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JH: How many jobs do you have, woman?
Just enough to support myself. : - ) You’re being bossy.
JH: Fine. I’ll drive you, just meet me.
Ok
JH: Don’t worry about a quiz today. : - )
I put my phone back in my bag, both relieved and annoyed. We aren’t having a quiz today, and I know Jack is doing it because of me. This is exactly the shit that is going to get us caught. I listen to Jack’s lecture and manage to remember most of what he’s said, making sense of my jumbled notes. As long as I have some things prepared when I meet with Daniel for our tutoring session, it won’t be so bad.
I stand in a small park across from one of the library halls and wait. Jack pulls up and I quickly get in his car. As soon as I buckle my seatbelt, he takes off. We are both quiet the first few minutes.
“God, today was torture for me. Seeing you and not being able to touch you…” Jack grabs my hand, squeezing it gently.
“Jack, you can’t skip quizzes because of me,” I say, looking at him.
“Actually, you can thank Daniel for that. My unhelpful TA forgot to make copies of it and didn’t have it prepared.” Jack looks over, smiling at me.
“Okay…,” I say slowly. “So, then, why are we meeting like this? Someone could have seen us. Where are you going?”
“I want to show you something.”
Jack pulls up to a small Victorian house in a nice neighborhood about five minutes from campus. A new car, a red Prius, is parked in the driveway. “What’s this place?”
He takes my hand and walks me up the steps of the front porch. He takes a set of keys from his pocket and opens the beautiful double front doors to the house. We step inside and walk around the first floor, stopping in the back of the house and the large kitchen. I step forward to the counter and double sinks, looking out into the neatly manicured backyard.
“This is what I want, Edith. For you. For me
. For us.” Jack steps behind me, but doesn’t touch me. I’m blown away, but a pit forms in my stomach at the same time. We can’t have this, at least not anytime soon.
“Jack, we can’t. I can’t.”
“Edith before you say no and crush me, just listen.” Jack crowds me into the counter and puts his arms on either side of me, resting his hands on the counter, trapping me. “I bought this house a long time ago, but I didn’t know why. I liked it and I had the money to invest, but I had no real purpose. No one to fill these rooms and share it with…until you.”
“Jack…” I can feel tears clogging my eyes. I hang my head to catch my breath. This is way too soon and I want to run right out the door. Shit like this doesn’t happen to girls like me. I don’t deserve any of this.
“I know you want to do things your way. I don’t want to fight about this, but I want you to know I’m serious about this. This house will be here when you’re ready, and I’ll be waiting for you. Now, in the meantime, I want you to take that car in the driveway so I don’t have to have nightmares and loose more sleep over the fact you’ve been taking the bus.”
***
“Shit, girl. He bought you a car?” Shelby practically yells at me as I sit inside her dorm suite. I don’t know why I tell Ms. Loudmouth anything. The rest of her roommates are gone, but Aiden is at the microwave about a foot away, nuking hot tea for us.
“Isn’t that awfully quick, Edie? Not that I don’t like the guy, but he’s your professor and all that.” Aiden hands me a cup of peppermint tea with honey.
“Pfft. You watched football with him. I saw you eying up the man’s flat screen television like a tech whore,” Shelby states.
“True, but still, Shelby. Edie needs to think about what could happen if she continues this and anyone finds out. You’re not going to move in with him, are you?” Aiden sits down between us on the couch, and we both put our feet in his lap.
“We’re getting ahead of ourselves. I’ve crushed on him for years and, apparently, he feels the same. I don’t want to rush into anything, and I don’t want to jeopardize our futures. This kind of scandal would ruin him, and I’d be financially screwed because I’d have to probably pay back all my scholarship money.” Just the legalities alone make me sick to my stomach.
“At least tell me you’re going to keep the car…” Shelby smiles.
“That was part of our compromise. I keep my apartment and the car. We get through the semester unscathed and I graduate next semester.”
“Shelby and I will do what we can to help.”
“Thanks.” Shelby and I climb over to hug Aiden.
