26
David
“This type of stuff . . . it stays between us, right?”
David pushed up on his hands, removing his weight from Katy’s slender, supine form on the bed beneath him. His brow furrowed.
“Of course. I don’t talk to anyone about stuff like this.”
“Okay,” Katy replied. The neckline of her shirt was askew, showing a few more delectable inches of her creamy flesh. But now David was distracted by something else.
“Why do you ask?” he pressed.
“No reason.”
David heaved a small sigh and rolled off of Katy, sitting beside her on her bed. They’d been wise enough not to even bother putting a movie on that evening, so it was now totally silent in her room.
“Seems like a strange thing to ask for absolutely no reason, Katy.”
Katy sat up then, too. She furtively glanced over at David, seeming almost embarrassed by what she was about to say. It made David nervous; the casually romantic feeling that had been swelling in his veins as they kissed on her bed veered sideways into worry.
“I’m sorry. I know you wouldn’t kiss and tell. I’ve just been feeling sensitive after what happened in the park. I already feel so exposed, you know?”
David scooted closer to Katy on the bed, bumping his hip against hers. “I understand. I feel the same way sometimes. In class yesterday, I was supposed to be taking notes, but instead I ended up wondering how hard it would be to keep going if everyone in that room knew what I looked like buttoning up my pants. Or worse.”
“I think they’d blur those parts, at least,” Katy said with a soft smile.
“Even so, I don’t really want anyone seeing my pixelated business.”
“Yeah, but they’d probably all be impressed by the size of the pixelated region,” Katy replied with a wink.
David laughed, comfortably and heartily. That was one of his favorite qualities in Katy: even when she was bothered by something, she could always find the humor in the situation.
And the compliment didn’t hurt, either. He felt a little bit better.
“In any case, I know how you feel. Or I know how it feels on a much smaller scale,” David went on. “I’d be embarrassed enough if the handful of people I’m close to saw it. And I’d be awfully embarrassed about the world seeing it. But I know that your scenario is different. People won’t care about me. They’ll only see you. And I can’t imagine how hard that would be.”
Katy leaned into David, and he wrapped his arm around her to bring her even closer. “Thanks for understanding,” she said, snuggling up to his chest. “Sorry I said anything. I just haven’t really felt like myself since it happened.”
“I know. But I’m here,” David replied. “And I want to make you comfortable, so you can be the Katy I know and love.”
Katy smiled, and David felt his heart bloom. There was a question gnawing at him, something he had been thinking of for some time but had never had the courage to ask before. But now he could feel it rising up in him, determined to receive an answer for itself.
“Katy,” David began nervously. “I was wondering.” He swallowed hard. “Do you want to get an apartment together? For the summer and . . . beyond?”
Katy’s eyes lit up, her mouth parting softly in surprise. “David. David, yes! Of course!”
David sighed in relief. He had been afraid of asking, but now he was so glad that he had. Even if the summer wasn’t going to go the way he expected, it still seemed like it was going to go really well. He had Katy. And that was what mattered most.
“This is so exciting!” Katy gushed. “I can’t wait to start looking at places with you.”
“I can’t, either,” David replied.
As he looked down at Katy smiling, her gray eyes reflected back the dim light of her room, looking like storm clouds full of lightning. David held her gaze for long seconds, feeling a rush of love and admiration, and then brought his mouth down over hers.
* * *
David felt better the next morning. He woke up in his own bed, refreshed and lively, while the rest of the house was probably nursing a collective hangover from their “spring fling.” He woke up before his alarm went off. And even though he had put off studying for Bell’s midterm and now he was only hours away from the test, that felt okay.
Because he was about to cram like crazy. And then he was going to show Bell and Bonnar and everyone else in the economics department just how little he needed to cheat to get by.
David practically leapt out of bed.
“Whoa, man. Where’s the fire?” Zeke asked groggily from his bed, rubbing his eyes in the early-morning darkness of their room. Nur had come over and joined the Wolf Club party the night before, so David knew Zeke was probably hurting a bit this morning.
“The fire? It’s in my veins this morning, mate. Time to study and finish things out strong.” David opened the window blinds to appreciate the orange glow of a Cambridge sunrise. He walked over to his desk and sat, piling up the appropriate textbooks in front of him.
Zeke sat up and massaged his temples. “What’s your deal this morning? It is way too early for you to be this motivated.”
David chuckled. Yesterday, he might’ve felt the same way. But today his head felt clearer. He couldn’t even imagine giving up on his econ class. Even if he never figured out how to right the plagiarism charge, he wouldn’t let it affect anything else. How could he? He had the love of his life by his side. He was still a student at one of the most prestigious and exclusive universities in the world. He was finally learning who his parents were and where he came from. If it didn’t stop him from achieving his dreams, why did it matter what some stuffy jackass thought of his internship application?
“You should probably be getting out of bed, too,” David said to Zeke. His motivation felt infectious. “We’ve got Bell’s midterm today. And I, for one, want to ace it.”
Zeke grumbled something and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of his bed. “All right, all right. That’s enough sunshine and positivity out of you for at least a few minutes. I’m going to go get a coffee from downstairs. Want one?”
“Perfect. Yes, thanks,” David said.
Zeke grumbled again and stood before slowly making his way out of the bedroom and down the hall.
A few minutes later, David’s already considerable efforts were bolstered by dark, Colombian caffeine.
Zeke, who preferred his coffee laden with enough creamer and sugar to turn it beige, took a seat at his own desk and sighed.
“Why couldn’t I have any other professor’s midterm today? Why did it have to be Bell’s?”
“Not feeling confident? But you’re always studying. Except when you’re with Nur.”
“Yeah, and lately I’m always with Nur. Not to mention, I have a splitting headache.”
David grinned. “Good party, then?” It had still been roaring when he got home after midnight, but David had been thoroughly partied out by that point and retreated to his room rather than making an appearance at the Wolf Club soiree. And by that time, the senior club members had been too blitzed to give him a hard time about it.
“You should’ve come,” Zeke said. But then, catching the look of indignation on David’s face, he added, “But I get why you didn’t. I wouldn’t want to come to parties either if they told me not to bring Nur.”
“They can’t tell me not to do anything,” David asserted. “I’d bring her if she wanted to come. But, luckily for all involved, she doesn’t.” He tried to sound indifferent, but in actuality, the debacle had severely damaged his relationship with Seb and Max—which had never been on the most solid footing anyway.
“Maybe they’ll change their tune next semester, when they realize you won’t budge.”
David looked back at his textbook. It was finally time to tell Zeke something that he’d had on his mind for the past couple of weeks. And he wasn’t sure yet how his best friend would take the news. “I might not be in t
his house next year, actually. I was thinking Katy and I could get an apartment.”
Zeke went quiet, and David braced himself for his friend’s response. Would he feel left behind? Disappointed? But when David finally turned to look at his roommate, he was surprised to see that he was smiling.
“Dude. That’s so awesome.”
David smiled back. It was pretty awesome. And he’d been allowing himself to daydream about it since he’d asked Katy the night before and she’d been excited about the idea. He couldn’t wait to spend even more time with the girl he loved.
“And I bet it’ll be a sick place. Just promise to invite me over sometimes!”
“Of course,” David replied. It was nice to feel optimistic about the future again. And with the promise of waking up with Katy beside him, it was hard to feel anything but.
“Now, help me out and start reading from these flashcards I wrote,” Zeke added.
And once I get this midterm out of the way, I’ll feel even better.
* * *
Everything was going really well.
David knew the answers to Bell’s midterm, even though he could tell that the professor had attempted to lob some curveballs at the class. That was just Bell’s way of getting you to think creatively. But David had been anticipating the challenge. And he was prepared.
For almost everything.
The first call came twenty minutes into the exam. David could feel his phone buzzing in his pocket, but he brushed it off. Might’ve been Joseph or Cerise calling to check in on him. Maybe Marcos wanted to ask if David had a plan for when he’d visit yet. Maybe it was even Mia with more information.
Regardless, it’d have to wait. David was only about halfway through.
And he was in the hot seat. As much as David wanted to believe that Bell trusted him and didn’t consider him to be a hack or a cheat, he still felt Bell’s eyes on him when the loud buzzing of his ringing phone filled the otherwise silent room.
Today of all days, why did I forget to put my phone on silent?
For a moment, he considered pulling out the device and doing just that. But after everything, he knew how that would look. He couldn’t afford even a whiff of unsavory conduct about his midterm right now. David shifted in his seat and waited for the call to end. When it did, Bell’s eyes mercifully moved away. He refocused on the exam.
Question 11: Explain the difference between the expected durations of a bond and a zero-coupon bond maturing.
David squinted at his paper. He knew the answer; all that studying early this morning had paid off. He just needed to figure out how to phrase it.
Before he could, his phone rang again.
Bell’s eyes shot back to him, meeting David’s gaze, narrowed and intent. David felt his face redden.
What on earth could be so important? Maybe his number was being dialed accidentally by someone. Or maybe they had hung up before they could leave a voicemail. But David wasn’t about to test that theory. Bell already had reason to believe that David didn’t have as much integrity in schoolwork as previously considered. David didn’t want to risk looking at his phone during a test to make that even worse.
By the third call, it felt like everyone in the room was looking over at him. David cleared his throat loudly, trying to mask the muted noise. But in the quiet room, it sounded like a roar. And with every ring, the sound of his own pulse beating in his ears also began to grow in volume.
What if it’s an emergency?
David looked back down at his paper, scribbling an answer, as the noise mercifully died away.
Question 12: To hedge a risk in prices, explain why or why not to go short in futures.
David knew this answer, too.
But then the text messages started. One after another, in a disjointed melody of buzzes and vibrations.
Bell was no longer hiding his annoyance. He stared at David in aggravation. David swallowed hard, unsure how to proceed. Should he be honest with Bell and ask for permission to check his phone? Should he try to sneak a glance the next chance he got? Should he just speed through the exam and hope for the best?
Not wanting to anger his professor further, he ended up choosing the last option. He scribbled in an answer to question twelve and moved on to number thirteen.
Explain the difference (or lack thereof) in values of American versus European call options.
After the latest text, another call. David could feel sweat beading his brow now, as nervousness settled into his bones. Was someone hurt? Was someone . . . worse than hurt?
“Mr. Rosen?”
Professor Bell’s sudden speech felt deafening to David. He looked up anxiously.
“Perhaps you’d like to turn your electronic device off?”
David nodded, pulling his phone out of his pocket. At least this way, he’d get a chance to see who it was that kept calling and texting.
But as he peered at his smartphone screen, he was horrified to see that it wasn’t any one person. He had missed calls and texts from almost every single person he knew: Katy, Joseph, Cerise, Cassie, Seb, Max . . . The only person missing was Zeke, and likely that was only because his roommate was sitting beside David and peering over at him with a befuddled look.
David looked back up at Bell. “Professor, can I be excused? It’s an emergency.”
Everyone in the room seemed to have stopped writing. They were all looking between David and Bell. Bell stared intently at David, pondering his answer, before he replied.
“Bring me your exam, David. I’ll email you after class about a make-up time.”
David practically leapt from his seat and raced to the front of the room. He tossed his paper down and then rushed out of the classroom. As soon as he was alone, his fingers were dialing Katy. That seemed like the best place to start.
She picked up quickly.
“N-David?”
David felt his blood run cold. He could tell immediately that Katy had been crying, and not just that; it sounded like she had been sobbing.
“Katy. What is it? What’s wrong?”
There was a brief silence on the other end as Katy cried, hard and openly, before she could compose herself enough to answer.
“David. It’s the papers. They did it.”
“Katy, did what?” he asked desperately. What is going on? Please tell me!
“They published the photos. They’re everywhere.”
She only managed that before the miserable sound of her sobs broke out again. David could hear Cassie beside her, consoling her.
“I’m coming,” he told her urgently, already hanging up the phone and stuffing it in his pocket. And then, his mind blank with shock and horror, he took off at a sprint.
27
Katy
Katy was torturing herself, but she couldn’t stop. She scrolled through the “explosive, bombshell” photo gallery again. The headline said it all.
“EXCLUSIVE: VIRGIN PRINCESS NO MORE? MODEST KATERINA CAUGHT DURING PUBLIC SEX ROMP WITH COED!”
“Hon, close the browser. Stop doing that to yourself,” Cassie pleaded beside her.
But Katy looked through all of the photos again. The first one had been before she’d seen the photographer: gazing up lovingly at David, partially covered by the blanket they had brought to the park. Katy was lying on her side, pushing her torso up off the ground, the blanket draped over her suggestively. Her bare skin was on full view from her neck down to the pale flesh between her breasts, where David had gently tugged her neckline down to kiss down her chest. And as if that wasn’t obvious enough, David was standing beside her, buttoning his damn pants!
Cassie walked over and closed the laptop—an act of mercy.
“Why bother shielding me from it?” Katy asked bitterly. “The rest of the world has seen it. In fact, they think they’ve seen a lot more than they actually have! So what does it matter?”
It wasn’t so much what the photographer had seen, but what it looked like. And it looked like the afterglow of
a very inappropriate thing to do in public. And as scandalous as it might have been for any other celebrity, it was going to be infinitely worse in Lorria, where modesty and chastity were so valued. Especially in a princess.
Most people simply couldn’t understand just how denigrated this would be, not unless they’d been raised in Lorria, or had studied its culture and history. Another hot tear rolled down her cheek, but the brunt of the sobs had passed. Now Katy was quietly stewing in the shame.
“How did this happen without even so much as a warning? And do you think it was the photographer? I mean, even with the legal documents he signed?” Cassie asked, chewing her nails. Katy’s cousin seemed almost as upset about the horrible turn of events as she was.
Thank heavens I’m not alone in this.
“If Marty did it, he’s a moron—and he’s about to be sued to the moon and back. I can’t imagine him being that stupid. And if PR didn’t catch wind of this, it must be because the photos sold so quickly,” Katy replied. She had been considering it since Cassie had first showed her the article. And so far, she hadn’t heard from the king and queen yet.
But it couldn’t be much longer. Her stomach was in knots anticipating their call at any moment. If anything, they probably already knew and were on the phone with PR and lawyers right now, before they even bothered to check in with their daughter. But Katy couldn’t really blame them. Currently, Katy was the problem child who spurned their suitors and had now embroiled them in possibly the biggest scandal to ever hit the crown.
They probably had nothing to say to her.
“What did David say?” Cassie went on. There was a strange acidity in her tone when she pronounced his name, as if she was holding something against him. But Katy didn’t press the issue. She had other things on her mind—so many other things.
Katy shook her head. “Nothing yet. He just said he was on his way.”
She was terrified of how David would react to the photos being published. Even if he had tried to act like it wouldn’t upend his whole life, Katy still knew how much his reputation and privacy mattered to him. And the photos would be seen by everyone; from Zeke to David’s newfound cousins.
A Love that Endures 2 Page 20
