Chapter 64

Courtney Hollings opened the door to her Audi R8 with a smile and a flash of leg. She had made certain that her media reps “leaked” the news of her arrival at prestigious Heilman College so all the usual suspects were there waiting for her to pull into the administration building.

She had chosen Heilman for any number of reasons. It was smaller than the Ivy League schools that had accepted her before they even glanced at her transcript or her achievement scores. It was more isolated and thus might afford her more privacy in the long run. For now, she still had a “summer blockbuster” opening in a few weeks and she needed the publicity machine to keep rolling. After all, she had become the most bankable young starlet in the world and she needed to keep that string alive.

Courtney had started her acting career when she was six as the adorable, precocious youngest child on a television sitcom. By 11, she had used her popularity to garner a role in a series of movies based on best-selling books. She had been nominated for two Golden Globes by the time she turned 14 and earned an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress at 16.

Her first nomination in the Best Actress category had come a year later. Her face had adorned thousands of magazine covers and she had her own clothing line for teens and ‘tweens. She had severed ties with her divorced parents after a series of arguments over her finances and her late nights and had lived for two years with her personal assistant: a woman in her 40s who made sure Courtney arrived to the set on time and in condition to work.

The woman had become more of a mother to Courtney than her own mother had been. The cancer came unnoticed and spread quickly. A week before Courtney’s 18th birthday, her surrogate mother had died and she found herself at a crossroad.

She could lose herself in booze and drugs like so many young actors did or she could take what Miranda Lee had taught her and put it to good use. The day after she buried Miranda in a Hollywood cemetery, Courtney Hollings announced she was taking a hiatus from acting to attend college.

She had selected Heilman from a long list of suitors and now here she was. She wanted to meet with the administrator over the stupid rule that all students live on campus. Her agent had sent a letter asking for a waiver but the waiver had been denied – as had her request for on-campus parking privileges. She couldn’t very well leave her $120,000 car parked on a side street.

She decided to come in person – without an entourage – to get the Heilman brass to reconsider. After all, it wasn’t every day that someone of her fame and wealth came to college, she decided.

She began to rethink her importance to the college when the president left her waiting for 15 minutes before opening his office door and gesturing to her to come in.

“I simply must live off campus,” she informed him when she sat in front of him.

“Why?” the president asked.

“I want to,” Courtney replied.

“Sadly you will need a better reason than that,” the president told her with a small smile. “We do grant waivers if a valid reason is presented and verified. We granted a waiver to a young woman whose work contract insisted upon it and one to a computer science student who needed access to a dedicated internet connection that we cannot provide for his job. You are, I’m told, an actress. You will have a difficult time convincing me that your career requires off-campus housing. I have made arrangements for you to be given preference for the first single room that comes available. Upper-level students are given first choice of room assignments and incoming students are assigned to what is left.

“You sent in your acceptance letter at the last possible moment and didn’t include a housing preference. You were assigned to a room and assigned a roommate. You are free to pay for an on-campus room and live off campus. We have a few of our wealthier students who do this. Please be advised that you will have difficulty finding anyone willing to rent to a college student – particularly one who has already been cited for possession of a controlled substance.”

“That was three years ago!” Courtney steamed.

“I’m not casting doubt on your character in any way,” the president replied. “If I had any concerns, I would have denied your admission. I’m pointing out that you will likely face problems in the housing market. A young man last year was able to secure an apartment after he delayed his acceptance but I’m afraid his parents had to post surety against damage. Thankfully his parents are well-respected and successful so they were willing to do it. I can contact him and ask him for the landlord’s name, if you like although I doubt it will matter. It is my understanding that you do not have an older adult willing to assume responsibility for damages.”

Courtney frowned.

“Miss Hollings, many of our students prefer to live on campus,” the president continued. “It makes them feel like they’re part of the community, part of the Heilman family, if you will. The young man I’ve just mentioned actually requested to be put on the list for a dorm assignment this fall.”

“Why was he permitted to live in an apartment when I’m not?” Courtney asked bitterly.

“He was not permitted, Miss Hollings, he was forced to live off campus,” the president replied in even tones. “As I said, he decided upon Heilman very late. As with you, he could have attended any college he wanted to attend. We are a very exclusive college, as you well know. We are selective in our admissions. We accept no federal money and that makes us exempt from many of their arbitrary rules. We don’t need a certain number of males or Hispanics or green-eyed men with their tongues pierced. We select the students who best fit our profile and reject the rest. I understand that coming from Hollywood’s culture that seems like heresy to you but it works for us.

“I tell you this to further your understanding of the type of student you’ll meet and to give you background on our housing situation. Until about five years ago, Heilman’s freshman classes were comprised of almost two-thirds females. We have always found that females are better prepared for the rigors of our course study. Our dropout rate is extremely high and so is our dismissal rate. Despite the disparity in selection between the genders, the dropout and dismissal rate was close to 50-50.

“We have very recently seen a surge in applications from males who would normally have chosen an equally prestigious college. We are unsure of the reason but we suspect it was an Internet story about us a few years ago that placed the female to male ratio at almost five to one. Male students who would have gone to Harvard or Yale or Stanford or Berkeley are coming to Heilman. We are not prepared to house all the males on campus but we have taken the unprecedented step of opening co-ed dormitories for upper-level students this year. Simply put, the shift in gender demographics means a few males each year are forced to find alternate housing and a few rooms in the all-female dorms have become singles. Does that answer any other questions you might have?”

“So I have to have a dorm assignment?” Courtney asked.

“Yes,” the president replied.

“What about my vehicle?” she inquired.

“No freshman is permitted an on-campus parking pass,” the president replied firmly. “There are no exceptions to that rule and you will not be the first. Miss Hollings, if you wish to rescind your acceptance we will refund your tuition. We encourage students to visit our campus before applying for admission – and certainly before deciding to make this their home. Our on-campus tour guides are very explicit in detailing what you can and can’t do while here – and what you must do while you’re here. I don’t wish for you to misunderstand what I’m about to say so please take it as it is meant.

“You will not be the wealthiest student on campus; you will not be the most famous; you might not even be the most popular. Many of the people you will interact with here come from families who routinely dine with the most influential men and women in America or other parts of the world. They will not be impressed that you have achieved success in the entertainment field any more than your success impresses me. We accepted you to Heilman because we believe you will be a fine student and a welcome addition to our college.

“Although you can bet our alumni office will hit you up for donations every six months once you graduate, we will not exploit your general fame for our own purposes. Our alumni list includes Nobel Prize-winning scientists and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists. We have prominent politicians and at least three CEOs in Fortune 1000 companies. I want you to understand that the accolades others have bestowed upon you will not set you apart from the other students. If you expect people to treat you as though you’re special, you will be in for a very disappointing experience at Heilman.”

The young actress nodded her understanding but Dr. Hayeed Fayez, the esteemed president of Heilman College, wondered if he’d made a terrible mistake in allowing her admittance to his school.

The long drive back to college wasn’t accomplished easily. It was the start of summer and things were heating up in the city.

Tiffany’s job required periodic Saturday hours and many of Molly’s Sundays were booked by Concerts in the Park or private tutorials. The only weekend everyone else had free turned out to be the first Children of the Cornbread picnic that Hailey had arranged.

That led Hailey to suggest Phil take a solo excursion in order to present a better picture of what was available and what wasn’t. He had made an offer of $225,000 for the Starling Hill house – or mansion, as Tiffany had begun to call it. The Realtor said they already had a soft bid of $250,000. Phil thanked the woman and told her to call him if the bid fell through. He had his investment banker e-mail verification of funds so the Realtor would know he was sincere.

In a stroke of luck, she called just as Phil was pulling into a hotel near the college. He kicked himself for not keeping the apartment for the summer. After all, he had paid the rent – or at least his parents had. The town didn’t have an upscale hotel. Although many of its students came from wealthy families, Heilman College didn’t encourage the parents to spend time on the campus – with the exception of one weekend per semester dubbed fittingly enough “Parents Weekend.” The administration believed that the students matured faster when outside of the influence of their often-hovering parents.

There were five or six hotels scattered around the town but the names out front were Howard Johnson and not Ritz Carlton. Several wealthy developers with ties to the college had noticed the lack of opulence but the city council – spurred by the college – had discouraged them, pointing out that Heilman was never going to be a tourist destination and the hotels would see large-scale usage only two or three times per year.

So the Super 8 and the Comfort Inn became the spots where students would get away from their roommates for a night of connubial bliss and where the social and academic groups would have dances and meetings (much to the chagrin of some of the students, many of whom had never set foot in anything less than a four-star establishment).

It was at one of these discount hotels that Phil arrived on the first official day of summer. He had chosen it because it had a pool and a workout room, such as it was.

The time was approaching for him to get back in baseball shape. The hour or two he spent playing Ultimate each day had taken off the few pounds his month at Waterford had added to his frame. The afternoons on the deck overlooking the city had turned his skin darker and lightened his brown hair until it was now a dirty blonde. He had just finished alerting Hailey to his safe arrival when his cell phone beeped with another call.

The Realtor was pleased to hear he was in town because the soft offer for the property had been pulled.

“Perhaps we could meet and you could give me a tour,” Phil suggested.

The Realtor hedged immediately.

“I think the owner would prefer a more substantial offer on the table before we take that step,” she said eventually.

“Well, that is an utter shame, Ms. Hampton,” Phil commented. “Without at least a thorough walk-through of the dwelling there will be no increase in offer at all. The property itself is worth $225,000. That’s what I’m willing to buy. Given your obvious reluctance to show me the interior of the property I have no choice but to assume it has deteriorated to the point of being unsalvageable. If I go a penny more, I would expect the current owners to be responsible for bringing the dwelling up to habitable standards as determined by the state code – that would include the cost of any electrical or sewer upgrades, damage to foundation or exterior and making certain the dwelling complies with all local and state drain water ordinances.”