“So, the idea of impressment, although accepted in certain countries, was actually quite barbaric.” Professor Rowland stopped and looked around the lecture hall. “The impressment act was what allowed British navies to stake out American ships. When one got close enough, the British navy would raid the ship and take certain people off and make them sail for Britain and England. That would be like Ms. Chapman over in the next room coming in here and taking my best students so she would be able to raise her teaching evaluation with test scores. And the worst part? There wasn’t anything anyone could do about it.”
“Nothing?” Someone asked from the back.
“Nothing.” Professor Rowland repeated.
I pressed my lips together and finished scribbling the notes on impressment for the next test. I sighed and shook the cramps out of my hand as Mr. Rowland began talking again, this time about the Andrew Jackson elections in 1824 and 1828. People began shuffling around and I jerked my head up, looking at the clock. The hands boldly proclaimed the time- ten minutes until eleven. In other words, time for this class to be over. I quickly gathered up my things and glanced around. I started for the door when the voice of Professor Rowland stopped me.
“Miss Quinn? May I see you for a moment?”
I stopped and took a deep breath, dreading what this conference had to be about. Because I was a good student, teachers never wanted conferences with me unless I had done something wrong, I forgot to do something, or did something okay but that I could have done better on. I turned and walked down the stairs to the makeshift podium at the bottom of the stairs. “Mr. Rowland, whatever it is I did, I’m sorry and I’ll do my best to make it up in extra credit somehow.”
He stared at me as if I had grown another head before he gave a loud chuckle. “Why Miss Quinn, what makes you think you did something wrong?”
“Because teachers never want to see me unless I did something wrong.” I stifled a yawn. “So, what is it?”
“Briley, Briley, Briley. You did nothing wrong. In fact, I just wanted to give you a bit of news.” I raised my eyebrow. “You realize that you have made over a hundred percent on every test and assignment in here all semester, right?” I nodded a little. “I just wanted to make you aware that I have recommended you for the History Bowl.”
“Excuse me?”
“I recommended you for the History Bowl. Should you rank in the top three, you will receive a scholarship.”
“But I’m not a history major.”
“You are a history minor.”
“Oh...” I slowly let this news sink in. A smile slowly spread across my face. “And when is this?”
“That’s my girl! It’s in four months. Why don’t you give me a call tomorrow when I’m in my office...” Mr. Rowland handed me a business card with his office number on it. “... and we’ll set up some times when we can get in a few review sessions. That sound okay?”
“That sounds great! Thank you!” I exclaimed. Then, I realized it was almost noon. “Oh... I uh... have a thing... work,” I stammered in my excitement.
“Go, go...” Professor Rowland gave me a smile as I turned to run up the stairs. “And Briley?”
I stopped at the top of the stairs. “Yeah?”
“Congratulations!” The smile widened as I gave him a wave and ran through the doors. I dodged people left and right as I sprinted through the Arts and Science building on the campus of Texas Christian University. The Fort Worth sun beat down on me, making the sweat pour off of me as I ran. It was only a short five minute walk from the building to my dorm, but I was breathless. I panted as I ran up the stairs and burst into the room, my tired muscles thanking my roommate, Emily, for having the air conditioner up as high as she did.
I jerked the closet door open and searched for my white waitress uniform among all my clothes. When I didn’t find it, I turned the hamper over and began throwing clothes all over the room. “Whoa Silver!” Emily said with a laugh as she left the bathroom. “Where’s the fire?”
“No fire... work. Have you seen my uniform?”
“Um... Briley?”
“What?” I asked, not looking up.
“Briley?”
“What?” I didn’t look up.
“Briley, look at me.” I lifted my head. Emily pointed to the back of my desk chair. I lifted an eyebrow at her. “I took it upon myself to wash it for you. Briley, no offense, but you’d forget your head if it wasn’t attached.”
I sprang to my feet. “Oh thank you thank you thank you!” I hollered, throwing my arms around her neck in a hug. “I think I just fell in love with you!”
She held me at arms length. “I always knew I could give JC some competition.” She made some kissing noises at me before I pushed her away, laughing. “Now, get in there and take a shower. You really stink.”
I laughed as I turned and grabbed the clothes she had laid out for me. Once in the bathroom, I noticed she had already set my hair products, make up, and body glitter out on the counter. I smiled softly at my reflection in the mirror. Emily was right- I couldn’t survive without her. She was my support and best friend in the physical sense. Kelly couldn’t be here, her being a second semester sophomore at Ohio State, so I had to find a replacement for when we weren’t together. And Emily was it.
“Iced tea please,” one of them said.
“You go to TCU, don’t you?” The other asked. He gave me a smile. I had to admit, he was kind of cute. Had a strange resemblance to JC... and the actor Freddie Prinze, JR. I shook my head to clear my thoughts.
“Yeah... how did...” my voice trailed off.
“You’re in my Spanish class.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t pay attention in that class much.”
He laughed. “Who does?”
I smiled. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Oh, yeah...” he gave me a sheepish grin. “Mountain Dew?”
“You got it.” I turned to get the drinks, feeling their eyes on me the entire time. I practically ran back to the room where we prepared the drinks and slumped against the wall for a moment. “Wow...” I mumbled, fanning myself. I stood up straight as another waitress came into the room.
“Whoa girl, you got yourself a hottie out there!”
“Which one?” I asked, grabbing a glass and filling it with ice.
“Table seven, dark hair.”
“Really? I didn’t notice.” I hoped the lie was believable. Of course I had noticed. Anyone that doesn’t notice something that fine had to be blind.
She gave me a disbelieving smile. “Sure you didn’t.”
“I swear I didn’t.” I grabbed both glasses and headed for the door.
“Hey Bri!” I turned. “If you really didn’t notice... slip him my number...”
I gave her a smile. “And if I was about to notice?”
“Girl, everyone knows about you and that guy from ‘N Suck. Just give him my number!” She grabbed an order pad and scribbled her name and number on it. “Here... give it to him!” She insisted, pushing the paper at me.
I rolled my eyes and took it, walking back out to the table, holding the two glasses. “You gentlemen ready to order?”
“Kyle,” the JC look alike said.
“We don’t serve those here. You might want to try down the road at Planet Hollywood though.” I gave a halfhearted smile at my own joke.
“No, I meant... my name’s Kyle. You don’t have to keep referring to us as ‘sir’ or ‘gentlemen.’ If that’s okay with you, of course.”
I smiled at him. “All right... and you are...?” I turned to the other.
“Matt.”
“Okay then, Matt and Kyle. Are the two of you ready to order?” I wrote down what they wanted and as I turned to leave, caught sight of Melinda, the waitress from earlier, staring at me. I turned back to the table and hesitated a moment before I sat down next to Kyle. “You see that girl over there?” I pointed her out and he nodded. “Well, she thinks you are hot and wanted me to give you this.” I slid the paper with her number across to him. His hand rested on it for a brief moment before he slid it across to Matt.
“Maybe he could put it to some good use. Me, however, would much more appreciate YOUR number.”
I bit the inside of my cheek before replying. “That’s not too good of an idea.”
“Why isn’t it?” He asked, scooting closer to me. I jumped up before replying.
“Because, I’ve, kinda got a boyfriend.”
“Really? I’ve never seen you with anyone on campus.”
“Well, he doesn’t live here. And even if he did, he’d be gone alot because of his job.”
Kyle slowly nodded. “And let’s say that I was not asking for your number for romantic purposes.”
“And what other purposes would there be?”
“Platonic. Maybe we can study for Spanish sometime.”
“I don’t know...”
“Come on Briley... it’s nothing the boyfriend wouldn’t approve of. You can’t tell me he doesn’t let you have male friends. I’m just trying to a friend.”
Kyle was looking up at me with such sincerity, I couldn’t help but cave. And those hazel eyes... I gave an inward sigh and reached out for the paper with Melinda’s number. I tore it in half and quickly wrote my number on it. “Here.” He gave me an innocent smile. “Now, if you gent- Kyle and Matt- will excuse me, I have to get your order put in.”
I hurried to the room where the drinks were prepared to put the order in for production. Melinda ran up behind me. “So... did he take it?”
“As a matter of fact-” Melinda’s eyes lit up. “He didn’t.”
Her mouth dropped. “He didn’t want ME?”
“No... but, he gave the number to the other guy with him.”
“What’s his deal? Did he want YOUR number?” She laughed, as if she had made a joke.
“Actually, he did.”
“Oh.” She looked me up and down, trying to think of something to say. “Well, then... I... have to get back to work.” Melinda turned and ran out to the bar. I laughed a little to myself as I punched in the order. It was going to be a long evening.
“It means when I remember you.”
“Muy bien!” Professor Lopez turned to turn the CD player on. When someone finally decided to speak up about the title, we listened to the song and then, discussed it. Everyone grew quiet as the melody began. Even if we didn’t particularly like the girl, we all had to admit that Christina Aguilera had an amazing voice. Being interested in vocal performance, she was one of my role models vocally.
We listened to the song, tears springing to my eyes not necessarily because of the words, but because it was just a beautiful song. When it finished, Professor Lopez turned the player off. She began pacing the front of the room again. “What’s this song about?” She asked.
No one said a word. After a moment of silence, a familiar male voice spoke up. I turned to see Kyle sitting on the other side of the room, keeping his eyes on me. “She’s talking about how this guy broke up with her and left her broken hearted. She decided to try to move on by dating someone else, but the new guy, everything that he did, reminded her of her old boyfriend, which made the healing process even harder.”
“Very good Senor Gilliand! Someone has been paying attention!” He threw me a smile. I smiled back, just to be polite since his attention made me slightly uncomfortable. Professor Lopez glanced at her watch and sighed. “For Friday, make sure you are ready for that test. See you then.” Everyone gathered their things. I threw my backpack over my shoulder.
“Oomph!” Someone grunted. My eyes widened and I turned to see Kyle standing behind me. I gave him a sheepish smile.
“Oops...” I said apologetically. He waved it off as I left the room, him following close behind. “Ya know,” I began, turning to him. “I’m not the one who should be tutoring you. You should tutor me.”
“Promise not to tell anyone a secret?” I nodded. He leaned closer to me. “I have a friend from Panama who told me what that song means.” I began to giggle a bit, not realizing that he was serious. He stared at me.
“You’re serious?”
“As a heart attack.”
“Oh...” I replied, feeling slightly foolish. “I’m sorry. I just thought that you were kidding-”
“It’s okay...” He answered with a laugh. “I’m the big dork who let everyone believe I’m smart.”
I smiled at him, this time, a real smile. “Maybe you do need to be tutored.”
“Told ya so,” he said in a singsong voice, slinging an arm around my shoulders.
I pushed his arm off. “Whoa there Romeo.”
“What? I can’t even put my arm around a friend?” Kyle pouted, giving me a set of irresistible puppy dog eyes.
“Not when you wanted my number before you knew me,” I smiled at him with my reply.
“Well, what will it take before I’m on that level of being a friend?”
“A couple dinners maybe... I don’t know.”
“Then, let’s get started. What do you say to a coffee from Starbucks?” I opened my mouth to refuse when he cut in. “I’m paying.”
“Oh, fine.” Outside, I was acting like it was a big pain. Inside, I was rejoicing. Not that I wanted anything more from him than just a friendship, but still. Moments later, we were in the Starbuck’s on campus. That was just one of the many cool things about TCU.
We both got our latte’s, and we went to sit down at one of the tables inside the student center. “So, tell me about yourself,” Kyle began, leaning toward me as if he was truly interested in what I had to say.
“Tell you about me...” I mused thoughtfully. I wasn’t what you would call the best at talking about myself. While some could ramble on and on, it just wasn’t that way with me.
“Yeah, like, just start at the beginning.”
I raised my eyebrow in wonder. “My parents always say that I can remember conception.”
“Well, how about we skip that.” He gave a short laugh. “Tell me your deepest, darkest secrets.”
“I don’t think I have any.”
“Then, tell me about your boyfriend.” I tried to stop it, but wasn’t successful. The goofy grin spread over my cheeks. “Oh... looks like he’s a pretty special guy.”
“He is.” I thought for a moment. “Well, his name is Josh... we met in 1998, but have only been together since fall of 1999. We actually began dating because of our best friends.”
“I see, I see...”
“I don’t get to see him too often though. His job keeps him on the road. But when we are together, it’s like we’ve never been apart.” I looked up to see him staring at me, a small smile on his face. “Oh, listen to me. Going on and on about myself. What about you?”
“What about me?” He repeated with a playful grin.
“Any significant others to speak of?”
“Not recently. I gave up on this dating thing for awhile to get my head on straight. Besides, I had to wait until I started school here.”
“And why is that?”
“My dad works for Chrysler, and everytime I have a girlfriend who drives a foreign car, he gives her all kinds of crap about not parking in front of our house.” I began to laugh at his ‘please feel sorry for me’ expression.
“You poor thing. At least you HAD girlfriends. My best friend didn’t even date anyone until she met her current boyfriend when she was 17. No, scratch that. She was never even asked on a date.”
“Is she a dog or something?”
“No,” I said, knowing I sounded quite snooty. “She just had higher standards than what any of the guys from our high school fit. And she didn’t mind letting them know that they were below her.”
Kyle nodded. “Apparently, her now boyfriend isn’t below her.”
“Not at all.”
Kyle smiled. “Got any deep dark secrets?”
I shook my head. “You just aren’t giving up are you?” I laughed. “Nothing that you need to know.”
“Blah, blah, blah, nothing you need to know,” Kyle mimicked.
“You can really be a jerk.”
He gave me another smile. “What’s your major?”
“I get it. As soon as you are the one insulted we have to change the subject.”
“Yeah, that’s about the way it works. So, what’s your major?”
I laughed. “Architecture. However... I have this secret love...”
“I knew you had some deep dark secrets!”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s not a deep dark secret. I just love to sing. I would love to just be able to perform for people and have them love me for my voice.”
“Then why don’t you try for it?”
I shook my head. “My boyfriend works in that industry, and I can see that it’s not the easiest area to break into. It’s not that big of a deal. I’ll stand content in choirs and karaoke.” I paused. “And you?”
“Nothing that I know of.”
“Dork. I meant your major.”
“Oh! Pre-med.”
“Really? My best friend is pre-med. What area?”
“I was thinking about anesthesiology. Seemed interesting enough. And enough money, of course.”
“Of course.”
The silence that fell between us was deafening. “Are you doing anything this evening?” Kyle asked, twirling the whipped cream on top of his latte with a straw.
“Homework. It’s called the life of a college student.”
He laughed. “Maybe I should try it sometime.” He paused, acting as if he was thinking. “Nah. I’ll ruin my rep as a dumb jock.” I gave him a questioning look. “I play football.” I nodded in interest. “So, seriously, what are you doing this evening?”
“I told you. Homework.”
He shook his head. “I can’t just let you sit in your dorm doing homework.”
“Yes you can. And yes you will.”
“No, no, no. Listen, I have a few friends that are getting together this evening. Just eating some pizza, watching movies. Ya know, just hanging out. You do that on occasion, don’t you?”
“On occasion,” I replied with a hint of sarcasm in my voice.
“Thought so. Why don’t you come along?”
“Kyle, you just don’t give up, do you?”
“I won’t until I know you are busy tonight. Please?” He gave me those puppy dog eyes again.
“Fine,” I answered with a pout. I wasn’t happy at the prospect of spending the evening with him. Had I been able to, I would have strangled him then and there. Okay, so it wasn’t even the prospect of spending the evening with him that I wasn’t happy about. The answer was quite simple... I loved JC. But I didn’t trust myself with Kyle.
* * * *
“And where are YOU going?” Emily asked, looking over her shoulder, not once ceasing her typing on her laptop. I pulled a white, low cut, quarter sleeved shirt from the closet and pulled it on over my khaki shorts. I slipped my feet into a pair of white canvas shoes and began pulling my hair back.
“Out.”
“To?”
I spun to face her. “Must I ask your permission, mommy?”
Emily looked taken aback. “I’m sorry. I just... I’m sorry.” She lowered her head and went back to her homework.
I sighed and went over to her, wrapping my arms around her neck. “Babe, I’m sorry... I’m just stressed out and tired... and really confused about a few things.”
She patted my hand. “It’s okay. You know I love you.” I smiled at her and went back to pulling my hair up. “Oh my gosh!” She exclaimed out of nowhere. I raised my eyebrows at her in the mirror. “You met a new guy!” I avoided her gaze. “What about JC?”
“First off, yes, I did met a new guy. BUT... we’re friends. And only friends. JC still is and always will be the number one man in my life, y’hear?”
“Who is he?”
“You don’t know him.”
“Try me,” Emily shot back.
“Kyle Gilliand.”
“Oh my God! I know exactly who that is! Why else do you think I go to football games as religiously as I do?” I shrugged as the clock on her computer caught my eye.
“I have to go now.” I jumped up and grabbed my purse. I had opened the door and stepped out when Emily called after me. “What?”
“Don’t forget JC.”
He began pouring shots, giving them out. He shoved a can of beer into my hands. I stared down at it for a moment. “YEAH!” Kyle yelled as he tipped his head back and took a shot of Southern Comfort. I looked down at the can again and set it down on the coffee table in front of me next to the half eaten pizza.
“What’s a matter?” Kyle asked as he threw himself onto the couch next to me.
“Nothing. I just don’t drink.”
He stared at me for a moment. “So you are one of those little goody goody church girls who thought that by going to a Christian university, you could stay away from this stuff.” I didn’t answer. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you that if you want the wildest parties, go to a Christian school?”
“I knew that. I just thought it would be easier to avoid since no one talks about it.”
“You’ve never had anything to drink, have you?” I didn’t answer. “Come on.” He pulled on my arm and drug me over to the table where the guy was still pouring shots. They slammed a glass down in front of me. The room grew quiet and everyone stared at me, waiting for me to take the shot.
I reached for, noticing that my hands were trembling. I picked it up and as luck would have it, the glass slipped out of my hands and crashed to the floor, shattering the glass and spilling the liquor everywhere. “Oh darn,” I said as I turned and pushed my way through the crowd. I ran through the house until I came to the front door.
I went outside and sat down on the porch swing, pulling out my cell phone and dialing my room number, hoping Emily was there. She picked up on the second ring. “Emily! Thank God you are there. You have to come pick me up.”
She sighed. “Where are you?” I read the name of the street to her and the house number. “I’ll be there in ten.” With that, she hung up. I strolled to the end of the driveway to wait for her. I knew coming here this evening was a big mistake. I just wish I wasn’t too stubborn to listen to my common sense and intuition.
“Well, good morning Miss Mary Sunshine!” JC’s voice came through the receiver.
“JC!” I exclaimed, now much more awake than before.
“Of course it’s me. Who were you expecting?”
“Ky- Kelly.”
“Kelly?”
“Yeah. She likes to call at ungodly hours of the day. She once explained it as being that since she can’t sleep at night, I shouldn’t either. I don’t understand why she can’t call Lance and bug him instead.”
“Oh, she does. Trust me. She does.”
I laughed. “So, what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”
“What? I can’t call up my best girl just because?”
“Not at seven in the morning you can’t.”
“You’re right. I have a reason. I was just wondering if you’ve forgotten what today is.”
“It’s Thursday, why would I-” my voice trailed off as I looked at the calendar on the wall in front of me. “You’re here! Oh my gosh! You guys are performing in Dallas tonight!”
“Yeah. You forgot, didn’t you?”
“No! Of course not!”
“Briley, I can tell. You forgot me.” He sniffed.
“Fine, yes. I forgot. I’m sorry. It’s been a tough term so far.”
“I know. It’s all right. I forgive you.” We sat in silence for a moment. “You’re coming out to see me, right?”
“Of course! I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“I miss you baby.”
“Aww... I miss you too.”
Static crackled over the line. “Honey, I got to go. I’ll call you from the venue, okay?”
“Sure. Later.” I hung up the phone and went to my closet to decide on what to wear. I knew the air conditioning in the venue would be up really high in preparation for all the bodies that would be crammed in there later in the evening. I finally decided on a pair of hip hugger shorts and a black tank top that showed off the tan I had acquired quite well. I pulled the shorts on and right as I hooked my bra, there was a knock on the door. A few of the girls on my floor stopped by quite often, so I opened the door without thinking.
“Whoa, what a welcome.” I turned to see Kyle standing in the doorway. I hurriedly grabbed the tank top and held it over my chest.
“I was expecting someone else.” He didn’t move. “Do you mind?” I made a twirling motion with my finger, indicating I wanted him to turn around. He gave me a cocky grin and turned.
“You know, Briley,” he started once I told him it was okay. “I feel really bad about what happened last night. I was hoping I could make it up to you.”
“How do you expect to do that?” I crossed my arms.
“Well, I was thinking...” and before I could object, he grabbed me by the shoulders and placed his lips on top of mine.
