Wick raised an eyebrow. “How’d you know that?”
“Um—uh…” She stammered, unable to think of a good excuse. “Um—did you know Instagram sometimes randomly shows you pictures from years ago? Weird, right?”
He tilted his head, amused. “Methinks the lady’s been cyberstalking someone.”
She blushed. “Okay, fine. I may have been scrolling through your Instagram history and stumbled across a picture of you and Darcy. But don’t flatter yourself—I do that to everyone.”
He grinned. “Oh, come on, there’s no shame in it. I dug pretty deep into your pictures, too. Your sisters are all gorgeous, by the way. Must be a family trait.”
Her blush deepened, but she just said, “Don’t let Lucia hear you say that. You’d never get rid of her.”
“You really want to hear what went down between me and Darcy?”
She nodded.
“Okay. But first…” As a waiter went by, Wick flagged him down and handed him his glass. “Could I have a refill on this? I will definitely need booze for this conversation.”
Once the waiter brought him another drink, he took a long sip before beginning. Elisa tried her best not to look too eager.
“So the first thing you need to know is that my dad went to military school with Darcy’s dad,” Wick said. “Winchester Military Academy, in Columbus.”
“Wow,” Elisa said. She didn’t know much about military schools, but even she knew Winchester was supposed to be one of the best in the country, right behind West Point.
“I always wanted to go to Winchester,” he continued, “just like my dad. And Darcy’s dad and I were super tight—I mean, I was over at their house practically every day when Darcy and I were kids. So, Mr. Fitzgerald said that, when I was old enough, if I still wanted to go and I couldn’t pay my way, he’d pay my tuition for me.”
“That’s so nice.”
“It was.”
“How the hell did he produce Darcy?”
Wick snorted. “A question I ask myself daily. Anyway, Darcy’s mom and dad died when she was fourteen and I was seventeen. Car crash. It was… It was rough. On all of us.” He let out a small sigh, shaking his head. “Darcy and her sister were left money, of course, but they couldn’t actually touch it until they were eighteen. So it was put in a trust, and Darcy and her sister went to live with her uncle.” He took a sip of his drink. “When it came time for me to go to Winchester, I asked her if I’d still be able to go. She said that she’d talk to her family and see to it that I would. So, next thing I know, one of her aunts has paid all four years of my tuition ahead of time, and I’m at Winchester, doing what I’d always wanted to do since I was a kid. And then…”
“And then?” she asked.
“And then I was expelled.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “For what?”
“That’s the thing,” he said. “I have no idea. One day, I was top of my class, doing great, and the next, I’m told to get off of campus immediately. I was confused, not to mention totally crushed—and I asked the dean what happened. No one gave me a straight answer, which only made me more suspicious. Finally, the dean slipped up and mentioned Darcy had come by.”
Elisa gasped. “No,” she said. “Seriously? I knew Darcy was mean, but to get someone expelled…”
“To this day, I’m still not sure what the actual grounds for expulsion were,” he said. “I assume Darcy threw her money at them until they invented one. Her parents were two of Winchester’s biggest donors. I hadn’t seen Darcy in a while by this point—I was in school, and so was she, you know how it is—but I called her, mainly to ask, ‘What the hell?’ But she wouldn’t tell me why she did it, either. She just said, ‘You know damn well why.’”
“You two didn’t have some kind of falling out or anything?”
“Not that I know of.” He sighed. “This happened pretty soon after Darcy turned eighteen and had full access to her money.”
“You think she was planning to do this all along?”
“Who knows? And honestly, at this point, who cares?” Wick shrugged. “I’m just glad she’s out of my life.”
“I care!” Elisa shouted. She flushed with red when she suddenly realized people had turned to look at them. Lowering her voice, she said, “I mean, that’s horrible. Especially since you two were so close…”
He nodded ruefully. “Honestly, I don’t know why I haven’t deleted that picture you found,” he said. “I guess I just miss the way things were before.”
“I’m sorry I brought all that back up,” she said. “I didn’t mean to barge into your personal issues, I was just… curious.”
“I get that,” he said. “Besides, I’m glad you know. Gotta keep as many people on alert as possible, right? Especially since your sister is dating Darcy’s new BFF.” He rolled his eyes. “Bobby’s a nice guy, but he can be…intentionally oblivious sometimes.”
“Does he know what happened?”
“Doubt it. I never told him, and Darcy wouldn’t. But he does tend to kinda…avoid seeing the bad in anybody. No matter what.”
Elisa fiddled with her straw, wondering if she should tell Bobby what happened. Of course, what happened between Wick and Darcy really wasn’t any of her business—she was lucky he had told her at all—but wouldn’t Bobby want to know? She decided she’d at least tell Julieta. Not that she wasn’t planning to anyway, if she were being totally honest. Then Julieta could decide whether or not Bobby needed to know.
“Enough about my dark and troubled past,” Wick said, waving his hand. “Let’s hear about you.”
Elisa shrugged. “No dark and troubled past to speak of,” she said. “Divorced parents, but that’s for the best. Neither of my parents have been murdered by a six-fingered man or a genocidal wizard yet. I’m not the last of my kind. I don’t even have a secret affair to be ashamed of.”
“I could change that.”
She rolled her eyes, grabbing the drinks menu and smacking him playfully on the arm. “I don’t know if you could call this an affair, much less a secret one.”
“What are your requirements for an affair, then?” he asked.
“I’m not telling you that.”
“And why not?”
“Because one of them is that you have to figure them out for yourself.”
Wick laughed. “Ouch. Did I just get dumped on our first date?”
“Not dumped,” she said, smiling. “Just put in your place.”
“I like that.”
“Good. Because snide comments and sniping at people I like is kinda my thing.”
He grinned. “You like me?”
“Shut up, Sedgdick.”
“Gee, never heard that one before.”
“Sue me, I don’t work well under pressure.”
…
Julieta was waiting up for her when she got home.
“How was the date?” she asked as Elisa entered their bedroom, closing the door.
“It was…interesting,” she said, tossing her purse onto the floor and flopping back on the bed.
“Did he kiss you?”
“Yeah, when we were leaving. It was…okay, I guess.”
Julieta frowned. “Just ‘okay’?”
She shrugged. “It wasn’t horrible or anything. Objectively, it was pretty good. But it was just kind of… I dunno, I didn’t see fireworks or feel all sparkly inside, or any of that stuff that’s supposed to happen when you kiss. Not this time, anyway.”
“Dating isn’t always as perfect as the movies make it out to be,” Julieta reminded her. “Sometimes it can take a couple dates to really click with someone.”
“But not you and Bobby.”
“Well, no, but…”
“No ‘buts,’” Elisa said. She rolled over onto her side to face her sister. “I know what happened with you and Bobby is, like…one in a million. But it’s what I’m looking for. Fireworks, sparkles, sparks, whatever you want to call it…I want that.”
She smiled.
“And you’ll get it. But not with Wick, huh?”
“Doesn’t look like it,” she said with a shrug. “I did find out what happened between him and Darcy, though.”
“Oh?”
“Get this.” She sat up. “When they were kids, Darcy and Wick were actually friends. And Darcy’s dad said he’d pay for Wick to go to college. But a few years after Wick started going to Winchester, she got him kicked out.”
“What’d he do?” she asked.
“He has no clue. The school wouldn’t tell him. All he knows is that after Darcy talked to them, he was out.”
Julieta looked skeptical. “They seriously just booted him without even telling him why? I’m not sure that’s even legal.”
“You forget that the Fitzgeralds are rich enough to buy out God,” she said. “Darcy probably bribed them.”
“Even if that was the case,” she said slowly, “wouldn’t it have made more sense for them to make a reason up? To cover themselves. Because, seriously—if they expelled a student with no given reason or evidence, I’m pretty sure that’s grounds to sue.”
“Maybe Wick thought it’d be worse if he tried,” she suggested.
“Maybe…”
Julieta still didn’t look convinced, which annoyed her some, but she didn’t say anything about it. She just said, “I just can’t believe Darcy would do that to someone she used to be so close with. Even for her, that’s cold.”
“Yeah, almost…uncharacteristically cold.”
“You cannot seriously be on Darcy’s side after this.”
“I’m not on anyone’s side,” she said. “We don’t even know what Darcy’s side is.”
“Because she refused to give it.”
“Is it just me, or are you more into having another reason to hate Darcy than you are into Wick himself?” Julieta asked with a small smirk. “You think you’ll go out with him again?”
Elisa shrugged. “I dunno,” she admitted. “Maybe, if he asks. I meant what I said. I want a connection, something real. But… I mean, not everyone falls in love at first sight like you and Bobby did.”
Julieta blushed, looking away. “‘Love at first sight’ is a bit strong.”
“Is it?”
“I really, really like him,” she said. “But I’m not dropping the L-bomb just yet. I’ve always said it first, and it’s always blown up in my face.”
“Bobby doesn’t seem like the type to run for the hills.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought about Damon. And Matt. And Zach…”
“Fair point.” She sighed. “I think you’re being smart, playing it cool. Throwing yourself at him will probably make him lose interest. Not to mention make you look desperate.”
“But I am desperate.” Julieta laughed.
“Yeah, but you don’t want him to know that.”
“Okay, Mom.”
“Hey.”
Elisa chucked a pillow across the room at her sister, who swatted it away with a laugh.
“Mom will be so disappointed when I tell her about Wick,” she said, sighing. “Here I was hoping it’d be great, and that would get her to forgive me for rejecting Colin.”
“Nah,” she said. “You said Wick isn’t rich. I think to get Mom to forgive you now, you’d have to marry Darcy.”
“Ah, damn. Guess this means I’ll die alone and motherless.”
Chapter Thirteen
In Which Darcy’s Relatives Are Actually Really Cool
October left in a whirlwind of Halloween candy and midterms, leaving colder weather and Christmas music on the radio in its wake. By the time November rolled around, Mom had finally quit bringing up the Colin Incident, for which she was grateful. It totally would’ve wrecked her Christmas to still be fighting over this. Besides, the holiday season was stressful enough as it was.
The end of the fall semester was advancing on her so fast, she found herself having dreams about literary analysis. She had begun work on her final papers, and before she knew it, it had been nearly a month since she went out with Wick. They’d texted, but he hadn’t so much as hinted at the possibility of another date, and she didn’t intend to, either. It wasn’t that she disliked him, but with school and everything, she wasn’t about to pursue a relationship she didn’t feel very strongly about. She had better things to do than go on mediocre dates and obsess over Wick’s history with Darcy.
At school, Darcy hadn’t said much, which was a relief. She’d worried that she’d ask about her date, and she didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of admitting it hadn’t worked out. The only time they’d interacted was when the professor had paired them together to read over and evaluate each other’s papers on Animal Farm.
She was both impressed and annoyed with Darcy’s paper. Impressed, because it was really, really good. Annoyed, because it was better than hers.
Even so, Darcy had returned her paper with only a couple of irritatingly helpful comments, and a message scribbled at the bottom. Good job.
Two words of lukewarm praise from someone she hated may not have seemed like much, but even so, she felt a bit of pride flooding in despite herself.
A couple of days after Thanksgiving, Julieta rapped on the inside of the bedroom door. Elisa looked up from where she was working on a biology paper.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“Bobby called me and asked if we wanted to come over,” Julieta said. “He’s having a few friends over for a small party before everyone has to go back to school for finals.”
“When?”
“Now. I knew if I mentioned it too early, Lucia would find out, and well…”
Elisa nodded. “I completely understand. Sure, I’ll come. I’ve earned a break, anyway.”
She hadn’t, but that didn’t stop her from closing her laptop and grabbing her coat off her bedroom floor. It felt like she’d been nowhere except her room for the past few days. Not helping matters was that the weather had become cold, wet, and gray. Most of the leaves had fallen from the trees, now just brown clumps on the sidewalk. Everything outside looked dead. She hoped they’d get some snow soon; she didn’t much care for it, but at least it would make the outdoors a bit prettier.
She hadn’t been back to Bobby’s mansion since her overly long stay at Netherfield Park in early October, and the size of the place still caught her off-guard. Despite it not yet being December, they’d already begun putting up Christmas decorations. Generally speaking, the Benitez family only put up their Christmas tree on December 24th—usually after coming back from the sole church service most of them attended each year. But it looked like the Charles family liked to get a head start.
Bobby’s idea of a “small” party was very different from Elisa’s. There was a bar, complete with a bartender serving people drinks, and at least forty people, most of whom she had never met. One of the few people she did recognize, of course, was Darcy.
“I’m gonna go find Bobby, okay?” Julieta said. “Will you be okay on your own?”
“I’m fine, Jules. You don’t have to babysit me.” She waved her hands. “Go on.”
Julieta smiled, before disappearing into the crowd, leaving her alone. She wandered around a bit, helping herself to some of the snacks that had been set out, mingling a little bit with the other guests. She was just about to find a corner to hide in with her phone so she could text Charlene, when a girl she’d never met before pulled her aside.
She was a tall, pretty girl, with dark brown skin and hair pulled up into an afro puff, and a gold necklace hanging around her neck. Something about her looked oddly familiar, but Elisa couldn’t quite place it. She was sure they’d never met before, but she couldn’t shake the feeling she’d seen her face somewhere.
Before she could ask about it, though, the girl said, “You play euchre?”
Elisa blinked, surprised. “No.”
“You willing to learn?” she asked. “We only have three people, and we’d like to play.” She smiled. “I’ll even be your partner.”
“That’s fine. We’re not playing for money. Not yet, anyhow.”
The girl took her by the arm and led her into a sitting room a few doors away from the main party. She almost laughed when she saw that there was a massive Christmas tree in here, too. It appeared the Charles family had bought and chopped down an entire forest to accommodate their decorating plans. At the side of the room, there was a small table where two other people were waiting.
“I’m Willow, by the way,” the girl said. She indicated the other two players as she and Elisa sat down at the table—a tall girl with curly, dyed-red hair, and a smaller, skinnier person who had four piercings in each ear. “She’s Christina, they’re Keegan.”
“Found someone else who doesn’t know anyone?” Keegan asked, beginning to deal cards. Keegan wore what was quite possibly the most ridiculous sweater Elisa had ever seen. It lit up, for God’s sake.
“We all just moved here recently,” Christina added. “We’re sharing an apartment and starting at the community college next semester.”
“Oh, I go there,” Elisa said. She reached for the cards they had slid toward her. Upon looking at them, she realized she didn’t have a clue if her hand was good or bad. “I know a couple people here, but honestly, I’m just here because my sister is. Did you guys seriously just move out here for the college?”
Willow laughed. “Well, we all have ulterior motives. I’m here because my parents made it very clear that while they were fine with a gap semester or two, when I got to be twenty-one, it was time to either get a job or start getting a degree.”
“Okay, see, you say that like they’re being totally unreasonable,” Christina said, rolling her eyes.
Keegan finished dealing and asked, “How long we playing for? First to ten points wins?”
“Uh…” Elisa blinked. “Sure?”
“She doesn’t know how to play,” Willow explained. “So, I vote we hold off on the betting, at least for now.”
Christina rolled her eyes. “Willow, no one ever wants to gamble besides you, anyway. You’re the only one of us that has anything worth betting on.”
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