“And that's why he's not talking to you?”
“He’s never really warmed up to John to be honest.”
“A clash of alphas?” Jamie asked.
“Haha...I guess you could say that.”
“He said he got suspended from school.”
“Yeah...that,” Chelsea said visibly unamused. “He really needs to get his act together and stop punching people when he's angry.”
“Oh! That wasn't his first time?”
“Trust me. We've lost count. My parents are fed up with him so they seem to have abandoned the situation. I would like to do something but I don't know what to do. He got suspended a few days after he started school. He’s only fourteen but he’s been suspended quite a number of times before. It always happens when Mom and Dad are either fighting or Dad isn’t around. I think my mom doesn’t know what to do anymore. I’ve tried to talk to him, tried to be the understanding big sister but for some reason I can’t get through to him. His scores in assignments have been terrible so far, and he’s gotten into fights. For a quiet child, you’d think he wouldn’t have such a terrible temper.”
“He reminds me of myself at that age. Let me look into it OK? Don't worry he'll be fine. I know it. I think he just needs a consistent older male figure,” Jamie said looking at her with his strong dark eyes.
She smiled as he walked her to the door. She really liked that he was genuinely interested in knowing what was going on with her brother. She thought he was so reassuring and so kind. She remembered he was always like that, like someone you could depend on. Someone you could trust. She wished John could be more like that, then she discarded the thought. Like her mom said, no one was perfect anyway.
11
October came with its cloudy skies, cold rains and few thunderstorms. Classes, assignments, papers, group meetings and other academic activities were in full swing. Jamie and Chelsea saw each other often, walking home from school, having lunch together and sometimes she would come downstairs to do her assignments while he worked on his but they hadn’t set eyes on each other in the last three days. He still thought about her a lot. He wondered if like him she noticed that they hadn’t talked for three days and whether she was missing him like he was missing her.
At noon, on the Wednesday of the second week in October, he got a text from Chelsea.
-Hey stranger, where have you been? Are you on campus? Miss you.
His heart skipped as he opened her text and read the words “miss you.” He caught himself smiling sheepishly. He thought that butterfly feeling people feel when they see or get a message from a girl they liked was only a thing for teenage boys. He was wrong. He quickly typed his reply and pressed send.
-Hey, yes, I’m at Foster Hall. Where are you? Miss you too.
- Can you come to the library? We could go grab something to eat at the next building. I’m so hungry.
-OK, on my way.
-I’ll be outside
He took the second exit from Foster Hall, walked through the campus smoking area, passed the nursing school and headed towards the library. From a distance, he could see her standing there, in front of the double doors, looking like the most gorgeous thing in the entire universe. She held a book folder in one hand and a bag hung over her shoulder. As he got closer, her smile beamed at him and he reciprocated in kind.
“I didn’t know you started wearing glasses.” He put his arm around her shoulder for a hug.
“They are just reading glasses,” she said as she tucked some wayward hair behind her ears.
“You look really cute in them though, you should leave them on.”
“Thanks,” she said. “How many more classes do you have today?”
“Just one in two hours then I’m done for the day,” he said then cleared his throat.
“OK we can hang out until you have to go then,” she said as they began walking towards the next building where the cafeteria was open from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. “I didn’t have any classes today. Just working on these damn papers.” She raised her heavy binder up for him to see.
“Sounds like someone’s getting tired of graduate school already.”
“You have no idea.”
“I have the right solution for you. You’ll thank me for this advice later.”
“Oh really, let’s hear it. I think I need all the advice I can get right now.”
“Quit the program,” Jamie said gesturing with his hand. “Just quit. Like, what the heck?”
She raised her binder in the air again but this time she was doing so to hit his head. He ducked and ran for the entrance of the building, Chelsea ran after him.
“Are you saying my advice won’t work in this situation?” Jamie asked raising his hands in defense.
“You of all people know I hate the word quit. You’re just being a tease. Winners never quit,” she said sharply, squeezing her left arm to flex her biceps.
“No they don’t. But look at it this way, you’ll be creating space for someone somewhere in the world who not only deserves to be in such a great graduate school but also actually wants to be in graduate school. You could be giving up your space for the next Albert Einstein. If you ask me, you could change the world by quitting.”
She laughed hard and said, “I miss your silly jokes. You always know how to make me laugh. You know, I was feeling a little pressure this morning.”
“Why what’s up?”
“No big deal. I just wish John was here at the South Campus so we could at least spend some time together between classes. He’s always so tired in the evenings. I guess MBAs are really tough. Also I submitted a paper late yesterday. Tyler is not doing well at school. I think I miss my dad and I woke up with this terrible terrible headache.”
“Oh I’m sorry,” he said as they stood in front of the food counter. There were students seated everywhere in the cafeteria with trays of different kinds of food. “Tyler will be fine, told you not to worry about that. You’ll see.”
“Its OK, I feel better now. My Jamie is here,” she said, headbutting him playfully on the back.
The lady at the back of the counter smiled at them and said, “I wish I had my own Jamie too. What would you guys like to eat?”
“You’re going to make people think I’m some kind of superhero,” Jamie said to Chelsea.
“What’s wrong with being a superhero? What are you getting?”
“I’m not buying anything. I have a sandwich in my bag.”
“OK, let’s see. Can I please get the mashed potato combo?”
The lady kept smiling at them as she served the food, her eyes alternating between the silver food pans and Jamie’s face. As she ran Chelsea’s credit card through she asked, “How long have you guys been dating?”
“Who? Oh you mean me and him? Oh no no no no, he’s my friend.”
“Oh I’m sorry...I just assumed...‘cause he looks like the kind of guy you wanna take home,” the lady said with a wink.
Jamie squinted his face. Chelsea pressed her lips together, stopping herself from laughing. As they walked toward a table he asked, “Was she hitting on me?”
“I believe so. Why don’t you just get her number?”
“Come on, she’s at least fifteen years older.”
“Age ain’t nothing but a number,” Chelsea began to sing the old Aaliyah tune.
Then Jamie sang a line from the 1976 song by Sparks, “Thanks but no thanks, anyway.”
“Aww. I love that song,” Chelsea said as they settled for a table with two chairs by the window, looking out onto a square with grass and brown park benches.
Chelsea stuffed her mouth with a morsel of mashed potatoes. She chewed hungrily, wiped her mouth with a napkin and asked, “What’s on your mind?”
“Nothing.”
She shot him a quizzical look and sighed. “That right there, is one thing I don’t like about your species.”
“My species?”
“Yes, men, boys, guys.”
“
OK, nice choice of word. Species. So what are we talking about here?” He bit into his sandwich.
“When you ask a guy what’s on his mind. It’s always the same answer, ‘nothing.’”
Jamie wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I think you would find us unimaginably weird if we told you what we think about most times. When we say nothing, it just means it wasn’t anything worth talking about.
“You’ve just proven my point with that. Guys think the question carries a certain depth to it. We are not expecting you to talk about your philosophy of life. It’s just a freaking simple question. Even if what you had in mind was as ridiculous as wondering what it would be like if you had wings to fly, just say it without over thinking your answer or the question. We just want to feel connected, that’s all. Ugh…John is so uncommunicative, so frustrating. It just makes women feel they are being shut out of your world,” she said then regretted saying something negative about her boyfriend to her best male buddy.
“Wow, I didn’t realize it was that serious.”
“Trust me it is. Sometimes I feel that way about you too. Even way back when we were younger, I felt like I wanted to know things about you, but you wouldn’t let me. Don’t get me wrong, I thought you were the greatest person I’d ever met but I just had this feeling there were things important to you that you weren’t telling me. You were and still are a great listener but I wanted to know more about you too.”
She didn’t intend to be that intense when she made the comment but she realized it must have been bothering her for a while. Her words hit him like a wild hurricane, bringing his vulnerability to the surface. She was so right. There were things she didn’t know about him. Things a friend shouldn't keep away from his close friend. Things a son shouldn’t keep away from his mother.
Then he sat there like an idiot, not knowing what to say. He couldn’t deny it. He was probably worse than John, he thought. He wasn't merely uncommunicative, he was secretive–at least about the one thing he never told anyone, which could one day hurt everyone he loved and held dear to his heart. But he also couldn’t tell her what he really had on his mind in that moment. He couldn’t tell her he was thinking about how he liked the way her eyelashes sometimes got tangled and how she struggled to straighten them out with her fingers. That he wanted to kiss that little dimple on the right side of her face when she smiled. That he wanted to kiss, touch and hold her for the rest of their lives. He couldn't possibly tell her what was on his mind.
“That’s not entirely true. I talk to you. I tell you stuff,” he defended.
“Yeah right. Anyway, I bet you were thinking about coming back here and getting that lady’s number.” Chelsea winked playfully.
“Of course. Then I’ll get free food everyday.”
Chelsea laughed, oblivious to the figure meters away from them, watching her and observing her interaction with Jamie. He was watching how she was enjoying Jamie’s company and how Jamie looked at her.
It was John. As he stood there, his head began to suggest different things to him at the speed of light. He’d been watching them for about five minutes from the opposite window. He didn’t know what to make of this. Didn’t she say she was going to be at the library? Oh wait, is this what she does every time she said she was at the library? he thought. He began to walk towards them, his eyes full of disappointment and anger.
“I thought you said you were going to be at the library,” he broke into their conversation. He drove over from the North Campus so he could see her or take her out to lunch. The other day she asked for him to create more time for them and now that he did, he caught her red handed, spending time with Jamie.
“Oh hi baby. Yeah I was, then I got hungry. Do you wanna get a seat?”
“Hey John,” Jamie said immediately noticing the look on John’s face. His words were met with an awkward silence. Jamie smiled to disguise his irritation at not being acknowledged with as little as a look. He knew it was an intentional disregard.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” John asked keeping his focus on Chelsea.
“Baby what’s wrong? You’re not even going to say hi to Jamie?”
“Let’s go talk somewhere,” he said with one hand in his pocket and the other carrying his brown leather bag. He looked more like a corporate executive than a graduate student.
She looked perturbed and hesitated.
“Hey Chelsea, it’s OK. Just go with him,” Jamie suggested, his outward calm betraying how he really felt inside. He thought there was no reason for John to be so rude.
“Jamie I’ll see you later.” Chelsea got up, now looking worried. Had something happened she didn’t know about? She put her phone back in her bag, threw the empty plates in the garbage and followed John out of the cafeteria.
Jamie had a good inkling as to what the problem was–he knew that look. He knew that territorial look that guys gave each other when they crossed each other’s boundaries.
He unwrapped his half-eaten sandwich, tried to take a bite but then decided against it. His appetite was gone. He stood up and shoved the whole thing into the garbage. That was going to be the last time he would say hello to John until he received an apology. And there I was thinking he was a nice guy, he thought to himself.
***
The text came in around 10:00 p.m. Jamie was watching an episode of Lost on his old beat-up laptop. Although it looked really used, it still functioned quite well and with the speed of the internet at the Braithwaite’s house, it was finally easier to watch videos on it. He grabbed his phone and opened the text. It was from Chelsea.
-Hey, about this afternoon. John was kinda jealous seeing us together. I still don’t get why. He knows you and I have been friends since forever. Had to end up promising him not to spend too much time alone with you. I know it sounds crazy right? I guess these are the things one has to do sometimes to keep your relationship. I know you’ll understand.
It was long and disheartening. He didn’t know what to think of it or what to say in his reply.
So what are the terms exactly? Does this mean we can’t talk at all or just that we can’t be seen together by him? he thought. I wonder what that punk said to her exactly. Wow! This is so childish. He eventually typed up something and sent it.
-It’s OK. I’ll stay away.
She responded.
-That’s not what I meant. Can I call you?
-Of course.
The call lasted for about twenty minutes. Chelsea sounded unsure of what to say. It was as though she was still working through it herself. She admitted she had never been in that type of situation but she was willing to do anything to make her relationship work because she really did care about John.
“Like I said, it’s OK Chelsea, you really don’t have to explain anything. I care about you and if that’s what will make you happy then it’s fine.”
“I feel so bad. It sounds so ridiculous and childish. I’m sorry.”
I thought so too, Jamie thought. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t want him to get the wrong idea about you and I either so it’s cool. Can I ask you a question though?”
“Yes of course, go ahead.”
“Umm...you know what, never mind.”
“Please Jamie just ask.”
“Are you crazy about him?”
“Yes I really do care about him.”
“No I’m asking whether you are crazy about him.”
Jamie noticed a slight pause before she replied, “What’s the difference?”
“You’ll know when you become crazy about someone. Bye Chelsea.” I know the difference, because I am crazy about you, he thought.
“Bye Jamie,” she said wondering why he asked.
Throughout the conversation, Jamie could hear the awkwardness in her voice. I mean who tells their girlfriend they can’t hang out with their male friend in the twenty-first century? Jamie hung up the phone, switched it off and tucked it under his pillow. He opened his laptop, closed the video he had been watch
ing and started a math assignment he was halfway through. This was the class that would complete all the credits he needed for an early graduation with the other December grads. He and Jerome were going to fulfill their goal of graduating in three and half years. The only difference was that Jerome now had a job lined up in Allen City’s financial district. Jamie only had one thing, his dreams.
He closed the laptop and set an alarm for 3:00 a.m. He couldn’t complete the math paper yet, not with his thoughts running all over the place like gazelles in flight. Damn it, I’m missing that girl already, he thought.
12
Jamie read the letter again. He wasn’t sure whether to be excited or not. It was the type of letter that often times made human beings leap for joy, or scream or do a happy dance. It was the type that usually made the recipient call a friend or family member and share the good news. But Jamie held that off-white paper in his hands, not knowing how to react.
J.B. Hamilton Investments had finally given him an offer and although it was not as much as they used to offer new analysts before the events of 2009, sixty thousand dollars a year was still a very good salary for a new graduate. The other good thing was that he was going to be working from their office in Elmtown which meant he and his mother could still live together rather than having two separate rental expenses. He had four weeks to accept their offer.
He put it back in the envelope and placed it on the table. He grabbed his jacket from the bed and headed out. It was Thursday. Jazz night. He considered whether he should go ahead with accepting the offer already on the table or still try his hand out at a music career. He would still be open to what John had in mind but with the incident that happened the other day, it didn’t make sense to place his hopes in mere words. It would be strange to work with him now anyway, he thought.
“Hey Mom, I’m off to the nightclub,” he said after finding her in the kitchen doing dishes.
“OK dear, did I get anything interesting in the mail?”
“No, just your bank statement.”
An Autumn to Remember: A Novel (Elmtown Series Book 1) Page 9
