Class of '59 (American Journey Book 4) (25 page)

"Do you want some company?"

"No. Not this time. Mary Beth and I need to sort some things out."

"Suit yourself. Have fun."

Mark nodded but did not respond. He instead escorted Mary Beth past three other tables, the musicians, and the remains of the sacred pig to the back of the fraternity house. A moment later, the couple walked out the front door, stepped onto a noisy street, and considered their options.

"Where do you want to go?" Mark asked.

"Let's go someplace quiet."

"This is Los Angeles. No place is quiet."

Mary Beth smiled.

"Let's just walk."

"OK."

Mary Beth thought about what she wanted to say as the two moved slowly toward a campus that was both shutting down and coming to life. Those who worked at the university and lived someplace else hurried to cars, buses, and peaceful weekends. Those who lived on the campus or in nearby fraternities and sororities hurried to parties, functions, and other social gatherings.

"What are you thinking?" Mary Beth asked.

"I'm thinking we have a problem and need to find a solution," Mark said.

"
Is
there a solution?"

"There has to be."

"What if there isn't?" Mary Beth asked. "I can't stay here. You can't leave. You have family and friends. You have a
life
. You have the same things here that I have in 2017."

Mark stopped and faced Mary Beth.

"Are you saying it's hopeless?"

"No, Mark. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying I don't have a solution. I'm saying there may not
be
a solution."

Mark gazed at Mary Beth for several seconds but did not speak. He just looked at her with eyes that reflected sadness, hopelessness, and a trace of anger.

"Let's find a place to talk," Mark said.

Mary Beth nodded.

"OK."

The two needed only a minute to find a suitable venue. They walked to a shady spot between two academic buildings, turned to face each other, and resumed their difficult discussion.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you," Mark said. "I'm just frustrated. I'm used to solving problems. It's easy to do in engineering classes. It's not easy to do with you."

Mary Beth smiled.

"Is that your way of saying you like me?"

Mark brought his hands to her face.

"It's my way of saying I love you."

"I love you too," Mary Beth said.

Mark leaned forward and gave her a tender, lingering kiss. Then he gazed at her for a few seconds, smiled, and laughed.

"I think I've loved you since you confronted me outside the time tunnel. I can still picture the smirk on your face when you asked if we were 'having fun yet.'"

"I don't smirk, Mr. Ryan. I grin slyly."

Mark laughed.

"I stand corrected," he said. "I fell in love with a grin."

"I suppose that's better than falling in love with a classroom observation of the
Mona Lisa
," Mary Beth said. "That's what Piper did."

"I don't follow."

"Ben made a comment in their art history class on Monday. He said the reason
Mona Lisa
is smiling is because she's sending a message to men who mess up with women. She's sending a message of 'hope and forgiveness.'"

Mark laughed.

"He said no such thing."

"Oh, yes he did. He uttered those exact words in front of the whole class," Mary Beth said. "He looked Piper in the eyes when he did it too."

"What did she do?"

"She melted like butter in a pan. She's in love, Mark. She's just like the rest of us. She's in a spot with no way out."

Mark sighed.

"Have you paid your rent this week?"

Mary Beth nodded.

"I've paid through the end of the month."

"That's good," Mark said.

"The rent is not the problem though. Neither is money," Mary Beth said. "The problem is that we can't stay here forever. As much as I want to, we can't. At some point, we have to go."

Mark met Mary Beth's gaze.

"Can you give me a few days to think of something?"

"I can. I can give you a week if you need it."

"What about Piper?" Mark asked. "Would she be willing to do the same?"

"I don't know. She may be willing to give you a year, for all I know. I have no idea where her head is right now. She's been a different person this week."

Mark nodded.

"Give me a week then. If I can't think of something by next Friday, I'll take you through the tunnel myself."

"That's fair," Mary Beth said. She kissed him and took his hand. "Now let's enjoy the rest of the evening."

CHAPTER 41: PIPER

South Pasadena, California – Saturday, April 25, 1959

The setting was unlike any Piper had ever seen. Sometime between her last physical education class on Thursday morning and her first twentieth-century prom on Saturday night, the Midway High School gymnasium had become a place of magic.

Five
thousand
balloons clung to the ceiling. Crepe streamers hung from the balloons. Photo booths and food stations, reflecting a medieval theme, lined two walls. Perry and the Paychecks, a local dance band, played fifties favorites to three hundred couples in pressed suits, fluffy dresses, and fancy shoes. "A Knight to Remember" had become a night to remember.

Piper embraced it all as she sat with Ben, Wayne, Sally, and several others at one of sixteen tables that lined the bleacher wall and faced the stage. She had decided to rest only after dancing for nearly an hour to "Jailhouse Rock," "Tutti Frutti," "Rock Around the Clock," "Johnny B. Goode," and other songs that defined a generation.

"I'm in heaven," Piper said.

Ben smiled.

"I've been there for a month."

Piper pondered the comment, waited for Wayne and Sally to turn their attention elsewhere, and then looked at her date. She saw pure contentment.

"I'm sorry I put you through all that misery," Piper said.

Ben sighed.

"That's all right. I deserved it."

Piper laughed.

"Is this the boy with more girlfriends than my area code?"

"No," Ben said. He chuckled. "I killed him last week."

Piper studied his face.

"You
have
changed."

Ben looked at her thoughtfully.

"I've come to my senses, Piper. I don't want to lose you."

Piper flinched when she heard the words. She heard determination, not resignation, in Ben's voice and wondered how much longer he could keep his hope alive. She wondered how long
she
could put off the inevitable. She clasped his hand under the table and thought of other things.

She didn't find that very hard to do. She had pondered a lot in just the past ten hours and had accumulated enough food for thought to fill a supermarket.

Piper had started the day with a trip to a Pasadena beauty parlor and continued it with stops at a florist, a department store, and the Painted Lady. Thanks to Mark Ryan, her daytime chauffeur, she had been able to do everything she needed to do to prepare for an important date.

Ben had spent the first part of the day fishing with a friend. Told by his mother to leave the house and not return before two, he did as instructed. He went to the Santa Monica Pier and came back at three smelling like mackerel, but he was more than ready to greet his Cinderella when Mark and Mary Beth delivered her in an Edsel at five after five.

After a dozen motherly hugs, photographs, and the exchange of corsages, Ben drove Piper in his freshly cleaned T-Bird to a Chinese restaurant in Pasadena, where they enjoyed dinner with Wayne, Sally, and three other couples. They arrived at the high school at eight fifteen.

Piper turned her attention to others when Perry and the Paychecks took a break and scores of couples left the floor for refreshments, restrooms, and fresh air. She could not help but admire the effort her classmates had put into the dance, the evening, and themselves.

Piper sat up and straightened her strapless dress, a powder blue cascade of tulle, taffeta, and lace that Donna had put together in just three days. She wondered whether she would ever again look as good as she did tonight. She wondered whether she would ever again
feel
as good.

She wallowed in the good feeling for a moment and then turned to the handsome young man in the white jacket, dark slacks, and bow tie. She sensed that his mind was elsewhere.

"What are you thinking?" Piper asked.

Ben smiled.

"I'm thinking about a conversation I had with your favorite person."

Piper stared at her date.

"You spoke to
Vicki
?"

"No," Ben said. "Vicki spoke to me. She walked up to me when you and Sally went to the restroom and started talking. She wanted to get some things off her chest."

"Do I want to hear this?"

"I think so."

"What did she say?" Piper asked.

"She said she likes you."

"Vicki Cole likes
me
?"

Ben nodded.

"She said she misjudged you. She said she misjudged
us
. She said she has never seen two people look happier than we did when we walked through the door tonight."

Piper furrowed her brow.

"Do you think she meant it?"

"I dated Vicki for eight months, Piper. I know her as well as anyone. I know when she means something," Ben said. "She likes you. She respects you too."

Piper smiled.

"I guess I should be thankful."

"You should," Ben said. "Vicki doesn't like or respect many people."

Piper thought about the comment for a moment and considered a reply. She started to say something about respecting Vicki too but stopped when she saw a familiar face approach. She had not seen the teacher since he had returned her art history exam on Friday morning.

"I see that class is still in session," Sam Ginsberg said to Ben, Piper, Wayne, and Sally. "How are my students doing this evening?"

"I'm doing well, Mr. Ginsberg," Piper said.

"Me too," Wayne added.

"Me three," Sally said.

The teacher looked at Ben.

"How about you?"

"I'm enjoying myself," Ben said.

"That's good."

"Do you have chaperone duty tonight, Mr. Ginsberg?"

"Indeed, I do, Ben. I volunteered my services tonight. So did my wife," Ginsberg said. He turned to a slender redheaded woman. "Nancy, this is Ben Ryan, Piper McIntire, Wayne Bridges, and Sally Warner. Each is a student in my art history class. Students, this is my wife, Nancy."

The five exchanged greetings.

"Sam has told me about all of you," Nancy said.

"I hope good things," Ben said.

"Of course."

Ginsberg smiled.

"Ben is the student who made the astute observation about the
Mona Lisa
."

"Is that so?" Nancy asked.

Ben grinned.

"I'll say anything for an A."

Nancy tilted her head.

"So you don't believe what you said?"

Ben ditched the grin. He looked at Piper lovingly, took a deep breath, and then returned to the woman with the pointed question.

"I didn't say that, Mrs. Ginsberg," Ben said. "When I said the
Mona Lisa
was sending a message to men, I meant every word. I think she was telling us there is nothing an apology or a bouquet of flowers or a kind gesture can't fix."

"That's a beautiful thought," Nancy said. "I can see you mean it."

"I do, ma'am."

Nancy smiled at Piper.

"Hold on to him, dear. They don't come that way out of the box."

Piper giggled.

"I'll do my best, Mrs. Ginsberg. Thank you."

Nancy nodded.

"I think we've explored this subject to everyone's satisfaction," Sam Ginsberg said. He smiled at his pupils. "I hope you all enjoy the rest of the evening."

"Thanks, Mr. Ginsberg," Ben said.

The teacher waved at the four and then guided his wife toward other tables, other students, and other opportunities to engage in small talk. The couple found a receptive audience at nearly every table. Chaperones had a way of getting and holding people's attention.

Piper used the downtime to relax and take it all in. She praised herself for giving Ben another chance and giving the fifties another week. If she remembered nothing else about this moment and this night, she would remember that she had found the experience she had sought.

Piper looked at Ben as Perry and the Paychecks returned to the stage, picked up their instruments, and gave them a test. She spoke when he met her gaze.

"Did you really mean what you said in class?"

"Yes, Piper. I did," Ben said. "I know people think I said it just to impress you, but I didn't. I said it because I believe it. Even if it sounds silly, I believe it."

Piper touched his forearm.

"I don't think it sounds silly."

Ben laughed.

"I'm glad
someone's
in my corner."

Piper gazed at the boy she had misjudged more times than she could count. She vowed to never again doubt his words or his intentions. She lost herself in happy thoughts until her BFF snapped her out of a daze with an untimely observation.

"Hey, you two. The band is playing again," Sally said. "Let's get out there and dance."

Piper looked at Sally.

"We'll be there in a minute."

"OK."

Sally grabbed Wayne's hand and pulled him onto the dance floor. More than thirty couples had already started swaying to "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes."

Piper turned to Ben and saw that he had drifted to another place. She clasped his hand, lifted it above the table, and kissed it.

"We're in a pickle, aren't we?" Piper asked.

Ben nodded.

"Yes, we are."

"Are you going to be all right?"

Ben looked at Piper.

"I'll be fine."

"Ben?"

"Yeah?"

Piper took a breath.

"I don't want this to end."

CHAPTER 42: MARY BETH

Los Angeles, California – Tuesday, April 28, 1959