“Back to school already? No thanks,” Cheryl refused. She was still hoping to bump into Chad.
“We’re not going to see him here. He’s gone. And besides you’ll be seeing him when school starts in a few days anyway,” Lisa snapped with impatience.
Chastened, Cheryl pushed out her full lips in a pout.
“Fine,” she acquiesced, “Let’s go then.”
We walked back to her little red car and this time Lisa didn’t even open the door. She stood there with her arms crossed waiting for me to get into the back seat. Everyone was silent on the way back. Lisa was aggravated with Cheryl for dragging her around in her search for Chad, Cheryl was aggravated with Lisa for cutting short her search for Chad, and I had no interest in potentially incurring anybody’s wrath by accidentally saying the wrong thing about Chad.
When we got back to the dorm, I waited until we had all stepped out of the elevator on our floor before I said, “Well thanks for taking me into town with you guys. That was fun! And much better than the dining hall food!”
“Oh. You’re going somewhere?” Cheryl gave me a look like I had just told her I shopped at second hand stores.
“Um, no, I just thought I’d go back to my room and lay down for a bit.” I really just wanted to get away from them both.
“You’re going to lay down after eating all those pancakes?” Lisa snorted.
All of them? More like one and a half.
“Yeah, you know, I’m feeling kind of unwell. Guess I should have gone for the omelet after all,” I lied.
“Oh, well give me your cell number and I’ll text you later if we do anything,” Cheryl said.
“I don’t have one.”
“You don’t have a phone?” That look again. “Okay, well, um, I guess I can just always come and knock on your door,” she said derisively.
“It’s a long walk, I know,” I joked.
“Ha ha,” Cheryl said in such a way as to let me know she didn’t find it funny in the least.
“Well thanks again. I’ll talk to you guys later.” I turned and made a break for it down the hall.
“Phew!” I said out loud to myself as I fell backwards against the door to my room.
What on earth was that! Those two girls were hard work!
I walked over to the window and looked out and saw her bright shiny red car parked down below in the visitor’s parking stalls. My family could be billionaires and my father still wouldn’t let me have a car like that!
I plopped down on my little bed and sighed. Why had Stefano left me so abruptly last night? I really, genuinely had thought I felt a spark between us. Was I just a stupid, deluded lovestruck little girl? No boy had ever liked me before, so how ridiculous was I to think that this man would? This worldly man who had lived in another era and had seen many more ushered in? Who had actually died for love? What folly it was for me to think I might supplant, in his heart and mind, the woman he had died for. I must be the stupidest person on earth.
Added to that, I couldn’t help but feel made fun of and humiliated by those two girls. Cheryl had a way of pushing and pulling: one minute she was inviting me to be her friend and the next she was barely able to hide her scorn at how inadequate she found me. I think I almost preferred Lisa. At least she was consistent. I started crying for what seemed like the ten thousandth time in the past few days and wished very hard that this was all some sort of dream. And that I had something to eat.
“How was your trip into town?” a voice behind me asked.
“Stefano.” I wheeled around to see him standing in the middle of the room.
“I owe you an apology for last night,” he said humbly.
“Why did you disappear like that? Did I do something? Did I say something wrong?”
He shook his head vehemently. “No, no, no. Please do not think that.”
“Then are you alright? Was something wrong with you?” I was both puzzled and concerned now.
He grasped my hand in both of his as I drew it back to me: to my eyes he grasped, but it was me holding the weight of my own hand up in front of me as he had explained to me earlier. I felt no pressure from him, could not even feel the texture of his skin. A tingling warmth enveloped my palm only, or I would have had no physical sensation of him at all.
He gazed deeply into my eyes.
“Catherine. I am most sincerely sorry for leaving you so abruptly. It was very poor form on my part. Please do not for one moment think that you did something or said something that drove me away. On the contrary, I was greatly enjoying our conversation. Perhaps a bit too much.”
“Then what?” I whispered almost fearfully.
“Can we put the matter aside for now? I know I owe you an explanation, and I will give you one. But it is a beautiful afternoon and I would rather just enjoy your company than dredge up grim, dreary subjects.”
“Alright,” I answered, searching his eyes for some clue.
“Then you will forgive me? You are a treasure, Lady Catherine. An absolute treasure.”
He cupped my face in his hands and dropped one very formal kiss on the top of my head.
“Did you enjoy your trip into town with your new friends?” he questioned me.
I didn’t quite know how to answer. While I was grateful that someone had wanted to spend time with me and take me out and show me around, it had not been an altogether fun trip. And I was still starving.
“They seem a bit…shallow,” he narrowed his eyes at me and I could see he was gauging my reaction to this assessment.
“Yes, I suppose that’s one word,” I half-laughed.
“And I think a rather generous one. I wouldn’t advise putting your trust in those two. Perhaps not in your best interests.” He raised an eyebrow at me.
“I do get that feeling,” I agreed, “but perhaps it’s a little early to write them off completely?” I added charitably.
“I wouldn’t write them off at all. I don’t think having them as enemies would be in your best interests either. Just be wary and don’t let your guard down around them,” he counseled.
“What do you know of them?” I asked.
He shrugged. “No more than you do. I don’t lurk about in the students’ quarters without their knowledge, spying on them. If there’s no one about who can perceive me for me to interact with I generally keep to myself or restrict myself to the common areas. But my instincts for people tell me you should be wary.”
“I agree. I think you’re quite right. And not only that, but they don’t like to eat much. I’m starving!” I complained.
“Why don’t you go downstairs and get something to eat?” he asked.
“Well here’s the thing,” I started, and as I said it, it occurred to me that this might become a big problem in the future, “I have to go past their room to get to the elevator. If they have their door open, or if they’re sitting out in the common room…..I don’t know what I could say to avoid having to hang out with them.”
“Hmm. This is a quandary.” He winked at me. “No – it isn’t! If they see you, simply tell them that you’re ravenously hungry and that you’re going downstairs to eat all the toasted bread you can possibly find. Then ask them to join you!”
I burst out laughing. “Excellent idea! But I just told them that I didn’t feel well.”
“Tell them that you realize you weren’t feeling well because you hadn’t eaten enough. Go! Go on! I’ll wait for you up here.”
As it happened, I didn’t see them as I tiptoed past their closed door. I couldn’t hear them either, so I assumed they had gone out again. I made it down to the dining hall unseen and had an enormous plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce. The place was livening up a bit, and although far from full, there were a few dozen other kids scattered about the hall.
One boy caught my eye: it was Chad. I had caught such a fleeting glimpse of him earlier that the only reason I recognized him at all was from the red shirt he had been wearing. He was sitting alone, reading. And now that
I had the chance to examine him a little more closely I could see that he really was good looking. He had sandy colored hair that was neither blonde nor brown and piercing blue eyes that stood out against his rosy, tanned skin. As I watched him turn the pages in his book, he seemed rather self-possessed and I couldn’t imagine him with the high-energy Cheryl.
Another boy approached him.
“Trevor! My man! How was your summer?” he said as he rose and the two boys clapped each other on the back as they caught up with each other.
I wondered if this was Lisa’s Trevor. He looked athletic, but he was not as handsome. He had dark wavy hair and brown eyes with freckly skin. Chad tucked his book up underneath his arm and they exited the dining hall laughing and punching each other good-naturedly.
I finished eating and went back up to my room. I was not so lucky on the return trip. Cheryl was in her room with the door open and she called out to me as I tried to slip past.
“Catherine! What are you doing?”
“Oh I just had to get something substantial to eat. I was just on my way back to my room.” I braced myself for the anticipated comments about pancakes again, but they didn’t come.
“Hmmm. Come in and sit down. I want to talk to you.” She sounded serious.
“I’m really sorry that Lisa was so bitchy today. Her boyfriend Trevor hasn’t called her in ages. I think he broke up with her but didn’t bother to tell her.”
“Seriously?” I wondered if I should mention that I had just seen him downstairs.
“Chad and Trevor are best friends, and one time Chad told me – and don’t EVER tell Lisa this – she’ll DIE! – one time Chad told me that Trevor wasn’t really into Lisa at all and that he was only going out with her because since me and Chad were together it was just convenient since we all hung out together all the time. So this summer Trevor’s family went to this resort in Bermuda. He told Lisa that his cell phone didn’t work down there, but they could stay in touch with email. He hardly ever responded to any of her emails, like maybe once a week, if that. She was getting really antsy about wanting school to start again so that she could see him and she thought he’d text her as soon as he got back home, but then somebody saw him today and they texted her to tell her just after you left and she got really upset and now she’s over at the boy’s dorm trying to find him. She just texted me that he’s not in his room.”
I was on the verge of telling her that I had seen Trevor, but I remembered how vicious she had become when I mentioned that Chad was good looking and I decided against it. I was afraid for her to know that I had even been in the same room as him.
“So anyway, she’s been really on edge. She’s not usually like that, I just wanted you to know.”
“Awww, that’s alright,” I tried to sound compassionate. “I totally understand. Have you seen Chad since this morning?”
“Um, no!” she stated with her dramatic flair. “I sent him a text to let him know I was around and so far he’s completely ignored me. Nice.”
“What happened? How long have you guys been together? Why did you break up?”
“Long story,” she moaned. “We met last year when school started and then we got together just after we came back from the Christmas break. But the whole time-” she broke off and sighed. “We just fight a lot and then we break up, but then we always get back together. It’s just like that with us. Always some drama. So he told me at the end of the year last year that he thought we should end things for the summer, since he was going back to Houston, and I said fine, but we texted all the time over the break and I thought we’d just go back to normal once school started, but it looks like he’s playing his little games with me again!” She pouted angrily.
Somehow I got the feeling that it was Cheryl who was the bringer of the drama and the player of the games, but I said nothing.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” she asked in her fake, sweet voice and I thought she probably couldn’t have cared less, but wanted to appear as though she did.
“Not really,” I answered but I was thinking of Stefano and how wonderful it would be if I could call him my boyfriend.
“Not really? What does that mean?” she asked in dramatic fashion.
“Well,” I began uncertainly, “There’s this guy I really like, and sometimes I think he likes me, too, but then he does things that confuse me….”
“From Seattle?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I lied. “From Washington, so it’s not like I’ll be seeing him anytime soon anyway.”
“Oh well forget him! You’ll meet someone here! You do have a really pretty face – do you ever wear make up?”
“Not really.”
I had to start think of something to say besides not really.
“Can I do your make up? Right now? It’ll be fun!”
Cheryl was so excited I didn’t have the heart to reject her offer. And she had already stood up and was looking for her make up bags.
“Sure!” I tried to feign enthusiasm.
I spent the next hour sitting on the floor in Cheryl and Lisa’s room while Cheryl painstakingly applied make up to me. When she was done, I had so much blush on and so much black and silvery gook on my eyes that I either looked like a prostitute or a performer in a cabaret.
“You look so great! You could totally do editorial!” Cheryl gushed over her handiwork as she passed me a mirror. “Oh my god you should wear make up all the time! Why don’t you wear any?” she looked at me expectantly for an answer.
“I do – on special occasions. I don’t really own a lot of it,” I admitted.
“We’ll go shopping tomorrow,” Cheryl stated. “As you saw today, there’s not much in town but there’s a drugstore where you can get some okay make up.”
Just then, Lisa burst in the door and she had obviously been crying. She looked at me, sitting cross-legged on her floor and I realized it was my cue to leave.
“Lisa, what happened?! I guess you found him?” Cheryl stood up and hugged her friend.
“I’ll go. Thanks, Cheryl. I’ll see you guys later.”
They didn’t even bother to acknowledge me as I slipped out and shut the door behind me.
I headed down the hall to my room. Would Stefano still be there? I had left him an awful long time – I’m sure he didn’t think it would take me that long to eat something.
I opened the door to my room. Empty.
“Stefano, I’m so sorry!” I said to the empty room in case he could hear me. “I got caught by Cheryl…” I sighed and flopped down on my bed.
“Caught and attacked with a pot full of Indian Ink from the looks of it,” he cracked.
I jumped up. “Stop just…materializing out of the blue like that! You always scare me half to death!”
He was laughing at me. “What would you have me do? Knock?”
I narrowed my eyes at him in response.
“Interesting look,” he remarked. “But I hope you don’t plan on adopting this fashion.”
“Ha. No, I do not. Cheryl caught me on my way back and we got to talking and then she wanted to put make up on me…Girl bonding, you know?” I shrugged at him.
“You have the most beautiful skin, and the most beautiful eyes. Promise me you won’t start obscuring them with this…this…stuff.”
I blushed. Here he was calling me beautiful again. But did he mean it? Or was he saying it to me like my mother would when discouraging me from wearing make up on one of the few occasions I had ever attempted to. I could practically hear her now: You look so much better without make up on…
“Lady Catherine! I can’t see through all that powder, but I can tell from your expression and the way you try to hide your face from me that you’re blushing again! You look so beautiful when you blush – a shame I can’t see it,” he teased.
“No it’s not a shame! It’s a very good thing! I think I will start wearing make up all the time – that way if you’re going to keep on saying things to make me blush, I’ll have some sort
of defense shield!” If I could have, I would have picked up a pillow and playfully hit him with it. “But I’m sorry – I’m sorry I kept you waiting,”
“It’s alright,” he smiled softly. “I think it’s good for you to make real live flesh and blood people a priority over me: even if it’s only the two girls down the hall. And besides, you and I don’t perceive time the same way. For me, to wait an extra hour or two does not even add up to a molecule in a drop in the bucket of eternity.”
I nodded thoughtfully and our eyes met in the silence.
He jumped suddenly, “I nearly forgot! I had an idea for you! So that you might stop thinking of this wretch Byron! If I could, I would find the most beautiful, gilt edged, gold-tooled, leather bound edition available and make of it a gift for you, but since I cannot, I would like for you to pretend that my suggestion is as beautiful as a gilt-edged, gold-tooled, et cetera et cetera….”
“What are you talking about?” I giggled. He was raving.
“Dante!” he grinned broadly.
“Dante?”
“Yes! The Divine Comedy! I was thinking that you should start reading the great Italians and leave off these pasty, bloated English.”
“Oh, I see! Well, you know, I’m registered in an Italian course. I’ll be studying Introduction to Italian as soon as school starts next week. You’ll be able to help me with my homework!” I hinted.
“Excellent! You can read Dante in its original form!” He was serious.
“Well, it might take me a little more than one course to become that fluent!” I protested.
“No, it’s easy. If I can learn English…..”
“You’ve had a few hundred years to practice!” I laughed.
“Very true,” he acquiesced. “But I will help you. This will be wonderful. You know Dante is responsible for creating the Italian language as it is spoken today…”
“I’m not ready for Dante yet!” I was protesting, but secretly planned to look him up in the library at my first opportunity. I would start reading, albeit in English, as a surprise for Stefano.
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