Years of Summer: Lily's Story (3 page)

He jumped up off the blanket and yelled.  “We are not through! We are staying together!!!”

Scene? I didn’t care anymore. I jumped up and yelled right back, which created a very huge scene on the quad.  “We are through! We are done! I hate you!!!”  I cringed back as he raised his fist at me.  The people behind me gasped loud enough where I could hear them and they were ten feet away.  As I prepared to get punched, my Southern Gentleman’s voice I heard. He was right behind me. 

“Chance, I wouldn’t do that if I were you?”

“Oh, and you’re going to stop me?”

“If I need to I will.”  Jace had no fear.  You have to understand that Jace was a really big, purely muscular guy.  Chance, although he had a little bulk muscle to him, was no match for Jace. 

Fear was thick, dripping off Chance. It made me happy.  With narrowed eyes, just barely lifted corners of my mouth, my arms crossed over my chest, my smile was evil and menacing. His look threw daggers at me.

Jace didn't like it.

“Don’t look at her disrespectfully Chance, you might better turn around.”  The good things about Jace’s fraternity were they were very protective of their fraternity brothers and their friends, which luckily included me.  Chance turned around and looked at the five guys standing behind him.  He was stupid, he antagonized them, starting with Jace.

“So you afraid to fight me by yourself, you had to bring your idiot frat brothers with you.”

It seemed as if hundreds of eyes were staring at the scene, with no noise at all. If I didn't know better it was as if time had stopped.

Jace was very composed and gave away no clues that the antagonism worked.  I don’t think it did. 

“No, Chance, I am not afraid of you.  If you would rather it be just me and you, I’m good with that.  Ty would you escort Lily back to her dorm please and the rest of you can go on, we’ll be fine.”

I looked at Jace like he was crazy.  “What?!!  Jace, no, don’t be stupid, I’m not worth it.” 

Then Jace looked at me incredulously.  “You are every bit worth it.  I don’t like it when my friends get mistreated.  Ty take her back.”

Tuck picked up my blanket and followed Ty as he escorted me back to my room.  Time seemed to restart, it was so strange as I begged them to leave me and stop Jace. "No, go stop him, what if he gets hurt.” They kept pushing me, however nicely, back toward my dorm room. “Please, stop him! I don't want him to get hurt.”

“Lily, Jace can take care of himself, don’t worry.” 

I turned around to look back at the quad.  The rest of the guys were leaving as I saw Jace and Chance face off.  I couldn’t tell you what happened next.  I was too worried about Jace. I didn’t give a care in the world what happened to Chance.  I secretly wished he would beat him to a pulp and as I stood in my dorm room I wished it faced out to the front instead of over to the side.  At least I could see what was happening, but right then I just paced back and forth.  Ty and Tuck stayed with me.

They chuckled.  “Lil, would you calm down? Jace will be fine.  Honestly, Chance is no match for him.  What makes Jace angriest right now is the way Chance has treated you.  Girl, why didn’t you tell any of us what he had done to you?  We would have taken care of it.”

I didn’t answer; I just climbed up in the middle of my bed and sat there, wondering why I was so worried about Jace.  It was weird the way it felt.  I knew he could take care of himself.

I sat there and waited. Chelsea walked in followed close behind by Jace. I was so relieved. I looked him over. It didn’t look like he had been hurt.
Why, all of a sudden, were things he was doing affecting me? 
We had always been friends, well, at least since I met him when I started college. I wasn’t sure what I was allowing to happen. I’m not sure I wanted that to happen, so I kept it on a friendly level, when right then all I really wanted to do was run to him and hug him like he had been on some long tour of duty and he had finally come home. 

I wanted to know what happened, but I didn’t want to know what happened.  It was like Chelsea read my mind.  “So, Jace, who won?”

Jace laughed.  “The pansy ran off.  I figured he would once everyone left.  He’s all big and bad on the outside, but a coward on the inside. He only acts that way toward Lily, because he likes to see her scared, which makes me really mad.” 

Ty and Tuck and Jace shared some kind of hidden knowledge as they looked at each other.  Jace was angry.  “I wish I could have pummeled his face.  I would have felt better.  I’m sorry, Lil, but until he leaves I’ll be hanging around you quite a bit more. I’ll feel better about it, anyway.”

The way he said that and what it implied gave me warm fuzzy feelings. I would be happy to have him for company. I smiled a little shyly, but still wasn’t sure I was ready for what this was screaming at me.  As a matter of fact I knew I wasn’t ready for this.  I kept it going on a friendly level.  “Thanks Jace you’re a really good friend.”

“Anytime, sweetie. By the way he dropped this when he ran off, do you want it?”  Jace showed me the little blue velvet box that held my engagement ring.

“You can throw it in the trash for all I care.  It never meant anything to him but ownership anyway”—y
eah, definitely not ready for any kind of a relationship right now
.  The way I reacted seemed to make Jace happy.

“Well you could go hock it at the pawn shop and at least get some money for it.”

“Why in the world would I want anything that ever belonged to him, he’d probably twist it all around and say I was only after him for his money, making me out as the bad guy again.  Like I said go throw it in the trash, I don’t want anything to do with it.”

He held up his hands.  “Okay, okay, dropping the subject.” 

I don’t know whatever happened to the ring.  He might have thrown it away.  I didn’t care. I wanted no reminders of Chance anywhere near me.

“Well, gentlemen, let’s be on our way.” Ty, Jace, and Tuck walked towards the door.  Jace turned around and spoke to Chelsea.  “Chels, what time are you two going to dinner?”

“I don’t know, we are supposed to join Brianna, Hayley, and Jillian, and I think Nina is coming too.  Hang on, let me call them.”

Chelsea picked up the phone and then pulled them back in from the hall.  Jace looked at me and grinned.  His smile could melt glaciers.  Ty and Tuck grinned at Jace.  I could have sworn there was some kind of hidden message in their smiles.  Jace came back to my desk chair and sat down until Chelsea was off of the phone.  “Jace, I couldn’t get them, I think they are still in class until four.  I’ll try around 4:15 and then when I find out I’ll give you a call.”

“Ok, Chels.  See you two later.”  He stood up from the chair and
kissed
me on top of the head.  Shocked?!  You better believe it.  “We’ll meet you for dinner.  Dave and John will probably join us.  Mike might too.  Rider and Shawn probably will too.  See you girls then.”  Chelsea winked at me as she shut our door and escorted the guys out.

What just happened?
I wasn’t sure, but I thought I liked it. I found myself actually looking forward to dinner for a change, instead of dreading another onslaught of Chance.  I started getting more excited, because that meant that if there were more of the fraternity around us, Chance would not be.  I may get through a meal for once without loss of appetite. 
My mom already claims I am too skinny
. 

I had lost a ton of weight in the past four months, like about twenty pounds, almost to the point of bony.  I couldn’t help it, my nerves were shot, which made me unable to eat, unless I wanted to be sick. Lemon-lime soda kept me going.

I was looking forward to Spring Break.  I needed a break, but this year I wasn’t going home until later in the week.  Our sorority sponsor invited us to her three-story beach house at Seaside for a retreat.  There were twenty of us going.  She and her husband were going to be there.  They were going to be house-parents for that time.  We were going to be right across the street from the beach.  I couldn’t wait; we were leaving in two weeks. 

All of a sudden I was almost sad that I wasn’t going to be at school still.  Jace came to mind.  The grin he gave me this afternoon, made me want to melt.  I wondered what he was doing over Spring Break.  That was answered at dinner.

Brianna called and let us know they were going to meet us at 5:45.  Chelsea handed me the phone.  “Call Jace and let him know what time.”

“Why can’t you, you’re the one holding the phone.”

“Are you chicken?”

“What . . . No, I’m not chicken.”

“Then call Jace and tell him.”  She had an evil smirk on her face as I took the phone from her. 

I dialed Jace’s number.  He answered.  “Hello.”

“Hey, Jace, this is Lily.  We’re meeting them at 5:45.”

“Okey Doke, we’ll see you then.  Bye, Lil.”

“Bye, Jace.”  I hung up, glaring at Chelsea.  “There, are you happy now?” 

She kind of bounced around me with her excited little girl trill.  “Jace li-ike’s Lil-ly, Jace li-ike’s Lil-ly.”

“Will you stop, Chelsea?  So what if he does.  He has never had a steady girlfriend in his life I’m sure of it, especially on this campus.”

“Well dear sister, he has never met anyone like you either.”

“Chels, I don’t want this right now.  I just want a friend.”

“Lil, even he knows that, he’s not going to try anything right now.  He kissed you though.”

“On the head, in a gesture of
friendship
, will you please quit trying to read things into this?”

“You don’t have to read things into this. Even Ty and Tuck saw that this afternoon and did you happen to see how excited he was that you didn’t balk at his offer to hang around more.  He’s sweet on you.”

“Chelsea, enough.  Leave it alone.”

“Okay, fine, just go touch up your make-up before dinner.”

“Chelsea, you’re driving me crazy.  Please stop.”

“Lily, I’m your best friend, I just want you to be happy, especially after the mess you just came out of.  No guy should ever treat a girl that way and I know that Jace wouldn’t do that to you.  I believe you would be so happy with him.  He’s a great guy.  I went to high school with him, remember. Although you’re right about the steady girlfriend, I think you are the exception to that.  He really likes you.  Jace knows what you‘ve been through.  Just give him a chance, please.  He won’t push his way in; he would rather take his time.”

Something gnawed at me, I needed to ask.  “Did he ever give a reason why he never had a steady girlfriend?  I’m just curious.  I bet he could have had his pick.”

“True, he could have, but most of the girls he dated just dated him because of his position in high school or rather
positions
. He was the President of the SGA and the star pitcher on the baseball team, star lineman on the football team—all that rolled into one.”

“But he doesn’t play on our college team?”

“No, he was offered a scholarship to somewhere else, but as he put it, one time when I asked him—‘I would rather make it on my own in a small college, and build my own reputation, than only make it because I liked sports.’  Although he did get hurt senior year in football, that might have been part of his decision.”

“Aww, bless his heart, what happened to him?”

“Messed up his knee.  That took him forever to get over, but still, all the girls ogled over him.  He really hated shallowness and that was all the girls he dated in high school.”

“Chels, how do you know so much about him?”

“Because I was one of the not shallow ones; we never dated, because that spark was just not there, but we were really good friends.  Still are and that is why I want him for you.  Please Lil, just give him a chance.”

Tears started welling in my eyes. “I would like too, but I just can’t right now.  Too much has happened.  Maybe it’s better that he doesn’t spend more time with me, I’ll only bring him down.”

“Lily, I’m going to let you in on a little secret, if you haven’t figured it out yet.  He’s seen everything Chance has put you through, through Dave’s eyes.  Why else do you think he asked the rest of them to help?  Dave moved out of Chance’s room, because he couldn’t stand to see what Chance did to you all the time.  Jace had already figured out what was going to happen.  He only hoped that it would not be as bad as he was afraid of, and Dave walked in that night just in time or you and I both know, as well as Jace and Dave, where it was about to go.  I know that is why you were so messed up when I found you curled up in the corner of your bed.”  Then she started crying and came over to me and hugged me.  “I am so glad I found you that night.”

I felt it coming, something I had never told anyone about, but it was about to tumble out of my mouth and Chelsea would be blown away, but for some reason I couldn't stop it.  “Chels . . . he held . . . a knife . . . to my throat . . . that night too.  I thought . . . I was going . . . to die.”

“Oh, Lil, how horrible, I, I . . .” She was speechless as she just held me tighter and let me do what I had needed to do for so long. 

I—broke down.  I cried like I hadn’t, but I always needed to.  Every emotion that I had penned up came through—the horrible fear, the hurt, the guilt, the worthlessness—all were things I had kept locked up.  I guess that’s why Chance could get to me so easily.  He knew what he had done, and seemed to enjoy it.  I guess it gave him a big power trip to equal his arrogance.