Chapter Eight

 

Veronica

"This is delicious. Thank you."

I smiled at Jude as I took a sip of my own cup of strong peppermint tea. The flavor of the honey swirling through the bold herbal brew was a soothing contrast to the invigorating quality of the peppermint, creating an effect that always helped me relax.

"You're welcome," I said.

I took another sip and then settled my mug on the edge of the desk, making sure it wasn't too close to the stacks of papers spread across the surface. It was already taking us enough time to go over the essay questions on the midterm exams without me splashing tea all over them. Some of the answers that we had read, however, made me think that there were a few of the students in the class that probably wouldn't mind their tests being obliterated.

"I don't even think that this one even read the same book that the rest of them did," Jude said, handing me a paper.

I read through the first few lines of the essay response and laughed, shaking my head.

"You're right," I said. "But he thinks he did something just as good."

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't hear about the ShortNotes scandal?" I asked, putting a little bit of mysterious emphasis on the last word.

"What are ShortNotes?" Jude asked.

"I'm going to take that as a 'no'. ShortNotes are student-made cheat sheets about the different books that are taught in the literature classes."

"Ah," he said. "Like Spark or Cliff?"

I nodded.

"That's the idea," I said. "But instead of having all of the details and being a study guide, these things are basically glorified bullet lists of main points and character descriptions followed by shortcuts for how to answer the questions that professors are most likely to ask."

"That sounds pretty unethical, but I wouldn't call it a scandal."

"That's because I didn't get to that part yet."

"By all means," he said, leaning back in his chair and taking another deep sip of his tea.

Since the morning that we went shopping and I helped him choose the delicate silver necklace with a horse-shaped pendant for his housekeeper's granddaughter, we had been spending more time together and I felt like I was watching him gradually relaxing and opening up. A regular fixture at my rehearsals now, Jude had begun asking me for more involvement in the class and I had accompanied him on two more shopping excursions. I felt like I was starting to see another part of him, though there was plenty that was still behind the curtain. My attraction to him had only gotten stronger and I was finding it harder to hide it when I was with him.

"Well, you must have heard of Anonymous, right?"

"The internet vigilante group?"

"See, I knew you didn't spend your entire life with your head in books. Yes, Anonymous the internet vigilante group. Well, it seems that someone on campus was inspired by their unique form of justice and decided to try to enact some themselves. So, they took the ShortNotes for several of the books, replaced the actual information with plausible but completely wrong details, and then distributed them. They did it in a few cycles so that there were different versions out on campus."

"But if there were different versions, didn't people catch on?"

"That was the point. People started comparing their notes and realizing that they had different information. But they obviously couldn't tell which one was right, if either of them were. Some people just used what they got and completely bombed, and other people figured out that something was wrong and ended up having to read the book anyway. Either way, it works out. I thought that most people have figured it out by now."

"Apparently not Mr. Howard," Jude said.

I shook my head.

"Apparently not."

He took the paper and wrote a large red "F" at the top with a dramatic flourish.

"At least he made that easier on us."

I laughed.

"Saved us some time."

He picked up another paper and read for a few seconds before glancing at me again.

"What are you up to this weekend?" he asked.

I felt the familiar tight flutter in my stomach that came every time that he stepped outside of talking about the class and connected with me.

"This weekend?" I asked. "Nothing really, I don't think."

"Really?" he asked incredulously. "You're not going to do anything to celebrate midterms being over? Even on Halloween?"

I suddenly remembered that Friday was, in fact, Halloween. It was hard to believe that the semester was going by so quickly and that soon we would be on the downward slide toward the end.

"I wasn't really planning on doing anything. Probably just buy some candy and sit around watching ghost shows on TV waiting for trick-or-treaters. How about you? Are you doing anything?"

I couldn't really imagine Jude dressing up in a costume and celebrating the holiday, but I tried to keep an open mind.

"I'll probably just work," he said. "I still have some things to get into place for the rest of the semester. The last few weeks always seem to go by a lot faster so I'm trying to get on top of it. I got a little behind working on my research paper."

"I could come and help you," I offered. "I've been told that I'm a pretty good researcher."

I gave him a teasing smile and his lips curved up in the hint of a smile back.

"I can't imagine who would tell you that." The smile faltered and he sat forward. "I appreciate the offer, but you shouldn't be holed up in an office working on assignments and research on Halloween."

"Why not?"

"You work so hard all the time. You are constantly pushing yourself and trying to get more and more done. You deserve to have fun and relax. Especially after midterms. Before you know it, your years of college are going to be over and you won't be a student anymore. You should take advantage of it and make the most of this last year. Find something fun to do."

I sighed.

"Javi has been trying to get me to go to this party with him. I'm not much of a party person. The last one I went to was the Welcome Week party and you know how fantastic a start that got off to."

"But you had fun," he said.

I nodded.

"I did."

"And you'll have fun at the Halloween one with Javi, too. Go. Be a college student. Enjoy yourself. There will be plenty of work waiting for you when you get back."

 

"So, are we doing some sort of couples’ costume, or can I just wear my regular clothes and be a serial killer?"

Javi's eyes lit up and he jumped away from the coffee table, nearly knocking over an enormous canister of purple iridescent glitter that would never have come out of the carpet.

"You're coming?" he squealed, the avalanche-inducing tone back in his voice.

"I suppose I am."

He leapt toward me, another excited sound coming from his grinning mouth.

God help the skiers everywhere.

"What changed your mind?" Javi asked after releasing me from a python-like hug so tight you would think that I was a paraplegic who had just done the moonwalk across the Mississippi.

"Jude told me that I shouldn't be working so hard and that I should enjoy being a college student and have some fun."

"And you listened to him?" he asked.

I nodded.

"I guess I did."

Javi cocked his hip, the jubilance gone from his face and now replaced with sassy indignance.

"So, you're telling me I try to convince you for three years that you need to loosen up and enjoy your youth and you ignore me. I climb to the mountain tops trying to get you to open up and do new things and explore yourself, and you tell me I'm crazy. I get you to agree to one party, you disappear at the beginning of it, then you proclaim that you have reached the entertainment quota for life and refuse to do anything else more fun than sitting around in your stretchy pants watching I'm A Rich Housewife Please Help Me Raise My Adopted Baby Who Wants to Be In Beauty Pageants and Redecorate My Gift Wrapping Room. But then some dignified silver streaked old professor man comes along and tells you the exact same thing and suddenly it's the gospel? The Gospel According to Jude?"

"He's not old," I protested.

"Really?" Javi asked. "I just gave you some of my very best Norma Rae and what you got out of it was that he isn't old?"

"I'm sorry, Javi," I said. "It was very moving."

"Thank you."

"I'm A Rich Housewife Please Help Me Raise My Adopted Baby Who Wants to Be In Beauty Pageants and Redecorate My Gift Wrapping Room?"

"Isn't that what comes on at like 10 on Saturday nights? It's close enough."

"You're not wrong," I admitted, almost regretting the reality marathons I had put him through.

"So, I return to my original argument. What changed?"

"I don't know," I said. "It was just something about the way that he said I wasn't going to be a student for much longer and I should relax. You always think that I deserve to relax and have fun, but hearing him say it made it really sink in." Javi didn't respond and I looked at him. He was looking back at me with a knowing expression in his eyes. "What?" I asked.

"I know that look," he said.

"What look?"

"Like you're looking at a fresh glazed doughnut just out of the sticky sugar swimming pool."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Javi, I've told you before that my relationship with Jude is strictly professional."

"You've also told me that you weren't the one that took the last chocolate chip cookie out of the jar, but I didn't believe that, either."

"He's my professor. He's twice my age."

"And?"

I didn't want to have this conversation. I didn't want to face the emotions that I knew I was feeling or the attraction that was getting stronger. That wasn't why I took the position. It wasn't why I had been spending more time with Jude.

It wasn't.

"You never answered my question about the Halloween costumes."

Javi glared at me, trying to decide if he was going to call me out for changing the subject, then seemed to decide that it wasn't worth it and moved on.

"Well, since you had so ruthlessly rejected my invitation to go with me, I already picked my costume. So, unless you are going to go Tom Sawyer to my Huckleberry Finn, we're going to need to figure out something else for you."

"Huckleberry Finn?" I asked. "So, you're into literature now?"

"If by into literature you mean I am going to cover a bodysuit with purple balloons and strap a cardboard fin to my back, then yes, I am into literature now."

"Ah."

"What are we going to do about you?"

Javi took a step back and crossed one arm over his chest, resting one finger from the other hand on his lips as he scrutinized me. A thought suddenly popped into my head, but just as soon as it did, hesitation came over me.

"I might have an idea," I said. "But it's totally out of character."

Javi's eyes lit up.

"That's what Halloween is all about!" he gushed. "Being totally out of character and maybe just a little irresponsible."

"Well, I can't promise irresponsible. But what Jude said is really sticking with me."

"What do you mean?"

"When he said that I wasn't going to be a student for much longer."

Javi's finger fell away from his mouth and his eyes widened. I knew he knew exactly what I was thinking.

 

Friday night I stood in front of the full-length mirror in my bedroom questioning my decisions.

"You look amazing," Javi said. "Come on. We don't want to miss the costume parade."

I shot a glare in his direction.

"There's going to be a costume parade at this thing?" I asked.

"Not if I don't get there in time to start one. Come on."

I took a last glance in the mirror and tried to tug the hem of my short plaid skirt down to cover a little more of my thighs. My white stockings came up over my knees, but there was still a bit more space between the two than I would usually show. I was very aware of the scar on my upper thigh and I smoothed the fabric over it, hoping that the lighting at the party would be dim enough that it wouldn't be obvious if my skirt rose up enough to show it.

I felt Javi grab my wrist and start pulling me toward the door.

"You look amazing. Let's go."

We piled into my car and headed toward the address that Javi gave me. As we approached I realized that we were only a few blocks away from campus on one of the streets that were made up mostly of students packed tightly into the historic houses and converted garages. I pulled up in front of a house that was glowing with purple mood lighting and strewn with enough cotton webbing to house all the spiders in a three-mile area and looked at Javi.

"You go ahead," I said. "I just have to do something really fast. I'll be back."

"This is becoming a trend," he said. "I'm not sure I approve of it."

"It will just be a minute," I said. "You go show off your costume and get a few treats. I'll be back before people start popping your Huckleberries to see if you are wearing anything under them."

Javi agreed and climbed carefully out of the car. I watched until he had made his way onto the sidewalk and then turned, driving toward campus. I wanted to go to Jude's office and show him my costume. If he was going to be stuck inside doing work rather than celebrating, at least I could give him a good laugh.

The night was cooler than I had anticipated, and I scurried toward the building on precariously high heels, feeling the chill of the air on my exposed skin. Finally inside, I rode the elevator up to the right floor and approached Jude's door. It was open only a few inches and I peeked inside, keeping my costume concealed.

"Happy Halloween," I said.

Jude looked up from the desk.

"Hi, Veronica," he said. "Happy Halloween. What are you doing here?"

"I decided to take your advice and go to that party with Javi," I said.

"I'm glad. It will be good for you. But if you're going to the party, why are you here?"

"I wanted to show you my costume," I said. "I thought about what you said about me not being a student much longer, and I really took it to heart."

I pushed open the door and took a step into the office, opening my arms to reveal my schoolgirl costume. I was expecting Jude to laugh.

He didn't.

Instead, the smile melted from his face and his dark eyes became deep and velvety. He drew in a breath, the air expanding his chest. I saw his hand tighten on the top of the desk and the chill that I had felt on my skin running through the night air was gone.