by Dina Silver
When he and I walked into his kitchen, Mrs. Caroline Reynolds was standing near the sink, telling the caterers to be sure and keep the ice buckets full, and the wine chilled. Nothing is worse than lukewarm chardonnay I heard her pronounce. She instructed them to uncork a few of the bottles, so guests could easily pour their own glass if they wanted, but they should offer first. Clear the empties immediately, and be sure to put glass and plastics in the recycling bin. She was a pioneer in that field.
Mrs. Reynolds was tall and rail thin. She wore a Lily Pulitzer mini skirt and a long sleeved white cable knit sweater that accentuated her tan. Her hair was blond and pulled into a tight, short ponytail. I immediately pictured her closet filled with Vera Bradley bags and tennis rackets.
“Mom,” Ethan called from behind her. “Sydney’s here.”
She turned immediately around and smiled. “Hello, darling, it’s wonderful to finally see you,” she said with a smoker’s voice as she approached. “Ethan is notorious for giving me very little information, so I hope we can sit together like girls and have a proper chat later?”
“She’s not interested,” he joked, and I smacked his arm.
“I’d love to, just tell me when,” I handed her the bottle of chardonnay I’d brought, unchilled.
She looked me up and down, and all around, so much so that I had to resist the compulsion to spin.
“Why, thank you, Sydney,” she said as a caterer hurried over and grabbed the wine from her. “Later, okay? I’ll find you in a little bit and we’ll talk.”
“Let’s go,” Ethan grabbed my hand. “Good luck finding her,” he teased.
About two hours into the party, Mrs. Reynolds approached us. “My turn,” she said, holding a wine glass, and a cigarette so thin, it looked like the stem of a Tootsie pop.
“I’m ready,” I jumped up and locked elbows with her. She was much taller than me, about five-foot-eight, in flats. I could hear my mother’s voice in the back of my head, so I arched my back and stood as straight as I could.
We walked inside through the double glass doors and she guided me to a set of couches, upholstered in a pale green paisley fabric. The couches were flanked with antique wooden end tables, each with matching table lamps and an assortment of jeweled frames and coasters.
“Please have a seat,” she gestured to me, and then waited for me to sit down.
“Your house is beautiful, Mrs. Reynolds.”
“How sweet, thank you.”
The Reynolds had three children. Ethan was the youngest, and his older twin sisters were away at UCLA. They stayed in Los Angeles that summer attending summer school and interning on the Paramount Pictures lot, so I hadn’t had a chance to meet them. Ethan told me they were working on the set of Cheers, because his dad was friends with a famous television producer, and got them the gig.
“Do you miss having the girls around this summer?” I asked.
“I’m adjusting, but I’ve been out there twice already,” she winked. “We stayed at the Beverly Hilton just last weekend,” she said in a tone that indicated I should be impressed.
A moment later, Sparky joined us…much to my displeasure. I have never been comfortable around dogs, and I was even less comfortable around people who assumed I should enjoy their dog’s company as much as they did. Sparky began slobbering on my leg, so I discreetly tried to pull away from him.
“Sparkeeeee, nooooo,” she said, calmly. “He’s a lovebug.”
Sparky was undeterred and kept licking me, so I tried petting him lightly on the back. It wasn’t a very welcoming stroke though; it looked more like I was testing an iron to see if it was hot.
“Ethan tells me you’re going to Purdue.”
“Yes,” I answered, shifting my body away from the dog’s nose.
“Do you know anyone else going there?”
“No, I don’t.”
She questioned me for fifteen minutes, about various aspects of my life, and she was much more non-threatening than I had expected her to be. There was an air about her, for sure, but she reacted to my responses without judgment, and was very easy to talk to. Ethan barged in just as she had inquired about my mother.
“Sparky, out!” he shouted. “Mom, she hates dogs, out Sparky!”
Mrs. Reynolds looked at me like I’d just admitted I had no idea what the Beverly Hilton was.
I let out a nervous laugh and glared at him. “I don’t hate dogs, Ethan, I’m just more of a cat person, but I do not hate dogs.”
“You said you hated dogs,” Ethan said.
“Well, I don’t,” I repeated, shaking my head assuredly at Mrs. Reynolds.
“We’re leaving anyway,” he announced and grabbed my arm. His mom turned her cheek as I stood and Ethan leaned in and gave her a kiss.
“Nice to finally meet you,” I told her.
“See ya, Mom,” Ethan said.
“Goodbye darling.”
Ethan dragged me back though the front foyer and out onto his driveway. “Follow me, I have a present for you.”
We walked, holding hands, over to his Volkswagen Jetta. He opened the passenger door, reached under the front seat and pulled out a black velvet box.
“I got you a little something,” he said as I took the box from him.
My eyes widened. “E, you didn’t have to do that.”
“I know.”
The lid made a tiny little ‘pop’ sound as I opened the box and uncovered a strand of charcoal-colored freshwater pearls inside. Opening that box took my breath away and made me feel like a princess. Or a queen. Or someone who is used to being handed velvet boxes with jeweled treasures inside. Never before had anyone ever done something so generous and unexpected for me. I cradled the necklace and rolled the individual pearls between my fingers. I looked up at him, my mouth agape.
“I don’t know what to say,” I spoke.
“How about, thank you,” he said and we both laughed.
“Thank you, Ethan, thank you so much.”
“It’s my pleasure, and you deserve it for being so sweet to me all the time.”
I unhooked the necklace and Ethan placed it around my neck.
Those pearls were a bond, and I felt protected every time I wore them.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Ethan’s parents went to California to visit his sisters two weeks after their block party, and left his grandmother to look after him. Although he was about to start his second year of college, Ethan’s mother refused to leave her home and her beloved Sparky in his care. Thankfully, his grandma had a grueling Bridge schedule, and wasn’t around much, so he and I would rent movies, order food and spend hours rolling around naked in his bed, basement and backyard. My mother had no idea that his parents were gone, since she was never able to befriend Mrs. Reynolds, so she assumed I was hanging out with Taylor on my days off. And despite her overall lack of confidence in me, she knew I wasn’t much of a liar, so she never bothered to corroborate my stories.
Those two weeks were pure heaven. Every minute I spent with him was pure, stress-free bliss, so much so, that I would have a sickly pit in my stomach when the time would come each day for me to go home. My body began to have physical reactions to Ethan; tingling euphoria when we were together, and numb depression when we were apart. My head ached at the thought of going away to college and leaving him. I began to lose sleep, my appetite was non-existent, and my tolerance for my mother drained lower and lower. The last night of Ethan’s parents’ vacation, my mom decided that she wanted me to stay home and go through my closet with her, so I could start packing my trunk for school.
“Not tonight, Mom,” I said, not feeling any urgency to tackle that chore anyway. “We can do it tomorrow.”
“We’re having dinner with the Carlins tomorrow, so you and I will have to get this done tonight.”
My hands began to shake as my body temperature rose. “I have plans tonight.”
She turned to face me with a confused look on her face. It was an expression that read, ‘a
m I to understand that you are defying me?', and one I was nauseatingly familiar with. “Then cancel them,” she said with no regard for what I’d just said.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and smartly weighed my options before exploding. Option A: starting an argument with her, could result in me being grounded for the night, ultimately ruining my plans for sure, and sending me into a catatonic state. Option B: appease her, and divert her attention so she feels comfortable and confident that she has triumphed over me.
“Mom,” I began robotically and without emotion. “Kendra said, actually, that she would help me go through everything this weekend,” I paused for a second. “And that she was really excited to help,” one more beat. “Also, I was wondering if I could borrow those silver earrings of yours? You know, the long ones that you got in New Orleans.”
I had her at ‘Kendra’ but her smile ignited when I asked for the earrings. “Oh, alright, let me get them for you.”
My evening alone with Ethan was restored, and there was nothing else I cared about. Literally nothing.
He was standing in his driveway when I pulled up, with a six-pack of beer, and a four- pack of Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers. Ethan drank, but he didn’t smoke pot, so it’d been a weed-free few months for me. “Hey, you,” he smiled. “I just got back from Eddie’s,” he said hoisting his stash in the air. Fresh Eddie’s was a liquor store in Evanston that was known across the North Shore for selling booze and cigarettes to underage kids.
We took our beverages around to the back patio, sat on the ground and leaned back against the half wall that circled the Reynolds terrace.
“When’s Grandma coming home?”
“Should be close to nine, so we have at least two hours to ourselves,” he took a swig of his Bud Light. His legs were stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankles. He was wearing a pair of jeans, flip-flops and a Hawaiian shirt. “I thought maybe we could try and watch Caddyshack again,” he winked.
He and I both had a mutual love for that movie, and I’d learned that reciting some of my favorite lines from the film worked like an aphrodisiac on him. Only our hormones got the best of us every time we’d lie on the couch, turn out the lights and put the movie on, so we’d never been able to watch it together in its entirety.
Our last night alone in his parent’s house was no different.
We were scheduled to leave for our respective colleges during the last week of August. My parents had planned to take me down to Purdue on that Wednesday, and Ethan was driving himself back to Lawrence, Kansas on Friday. Mom gifted me an extended curfew, with Kendra’s prodding, so I could spend Tuesday night with Ethan. Kendra had seen my mood deteriorate over those last couple of weeks, and lent a soft, supportive sisterly shoulder to cry on.
“What if Ethan is the one, and us going to different schools destroys our future together?” I asked her through drippy eyes as we sat on the floor of my room, sorting through my clothes one day.
She looked at me with her signature sympathetic smile. “Syd, you are so young, and you’re going to meet so many people in the next few years. If you and Ethan are meant to have a future together, it will happen. And if not, you will find the right person at the right time.”
Kendra was three years ahead of me, and entering her senior year at the University of Illinois. My whole life, I assumed she knew so much more about everything than I did, and imagined that I could never make up that three-year difference. I assumed one day when I was eighty-two, and she was eighty-five, she’d still be able to teach me things. But truth be told, she’d never been in love like me. I’d seen her date numerous guys over the years, some longer than others, but I never saw her emotionally attached to any one of them like I was to Ethan.
“I’ve found the right person, I want to be with Ethan,” I said as drips spun into actual tears.
“Oh, Syd, I know you two love each other, but you’re both so young…”
“I’m eighteen, and you’re only three years older than me, so stop saying I’m so young,” I whined and slumped back against the side of my bed.
She looked like she was trying to find the most sincere words to use. “Okay, well you’re younger than me, and when I was heading off to college, I remember really looking forward to meeting new people. I realize I didn’t have a boyfriend at the time, but not only will you meet other boys at school, you’re going to form new, lifelong best friends.”
“I just don’t want to leave him, it hurts my heart every time I think about him meeting some other girl at school.”
“Well, there’s no sense in creating scenarios before they happen. Aren’t you planning on seeing him for October break?”
“Yes.”
“Well, there you go, that’s less than two months away,” she said, folding a sweater. “Have you two discussed how you’re going to handle the long distance thing?”
I looked at the pile of clothes, which I cared nothing about, and shook my head. Ethan and I hadn’t talked about our future together. Maybe because we were both avoiding the topic.
“Then why don’t you ask him,” she suggested.
“I think I will.”
The Tuesday night before I was scheduled to leave, Ethan and I planned to spend our last night together at Wilson Beach.
“My mom found a condom,” he greeted me with a devilish grin as I got in his car.
“Excuse me?” I choked.
He drove away from my house and headed for the beach, but not before letting out a long sigh.
“Well, let’s just say it found her. Apparently your aversion to Sparky last month didn’t go unnoticed by his keen canine senses, and he went through the trash in the basement, dragged a condom up to the kitchen, and proudly dropped it at my mother’s feet.”
“What?!” I shrieked.
As if Ethan’s mother didn’t already disapprove of my mutt-like religious lineage, she now had to stomach the fact that her son and I were sleeping together, in her marble-laden home nonetheless.
“How could you have left one in the garbage? And what kind of dog digs condoms out of the garbage!?” I asked, appalled.
Ethan was in near hysterics laughing about it. “Mine, I guess.”
I slapped his bicep as hard as I could. “This is not funny, I can no longer show my face there. Seriously, do not ever invite me over to your home again, because I won’t go.”
“Ow! Tell me about it,” he said. “I woke up to a three-page letter outlining the dangers of premarital sex, stapled to a Newsweek article on the rise of teenage pregnancy.”
I buried my head in my hands. “Oh, my God, I am mortified, can you say it wasn’t yours?” I asked, and quickly looked over at him.
“No, it’s done,” he said, trying to contain his amusement. “Don’t sweat it.”
“Easy for you to say,” I said, embarrassed beyond words. My mother would have literally collapsed and lost the ability to breathe air into her lungs had she known.
“Sorry,” he snorted one last chuckle. “Let’s not let it ruin our last night.”
We arrived at the beach equipped with four Amstel Lights from his parent’s garage fridge, a bag of Cheetos, and two oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
“Okay, Miss College Girl,” he said, and raised his bottle. “Here’s to you and the freshman fifteen, I hope you gain it all in your chest.”
“Thanks,” I said, embarrassed.
“I’m kidding, even if you come back with a fat ass, I will still worship it.”
I burst into tears.
“Syd, you know I’m teasing.”
I nodded.
“Come here, girl,” he said and scooped me up onto his lap. “Shhhh, don’t get all weepy on me, we’re not breaking up, just apart.”
Through a parade of sniffles and snot, I made myself speak. “I’m so scared of what’s going to happen to us, I don’t want to leave you, and I don’t want to go.” I sounded five years old. “What’s going to happen to our relationship?”
&nbs
p; He squeezed me tight. “You have nothing to worry about, you’re going to have a great time, meet new people, and we’re solid, so don’t sweat it.”
“I’m so tired of hearing that I’ll meet new people. I don’t want new people, I’m happy with my old people.”
He laughed.
“It’s not funny,” I said in a tone that now sounded like I’d regressed to age three.
Ethan turned my chin toward his face. “You are going to want to meet new people, and whether you like it or not, they are going to want to meet you. Girls and boys,” he looked away for a second. “And I don’t want you to feel like you can’t go out with other people, or feel like our relationship is holding you back in any way.”
“You just assured me that we’re not breaking up.”
“We’re not, but I want you to know that you should do whatever you want to do, Syd. You only have one shot at this, and I don’t want you to regret anything, especially on my account,” he said and rubbed my back.
I was tugging at the ends of my hair, wishing Father Time would freeze and I never had to leave that beach. I had no way of knowing what college would be like for me, but I felt like he was trying to let me down easy, and lessen the blow when he’d want nothing more to do with me in a month. All I wanted was to get through my freshman year with passing grades, and see Ethan whenever possible.
“I see you wore the necklace,” he noticed, and gently elevated the strand of charcoal pearls from the skin on my neck.
“I barely take it off.”
“I’m happy you like them.”
“I love them, and you.”
Ethan wiped my tears with the back of his hand and gave me a kiss. “Here, maybe this will make you feel better,” he said and handed me another black velvet box, much smaller than the one that housed the pearls.
My jaw opened slowly as I reached for it. “Oh, my God, Ethan.”
He smiled and urged me to open it. “Go ahead, I know you’re going to love it.”
“I don’t know what to say.”