Chasing Jenna (8 page)

We got off the elevator and walked up to my door. I stopped and teasingly said as I opened the door, “Now, my room may not be as nice as yours in the house but it’s all I have.”

Ryan busted out in laughter as Marcus fell off the couch and Katie scrambled to her feet and straightened her hair nervously. Ryan walked past me and offered Marcus a hand.

“Guess we should’ve knocked. Right, brother?” He pulled Marcus up from the floor and put his arm around his neck, and then it hit me.

“You two are brothers aren’t you? I mean real brothers from the same family.” The same wide smile lit up their faces, suddenly the resemblance was undeniable.

“This is my little brother.” Ryan said as he messed up Marcus’s hair. Marcus gave him a shove and went back over to hug Katie who seemed very confused.

Looking at Ryan she said slowly, “I am sorry, who are you?”

“I’m Ryan, his older brother.”

“Biological.” I added.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a brother here?” Katie asked in a slightly whiny tone that made me frown at her. I hate it when girls whine. But who was I to judge, hadn’t I just used puppy dog eyes on Ryan to get what I wanted?

Marcus hurried over to her and put his hands on her hips. “I told you my brother and I went to supper last night. We’ve talked so much over the last few days I thought I’d told you about him.”

“Well, I guess you did mention Ryan’s name. But how was I to know, you guys call everyone brother.” She laughed and all was right in their world again. She snaked her arms around his waist and hugged him tight.

“Are you hungry Ryan?” She asked naturally taking her place as hostess and digging through our small fridge to see what she could offer.

“Let’s order a pizza.” Marcus suggested.

“Well I guess fruit snacks and root beer aren’t exactly lunch,” she laughed.

We had a great time talking and joking around while enjoying our lunch. The four of us were comfortable together.

“See you back here tonight.” Katie said as Ryan and I left. She was going to make a great mom someday.

>CHAPTER NINE<

The next few weeks passed and we fell into a comfortable routine. Every morning, Cale waited in the lobby of my building and walked me to my first class where I met Ryan. Ryan and I spent our days together, had lunch with Marcus and Katie and usually studied for a few hours after classes. Cale always showed up sometime after dinner and hung out until curfew. He’d kept things totally platonic since the first night he’d come to my room. Every time he left, I was a little disappointed about that.

Today, however, there was something different about Cale … and it wasn’t a good different. He walked at a fast pace, a few steps ahead of me. His body seemed stiff and when I did talk to him, his responses were short. I stopped and cleared my throat loudly so he would know I was no longer walking with him. He turned and looked back at me.

“Have I done something to upset you?” I asked.

His eyes darted around to the people who were walking past us. But then his gaze dropped to the ground as he walked back to me.

“Jenna, I need to talk to you about something.” My stomach knotted up from the tone of his voice. He was nervous, that made me nervous.

“What is it? Is everything okay?”

He nodded his head, “Yes, everything is good, but I have something to ask you.”

I raised my eyebrows and smiled, trying to encourage him, but he said nothing. “Cale, you’re freaking me out a little.”

“When I came to your room the night of the Information Fair, I mentioned a little bit about the traditions that go on in my house, do you remember?”

I mostly remembered the kisses on my neck but vaguely my mind recalled him talking about how the traditions in the house had been handed down from generation to generation. I couldn’t remember him being specific about what those traditions were. My mind instantly went to the negative.

He’d probably spent the last weeks thinking about how stupid he was for coming to my room that night. Once he realized what he was jeopardizing, it became quite clear to him what a bad idea a friendship with me really was. I’m sure the traditions include high standards for girlfriends. Without a doubt I didn’t measure up to those standards.

I felt a little wave of sadness flash over me. Really? I had only known this guy for a few weeks and I was going to be sad if he didn’t want to date me? I understood if that was the case, but the idea of losing his friendship was just as heartbreaking to me.

“Well, every year the brothers of the house, third year and above, are required to ‘sponsor’ a girl.” He flashed a quick look in my direction.

I opened my eyes a little wider, crossed my arms in front of my chest, and nodded my head; wanting him to get on with it. I knew I looked irritated, but dragging this out was excruciating. I could feel a tightness in my chest. If this was the last I was going to see him – he needed to just tell me.

“I’m just going to throw this out there. It’s easier to understand if I just get it all out. Every year we have to sponsor a girl, it’s a promise to mentor and support her emotionally or financially or spiritually, or whatever that person should need. We do this because, one of the traditions of our house, is to give back to people who may not have been as fortunate in life as we have. Please, don’t take this the wrong way, but I would really like to sponsor you.”

I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks and my whole face went slack, trying desperately to hide the hurt. All of the
sunny side up
scenarios that Katie and I had talked about–the ones I had secretly held on to, crashed down onto the sidewalk around me.

Tears filled my eyes and I blinked quickly, trying to hide them. I couldn’t let him see the disappointment. How could I be so naïve? I thought, or at least I had
allowed
part of me to believe – he’d seen something in me that he could care about.

When I trusted him with my life story, I thought he wanted to get to know me. No wonder he said he needed to “process it”. This hadn’t been a guy who wanted to know more about a girl he was interested in, it was an interview.

I tried to keep my tone as even as possible. “So that’s why you’ve been hanging around, you want to be my ‘big brother'?” I slipped around him and started walking. It felt like it was time to escape this ridiculously uncomfortable moment.

“No, no … not at all”. He stepped in front of me, cutting me off. I had no choice but to look at him.

He held onto the upper part of each of my arms, holding me like he was afraid I was going to bolt. I wanted to.

“I knew I wouldn’t say this right and that’s how you would take it. I didn’t want to upset you, I’m sorry. I’m not interested in you in a big brother sort of way. I mean, not in a creepy sort of way either but …” his voice trailed off and he sighed. “This didn’t go how I wanted it to.” He reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose.

The look on his face softened my heart. He wasn’t trying to make me feel bad. It wasn’t his fault that I stupidly read more into this than there should’ve been. He may not have had the same intentions for our relationship as I did, but he had been very kind and sweet to me since I’d met him. The last thing I wanted to do was make him feel bad by being unwilling to hear him out. There were worst things I could think of than having Cale Davis want to be your big brother, even if the thought squeezed at my heart, leaving a lingering sting in my chest.

He stood in front of me, pleading in his eyes, wanting me to understand him.

I composed myself the best I could. “I will make you a deal, you meet me at four o’clock at the library and tell me everything being sponsored is about. I’ll decide if it sounds like something for me after I have all the details. Okay?”

“Okay,” he said with a smile, his body relaxed and he leaned into me. “Thanks.” We walked arm in arm the rest of the way in silence.

~~~

I sat on the floor across from the couch, cross-legged, staring out our window at the gray fall sky. The salad and fries I picked up at the Union sat in front of me untouched.

“Are you going to eat those?” Ryan pointed down at the fries. I shook my head and held them out to him. “I swear I have never seen anyone eat the amount of food you do. It’s disgusting really.”

He crumpled the wrapper from his third cheeseburger and threw it at me.

“That’s because you are like, a fourth of my size. You must come from a mini race. Like those tiny little horses that are so cute. I, on the other hand,” he laid his hand on his chest in a reverently. “I come from a race of giants, like …”

“Ogres?” He dropped his hand and we stared at each other, straight-faced for a few seconds until I couldn’t hold the laughter in any longer.

“What the Hell Jen? Ogres? I was going to say Greek Gods or something like that.”

I gasped for air, laughing so hard I fell to the side holding my stomach. I pointed at him and squeaked out, “Greek God?”

“What? Why is that so funny? I’m hot.” He was actually pouting.

I struggled to take in a breath. I grasped at my stomach and rolled over on my back. He got up and stood with one foot on either side of me, looking down at me with a silly smirk. He grabbed my hands, pulling me to me feet.

“It’s not that funny. We need to get to class.” I fell against his hard chest and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. As soon as the laughter stopped, tears started flowing down my cheeks. Even I was surprised by the sudden change. I lifted my hands and covered my face.

“What’s the matter with you?” he asked in a joking tone. He tried to pull my hands away from my face but I wouldn’t let him. “Wait, are you really crying now?”

I continued covering my face, trying not to sob out loud. He pulled me in close, rubbing little circles on my back.

“Is this some sort of monthly issue?”

I slapped him on the chest without letting him see my face.

“What? I don’t have sisters and if you were a girlfriend, I would’ve already been avoiding you during this time, so I’m a little out of my comfort zone.”

I took a deep rattled breath and stepped away from him. “Cale doesn’t want to date me.” I said in a little voice.

“Are you kidding me? That’s what these tears are for?” I looked up at him and his face tightened like he was in pain. He was really struggling with this emotional stuff.

I nodded my head and more tears filled my vision. He reached out and started rubbing my arms up and down.

“Okay, umm, just quit crying, little one. You’re killing me. How do you know he doesn’t want to date you? He’s with you all the time and he talks about you like, constantly and …”

“He asked if he could sponsor me.”

His face softened. He pulled me to him once more and held me tight, obviously understanding what that meant.

“That’s bad isn’t it?” I questioned. I just wanted to hear what I already knew.

“Well, no. I mean – there’s a very strict policy about not dating the girls that are sponsored.”

I took a deep breath and turned my head to the side, listening to his heartbeat, letting the truth of what he was saying calm me. At least now I knew.

“But hey,” he pushed me away, not letting go of my arms. “He’s Cale Davis. If anyone is allowed to break the rules, it would be him.” I smiled and pulled away, wiping tears and heading for the door.

“So, cheer up buttercup.”

“Don’t call me that.” I said as I reached for my bag.

“Sugar pie?”

“Worse.” He followed behind me as we stepped out into the hallway. I pointed back toward the door.

“You’d better get that wrapper or Katie will kill you. He rushed back into the room and from inside he yelled, “Honey Boo.”

“Stop! You are terrible at this. No wonder you don’t have a girlfriend.” I yelled as I pushed the elevator button.

~~~

“Okay, spill it. What do you know about being sponsored by one of the brothers in the house?” I frantically asked Ryan as we left our last class. I hadn’t brought it up again since lunch but I was dying not knowing what this sponsoring was all about. This was my last chance before meeting Cale and I planned to get as much information as I could before I walked into that library.

“Well,” he said as we walked along. “I know it’s an honor to get asked, especially by someone with Cale’s bloodline.” He was serious all of a sudden and choosing his words carefully.

“What do you mean bloodlines, what are we talking about here, dogs?”

“Jenna, these are questions that you need to be asking Cale.” His voice was strained.

“I just need to know what to expect. I feel like I’m walking into a world where I don’t belong. I just need a little info. Please?”

Obviously waging some sort of internal war with himself, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and began. Butterflies took over in my stomach as I noticed how muscular his arms were. I couldn’t lie, he was beautiful. Nothing like an ogre.

“Bloodline refers to the number of generations that your family has been involved in the house. Cale’s bloodline goes all the way back to the founding house. Every grandfather or uncle or cousin in his bloodline has been involved in the house in some way.”

I stood there like an idiot having no idea what to say. I couldn’t imagine having a family tie like that. I didn’t even know my father’s name.

“And the sponsoring,” I urged him on.

Throwing his hands up in front of himself in frustration, he continued. “Isn’t this what you’re going to talk to Cale about now?”

I pursed my lips together and glared at him. He knew how badly I wanted this information but I didn’t want to beg him; although, I wasn’t completely against the idea, if he didn’t believe the mad girl act.

“I really don’t know that much about sponsoring. The house runs on a strict rule of ‘need to know’ and it all depends on what year you are in the house. First years really don’t know much. We are the runners. We serve food, we do laundry, those sorts of things. We earn the right to know what happens in the later years through loyalty to the house. Most of us don’t even understand how the business works yet.”

“Really?” I was shocked. “I would’ve thought your dads would’ve had you in the office learning from the time you could walk.”