Chapter 42
“Elizabeth Summers…” Hallie Stone read from the file before her. “I don’t believe we’re met before?”
“Uh, no,” Elizabeth agreed nervously. “I registered and everything on-line.”
Hallie nodded. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Elizabeth,” she offered her hand. “Is that what you go by? Elizabeth?”
She nodded and accepted the handshake.
“Please, sit down,” Hallie offered. “Now, what can I do for you today?” she inquired. “Class troubles?”
“Not really so much,” Elizabeth answered, settling herself down in the armchair in front of her advisor’s desk.
“Your transcript looks fine,” Hallie agreed. “Straight A’s first semester. You should be very proud of yourself.”
Elizabeth blushed. “I just, y’know, did the work,” she mumbled, slightly embarrassed.
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Hallie insisted. “Do you have any idea how many students don’t even make it through their first semester? And to do as well as you have…”
Elizabeth bit her lip. “I might not make it the second semester, though,” she confessed.
Hallie’s brow furrowed. “Tell me about it,” she requested.
“See, my dad,” she began, catching the knowing look in the other woman’s eyes before continuing, “he wants me to be an econ major.”
“What do you want to major in?” Hallie inquired.
“Art,” Elizabeth said with a laugh. “About as far away as I can get.”
Hallie nodded. “Have you talked to your father about this?”
Elizabeth winced. “Yeah, well, he sort of threatened to cut off my tuition and forced me to drop history and take an econ class.”
“And that is…” Hallie scanned over the papers in front of her, “Econ 220?” She gave Elizabeth a sympathetic smile.
Elizabeth nodded. “Except I really didn’t want to take it, so I just dropped early last week.”
“Did you tell your father you dropped?” Hallie interrupted, still trying to get a handle on the situation.
Elizabeth shook her head. “No. But he’s got contacts here at the college, and it’s only a matter of time before he finds out.”
“And then the tuition goes,” Hallie bit the end of her pencil thoughtfully. “Is that the problem?”
Elizabeth nodded. “I want to stay here,” she insisted. To her horror, she realized that her eyes were tearing up slightly at the thought of losing this life. In vain, she wiped at them, trying to force herself to be strong in this situation.
Hallie pushed the Kleenex box across her desk so that Elizabeth could reach it. “If you’ve been doing this well,” she gestured to Elizabeth’s transcript, “with all these difficulties on your shoulders, there is no way the college won’t come up with some means for you to stay here.” She gave Elizabeth an encouraging smile.
Elizabeth managed to refrain her sniffles a bit, the battle for control won if not the war.
“Now, tell me about how your father will find out. Are you planning to tell him yourself?” Hallie decided that filling in the details would make the situation a bit less overwhelming.
“Yeah, that’d probably be better than letting him hear it from one of his rich buddies,” she agreed. “See, I was kind of sick for a while, so I might be able to use that as leverage for a bit. But in the long run…”
“You need some real leverage,” Hallie agreed. “What’s this about your father’s rich buddies?” she inquired curiously.
“He…I don’t know, knows someone with access to the administration records, or something,” Elizabeth sighed. “He didn’t exactly tell me how he was spying on me…”
Hallie frowned. “That’s troubling,” she agreed, “and completely against school policy. Your interests are supposed to outweigh your father’s here.”
“My dad’s got a lot of money,” she shrugged.
“That always makes things difficult,” Hallie agreed. “But, still, if you ever find out the name of someone who works for the college and is reporting private student records back to your father… Well, we can get them in a lot of trouble.”
“That’s good to know,” she sighed, “but I don’t particularly want trouble. I just want to get back to my life and not have this hanging over my head anymore.”
“Which means we’re back to the tuition problem,” Hallie agreed. “Are you sure your father will actually pull out on you?” She noticed Elizabeth’s not so friendly expression and explained herself. “Nine out of ten students who come in here with this problem eventually solve it without a loss of tuition. I just wanted to see if you think that’s at all a possible option.”
Elizabeth conceded the point. “I’m actually not sure,” she admitted. “I can probably play things up and get away with it this semester. But, eventually, yeah, if I don’t fall into line. I have no doubt he’ll pull me out of here if this place is a ‘bad influence’.”
“All good colleges should be,” Hallie said with a wry smile.
Elizabeth couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Yeah, I mean I can come up with some way to make it for a while,” she agreed, brow furrowed in thought. “But I’ll have to do it by lying. Sooner or later, this is all going to come to a head, and I really kinda want it to be sooner.”
Hallie bit her lip and nodded. “Given your grades, you could probably get a partial academic scholarship next year,” she informed Elizabeth. “And, if your father refuses to pay your tuition, you can probably get a bit of a need-based one, too. However, those are largely loan-based with work-study content.”
“What does that mean?” Elizabeth inquired.
“That you’ll have some bills to pay off after you graduate,” Hallie explained, “and you’ll probably have to work during the year.”
Elizabeth bit her lip. “Okay…” she sighed.
“And that would be for next year,” Hallie provided. “Your dad can’t recall your tuition for last semester – that’s past due – but this semester you could be left on the lurch.”
“So, my dad pulls out and I have to drop?” she said, slightly scared.
“Not necessarily,” Hallie corrected. “It’s just that the due-date for college-based funding is long past. You could always try to get a loan from a bank or some other financial institution. However, those tend to be less geared towards student needs.”
“I had better go ask just in case,” Elizabeth sighed.
“You generally need to have some form of income to receive a loan,” Hallie provided helpfully.
Elizabeth bit her lip. “Do you think I should just lie to my father this semester?” she asked hesitantly. “I could buy some time and…” She trailed off.
“What do you want to do?” Hallie countered.
“I want out now,” Elizabeth said confidently.
“Then getting out now is probably the best thing for you to do,” she advised. “It’ll be some work.”
“But I’m used to that,” Elizabeth agreed. “At least, of the school kind…”
“Real work tends to be less stressful than academic work,” Hallie offered encouragingly. “A lot less is expected of you. I had to work my entire way through graduate school, and it was a bit of a time stretch, but I managed just fine.”
Elizabeth nodded slowly, feeling slightly nervous. “I’ve never exactly had a job before,” she admitted. “I…” She trailed off, a bit embarrassed.
“It’s a college town,” Hallie shrugged. “No one will care. You can nab something really simple with hours that fit your coursework, and there shouldn’t be much problem.”
A numb nod in response. Abstractly, Elizabeth had known that eventually she’d have to get a job, but…
“You look overwhelmed,” Hallie pointed out kindly.
Elizabeth sighed. “Yeah,” she couldn’t help but agree.
“How about we just assume for now that we’re only worrying about next year?” Hallie suggested. “Just a back-up plan in case things with dad don’t work out.”
“Sounds good,” Elizabeth agreed, happy to put this off into the distance once more. “So you actually think I can get some kind of academic scholarship?”
“There’s a good chance,” Hallie corrected, “and no reason whatsoever not to try. You’ll have to fill out applications, but it’ll keep your debt down if you get anything.”
“Great,” Elizabeth agreed. “How do I apply?”
“The easiest way is probably to check the scholarship section of the college webpage,” Hallie answered. “There’s a huge list of everything available there, some of it by major. So, if you really think you’re headed for art…”
“Definitely,” Elizabeth agreed.
“I know the art department itself offers a couple. General college scholar options are also available. You can just print out anything you think you’ve got an actual chance at, and fill out the applications.”
“Right,” Elizabeth agreed, “I can do that.”
“Most of those applications will be due soon, though,” Hallie pointed out, “so you’ll want to hurry.”
“But what if I don’t get anything?” Elizabeth asked worriedly.
“There are always work-study loans,” Hallie assured her. “And those you can apply for the week before the semester starts next autumn, so there’s no rush there.”
“Right,” Elizabeth agreed, jotting down a quick note on her pad, “got it.”
“Do you want me to tell you more about anything?” Hallie inquired.
Elizabeth frowned. “Why don’t you let me see where I am after I’ve checked all this stuff out?” she requested before shaking her head. “Glad I dropped econ; this is like taking another class…”
“It’s rough,” Hallie agreed, “but if you ever need any help sorting any of this out…”
“Thanks,” Elizabeth said, flashing her a dazzling smile. “I guess I’ll, y’know, see if I can meet with you in a week or so?”
“I’ll be looking for you,” Hallie nodded. “Let me know if there are any problems.”
“I will,” Elizabeth agreed, getting up, “and thanks again.”
“You can thank me by not waiting until your senior year to register your major,” Hallie countered wryly.
“I won’t, I promise,” Elizabeth agreed before heading back to the dorm, her mind actually a bit dizzy from all the possibilities. Applications and loans and jobs and… OK, so yeah, she still felt a little bit overwhelmed. She had no idea how well she’d be able to churn out the five-figure amount of money needed every year. At the very least, she should probably get a job this summer to—
“Ow.”
She was pulled out of her thoughts when she crashed right into someone – a very familiar someone.
“Y’know, Summers,” Spike sighed, “it’s generally polite to respond to someone when they start talkin’ to you instead of plowing right into ‘em.”
Elizabeth was painfully aware of where his hand still rested on her waist to steady her. It felt so wonderful to have him touch her again, to have him close… “You said something to me?” she blinked in complete surprise, hesitantly pulling away.
He shrugged at her reaction and buried his hands in his duster pockets. “Just askin’ where you were headed,” he offered.
“Oh, dorm,” she answered, biting her lower lip. “You wanna walk with me?”
“Well, actually, I was takin’ a bit of a stroll in this fine warm weather we’re having.” He gestured around to where the snow was melting in the bright sunlight.
“Oh,” she said quietly, “well, have fun then.”
He gave her a disbelieving look. “That wasn’t a ‘no’,” he provided.
She gave him a small smile. “Good,” she agreed, heading off in the direction of Westing Hall and enjoying having him stroll by her side. “So, how are things going with you?” she asked a bit nervously. Making small talk with Spike seemed a bit strange.
“Well enough, I s’pose,” he seemed equally unsure of what to do in this situation and scratched at his scarred eyebrow. “Still have one midterm left,” he provided.
“Ha! I mock you,” she teased lightly. “I am so done with midterms.”
He scowled at her. “Evil minx,” he accused.
She grinned. “So…what are you doing over Spring Break?”
“Nothing exciting,” he answered. “’S only a week, after all.”
“How much does it suck that they only give us a week?” Elizabeth agreed.
“At least the dorms stay open this time ‘round, though,” he commented. “No nasty relocatin’ costs.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I don’t know where I’d go if I couldn’t…” Her face flushed slightly. Not too long ago there wouldn’t have even been a question that she would go to Spike’s house. How could so much have changed in so little time?
“So, you’re stayin’ in the dorm?” Spike offered, breaking her introspection.
“Yup,” she agreed. “You?”
“’ll probably be in and out,” he offered. “Spend some time with Mum and all…”
“Yeah, I don’t blame you,” she agreed. “I love Westing House, but after being cooped up all winter, it’s got to be nice to just be someplace else.”
“The weather’s getting more accommodatin’ every day,” Spike agreed. “Soon the nasty cabin fever ‘ll be only a memory.”
“Yeah,” she sighed.
“So…um…” He scratched the back of his neck nervously.
She looked at him askance, curious as to his strange mood. “What?” she asked with a teasing little smile.
He shook it off. “Nothin’,” he insisted.
She wasn’t about to be put off that easily. “You know you’re just going to end up telling me anyway,” she pointed out.
“How’s the whole beatin’ dad at his own game thing working out?” he abruptly changed the subject.
“Do you have any idea how much three years of tuition is?” Elizabeth sighed.
“Rather nasty,” he agreed.
“I’ve got a whole bunch of options that I have to look through,” she commented.
“Sounds like loads of fun,” he half-joked.
She gave him a wry smile. “Yeah, but, hey, at least it doesn’t look like I’ll be living out on the streets anytime soon.”
“Always a plus,” he agreed.
They walked in silence for a while, Spike occasionally kicking some snow onto the sidewalk to help it melt faster. Elizabeth watched his scuffed Doc Martens absentmindedly, smiling inwardly whenever he stomped on a bit of ice.
It wasn’t until they were approaching the walk that led to Westing House’s back door that he finally spoke up again.
“You wanna go out?”
She froze, her gut a twisted torrent of wants and desires. “You mean, like a date?” she stalled for time, hoping the churning would sort itself out.
His cheeks flushed slightly. “Yeah,” he agreed quietly. “I mean, I know you need some time, but…”
“I do, you know,” she said apologetically. “Need more time. I still have so much to sort out.”
“I get it.” His voice sounded defeated. “No need to tell me twice.”
“Spike…” She reached over to rest one hand on his shoulder, but he shook it off.
“Think maybe I need a little time,” he countered. “Right now.”
She watched him walk away with a weary sigh. Why did things have to be so complicated? They were getting along fine one minute, and the next everything was just awkward and uncomfortable. Half the time when they were fighting, she just wanted to kiss him, but…
She knew this was all difficult on him. She knew how hopelessly impatient he was. She knew that he was still hurt that she had put them on hold, and her continued persistence to do so even though she was turning away from her father’s wishes probably just made things worse. It probably made it seem like she wouldn’t choose him even if everything else worked out.
The problem was that she couldn’t contradict any of these without giving him painful hope about something that might still take years to completely work out. She still cared for him – god, if their separation had taught her anything, it was how much he really meant to her – but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t still lead him on.
With a weary sigh, she arrived in her dorm room and plopped down in front of her computer. Unfortunately, she had a dozen other problems to solve before she could even begin to address the Spike one. But at least she could make progress with some things.
With a click of her mouse, she opened up the page of financial aid options before settling back in her chair to try to comprehend them all. Maybe she should have been an econ major anyway, she thought ruefully. After all, she still spent all her time worrying about money…
* * *
“Can you…oof…help me?”
Spike looked up from where his attention had been firmly focused on the punching bag to the blond that had addressed him. A curious eyebrow rose at the color-coordinated pink and black workout outfit she was wearing, complete with neon headband. She flashed him a flirtatious little smile and flung her hair back over her shoulder.
“’m sorry?” Spike blinked at her, a little too surprised to have really registered what she said.
“The weights on this machine,” she gestured to the exercise equipment across the room. “They’re really heavy.” The eyelashes were batted once more. “So, yeah, I was wondering if you could help me and all…since you look so strong and all.” She blatantly appraised his shirtless body.
Now, Spike would’ve been lying if he said the attention wasn’t flattering. Frankly, getting dumped – no matter how kindly – tended to leave a bloke wondering if he’d lost his charms. And having the bubble-gum bottle-blond giving him that sultry look definitely let him know that he was still doing something right. Even if it was just working out a lot.
“No problem, pet,” he agreed with a little smirk, checking her out as well. “Just tell me what you need…”
“Hmm,” she flirted back, one finger trailing across the neck of her tank top and drawing his attention to her cleavage. “I’ll show you,” she agreed in a sultry voice, leading him over to one of the biceps machines. “Someone put all these heavy weights on,” she pouted.
He gave her a quirky smile before plucking a twenty-five pound weight off of one end. “No problem, luv,” he assured her.
She let out a high-pitched little squeal at the epithet. “I’m Harmony,” she offered with a Polaroid smile.
“Spike,” he agreed gruffly. Actually, he seemed to recall this bird from somewhere. Part of that whole sorority thing Elizabeth had been into a while back, wasn’t she?
“I see you here a lot,” Harmony commented, sitting on the edge of the bench press and sticking out her chest in a way that made her breasts stick out right into his face as he returned the weights to the tree.
Spike concluded quite quickly that she wasn’t exactly the subtle type. “Like to keep in shape,” he shrugged.
She licked her lips. “Verrry nice shape, too,” she agreed. One leg crossed over the other delicately. “Yeah, I stop by just to, y’know, hang out and stuff.” She snapped her gum.
That mean ‘pick up guys’? Spike couldn’t help but think somewhat snidely. “Great way to blow off steam,” he countered, grabbing the last of the weights and hauling it off.
“Yeah,” she agreed in a dreamy voice, staring at his sweaty chest the whole time.
“That good?” he gestured back to the machine.
“Huh?” Harmony blinked in confusion for a minute. “Oh, um, yeah.” She looked at the machine like it was some kind of alien life form. “I was wondering if you would, um, spot me?”
Spike glanced at the machine. Spotting her on it would undoubtedly involve getting closer to her body than… Oh, what the hell? It was just harmless fun, right? “Not much weight on it,” he pointed out.
“But I hardly ever use it,” she insisted. Her hand brushed his thigh as she passed him and moved to sit down on the padded bench.
With a little smirk, he straddled the bench in front of her and helped her guide her arms into place. “Just in and out,” he instructed.
She flashed him a dazzling smile at his touch, although he had a sneaking suspicion that she hadn’t picked up on his innuendo. He had an even less sneaking suspicion that this bird wasn’t terribly bright.
“So,” she inquired with another – and completely unnecessary – toss of her hair, “school sucks, huh?”
Definitely not terribly bright. “’S all right,” he shrugged.
“Oh, I so feel the same way!” she immediately exclaimed, resting one hand on his bicep.
“Imagine that,” he agreed with an inward roll of his eyes. This seemed to be the kind of girl that got what she wanted because she was so damn easy.
She practically beamed at him. “I bet we’ve got tons of stuff in common,” she agreed. Her toe brushed his shin.
“Oh?” He was actually starting to feel a bit uncomfortable with this whole situation. Flirting was well and good for a little ego-booster, but she seemed to be pressing this whole thing a lot further than he ever wanted to go.
“Who do you like better,” she asked with another flutter of eyelashes, “Britney or Christina?”
“Um, no,” he retorted.
She looked horribly confused by this answer. “I love Britney’s videos,” she shrugged it off. “The whole innocent but sexy thing…” She gave him what he supposed she thought was a seductive look.
He sighed. “Yeah, look, luv,” he said, getting up. “You seem to be doin’ just fine, so I’ll just get back to—”
“Have I mentioned that I love your accent?” Harmony’s fingers trailed to his thigh. “It makes you sound all cultured and, y’know, deep.”
Spike pulled away from her touch, and she visible pouted. “Was in the middle of something,” he informed her gently, turning to go.
She got up and followed him, apparently not getting the clue. “You mind if I watch?”
Well, she was persistent. He had to give her that much. It suddenly occurred to him that if he wanted to, he wouldn’t have to go to bed alone tonight. The looks she was throwing him made it all to clear what she wanted out of him. And it wasn’t like he hadn’t had meaningless flings before…
But that was before Elizabeth.
The thought seemed to resonate through his very bones, but he brushed it aside. After all, hadn’t Elizabeth been the one to tell him that he shouldn’t wait around for her? She couldn’t possibly object if he…
You know it would rip her apart, mate.
He’d had vengeful thoughts that first night after she’d so cruelly dumped him on his ass, sure. Most of them involved finding the hottest thing that would look his way and flaunting her in front of everyone. But, just like most anger-induced fantasies, he’d never actually really wanted to carry through with it.
But now… She’d asked him to wait until she’d made her choice. Now, she’d made it, and he’d tentatively tried to start things up all over again, and she’d still rejected him. What did that mean? Did it mean that she didn’t want him at all anymore? Did she like it better when they weren’t together? Did she—?
His fists were soon pounding into the bag once more, the furious rhythm driving all questions from his mind. This was really the only time he ever truly forgot about her, when he was pummeling something.
He hit the bag until he was raw, sore, panting for breath. And then, just for good measure, he hit it some more. When he finally stopped, he was surprised – and disappointed – to see that Harmony was still watching him.
“You, like, hit it a lot,” she said with a smile.
“Yeah,” he agreed disinterestedly. He reached for his towel.
She beat him to it and handed it to him with another flutter of her eyelashes. “Spikey?” she intoned provocatively.
He flinched at the nickname. “What?” he demanded wearily.
“I was wondering if you, maybe, wanted to come over to Tri Xi this evening.” She slipped in close to him so that their chests were nearly brushing and looked up at him with big, falsely-innocent eyes. “There’s this party, and it’d be really cool if you could come.”
He sighed. “’ve got other plans,” he insisted, turning from her. Elizabeth might not demand that he wait for her, but that didn’t mean he was ready to move on yet. And, if he ever was, it certainly wouldn’t be with someone like Harmony. It was requiring all his limited patience just not to snap at her, she got on his nerves so spectacularly.
“Oh,” Harmony was horribly disappointed. He looked so scrumptious, all sweaty and shirtless, and she had hoped to have a little fun with him tonight. “Well, we could get together sometime,” she pressed, mildly annoyed that he wasn’t the one propositioning her. After all, she was way above him. He should be falling over her feet just for this chance she was giving him to be with her.
“Look,” Spike insisted firmly, “’m flattered but spoken for.”
Harmony frowned and blinked. “No, you’re not,” she insisted. “Everyone knows that Elizabeth finally dumped you.”
The muscle in his jaw ticked and his eyes burned with a dangerous fire. “You don’t know anythin’ about me and Elizabeth,” he hissed vehemently.
Harmony felt her pulse racing. God, he was even sexier than she had thought. “Don’t be like that, baby,” she cooed, sliding her hands up against his chest. “I can make you forget all about that little tramp…”
He swatted her hands away in a violent gesture. “There is no way you could ever even hope to stand up to ‘Lizabeth,” he growled angrily. “And if you don’t wanna see just how angry I can get, I suggest you never speak about her like that again.”
“What if I wanna see you angry?” Harmony retorted coyly.
“God, don’t you know when to back off?” he asked in outraged exasperation. “’m not interested. ‘ll never be interested. ‘Lizabeth is the only one for me. Ever.”
Harmony looked incensed. “I don’t see what’s so special about her,” she huffed. “I’m sure whatever she does, I can do it better.”
“You can’t even understand,” he scowled, stalking from the room.
“Wait!” she called out after him.
“No,” he countered. “This conversation is over. You’ve got no chance in hell.” He belatedly felt a bit bad for how bluntly he’d had to put all of this. “’m sorry,” he amended.
“You’re ‘sorry’?” Harmony exclaimed in horror.
He didn’t hear her, though, having already vanished into the men’s locker room.
“You, you pathetic nothing, are sorry for me?!” she screeched at the closed door. “Well, nobody turns down Harmony Kendall! ‘Cause, yeah, you aren’t really that hot anyway. So there! And by the time I’m done with you, you little nobody, you will be sorry!” And, with that, she huffed off in disgust…