Chapter 4

4:15 p.m. Saturday

Once again, Andy passed unseen barriers on the way back to the main campus. He knew it when Regan took her arm from around his waist and then again when she removed her hand from his and placed it at his elbow. He just went along with it.

"I've had a lovely time," she said when they reached a building Andy hadn't seen before. "This is my dorm and I have to go in. No gentlemen are permitted past the lobby."

"OK," Andy said. He thought this was just the end of the first of two dates Regan had scheduled but he wasn't positive it wasn't the end of the whole day. "May I kiss your cheek to say good night?"

"I would like that," Regan replied. "And it's only goodbye for a moment. I'll be right back."

Andy leaned forward and kissed Regan softly on her cheek. He thought the freckles across her nose were just adorable and he remembered that she had them on her shoulders, too.

"I would very much like to see you again," Andy said, playing his part. "May I call on you?"

Regan's face broke out into a huge smile. All trace of her feigned formality was gone.

"You better be sitting in the lobby when I come back in five minutes," she said. "I know where you live and I'm not afraid to show up there. In fact, if Elizabeth had told me you went back to Erin, I was going to do just that. Well, show up, kick your butt and then leave again. Come inside. I have to grab our picnic from the kitchen and then we'll go again."

Regan led Andy through the doors and ushered him to the lobby. There were a few other girls around but no one that Andy recognized. Regan decided introductions were in order so she took Andy around to meet them.

"I'm showing off my guy," Regan whispered when they got back to the waiting area. "Just wait here. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Andy took a seat and she disappeared through another doorway. Andy looked around at the ornate sitting area and shook his head. The school must have spent $50,000 just furnishing this room. He was still pondering when he felt pressure on the sofa next to him.

"Did she run off and leave you?" Joy Dalrymple asked with a smile.

"She had to go get something," Andy replied.

"The picnic, I know," Joy replied. "Thanks for not telling my parents how we met. A lot of people would have used that information to take my Dad down a peg or two. God knows he needs it."

"That's not me," Andy replied.

"No, it's not," Joy answered. "I'm also sorry I was so rude to you when we met last time. I can't remember exactly what I said but I'm sure it wasn't polite. I get like my Dad when I've had too much to drink."

Andy wasn't certain Joy had even spoken to him at all. He remembered shaking her hand but that was about all.

"There was only one who was overtly rude," he replied. "You were mostly quiet."

He lowered his voice to a whispered.

"Actually, I think you were fascinated by your cheeseburger," he whispered.

"Probably," Joy said with embarrassment, shaking her head sadly. "So, I guess I'll be seeing a lot of you in the future."

"Maybe," Andy hedged. "I'll see you at your formal next Saturday. After that, I'm not sure."

"She likes you," Joy said after looking around. "And she is a really sweet person. She isn't like a lot of us here. She is really genuinely nice. It isn't an act like some of us put on."

"I think you're nice, too," Andy said.

"Thanks but I have my moments," Joy admitted. "I'm really looking forward to college. I'll be on my own and I won't have to go out with some son of a client Daddy is trying to land or keep. I won't have to be friends with people I don't really like just because I'm around them all the time."

She smiled.

"I might even find a nice guy like you to help me grow up a little," she said brightly. "Regan has really grown in the past few weeks. It's because of you. She saw how a real person acts in the real world and she finally realized that all this shit is artifice. This isn't real. It's make believe. My Mom made sure I understood that since I was old enough to think for myself. Regan wasn't so lucky. If she hadn't run into you, she would have gotten to college and been in real trouble. I'm no saint. I do things sometimes because I hope my Dad will find out and it will piss him off. See our first meeting for an example.

"But Regan, I'm not sure how to say this. Her parents have kept her completely isolated from everything. Whatever she knows about life has come secondhand or she learned on her own. They didn't impart anything. This is her first date, you know. She'll be 18 in a month and it's the first time she has really been around a guy. She would be easy pickings for some sleazeball at Stanford."

"We decided it is actually our third date," Andy said. "Soon, we are going to commence our fourth."

He decided that Joy had Regan's interests at heart and just wasn't telling stories. She was trying to let him know – albeit in a ham-fisted way – that Regan might want to rush into things just to see what they were like.

"I won't take advantage of her," he added softly.

"I was more worried about her taking advantage of you," Joy said with a half smile. "Not advantage really, that isn't her way. But I can see her pushing for things to go farther than they probably should. I'm doing this all wrong, aren't I?"

"No and I do understand what you're saying and why you're saying it," Andy said. "I figured that out when she decided we should assess numbers to our dates. I figured she read about date etiquette in Emily Post or something."

Joy scoffed.

"More like Cosmo," she answered. "I didn't think I had to worry but I would have felt like shit if something had happened and she wound up getting hurt. I like her."

"I do, too," Andy said.

"OK, that's out of the way," Joy said, wiping her brow in mock relief. "Now, something else I wanted to let you know. When I said this place is fake; I meant it. But weekends is when it is at its worst. The administration wants our parents to think this is some high-brow school of learning. It is expensive and it is exclusive. But you've met a few of us from here. You know what we're really like. Lunch today with waiters and stuff is a put-on for the money holders. Most days, we act probably just like you do. You know I drink and curse. Well, I also smoke from time to time and I've had sex. We're all like that – when we can get away with it.

"Things here are different. I'll admit to that. But a lot of the people – like Regan – are exactly the same as you are when you got right down to it. I got to see both sides. I was in public school for six years and then here for the next six years. It took me a while to understand some of what I saw. So don't just dismiss this as a summer thing or something because Regan's family is loaded. She doesn't care a whole lot about that stuff – and I think she is playing for keeps with you."

Andy was saved from responding when Regan re-entered the room. She saw Joy sitting beside Andy and felt a small tinge of jealousy and panic. Andy stood to take the basket from her and smiled at her sweetly. She was amazed at how much better she felt after he'd done that.

"I've told you, you cannot leave nice things out in the open like this," Joy joked. "Someone will wander off with them. Just because these chicks are rich doesn't mean they have any moral decency. I wanted to apologize to Andy for my father and for how he was treated a few weeks ago. Enjoy your picnic."

Joy gave Regan a soft pat on the arm and smiled at Andy before she disappeared through the doors that Regan had just entered from.

Regan took his arm again and directed him through the door and back out into the sunshine.

4:30 p.m. Saturday

"Did I tell you?" Regan asked when they were outside of the building. "I'm not gone 10 minutes and she is already setting her hooks in you. Her Mom probably told her she needed to find a nice, literate guy like you."

Andy laughed.

"She was telling me how great a person you are," he said. "And she was telling me not to let this place scare me off."

"Oh, I guess that's good then," Regan answered. "Are you really in awe of this place? I mean, I guess I've been to places like this so much that it doesn't faze me. I see it for what it is."

"I had lunch today in the nicest place I've ever eaten in my life," Andy pointed out. "In fact, I'm pretty sure it's the first time someone has carried a plate to me without having a nametag pinned to her shirt. The sofa I just sat on was nicer than anything Mom has ever owned. My car is parked a few feet from vehicles that cost twice as much as my family's combined income for a year. Yeah, it is a little intimidating."

Regan's face dropped.

"Joy was just explaining that the students don't act prim and proper all the time," Andy continued. "She said that lunch today was to impress the parents and that most of the time you just wear your uniforms to eat. I'm picturing a Tartan skirt, a tight black sweater with a crest on the breast, a white shirt, white knee-highs and penny loafers. Am I close?"

Andy wanted to get the date back to where it had been. He didn't want Regan brooding or worrying over something that couldn't be changed. C-B was always going to be ornate.

He was relieved when Regan laughed. They had passed another boundary because her hand was in his again.

"We are seriously going to have to talk about some of the web sites you visit," she said. "First it was baby-doll pajamas and pillow fights. Now it's some pervert's idea of a school uniform. Just so you know, our uniform is black or tan pants and a button-up shirt. We can wear a sweater or a jacket over the shirt if it is chilly but it can be of any color. And we can wear sneakers and socks, too. About the only thing we can't wear to class are jeans and a T-shirt. We can wear them everywhere else though except to the visitors dining room on weekends."

"Thanks for nothing," Andy groaned. "Although, you did look extremely cute in your jeans last time."

"Maybe if you're really sweet to me I'll wear a tartan skirt for you sometime," Regan said with a smile.

"Screw that," Andy joked back. "If I'm really nice I want you to organize a pillow fight in baby-doll pajamas for me."

"Pig," Regan replied, squeezing his hand. "Fine, if you're really nice, I'll ask Elizabeth and Joy to come over for a pillow fight. Just for your entertainment. But don't think we're going to lez out or anything."

"You know I'm joking right?" Andy asked just to make sure.

"And you better believe I'm joking too," Regan rejoined. "Well, not about the lezzing out part. I'm not going to do that for your entertainment ... ever. But I'm joking about inviting girls you lust over to get half naked around you."

"You know, after seeing what you really wear to bed, I think I'd pass on the baby-dolls, too," Andy said, offering Regan a wink. Her arm had snaked around his waist and she tickled his ribs.

"Can I ask you something?" Regan asked.

"Sure," Andy replied. He wouldn't have if he had known what was coming.

"How long was it before you washed the shirt I wore to sleep in?" she asked.

There was no way to answer that question, Andy decided. If he told her the truth – that he waited until he could no longer smell her perfume on it – he would sound creepy. If he told her that he washed it immediately, he sounded as though the night had meant nothing to him.

"A while," he admitted.

"Good," Regan said with a smile. "Did you sleep with it?"

Andy shook his head.

"I thought about it," he told her honestly. "But I wanted it to still smell like you, not like me."

"I did the same with your sweatshirt," Regan confessed. "I'm glad you can't call me weird."

"Oh, I can still call you weird," Andy said. "You know, I hadn't worn that shirt before I gave it to you to wear."

Regan nodded. Ruth DeLancy had pointed out that fact.

"It still smelled like you," she said. "Besides, it was yours and I like it. You know, you're never getting it back, don't you? I'll buy you one to replace it but that one is mine forever."

"Yeah, I figured it was just gone," he told her. "It's OK, I have plenty of sweatshirts."

"Good, I can claim more of them in the future," Regan said brightly.

"Where are we going?" Andy asked. He thought they would head back to one of the Quads to eat.

"A new place," Regan said. Andy noticed the blush on her cheeks. "I, uh, I've never been out here before. That's not true. I've never taken a guy out here before. But I've been out here once."

She was stammering and she knew she would have to explain more than she wanted to explain before Andy would understand.

Chapter 5 »