A Bridge of Her Own

by Heywood, Carey

  “So why do you let your mom jump all over you like that?” Lacey asked once they were out of earshot in the driveway.

  Jane shrugged. “What else am I supposed to do?”

  “Um, how about telling her you are an adult legally able to vote so it is unnecessary for her to still know the time of your last cycle or examine your teeth so she can decide if you have been flossing or not?” Lacey retorted.

  “I think she would have a heart attack if I ever said anything like that to her.” Jane giggled.

  “I really think you should try setting some sort of boundaries though.” Lacey went on. “Otherwise, she will walk all over you your entire life."

  Jane knew Lacey was right, but it was her mom they were talking about. Yes, she did feel as though she had to do things that she did not want to do around her, but aren’t most parents like that?

  It was chilly, but the sun was out so they took a pleasant lap around Jane's block. Since it was still light out, none of the houses had their holiday lights turned on yet. Jane pointed out landmarks along the way. The pool was down that road, the home of the first boy she ever dreamed of kissing, and where the stupid lady who never cleans up after her dog lived. There was a bench at the end of the block, on a grassy hill. They sat for a spell enjoying the crisp air. On the way back, Lacey said it was a bummer they would not see any of the houses light up.

  "Let's go on a tacky light tour!" Jane exclaimed.

  "A what?" Lacey replied.

  "It's a route that you take past all of the WAY decorated houses.” Jane answered. “You’ll love it."

  Jane’s parents declined the invitation to come along. After supper they bundled up, and with a map printed from Jane’s dad’s computer, they set off. On the way, Jane told Lacey she someday dreamed of taking the tour by limo like some companies in town that annually did that. As they drove neighborhood to neighborhood, checking out light display after light display, they found themselves at the mother of all over-decorated houses they had ever seen.

  There were two houses side by side that had jointly decorated every inch of available lawn and roof space. The girls parked, and braving the cold weather, walked up to take a closer look, as many other people also appeared to be doing. A homeowner was offering cups of hot cocoa to everyone, and holiday music played in the background. There was also a donation box set up with proceeds going to a local charity.

  “This is the most amazing thing I have ever seen.” Lacey said awestruck.

  On Christmas morning, Jane presented her parents with an oil painting of the Arc de Triumph she had done as an homage of their trip to France. Her father gushed over it while her mother continued to ask if she had met any nice boys. Her father shook his head and joked she should wait until she was thirty. Lacey and Jane exchanged their presents to each other.

  Jane had gotten Lacey a monthly subscription to her favorite fashion magazine and a husband pillow since Lacey coveted Jane’s. Lacey gave Jane a calendar from the Louvre and a silver charm bracelet with a charm. The charm was a small heart with BFF engraved on it. Jane was truly touched and close to tears. She hugged Lacey in thanks.

  From that trip on, the two were inseparable. They navigated the ups and downs of college life together. Lacey with the hope of someday ending up on Broadway or even in Hollywood. Jane was her always-willing audience and sometimes coach helping her learn lines. It was amazing how Lacey’s course of study also impacted Jane’s personality.

  Jane studied with the dream of someday being the curator of a museum. The constant repetition of speaking out loud with Lacey while running lines with her gave Jane additional confidence in her own courses to occasionally raise her hand in response to a professor's question. Prior to her friendship with Lacey, this would have been completely out of character for her.

  Chapter 3

  Jane invited Lacey to come stay with her and her family for a couple of months while she worked on a production at the local theater. Lacey did not have a leading role, but it was a paying gig (minimum wage). She would not have been able to afford to stay had it not been for Jane’s parents. Jane’s dad especially got a kick out of Lacey’s antics while Jane’s mom secretly prayed Lacey would not rub off too much on Jane.

  Jane, with her art background, also became involved in Lacey's production as she helped build and decorate the various set backdrops. They both had a blast and would be able to refer to their summer work during their next term. On sold out nights, Jane would sit with the audio crew and watch the show from the catwalk. It was a beautiful view high above the audience. Some of her favorite memories came from her quiet perch. If there was better light up there, it would be a fun place to sketch. Unfortunately, it was so dark she would be completely unable to see what she was drawing. It was good practice, though, to try, and once back at their dorm room, recall from memory something she had previously witnessed.

  For Jane, it was wonderful to have someone at home to split the attention with. Her mother seemed less inclined to correct her when Lace was around. Also, Lacey seemed to notice when her mother was about to pick at Jane and would change the subject or ask Mrs. Martin to help her with something. They would also borrow her dad's car and tool around town, usually to the Fan, where they would park and window shop up and down Cary Street. For Jane, she was for the first time in her life feeling somewhat like an adult around her parents.

  Before starting their sophomore year Jane went home with Lacey to Iowa for a couple of weeks to, now, meet her parents. She was particularly excited to meet Lacey’s mother, as she was an actual working artist. She was very eccentric and could easily be described as a hippie. Her current medium was found material that she would then assemble and paint. There was a large painted structure of lawn chairs welded to baby strollers and artificial tabletop Christmas trees in their front yard. Lacey rolled her eyes as they approached it.

  “I wish she would go back to pottery.” Lacey sighed, walking up. “That took up way less space.”

  Lacey’s father, on the other hand, managed a local wellness center and spa. Lacey and Jane helped out for a couple of days in exchange for a spa day.

  “We have got to come visit your parents more often.” Jane said from her seaweed wrap.

  “Just gotta remember to keep moving or we might end up part of my mom’s next sculpture.” Lacey joked from her mud bath. It really was a peaceful trip, but Jane did notice that Lacey’s mom, when “inspired,” was not really there for Lacey.

  She mused to herself that if you combined her hover mom with Lacey’s flighty mom you might just come up with the perfect combination of interested disinterest. Returning to campus as a team was so refreshing versus all of the unknowns of their previous year. Again, they shared a room and took pains to match their schedules up for classes. Over the summer, they even bought all of their bedding together so it would coordinate. Lacey also shipped down a painting her mother had done. It was based off of a photo of Jane and Lacey from their trip.

  This year they actually had one class together: a prerequisite math course neither of them was looking forward to. That is until their professor walked in. He could have been a model for an Italian underwear designer. Math went from their least favorite subject to suddenly their favorite. Lacey took pains to look flawless for each class. Jane teased her even though she had to admit that if it was a math class day she did tend to wear jeans instead of sweats. Otherwise, their year was flying by.

  Lacey dated a guy named Anthony on and off one semester. He was an exchange student from Spain. Neither really understood anything the other was saying. It was mainly a physical relationship. When he left to return to Spain, she was really bummed, having decided he was the ideal mate. They spent their winter break at Jane's again. One night, a few days before Christmas, they drove to the house that had all of the decorations again. They decided it would be their winter ritual.

  The second semester seemed to race by, each busy with their courses. Lacey was trying to work on her Irish acc
ent nonstop. It was like living with a leprechaun, Jane teased. Her accent was improving, though. Someone who lived on their floor had even asked Jane about the new Irish chick. Lacey thought that was hilarious, especially since the person who asked also happened to be in one of her classes. Jane's favorite course that semester was the study of religious murals in ancient cathedrals.

  That summer, they spent the bulk of their time at Lacey’s home and just a couple of weeks at Jane’s parents’ house. They worked at her dad’s spa, this time for pay versus treatments. They were saving up with the goal in mind to take a trip to Europe over the holidays together. They had even planned to continue working part-time their junior year to help fund the trip. Jane joked that Lacey just wanted to be on the same continent as Anthony again.

  Lacey often replied, “Please, if even ten percent of Europeans are as good-looking as him, I do not want to be tied down. I’ll sample them all."

  They planned on ringing in the New Year in London after spending Christmas in Paris and touring Holland. Lacey was really pushing for a day in Amsterdam to try the local coffee house wares. The trip-planning was becoming so much fun that they discussed doing the same thing the next year with Australia in mind, seeing as how the weather would be summerlike there that time of year. Or maybe even New Zealand.

  Chapter 4

  Once back at school to start their junior year, they again opted for a dorm over an apartment so they could still have access to the cafeteria and save funds. Plus, it just worked for them. With all of their prerequisites completed the year before, they sadly did not share any drool-worthy professors this year.

  Before they knew it, it was holiday break again, and they were holding hands as they sat in their seats wanting for the plane to take off. The night before their flight they had again made their annual pilgrimage to their favorite Tacky Light Tour houses. Trip or no trip, they could not miss that.

  This was Lacey's first trip overseas and Jane's second. Lacey leaned on Jane during their time in France. Jane spoke choppy French, but since she had been there so recently, they somewhat recreated the trip she had taken with her parents. Lacey had one special request. They had to go to the Moulin Rouge, and it was amazing.

  Once they were in London, Lacey had all of the details of the hottest spot in town to celebrate New Year's. Otherwise, they went to all of the main attractions; Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, and Big Ben. They even managed to get their picture taken in one of those red telephone booths. Then, they rode around (freezing) on the upper level of a double-decker tour bus. Lastly, on New Year's Eve they recreated the Abbey Road album cover with a couple of random cute boys Lacey sweet talked. The boys had nothing planned that night so the girls now conveniently had dates!

  When New Year's came, Lacey smooched her Brit, and Jane gave her Brit a chaste kiss on the cheek. Their trip was well worth all those hours washing and folding spa towels the summer before. They returned to school ready to take on the rest of their junior year.

  Not long after their European vacation, Lacey began dating Liam. That was how Jane met Wyatt Huntington III. She had been on a few casual dates throughout college but had mainly kept her head down and focused on her class work. Lacey, on the other hand, sometimes seemed to be majoring in boys. Lacey, now dating Liam, had talked Jane into going on a double date with his friend, Wyatt.

  Wyatt Huntington III was a celebrity of sorts on campus. He resembled Robert Redford in his hay day, and all the girls wanted to date him. Lacey had purposefully omitted that Wyatt was the blind date because Jane never would have agreed to come otherwise. She would be far too nervous. As they approached the table, Lacey observed Jane’s eyes widen in recognition and look around the restaurant for emergency exits. When they sat and ordered, Wyatt was a perfect gentleman, and Lacey was thrilled for her friend.

  Wyatt was well-liked on campus and seemed to be as interested in Jane as she was in him. On their first solo date, he took her to a local restaurant just off campus. It was crowded with other college students, and many of them seemed to recognize Wyatt and were curious who the pretty brunette was with him. When they were seated, Jane nervously began twisting her napkin on her lap. When she realized Wyatt was watching her, she flushed.

  "Nervous?" he asked.

  She nodded.

  "Don't be." He was very charming. "Ever been here before?" he asked.

  She shook her head no.

  "You should try the risotto. It is wonderful."

  When the waiter returned to take their orders, he seemed pleased when she did order what he had recommended, though she was taken aback by Wyatt’s attitude toward the waiter. Her father had always told her that people who mistreated waiters and other clerks were the ones to watch out for. She thought about it, but then let it go because he was being so sweet and attentive to her.

  After dinner, they both went back to Jane's dorm. As they rode the elevator to her floor, he pulled her against his body and ran his hands up and down her back. Lacey had plans for the evening so she had thought she would still be out. Lacey wasn't. Wyatt actually seemed pretty annoyed that Lacey was there and left shortly after.

  Jane sent him a text apologizing but got no response. She could not fall asleep that night, unable to stop thinking about the evening and stressing. What if she had ruined things, and Wyatt didn’t like her anymore? He was the first guy to have really shown interest in her, and she thought he was very attractive. She worried that he could have even thought she was a tease and had lied about Lacey being out.

  The next morning, she explained her concerns to Lacey. Lacey sat listening with a very perplexed look on her face. When Jane had finished, Lacey asked her why she was so stressed out about a guy she's barely gone out with. Jane couldn't describe her attraction to him. Lacey rolled her eyes and told her not to worry.

  "You weren't going to sleep with him were you?" Lacey asked surprised.

  "I don't know," Jane admitted honestly.

  Lacey stared at her open-mouthed. Lacey was no virgin, but as Jane's best friend, knew that Jane was.

  "I'm not going to tell you not to do this, but I am going to say I think you should get to know Wyatt a bit more before you do anything with him" Lacey advised.

  Jane could agree with her logic, but she also felt that Wyatt was the type of guy that could be bored easily. Besides, if they ended up dating seriously, what would it matter how long they waited before becoming intimate, she thought.

  Lacey shook her head at Jane and said, "Just use protection, darling."

  Jane blushed and nodded.

  Here she was, discussing her possible first time. Then she remembered how annoyed Wyatt looked when he left. She figured she wouldn’t hear from him again and went on about her day. She was thrilled when she received a text back from him that afternoon. He wrote that he was going to a party that night and would she want to meet him there.

  She replied back right away that she would love to. Wanting tonight to be perfect, she asked Lacey if she could raid her closet. Lacey raised her eyebrow at her but otherwise agreed. It was cold outside so Jane ended up wearing a pair of slim jeans tucked into black boots. She picked a pretty emerald top of Lacey's, somewhat low cut. Under it all, she purposely wore her prettiest underwear set just in case. Lacey and Liam were also going to the same party, and Jane rode with them.

  Chapter 5

  When they got there, Wyatt was already buzzed, sitting in a lazy boy in the living room with a pretty blonde on his lap. Jane was mortified and rushed to a bathroom to compose herself. Lacey followed her after looking pointedly at Liam. When he just shrugged, she threw her hands up and left him standing there. She followed Jane into the bathroom. Jane stood there, fanning her face.

  "Who is that girl?" she cried. "Do you think he saw me?" Lacey did her best to calm her friend down.

  Lacey offered to take her back to the dorm and stay with her. Jane was adamant that she wanted to stay because she wasn’t sure if he had seen her or not. In that case, Lac
ey thought, she should have Wyatt come to her because she should under no circumstances acknowledge him or that girl. In fact, she recommended Jane talk to any other guy at the party instead. Jane stared at her open-mouthed as though she were speaking in tongues.

  Lacey huffed and said, "Fine. I'll introduce you to some people I know."

  Jane couldn't help but look over at Wyatt every so often. At one point, he caught her eye and waved her over.

  Lacey murmured, "No way. Make him come to you." But Jane was already on her way over to him.

  As she approached, he evicted the pretty blonde from his lap. She frowned at Jane and walked away. He motioned for Jane to sit with him.

  When she hesitated, he said, "She was just keeping your seat warm, babe.”

  She shrugged and sat down. Her perch allowed him a clear view down her shirt.

  “You look really hot tonight," he murmured, drinking her in.

  She giggled as he wrapped his arms around her waist and nipped at her neck.

  "You coming home with me tonight?" he asked.

  She met his gaze and slowly nodded.

  He had a couple more drinks and got a bit handsy with her in front of his friends. Lacey couldn't help but notice and was concerned for her friend. They barely knew each other, and he was clearly trashed. When Jane went up to go to the bathroom, she went to check on her.

  "Everything okay?" she asked.

  "Of course," Jane exclaimed happily. "He wants me to go home with him."

  "So not gonna do that whole ‘get to know him better’ thing we talked about earlier." Lacey mused.

  Jane shook her head.

  "My little girl is growing up." Lacey joked. "But seriously," she continued, "be safe and make him take his time. You better tell me all about it tomorrow."

  Jane solemnly promised to, and they returned to the party.