Imaginary Grace (35 page)

“Yeah, I actually feel bad about that now. I totally misjudged you, man,” he said.

I shrugged it off. “No problem, there was probably an issue going on with the band or something that was bothering me.”

“Yeah, probably just an off night,” he agreed, just as the girls returned. It was a fun night and the four of us made plans to get together again before the semester ended.

Grace and I had dinner at my parents’ a couple of times, and one time Mike and Abby came with the boys. Both my nephews were crazy about Grace, especially Trevor, the older one. I thought he actually had a crush on her, the way he followed her around all night. After dinner, when we had dessert in the family room, he maneuvered his way in between us so he could sit right next to her. She was a good sport about it and kept fussing over him. By the time we left, she had a fan for life.

Things just got better and better between us - we got along great, we never argued, and any free time we had we spent together. Things were good, really good…almost
too
good, and I thought to myself that if I didn’t know any better I might even think that it was like the calm before the storm. Then I laughed to myself.
Yeah, right
.

Chapter 49

Grace

“S
o…Sunday dinner with the family again,” Beth said as I walked in the door. “How was it?”

“Great,” I said. “His brother’s family came, too, and the kids were so cute!”

“Aw, did they call you Auntie Grace?” she teased.

“Very funny,” I laughed as I sat down on my bed and pulled my shoes off. “Hey, I meant to ask you, did Thomas say anything about the other night? The last time he was with Tanner, he said he wasn’t crazy about him, and I’m curious if he still feels that way.”

“Oh, as a matter of fact, he did say something…”

“What?” I asked eagerly.

Beth smiled. “Just that he thinks he totally misjudged him, and that he seemed really into you. Oh, and that he wants to go to one of his shows.”

“Really? That’d be great! I’ll check when they’re playing someplace that we can all get into. And see, I knew he was wrong about Tanner. He just had to give him some time, that’s all.”

“I guess,” she said. “And don’t forget, I won’t be around next weekend. I’m going home for a few days for my parents’ anniversary party.”

“Yeah, I remember—it’s the same weekend I’ll be in D.C. for that stupid political science seminar.”

“Oh, yeah. Why are you going to that anyway?” she asked curiously.

“It’s for extra credit,” I explained. “I’ve got to pull my grade up. At this point it’s barely a C, and I don’t want to risk it dropping any lower. My parents will flip if I bring home a D.”

“Oh, so you’ll be away from Tanner
all
weekend? Whatever will he do?” she joked.

I stuck my tongue out at her. “Well, he has gigs all weekend, so he won’t be around anyway.”

“
Gigs?
What are you, like a groupie now? Using band lingo like ‘gigs’ and ‘jam sessions,’” she said, laughing.

I threw a pillow at her as I laughed, too. “I don’t know. That’s what he calls the shows –
gigs--
but it does sound funny now when I hear it. All right, enough talking. I’m getting myself ready for bed.”

“Yeah, me too,” Beth said as she scooted into the bathroom ahead of me.

Tanner and I made sure we saw each other on Wednesday, since I’d be leaving for D.C. right after class on Thursday. We were taking a bus there, and the seminar was all day Friday and Saturday, ending with a dinner and speeches on Saturday night. I was grateful that my parents were footing the bill for this. It sounded like it was going to be a real snooze-fest, but if it would help pull my grade up, it would definitely be worth it. The bus would be returning to the school by late Sunday morning, then Tanner and I would spend the afternoon together.

I carried my small overnight bag to class on Thursday, grateful they’d instructed us to pack light—something about not a lot of room on the bus. It sure made my walk across campus easier. I really wasn’t looking forward to going, but I had no choice, and I was just going to have to make the best of it.

It wasn’t a long ride into D.C., but with rush hour traffic, it took us twice as long as it should have to arrive at our hotel. The hotel was decent, but with four girls to a room, it was definitely going to be a tight squeeze. The room was carpeted in pea-green shag and consisted of two double beds, a small dresser with a television on top, and a round wooden table in the corner with two chairs. There was also the distinct smell of tobacco, despite the fact that we’d requested a non-smoking room.

I wasn’t too friendly with anyone in this particular class, so it had been awkward when we had to sign up for who we wanted to room with. Luckily there was a group of three girls who needed a fourth, so I asked if I could room with them, and they said it would be fine. The three of them – Ally, Stephanie and Liz - happened to be roommates with an off-campus apartment, but other than seeing them once a week at class, I’d never run into them anywhere else.

I could tell right away that Ally was the ‘ring-leader’ of the group, and I knew not to ruffle her feathers. I just smiled and nodded a lot and tried to keep mostly to myself. Once we checked in, we needed to get ready for the seminar’s first event, which was basically just a meet-and-greet with a light dinner. After that we’d be free to explore the city on our own.

I tagged along with Ally, Stephanie and Liz, who seemed nice enough, but the area we were in wasn’t really worth exploring, so after about an hour we headed back to the hotel. I was hoping to go right to bed since we had an early start the next day, but from the looks of things that wasn’t going to happen.

Liz popped open a bottle of wine and poured some for each of us into the plastic cups that were sitting next to the in-room coffee pot. I had no intention of getting drunk, so I sipped it extra slowly as I listened to their cheerful banter.

“So, Grace, what’s your story?” Ally asked. “I don’t see you around campus too much. I guess we travel in different circles.”

“Maybe,” I said. “I live in the dorms with my friend, Beth.”

“Oh, that’s how the three of
us
met,” Stephanie said. “In our freshman year, we were roommates in the dorms. This year we decided to get an off-campus apartment together. It’s great; you should think about doing it next year.”

“I don’t think my parents would go for it,” I told them. “Not next year, anyway. Maybe junior year.”

“What do you usually do on the weekends? Do you go to the frat parties?” Liz asked.

“Yeah, usually we go to the frats or I hang out at my boyfriend’s,” I said, secretly relishing the label.

“Oh, you have a boyfriend. What’s his name? Did you meet him here?” Liz asked.

“Yes, I met him here,” I told her, “at the beginning of last semester. His name’s Tanner…”

“
Tanner?
Do you mean
Tanner Reed?
” Ally asked as she looked over from the table where she was pouring herself another cup of wine.

“Yeah, do you know him?”

“Ooh, he’s yummy!” Ally said as she took a long sip of wine. “How did you lasso him? I heard he’s pretty wild and that he doesn’t bother much with the girls from school.”

“Ally!” Stephanie said, sounding annoyed.

“What?” Ally said. “It’s a compliment. She’s got a hot boyfriend.” Then she turned back to me and said, “Is it true he’s in a band?”

“Yeah, he is,” I said, suddenly feeling uncomfortable for some reason.

“So what’s he doing while you’re here? Boy, if he were mine, I wouldn’t let him out of my sight for a minute,” Ally continued.

“Well, he’s got two shows this weekend so I wouldn’t be seeing him anyway,” I explained a little defensively.

She widened her eye. “Oh, you don’t go to his shows?”

I was getting more and more uncomfortable at the turn this conversation was taking, but I answered anyway. “Well, the shows are usually at one of the local bars, and the owner knows I’m underage. I’ve been to a few, but generally I don’t go.”

“Huh,” was all she said as she took a sip of wine, but I was really annoyed. How dare she insinuate that Tanner was up to no good? She didn’t even know him, but I knew what it was – his reputation had preceded him.

“Who is he?” Liz asked. “Would I know him?”

“I think I know who you’re talking about,” Stephanie said. “He’s usually leaving the gym about the time I get there. He hangs out with that burnout guy, right?”

“Yeah, that’s probably him,” Ally said, and then looked at me. “The burnout, his name’s Scott, right?”

“Yeah, Scott, although I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call him a
burnout
,” I said, suddenly feeling defensive about Scott too.

“So, Grace,” Ally continued as she sat down at the foot of the bed that I was sitting on. “Come on, tell us. Is Tanner, like, amazing in bed?”

I didn’t say anything, but I could feel myself starting to blush.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she whispered smugly as she took another sip of wine. Then she laughed and said, “You must have a few tricks of your own to keep him hanging around.”

I blushed even deeper and looked down at my cup. All I could think about was that I was stuck here for the next three nights, so I was going to have to get a grip and not let it show that she was getting to me.

“Ooh, I guess she doesn’t kiss ‘n tell,” Ally said when I didn’t respond. “Fine, suit yourself.” She stood up and stretched. “I think I’ll get ready for bed.”

Thank God,
I thought as Ally began to gather her things and then disappeared into the bathroom. Stephanie and Liz sat there looking uncomfortable until Stephanie finally said, “Just ignore her. She can be a bit much sometimes, but she’s harmless.”

“It’s fine,” I said as I started rummaging through my bag for nothing in particular. Suddenly I heard my phone go off with a text from Tanner. I looked at the text which said simply,
miss u…
and my heart melted. He was so misunderstood.
No one
knew the Tanner that I knew, and I was more determined than ever not to let anyone else’s preconceived notions interfere with the way I felt about him.

I texted back,
miss u 2…
then I slipped my phone back into my bag.

The next morning, after a restless night’s sleep, I was off and running to the first of the day’s many events-- a breakfast and then some speeches followed by a round-table discussion. I managed to steer clear of Ally for the bulk of the day, but unfortunately I was seated at the same table as her and the rest of the girls for dinner that night.

“So,” she said as she leaned toward me, “Have you heard from Tanner?”

“A few times,” I said, looking straight ahead as I swirled the ice around my now-empty glass.

I turned to the guy next to me and asked him where he was from, hoping to strike up a conversation when I heard Ally say, “Who…oh, I mean
what,
do you think Tanner’s doing tonight after the show?”

“Excuse me,” I said to the guy sitting next to me, then turned to Ally. “Do you have something you want to say, Ally?” I asked with raised eyebrows. “Because if you do, please just say it.” Then I stared at her icily, waiting for her to respond.

She seemed to back off a bit after my sudden growth of a backbone and didn’t say anything else.

“I didn’t think so,” I said as I turned back around, my heart beating nervously in my chest. The guy sitting next to me started talking to me, but I was so flustered that I barely heard a word he said.

I couldn’t believe how quickly she backed down when I stood up to her – I think that was a first for me. I wanted out of here. The thought of spending two more nights in a hotel room with her was unbearable, and that’s when I started planning my escape. There really was no need for me to stay over Saturday night, I reasoned. The seminar would finish late that night, but there was nothing happening Sunday so it wouldn’t be a big deal if I left early.

I could grab a bus downtown and surprise Tanner. The band was playing at J.D.’s Saturday night, and I could probably be at his place by the time he got home. I could slip into his bed and be waiting for him when he walked through the door.

The idea was very enticing, and the more I thought about it, the more I was sure that that’s what I was going to do. I actually felt myself relax a bit knowing that I’d only have one more night with that witch.

After dinner the girls decided to hang around and mingle, but I feigned exhaustion and quickly disappeared up to the room. They didn’t stay downstairs long, but at least when they got back to the room I was already in bed reading my book.

Ally didn’t make another comment to me. In fact, she didn’t speak to me at all, but I didn’t think Steph or Liz noticed.

I got up extra early the next day, showered, and then nonchalantly packed all my stuff away in my bag so that I’d be able to grab it and run as soon as everything was over that night. On one of the breaks, I was able to slip out to the front desk and get a bus schedule. I looked it over, figuring the easiest thing to do would be to take a cab to the bus station in the center of the city, where there were plenty of buses running throughout the night.

The trick was timing it so I didn’t have to hang around the bus terminal for too long. Those places were never very savory at night. Later on that evening, I approached my professor and told him that “something came up” and that I was going to have to leave as soon as the seminar ended.

He thanked me for telling him, said that it wouldn’t be a problem, and asked how I was getting home. I lied and told him that a family member was picking me up at the hotel. I thought it would be better than saying that I’d be wandering around a bus terminal in a seedy part of the city in the dead of night, but I don’t think he would have objected anyway.

With that settled, it was just a matter of waiting until it was over. When I noticed that Ally was nowhere in sight I used the “something came up” story on Steph and Liz. Ignoring their curious looks, I thanked them for letting me stay in their room and told them I’d see them in class. I could feel their stares boring into my back as I made my way to the back of the conference room.

After a brief stop back at the room to grab my bag and change into my most comfortable jeans and favorite pink tie-dye t-shirt, I was out front hailing a cab in no time. This was turning into such an adventure! On the cab ride to the terminal, I toyed with the idea of texting Tanner and telling him that I was coming, but I stopped myself. It would be so much more fun to surprise him.

Once at the terminal, I was quickly able to determine which bus was leaving the soonest and would get me the closest. I only had to wait fifteen minutes and I was on my way.

The bus was fairly empty, so luckily no one sat with me. Unfortunately it was a local and not an express, which meant it stopped like every five minutes. Maybe that was an exaggeration, but that’s what it seemed like. I kept checking the time on my phone, annoyed that I was probably not going to get there before he got home. I didn’t even have his key with me, I’d left it in my dorm room.

That’s when I remembered -
the window
. The lock on his bedroom window was broken, and if need be, I could climb through it like I did the night we first slept together.