The weekend came and went. Beth and I attended the basketball game and Kim, Beth and I joined Ryan, Josh, Tucker, and Chad for air hockey and nachos. I refused to talk about Jared, even with Beth. I couldn’t even bring myself to explain what had happened that caused me to be so furious anytime they mentioned his name.
Ryan seemed to enjoy my change of heart. One night he called to ask me for help with his chemistry, and we found ourselves sitting on the floor of my dorm room alone.
“No…it’s….” I pressed my lips together as I rewrote the last line.
“Chad said he failed this test last year,” Ryan grumbled.
“Well, Chad didn’t have me for a tutor, now did he?” I threw my pencil at him and it bounced to the floor.
“Tutor or not, this test is gonna suck.”
“Have you lost your faith in me?”
“Have you reconsidered my offer, yet?” he grinned.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I shrugged, playing dumb.
“Yes, you do. It’s okay if you haven’t….you will eventually,” he smiled wide.
“I’m fairly certain I won’t be interested in dating for a long, long time.”
Ryan didn’t skip a beat. “I’ll wait.”
Chapter Four
The Ring
The next weeks proved to be fairly mundane. I hadn’t seen Jared or Mr. Dawson, and Ryan’s propositions had tapered off. Beth had been noticeably absent from our room. I hadn’t even been sequestered for a ballgame.
I didn’t leave campus for further theory-testing walks, and I tried not to venture off campus in general. My feelings were conflicted at any given second between being desperate to see Jared again and cringing at thoughts of any chance run-ins. I committed to pushing him from my mind, even if I had to do it a thousand times a day.
At study group, Ryan and I took our normal spots to work together on his latest academic crisis. Kim passed the time by shooting rubber bands at Josh while Beth and the new girl, Nicole, compared notes.
Josh caught one of Kim’s rubber missiles in mid-air and yawned. “So, when are we going out again?”
Kim shrugged. “I don’t know. When do you want to go?”
“I don’t think Nina’s up to it,” Beth hinted. The entire group stared at me with a mixture of pitiful and expectant expressions that I was desperate to deflect.
“Of course I’m up for it,” I said, aiming for a casual tone.
In truth, going out again with the same people to the same place made me anxious that we were just asking for a repeat, and I wasn’t ready to see Jared again. In the same moment, I worried that he wouldn’t show.
“Are you sure?” Beth asked, leaning forward in her chair.
“Why don’t we go tomorrow?” Josh asked Ryan.
“I’m there,” Ryan said, nudging me.
“On a Tuesday? How much fun can a Tuesday night be?” I groaned.
“As fun as we make it,” Ryan said.
On our way back to Andrews, I grumbled to Beth about going out on a school night. She didn’t seem fazed by the prospect, so I left it alone. When we lumbered into our room, my cell phone buzzed.
“Hi, Mom,” I yawned.
“You sound tired, Nina. Are you getting enough sleep?” she asked.
“I am. It’s just been a long day,” I said, peeling back my comforter.
“Well, I won’t keep you long. I just wanted to tell you that Thomas called me today. He wanted to apologize about not returning your call. Did you call him, dear?”
“Er…yes. I did.” I hadn’t anticipated Thomas calling my mother.
“Well? What did you call him about?”
I decided that sticking as close to the truth as possible would be the best option. “Well, I was in dad’s office a few weeks ago and came across some unsigned papers. I didn’t want to worry you with it, so I called Mr. Rosen.”
“You were in Dad’s office? Why?”
“I guess I just miss him.”
“Oh,” she whispered. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”
“It’s okay, Mom. It was something I needed to do on my own.”
“You don’t worry about those papers, Dear. They’re nothing you need to concern yourself with. Thomas has copies of all of your father’s papers in his office; they’ve already been taken care of. I wasn’t….ready to move them just yet.”
“I understand,” I said, thinking of the letter opener I’d taken. She obviously hadn’t noticed, yet. I wondered if she went into Jack’s office at all. “Did Daddy ever discuss an urgent properties deal with you?”
My mother pondered that for a moment. “A properties deal? Your father didn’t deal with properties, Nina.”
“Oh. Okay.” I tried to make my voice sound idle to end the conversation.
“I’ll let Thomas know that I’ve talked to you.” She seemed to accept my explanation, but was obviously unconvinced.
“That’s fine, Mom. I’m going to bed, now.”
I clicked my phone shut and noticed Beth staring at me. “What?”