Chapter 19

"Ally?" His voice was soft and gentle as he held a hand out to her. "Come on, let's get out of here." Barclay had followed her. She should have known...

Without a word, he led Ally back to her dorm room. She was totally distraught. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder as they sat together on the edge of her bed. She literally couldn't stop crying. Her beautiful eyes were already red and puffy from the tears. The whole scene nearly broke Barclay's heart, because if she had stopped to think about it for a moment, she'd see that there was no way she could hold herself responsible for what had happened. He needed to get that point through to her. Desperately.

He grabbed a tissue from Ally's nightstand and handed it to her. "We really should talk about this you know," he began tentatively.

"Why?" she cried. "I already ruined one man's life. Maybe you should get away from me before I ruin yours, too!" The tears flowed freely once again.

She was in so much pain, yet he couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of her words. Poor Allison was having a complete meltdown. It was obvious Barclay needed to take the proverbial bull by the horns if they were to get anywhere. He grabbed her chin firmly, and turned her face toward his. "We need to talk, Allison," he demanded, his voice firm and commanding.

"I don't feel like it," she pouted.

"Too bad, we're going to do it anyway!" The gruffness of his voice startled her, but his concern warmed her heart. "Listen to me, you had nothing to do with Salinger's suspension."

Ally laughed bitterly. "Obviously you've forgotten that I was the student he was alone with last night."

"No I didn't," he countered, "but did you choose to stay with him? No! You were left behind by some classmates, correct?" She nodded. "That sure as hell isn't your problem then!" She had to agree with him on that count.

"But why would they suspend him? He didn't do anything..." Ally needed to make some sense of what had happened, but nothing was fitting together.

"I don't know, but I will say this. It had to be a regular occurrence in order for the administration to move that quickly."

Ally looked down, saddened by what she heard. It made sense. Deep down she realized he was probably right, and that there must be some truth to Erica's story. But somebody had to have told someone in the know that she was there alone with Professor Salinger; Ally hadn't been there long enough for it to have been a random discovery. But who? And why?

Then suddenly it dawned on both of them. Erica. That certainly explained why she enrolled in his class; she was there to cause trouble for him. But why, after several years, was she still so bent on making his life miserable? Ally realized, however, that it went way beyond misery. Erica could cost Professor Salinger his professorship at the University, something she knew would hurt him greatly both professionally and personally.

"Wow," Ally sighed, shocked that even Erica was capable of something so malicious. "I just can't believe it." Barclay squeezed her shoulder. "But she wouldn't have been able to succeed without my help."

"You don't know that," he pointed out, his voice soft and reassuring.

"Who else would be so naïve?" She had him there. Ally stood up and paced the room. "God, this is going to cost him everything. Seems like too high of a price to pay for just about anything, let alone something as insignificant as a college prank."

"Maybe so," Barclay said, "but there isn't much you can do about it."

"There has to be." It came out as almost a whine. "At the very least, he has to know that I'm not involved. I'd die if he thought I had something to do with this!"

Barclay didn't like the idea of her going to see him during such an emotionally charged time. He didn't think the professor was violent, but there was a chance that in Ally's attempts to comfort him, more would happen than either of them, or at least Ally, had intended. "Give it some time," Barclay advised. "Salinger's got a lot on his plate today I'm sure."

As difficult as it was going to be, Ally suspected he was right. She looked at the clock absently, wondering how she was going to get through the day in light of all that had happened. "Barc!" she cried out, "I've kept you from class! Why didn't you tell me?"

He shrugged. "It's not important. You needed me."

Ally could tell by his tone that he meant every word of it. It was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her, yet messing up his class attendance along with all of the professor's stuff didn't exactly make her feel good about it. She looked down at her shoes, feeling a bit embarrassed by all of Barclay's attention.

Barclay came up and hugged her from behind. It was a tender, almost brotherly gesture, at least in Ally's eyes. She had caused enough trouble lately without complicating things for Barclay and Kaija. "It'll be okay," he whispered into her ear.

The warmth of his breath on her neck made her tingle. Think about Salinger, think about Salinger, her mind commanded, but her body was unwilling to comply. The urge to spin around and return the hug was almost uncontrollable. But she knew in her heart it wouldn't stop there. She was just too needy at the moment, and Barclay had made it perfectly clear on multiple occasions that he wouldn't mind seeing where all this could lead.

Ally turned and looked into Barclay's eyes. "Thank you so much," she said, squeezing his hands. She contemplated kissing him on the cheek, but knew it was far too risky. With a frustrated sigh, she pulled away. "You'd better get to class. I've made you miss too much as it is." She didn't really want to be alone, but she felt selfish not to mention guilty accepting his comfort and support.

"Class can wait," Barclay said. "Right now, you really need a friend." His eyes brightened with idea. "Why don't we take a walk; it'll clear your head a bit. Then what do you say we try that new Chinese place downtown? I'm getting a little sick of dining commons food, aren't you?"

He was such a contradiction, Ally thought. Sure he was always kind and sensitive to her, but she had seen his wild side, too-the fake nose bleeds in the cafeteria using catsup packets; the belching contests he'd start (and usually win!); his frantic lovemaking sessions with Kaija... He was something else, Ally smiled. She thought about his idea. As appealing as it sounded, she wondered how Kaija would take it. Surely they'd have to tell her...

"Well?" Barc persisted. "You ready to go?"

"I don't know..." Her voice drifted off with hesitation as she bit her lower lip.

"You worried about Kaija?" he asked.

Either he was amazingly perceptive, or she was sadly transparent. "Yeah, maybe a bit," she responded at last.

He put a reassuring arm around her shoulder. "Don't be. She'll understand."

And at that moment in time, Ally would have believed just about anything Barclay told her. She smiled. "Okay, let's go then!"

"Tell me you're not planning to eat that with your chopsticks," Ally laughed as she watched Barc stab a nugget of his General Tso's chicken with one of the chopsticks.

He got that daring gleam in his eye. "You don't think I can do it, huh?"

Ally grinned impishly. "Oh I know you can do it, it's just a matter of how big of a mess you'll make!"

That did it. Barclay speared a succulent morsel of chicken and popped it into his mouth. He smiled smugly at his achievement. "That'll teach you not to underestimate me!" he chided playfully.

"Anybody can do big hunks of chicken," Ally returned, rolling her eyes. "The real test is being able to eat fried rice or lo mein." With the chopsticks poised between her delicate fingers, she pinched a clump of rice and placed it in her mouth. She nodded at Barclay. "Okay, your turn," she challenged.

Suddenly, Barclay didn't look so sure of himself as he looked down at his plate. He managed to trap a grain or two of rice in his chopsticks, neither of which managed to make it to his mouth. Ally giggled at the comical sight as she cleared her plate effortlessly.

Barclay put the chopsticks down beside his plate and reached for the bundle of silverware wrapped in a crisp white linen napkin.

"What are you doing?" Ally asked. "I thought you said eating with chopsticks was easy."

"I'm gonna starve to death if I keep that up," he complained lightheartedly. "You do want to leave here before this place closes, don't you?"

Ally shrugged. "Fine with me, but I want you to admit it."

Confused, Barclay paused with a mouthful of fried rice. "Admit what?" he managed.