Promise to Keep

by Jessica Wood

  He took Sarah by the hand and led her up to his bedroom, with her blonde ponytail bobbing behind her as she giggled. Her hips swayed suggestively as she walked, and when her giggles reached the end of the upstairs hallway where Jackson’s room was, I heard the door shut behind them.

  The whole scene made me want to gag. I thought about shouting out, Practice safe sex! just to embarrass Jackson. But with his father standing right there, I didn’t think it was a good idea.

  Mr. Pierce must have been thinking the same thing, because he shook his head and said, “I think I’m making a mistake letting those two be alone together. Tell me, do all girls your age act the way she does?”

  “No, not all the girls,” I said emphatically. “Don’t let Sarah give you the wrong impression. There are plenty of girls at school that don’t act like her, but guys do seem to pay more attention to popular girls like her.”

  “Ah, come on now, Chloe. A beautiful girl like you, with those eyes and that amazing smile? You must get asked out by every boy in school.”

  I felt myself blush under the compliment. I wasn’t used to being noticed and complimented like that. It felt nice to be called beautiful, but a part of me wished that I could hear it more often from boys my own age, like Jackson. “Thanks, but I’m not like Sarah. I’m too much of a klutz to be a cheerleader, and I’m pretty plain and not popular.”

  “I’m sure your boyfriend doesn’t call you plain,” he said with an encouraging smile.

  I looked down, feeling bad for myself. “I don’t have a boyfriend at the moment.” There had been a few guys I’d gone on dates with, and had two guys that I’d called boyfriends in the past. But I was never that into them for things to get too serious.

  “Well, believe me, you’re far from plain. One day you’ll be with a real man who will make you feel the way a woman should. You’re incredible, Chloe—smart, funny, charming. One day, you’ll have men lining up to be with you.”

  Something about the way he looked at me when he said all those things made me feel a little uneasy, and I felt my throat go dry. They were good compliments and I liked hearing them, but I was suddenly very aware of the fact that we were alone together.

  “Well, I don’t know how smart I am. I’m having a hard time with the essay for this application.” I said as I took a small step back, and tried to change the subject back to the college applications. I cleared my throat. “If you have any pointers, I’d really appreciate if you could take a look.”

  He blinked, and as if he’d snapped out of a trance, he straightened up and gave a polite smile. “Yes.” He cleared his throat. “Of course.” Then he paused again, as if he were having a debate with himself about something. Seconds later, his expression changed again, and he flashed me a wider smile than before. “You know what?”

  “What?” I frowned, confused by his behavior.

  “You’re my son’s best friend. He practically treats you like his younger sister.” He smiled.

  I wasn’t sure why, but I felt a ripple of disappointment wash over me when he mentioned the word, “sister.” Did Jax really think of me like his sister? I forced myself to push aside the thought and turn my attention back to Mr. Pierce.

  “…and as a prominent professor at Penn, I shouldn’t just be giving you some advice. I should be doing more. A good recommendation letter from me can do more to bolster your application than anything else.”

  “You think so?” I looked at him hopefully, completely forgetting about the unease I’d felt moments ago.

  “Definitely.” He beamed confidently at me. “Chloe, I’ll tell you what I can do for you. I’ll write a recommendation for you that is so compelling, it will practically guarantee your acceptance at Penn.”

  “You’d do that for me?” I squealed with delight. “That’s more than I could ask for. That would be so awesome if you can.” My words rushed out quickly as I made no effort to hide my excitement. I felt like some of the worry that I’d felt for my future had just been lifted from my shoulders.

  “Of course. It’d be my pleasure. Come on back into my office and I’ll get you taken care of.” His smile was warm and I eagerly followed him down the hall with the application in my hand.

  His office was impressive, with a beautiful carved oak desk, shelves packed full of books, a leather sofa, and a state-of-the-art computer.

  “You have a beautiful office.”

  He closed the door behind us and directed me to sit on the sofa by the window. I expected him to sit in his desk chair, but he surprised me by sitting on the cushion right next to me.

  “So, I’ve known you since you were a child, but we haven’t talked much in recent years,” he started as he put a gentle hand on my knee and looked into my eyes. “What are you really passionate about? What are your goals and dreams?”

  I didn’t know how to answer his questions. They weren’t the questions I’d expected him to ask. All I could think about was the feel of his firm, warm palm on my bare knee just below where my skirt ended, and it felt incredibly awkward. I knew he was just trying to help me, and I knew he was an affectionate person (he was more like Aunt Betty than he was like Uncle Tom in that respect), but I wasn’t used to such an intimate gesture from an older man. I remembered Jackson once mentioned that his father was twenty when Jackson was born. Thirty-seven seemed so old.

  Suddenly, I heard Jackson’s voice shouting from down the hall, “Hey, Dad! Can Sarah stay for dinner?”

  I wasn’t sure why, but my stomach lurched when I saw the doorknob twist. A second later, the door swung open as Jackson looked in. Mr. Pierce got up from the couch and appeared to be brushing off some dust from his shirt. “Yeah, sure, Sarah can stay for dinner. Your friends are welcome here anytime.”

  For a split second, there was an odd expression on Jackson’s face as he looked over at me and then at his father. But then it disappeared. “Great! You should stay too, Clo! We’ll get a couple of large pizzas. My Dad can finish helping you with your application and then Sarah and I can act out the scene we’ve been practicing for you guys. It’ll be like dinner and a show.”

  I stood up and fumbled for my papers. “Actually, I can’t stay tonight. Sorry. I promised Aunt Betty I’d be home for dinner.” I walked quickly to the door where Jackson stood. “In fact, I’d better get going now.”

  “What about your letter of recommendation?” Mr. Pierce asked.

  As much as I needed the letter, at that moment, something inside me just wanted to get out of there. I wasn’t sure why I felt that way, but I felt like I’d just done something wrong and was caught in the act.

  “Thank you for the offer, but I didn’t realize it was already so late. I guess I’ll have to skip it.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll still write it for you and you can pick it up tomorrow. You have everything going for you, Chloe. There’s no reason you shouldn’t get to go to Penn and make the most out of your life.”

  “Thanks.” I flushed. I suddenly felt bad for feeling awkward around Mr. Pierce. He wasn’t a bad man. Maybe I was just upset about Jackson getting it on with Sarah upstairs and it put the thoughts of sex on my mind. What I thought had just happened between me and Mr. Pierce was nothing more than my own imagination. Still, the idea of coming back to get the letter from him made me a little uneasy. If only there was a way to make sure Jackson would be here, too.

  “Sounds great. What time will you be home from football tomorrow, Jax? Maybe we can hang out when I stop by.” I looked at Jackson expectantly, hoping I sounded casual.

  “Sorry, Clo.” He shrugged. “Can’t. We’ve got late practice every night until the playoffs. If you want, I can just bring the letter with me to school tomorrow and give it to you that way?”

  “Perfect!” I sighed with relief.

  ***

  The next day in homeroom, when Jackson handed me Mr. Pierce’s letter of recommendation, I felt like the worst person in the world for not wanting to personally get it from him in person. Every line
of the letter of recommendation made me sound like a far better person than I knew I was. It was very generous and kind of him to have spent the time to write this recommendation and I knew I should really show more appreciation and gratitude for all his help.

  As I tucked the letter of recommendation neatly between the pages of my biology textbook, I made a promise to myself: If I get accepted into Penn, I’ll really need to properly thank Mr. Pierce for help. I’ll owe him big time.

  CHAPTER SIX

  June 2003

  Eighteen Years Old

  CHLOE

  I waved Jackson down as I saw him searching the crowd for me outside of the high school auditorium. When our eyes met, his face lit up and he immediately walked over to where I stood with Aunt Betty, Uncle Tom, and my cousin, Charlie.

  “That was a great graduation speech, Jackson.” Uncle Tom patted Jackson on the back when he came over.

  “Harvard’s going to be lucky to have you going to school there,” Aunt Betty chimed in as she pulled Jackson in for a warm hug.

  Jackson smiled, beaming with pride. “Thanks. I’m excited to finally graduate high school and start college.”

  He then glanced over at me with his familiar boyish grin and winked. “Congrats, Clo.”

  “Congrats, Jax.” I smiled back. “Uncle Tom’s right. That was a great speech, Mr. Valedictorian. You made me cry.”

  “But you cry about everything,” he teased.

  I punched him in the arm, harder than normal this time. “I do not. Ass.”

  He laughed. “I’m going to miss your daily physical abuse when I’m at Harvard and you’re at Penn.”

  “Me too.” We shared a meaningful gaze and I wondered if we’d always be best friends like this.

  “Congratulations, man.” My cousin Charlie shook Jackson’s hand. Charlie then smiled over at me. “Who knew Chloe would have a genius for a best friend?”

  I laughed. “I’m pretty sure I should take that as an insult, Charlie.” I made a face at him.

  “Hey, you know I’m just teasing.” Charlie laughed sheepishly and pulled me into his arms for a bear hug. “You got into Penn, kiddo. That’s a pretty good indication that you’re pretty much a genius yourself. You know I’m super proud of you.”

  I giggled as I pulled away from him. “It’s so good to see you, Charlie. Thanks for coming to my graduation. It means so much to me.”

  Charlie was Aunt Betty and Uncle Tom’s son. He had just turned twenty-nine recently and had been working as an attorney at a prestigious law firm in Chicago for about a year now. Before that, he went to UCLA in California for law school for three years. But even though he had a busy life, he’d always made time to fly back home to visit his parents and to see me. I always loved it when he visited. Not only was he funny and easy to talk to, I loved having him around the house. The love he shared with Aunt Betty and Uncle Tom was how I’d always pictured the perfect family to be. So it always made me smile when I got the chance to see them interact together as a family unit.

  We all laughed and talked excitedly for several minutes about the graduation ceremony and our plans for college. Then Aunt Betty and Uncle Tom went to go talk to some of the teachers and Charlie went to the restroom. Jackson used this opportunity to pull me aside to talk.

  “Clo, I have something for you. Are you free in an hour?”

  “What is it?”

  “Just a little something I think you’ll like,” he answered vaguely.

  I looked at him suspiciously. “I thought we’d agreed not to do gift exchanges for graduation?”

  He snickered. “Who said anything about it being a graduation gift?”

  I rolled my eyes. “What is it?”

  “It’s a surprise. Meet me out at our spot in an hour?”

  I faked an annoyed look. “Fine. I guess you do always seem to get what you want,” I teased.

  He chuckled. “Sometimes.” Then he paused briefly. “But not everything.” He looked at me in a way that made my heart pound faster against my chest, and I wondered why he had this effect on me.

  Before I could ask him what he’d meant by his last comment or work through what I was feeling, someone came around from behind Jackson and interrupted us.

  “Great speech, Mr. Hotshot. Can you sign my graduation program so I can have it before you become famous?” Amber joked as she excitedly swung her arm around Jackson’s shoulder.

  The moment I saw Amber, I felt my happy mood disappear.

  “Thanks, Amber.” Jackson flashed her a smile but took a deliberate step away from her.

  I saw a flicker in Amber’s eyes as she smiled over at Jackson, and I knew that I wasn’t the only one who had noticed Jackson’s subtle movement. While forcing myself to keep a straight face, I felt a small surge of triumph flow through me, and at that moment, I had an intense urge to throw my arms around Jackson and give him a big hug.

  Even though, personally, Jackson thought I was overreacting and holding a childhood grudge, he knew I didn’t like Amber and stood by my side. I knew deep down that I’d been holding a grudge against Amber, but I also knew that sometimes the embarrassment and hurt a person experienced when they were younger could leave permanent marks and would never truly go away. That was how I felt about Amber. She was the girl who had made fun of the cigarette burns my mom had accidentally made on my overalls on my first day of school in first grade after I’d moved in with Aunt Betty and Uncle Tom. She had then pretended to be nice to me and invited me to eat lunch with her and her friends, but then had called me dirty and made fun of my clothes. She was the girl who had gotten the entire cafeteria to laugh at me that day. And ever since that very first day we’d met, she’d never been nice to me. Sometimes she’d pretend to be, like when Jackson was around, but I knew she was faking it. I think she’d always blamed me for the way Jackson had treated her that day in front of the entire school when he’d come to my rescue after I fell on the cafeteria floor.

  “Hi, Chloe.” Amber flashed me a bright smile, showing off her perfect pearly whites.

  I snapped out of my thoughts in time to force myself to return a polite smile. “Hey, Amber.”

  “Congrats on graduating. I never thought we’d all make it to this day, did you?” she asked with a giggle. There was a smirk on her face as she eyed me up and down.

  I felt my blood start to boil at what I knew she was trying to imply with her words. Since we were in first grade, she had always thought she was better than me and was never shy about voicing that opinion to me in her subtle, condescending way.

  I wanted to respond and put her in her place, but Jackson stopped me and spoke up first. “Congrats on also getting into Harvard, Amber. I had no idea you had applied or that they accepted applications after the first of January.” I could tell from the tone in his voice that he was mocking her.

  “They don’t, actually. I missed the deadline by a few months. But it was the least Harvard could do, seeing as my dad’s an alumnus and was one of their top financial donors last year.” Amber shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal.

  I smiled to myself just then. I knew immediately why Jackson had made his comment. In his own way, he had been defending me against Amber’s comments by forcing Amber to admit to her own failures. But his attempt was lost on Amber as she seemed to freely and unabashedly admit to not getting into Harvard on her merits alone.

  Then she turned to me and frowned. “Too bad you can’t also join us at Harvard, Chloe. That would have been so much fun!”

  The sheer lack of sincerity in her voice grated against my patience. But before I could say anything, Jackson stopped me again.

  “Hey, Clo. There’re my parents waving us down. Let’s go say hi.” He grabbed my hand in a rush and pulled me away from Amber. “See ya later, Amber,” he said quickly with a wave.

  “See you at Harvard, Jackson,” she called after us in a singsong voice. Even with my back turned to her as Jackson ushered me away, I could picture the smug smirk across Amber’s
face as she watched us leave.

  “Why did you keep interrupting me, Jax?” I felt annoyed that I didn’t get a chance to vent my anger out on that bitch.

  “Clo, I could tell you were getting upset, and really, it’s not worth it.”

  “It sure feels worth it to me,” I retorted in disagreement as I imagined how much better I’d feel if I’d said something mean to Amber. Maybe if she came back with more of her bitchiness, I would have even punched her in the face.

  “Come on, Clo. It’s our graduation. It’s not worth causing a scene in front of everyone or wasting your time on her. We’re both about to move away for college. Let’s make the best of our free time before we start school.”

  I huffed out a sigh of frustration. I always hated when Jackson was right, especially when I wanted so badly for him to be wrong.

  “Besides,” he continued, “Amber’s harmless. I know she rubs you the wrong way. She definitely has a strong personality. But really she’s not all that bad. I think you two just got off on the wrong foot from the very beginning. She’s not as bad as she used to be.”

  I rolled my eyes, annoyed that Jackson was defending the closest thing I had to a nemesis. “Jax, how can you say that? She’s just as bad if not worse than she was when we were in first grade. She’s just more subtle about it and she acts different when you’re around. But she’s always giving me her condescending bitchy look.”

  Jackson swung his arm around my shoulder and chuckled. “Are you sure it’s not just her Resting Bitch Face?”

  I couldn’t help but laugh at his question. “Yes, I’m sure, unless there’s a Resting Bitch Face Only When Chloe’s Around,” I joked back.

  He laughed, even though we both knew how bad my attempt of a joke was. “Come on, looks like people are starting to leave. Come over and say hi to my parents before you head home.”

  “Sure.” I smiled over at him, feeling happy that his arm was still around my shoulder as we walked over to his parents.

  “Congratulations, son.” Mr. Pierce patted Jackson on the back and they exchanged an enthusiastic handshake.