Authors: Jodi Thomas
Lauren didn’t comment on how Polly managed to stay awake all weekend. “Don’t you have a date tonight?”
Polly’s words were muffled. “Jack texted me and said he had to work, and my backup date has the flu.” She sighed. “I could go out looking for a backup for my backup, but it’s such a bother to train a new one.”
When Lauren didn’t comment, Polly rolled over to face the wall. End of conversation.
Lauren pulled out her cell phone, punched in her favorite number and dropped atop her neatly made bed.
As soon as Lucas answered, she squealed. “I made an A on my first big chem test.”
“Who is this?” Lucas Reyes answered in a low voice flavored just a touch with his Hispanic heritage.
She could almost see the smile in his question. “It’s me.”
“Oh, yeah, the only freshman I know,” he teased. “Congrats.”
Lauren held the phone tight in hope. “Let’s celebrate, Lucas. I’ll buy the pizza.”
The moment of silence told her all she needed to know.
“Can’t tonight. I’m headed home as soon as I get cleaned up from mucking out stalls at the agriculture barn. Mr. Kirkland needs me to work at his place all weekend. Probably won’t be back on campus until late Sunday.”
Lauren fought down tears. He lived half a mile away on campus, and they were still miles apart. The only guy she’d ever really liked didn’t like her enough to stay around one evening.
“I’ll call you Sunday night and we can talk as I drive in.”
“No, don’t call. I’ve got a seven-thirty class Monday.” When he didn’t try to convince her, she tried another possibility. “I could drive home tomorrow. It would surprise Pop. I told him I wouldn’t be back until Thanksgiving. Maybe we could get together after you finish on Saturday night? We could cook out by the lake, then drive over and watch the stars on Kirkland land.”
“Doubt I’ll have time. Mom says she’s going to forget my name if I don’t spend a few hours with the family while I’m home this time.” His answer made sense, but he was breaking her heart.
Trying to sound as if she didn’t care, Lauren added, “No problem. I need to study this weekend anyway.” Lucas was her best friend, her first boyfriend, her only love even if she’d never told him. She knew how busy he was. He carried a full load, worked part-time at the campus AG farm on weeknights and left every weekend to work either with his father or on the Kirkland ranch next door. He was working his way through school, no scholarship, no loans.
“I’m proud of you about the A.” His warm voice broke the silence between them.
“Thanks.” Somehow it didn’t seem so important anymore. She’d spent two years dreaming of being at college with him and now, if possible, she was more lonely than she’d been back in Crossroads.
She hung up. All the happiness had drained out of Lauren. In the weeks she’d been at college they hadn’t had a real date. Study lunches and Lucas walking her to class a few times didn’t count.
She curled into a ball and let silent tears fall. Maybe Polly had the right idea. Sleep your years of higher education away.
The phone sounded. One, two, three rings before she found it in the covers.
“Lauren!” Tim O’Grady’s voice reminded her of home. Maybe because he’d been her neighbor in Ransom Canyon for most of her life. “Want to go get something to eat? It’s Friday night and, as usual, I don’t have a date. You can pick the restaurant. Anything but dorm food.”
She wiped a tear off her cheek as she pushed her heartache deeper inside. “Sure.” This was Tim’s second year at Tech, and it seemed during his freshman year he’d done an extensive study of the coffeehouses, bars and cheap restaurants in town. “I’ll meet you in the lobby.”
“Food,” the body under the blankets on the other side of the room mumbled. “Food.”
Lauren frowned. “Can my roommate come, too?”
Tim was silent for a moment, then added, “If she combs her hair. Last time she tagged along I kept thinking a bush was following us.”
“Fair enough. Give us ten minutes. I have to get out of this dress.”
Laughter traveled through the phone. “I’ve been waiting to hear you say that for years, Lauren.”
She smiled knowing he was kidding. “In your dreams, O’Grady.”
The phone went dead. Lauren stood and began changing clothes. “Ten minutes, Polly,” she shouted toward the other side of the room, “or we’re leaving without you.”
Fifteen minutes later, with Polly buttoning her blouse as she walked, Lauren and her never-friendly roommate headed downstairs.
Tim’s dorm and hers were joined by a long lobby and cafeteria. When Lauren watched him coming toward her, she could tell immediately he was tired by his slight limp, something she knew he’d correct the minute he spotted her.
The limp was a lingering reminder from a night almost three years ago when they’d both been hurt.
Polly must have noticed the limp, too. She leaned toward Lauren and asked, “What happened to your friend’s leg?”
Lauren closed her eyes knowing that, thanks to the echo in the foyer, Tim probably heard Polly. She thought if she ignored the question, Polly would forget about it.
No such luck. She asked again.
Only, Tim answered first. “It was a dark and stormy night, dear Polly Anna.” He drew close and sliced his body between them, giving all his attention to Polly. “Four high school kids decided to break into an old house we thought might be haunted.” He waved his hands. “‘Be afraid,’ the old Gypsy House warned them, but they dropped in anyway. Dust filled their lungs and rotting boards creaked beneath their footsteps, but they were explorers looking for thrills. Four went in but only three came out. One was left trapped inside with the ghosts. Me.”
Polly looked interested. “What happened?”
“I died.” Tim shrugged.
Lauren laughed seeing Polly’s horror as if she believed Tim for a second.
“He broke several bones in his leg,” Lauren corrected. “Thanks to Lucas, I climbed out with only scratches. Reid Collins was with us, too. He didn’t have a scratch, just a sprained ankle.”
Polly’s eyes widened with true interest. “You two know Reid Collins? I met him at a party a few weeks ago. What a hunk.”
Polly didn’t seem to notice both Tim and her shaking their heads. Reid had been attracting girls for years. In high school everyone thought he was the hero from that night in the haunted house. He’d let everyone believe he’d saved Lauren, but it had been Lucas who saved her from falling through the collapsed floor. They’d all three let Reid take the glory that night, but they all knew the truth even if they never talked about it.
Sometimes she thought four kids dropped through a broken window that night and four different people came out. The accident had changed all of them.
“How’d you do on the chem test?” Tim asked as he turned away from Polly.
“An A.”
He took her hand and pulled her closer for a quick hug. “Great! I know just the place to celebrate. Chicken fried steak and all the trimmings. Two for one on Fridays.”
She managed a smile as they walked with Polly following behind. “Do you always celebrate after an A?”
“Hell.” He slowed and leaned near her ear. “I party after a C. My folks don’t care about grades. They just told me if I flunk out, I’ll be working at the new Walmart going in Crossroads. So, I sign up for whatever looks easy and pray for the best. I plan to waste as much time at college as possible, then go home and write a great novel about my wild college days. It might take me a year or two, but I’ll be rich and famous by the time I’m twenty-five.”
“Can I be in your book?” Polly asked as she circled around them like an out-of-control top.
“I have an opening for one character. She’s a nude girl dancing on a table. Of course, you’ll have to audition. I need to make sure you can dance.”
Lauren laughed and glanced at Polly as the girl asked, “You would use both my names, wouldn’t you? Otherwise it could be anyone named Polly.”
Lauren changed the subject. “Any idea what degree you’re heading toward, Tim? I’m not so sure you’d make it as a writer. They don’t usually audition their characters.”
“True, but I’m willing to sacrifice for my art.” He looked back at Polly. “You got any moles or scars I could put in, Polly Anna? Their detailed description might increase the word count, you know.”
Lauren shoved him off the sidewalk. “Focus, O’Grady. What is your major?”
He caught up to her and put his arm lightly on her shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. I’m majoring in life.” He kissed her forehead. “You want to call this a date? If we do this right, you might make it in my book, too.”
“No.” She tugged her hood up as fog surrounded them.
“Good. We split the cost of the meal as friends.”
Lauren never thought of dating Tim, though he asked from time to time. However, it would be nice if once in a while he acted disappointed when she said no.
The memories of the abandoned house seemed thick in her brain. Tim and Reid had been best friends back then and almost every conversation they had was about football. When Reid Collins suggested breaking into the place, Tim joked about ghosts and went along with the idea. He still bore the scars, physical ones on his leg and arm, and mental ones inside after his best friend left him behind.
“What do you hear from Reid?” she asked, knowing the night at the Gypsy House must be on Tim’s mind, also.
“I haven’t seen him since we came back to school in August. He’s living at the frat house this year.” Tim took her hand and they jogged to his Jeep. Polly followed, but didn’t try to keep up.
Tim leaned in close to Lauren. “Last time I saw Reid, he was drunk. Cussed me out for caring.”
Lauren was glad she couldn’t see Tim’s face. Whenever he talked of Reid, he always looked hurt.
Before Polly caught up, Lauren said, “Reid called me last week and asked me to go out. Some kind of big party before the homecoming game next weekend.”
Tim froze for a moment before asking, low, “You going?”
“I might.” She shrugged. “He’s from home. Our dads are friends.” She’d never told Tim how close she and Lucas Reyes were or that they dated some. Somehow what was between Lucas and her was private, too special to share. Or at least she’d thought it was. Lately she wasn’t sure Lucas felt the same.
If he was working every weekend, Lauren didn’t want to miss the whole college experience waiting for him. Reid was simply looking for a date, or worse, his old man told him to take her out. Her pop, who’d spent her high school years worrying that she’d date too early, was now probably worrying about her lack of dates. He’d asked her twice if she needed money for clothes. A question Lauren was sure had come straight from her mother. Her mom might have run from raising a kid after divorcing her dad, but that didn’t stop Margaret from calling in her motherly advice from Dallas.
Tim pulled into the parking lot of a tiny little restaurant a few blocks away from campus. All the letters on the neon sign were lit except for the
R
in
Restaurant
and the
O
in
Open
. Huge dead elms leaned over the building giving the illusion that the place was caught in a huge spiderweb.
“What’s the name of this place?” Lauren didn’t make a move to open her door.
Tim stared at it a moment and answered. “Estaurant pen.”
“Oh.” She wasn’t sure she’d want to go in even if it were free chicken fried steak.
Polly leaned forward. “No, guys, can’t you see the two letters are out. I can’t believe you two missed that.”
Tim and Lauren looked at each other silently debating which one should kill the roommate.
“Come on, Lauren, live a little.” Tim cut his lights. Before Polly climbed out the back, he whispered, “Only, don’t go out with Reid.”
“Why? You keep telling me that.” She wasn’t surprised when Tim didn’t answer.
Like always, he changed the subject. They had great fun trying to read the menu in the dark
estaurant
and then laughing at how small the steaks were when the plates arrived. Tim tried to convince Polly the tough pieces of meat were cows’ ears. When she believed him, he offered to eat her steak.
Polly flirted with the waiter long enough to talk him into giving her a hamburger. When she got up to go wash her hands, the guy offered her a tour of the place. By the time the burger was served she and Roger, the waiter, were dating.
Polly waved them goodbye as she ate with Roger, who’d said he’d be off in an hour.
Lauren hesitated, then she remembered the dates Polly had come in after, all upset because she couldn’t remember the guy’s name, even though she’d had her tongue in his mouth for hours.
She’d said, “I always make sure I know the guy’s name before I sleep with him. After all, I don’t want to wake up married after a night of drinking, like my mother did, and find out I have some stupid last name.”
Lauren had only known Polly a week then, but she asked, “Do you sleep with all the guys you go out with?”
Polly had laughed and said, “Of course not. Sometimes I don’t go
out
with them at all.”
Lauren wasn’t sure if Polly was trying to shock her or being honest, but after that she tried not to get too close to her. Only, leaving her here at the
estaurant
with some guy named Roger seemed cruel.
She touched Polly’s arm. “Call if you need a ride back to campus.”
For a second Polly seemed surprised, maybe even touched by the offer. Then her face hardened. “I never need help,” she answered. “Don’t worry about me.”
Lauren nodded once and followed Tim out.
He pulled her into the night air saying they shouldn’t interfere with true love.
“True love?” she whispered.
“Yeah, I have a feeling it hits Polly about every other weekend.”
They drove back without talking. Lauren couldn’t help wondering if Tim was bothered by Polly’s quick hookup more than he admitted.
Lauren didn’t know whether to be worried about her or angry that Polly seemed to think so little of herself.
At the dorm doors, Tim kissed her cheek, and Lauren felt as if she’d almost had a date. “Promise we’ll always be friends.”