The last thing my father wanted was for all the other parents to know his daughter smelled like a pig. Then Regan got caught – and the stories about her beating up Harmony Wakefield took on a life of their own – so I decided that it was time to put an end to the pigsty routine. If Regan could stomp the tar out of Harmony and get only eight weeks without a phone, I figured she could probably drag me to the shower and drown me if she wanted. The funny thing is, once I started behaving like a human to her, she started treating me like a friend. It's really not her fault."

"It is my fault," Regan said. "I didn't know about your roommate last year. It's just ... it takes some time to figure out that if Ruth is joking or serious. Our first fight was probably over something she said in jest that I took seriously."

"You had two unhappy people sharing a small space," Joy said. "Conflicts were bound to arise. The thing is, neither of you is unhappy now so you get along. I've known Ruth for six years so I understand what you're saying about it taking a while to get to know her. Ruth can come off ... caustic ... if you don't understand her personality. I've been around my mother so I got her personality. Mom is the same way. She's not always diplomatic."

"It sounds like you've both matured this year," Rita said. "Personally, I'm happy that Regan has friends like you two. She's always been isolated – through no fault of her own. It's wonderful to hear stories of the dozen or so people you were having fun with last night."

"Uh, about that," Regan said, biting her lower lip. "I wanted to talk to you about graduation."

"We'll sign you out of classes if you want to attend Andy's ceremony," Rita said instantly.

"No, no, that's not it," Regan said. "His graduation is the same day as mine."

"Oh," Rita said, looking troubled. "I'm sorry. I know you would want him to see you graduate."

"He will," Regan said. "His is of the evening, though. I wondered if you had plans for me after my ceremony."

"Nothing that can't be changed," Rita replied. "Your grandparents are coming in, of course, and your Uncle Scott and his family will be here."

"Really?" Regan asked.

"Of course, honey," Robert said from the driver's side. He was taking a circuitous route through traffic, figuring – correctly – that no one from C-B would say a word about Rita Riley bringing the girls back late. "They wouldn't miss your graduation."

"I... ," Regan began before a smile split her face. "Yeah, I don't suppose they would. Uh, is it OK if I skip out on things for a couple of hours to go to Andy's school?"

"We're not planning anything until the following weekend," Rita said. "I remember my graduations. The last thing I wanted to do was spend time with my family afterward. Do you plan to attend any parties that night?"

"No," Regan said.

"Well, I'm sure Andy might have some planned," Robert said with a laugh. "He seems a little more sociable than you."

Ruth snorted involuntarily but didn't speak.

"Andy isn't going to any parties either," Regan said. "At least he didn't mention any to me. I wanted to see if we could have a combined graduation party at the house on Sunday."

"I don't see why not," Rita said. "What did you have in mind?"

"Just swimming and goofing off," Regan answered. "It would be in the afternoon and be over before evening – no alcohol or anything. I just wanted to invite my friends out to have fun. It would be for C-B, Eisenhower and Lake Howard students and their families."