Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Elizabeth Housman
There’s a park near JJ’s apartment where we both enjoy people watching for inspiration. On this unseasonably warm early May day, I’m perched on a picnic table, sketching the split oak near the road while he busies himself interrupting me.
“You are going to the party tonight, right?”
Shifting to avoid wood splinters, I smooth down my jean shorts. “That’s the plan.”
He’s been flipping through one of my sketchbooks, telling me which pieces he wants. I humor him by agreeing, fully intending to keep them for Eric.
“Turns out yours truly is attending now.”
“Huh. Are you being bribed?”
JJ is more at home shoeless, in mismatched, oversized clothing, his hair unkempt. My mom would call him a hippie.
I find him lovable. One of my best friends, he and I share an affinity for all things art related.
“Hardy har. I’m going on a fact-finding mission of sorts.”
“Oh? Do tell… does it have anything to do with a certain painting disappearing and then magically reappearing?” No matter how many times JJ and Eric tell me to let it go, I can’t.
It’s been a week. Every day, I slip away to check on it. When the real painting turned up back in the chapel, I realized the thief’s goal wasn’t the actual painting. Maybe they were trying to get something from it.
Yesterday, I asked Dr. Fraine if the painting could be displayed in the Great Hall foyer under lock and key. It’s far too valuable to sit out in the open the way it has been, even with the chapel closed right now.
“Can’t you just accept that you were mistaken, Biz? It makes no sense for someone to steal it and then bring it back.”
He places a handful of grape-flavored candies in front of me.
Now who is being bribed?
He really wants to stop hearing about this from me.
Why, exactly?
“Hey JJ, do you remember freshman year when Gentry Hobbs died in a freak accident on the archery course? Someone started the rumor that he was killed by a secret organization of students on campus.” I pop a candy into my mouth, watching his reaction.
JJ, Eric, Aaron, Henry… I’m starting to connect the dots, and the suspicions are getting harder to ignore. How many of my friends and classmates are keeping secrets? Or worse… hiding something truly terrifying?
His grimace is gone quickly, but I catch it.
“Boy, you have one hell of an imagination. I remember hearing he was told to handle his bow a certain way, but he didn’t listen. It had nothing to do with a conspiracy.”
“Huh. Okay.” I lean in slightly. “Do you remember sophomore year when Jennifer Hollister swore she saw a group of students sneaking into the Great Hall the night before one of the Regents found threats in his office? Then she disappeared from school the next week?”
“Not at all. She was in the Hamptons last summer.” He frowns at me. “What’s with all these questions, Biz?”
“Hmm… no reason.” I tap my pencil against his leg. “Are you bringing a date to the party?”
He just laughs at me, keeping his options open as usual.
I try to let go of the questions bothering me. It doesn’t mean I’ll stop asking them, but it’s too nice a day to start an argument with JJ.
Eric walking Scooby lifts my mood right away. I just can’t look at him calmly. He’s so beautiful… downright intoxicating.
JJ says goodbye, telling me he has pre-party errands. It looks more like an excuse to avoid Eric. He barely mumbles to him in passing.
I abandon my drawings, pulling Eric toward the rope swing past a horseshoe sand pit. We pass a group of teenagers starting a basketball game, their boombox blasting music.
As I sit on the swing, the sprinklers come on.
Water droplets spray my legs as Scooby yips in excitement, trying to chase the spout.
“I love this song,” Eric says when U2’s With or Without You starts to play on the radio.
I can’t help laughing at Scooby chasing his tail. I bend forward to toe the ground, moving the swing. Eric pulls back on the ropes.
“I’ve got this… stop kicking your legs, Biz. Let me push you.”
He sings along, “‘...slight of hand and twist of fate, on a bed of nails she makes me wait… with or without youuu…’ “
I twist to my side to look at him. My love.
He gives me his cocked smile, highlighting the dimple in his cheek… my God, he’s beautiful. My heart clenches in my chest, a sudden feeling of unease spreading through me.
A sense our time is limited.
He lets go of the rope of the swing as he runs a hand through his dark hair, winking at me. “Biz, why are you looking at me like that?”
Keeping my misgivings about what he’s been doing to myself, I shake my head. “Just thinking about how lucky I am to have someone who loves me like you do.”
He pulls the rope to stop the swing, leaning down to kiss me. I almost choke on my grape candy as his tongue tangles with mine.
When we come up for air, I study his eyes. There’s turmoil rolling through them. Just mere days ago, I would have told anyone who would listen that Eric wasn’t capable of deception.
I don’t want to be proven wrong.
By the time we pull up to the Amherst estate, I’m ready to crawl out of my skin.
Leave it to the devil incarnate, Aaron, to hitch a ride with us.
I can’t scrape away the memory of his cocky smirk when he came out of his room, putting on his cufflinks.
Eric could see the disappointment on my face, but he told me Aaron’s date bailed. Smart girl.
Eric climbs out of the Rolls Royce, holding a hand out to me. I carefully tuck the train of my gold beaded gown close to my leg. As I turn to follow Eric’s lead out of the car, Aaron’s hand brushes over mine.
I almost trip stepping onto the pavement.
He moves close, whispering, “You’ll be the most beautiful woman here.”
I don’t turn or acknowledge that I heard him. He’s toying with me. One minute being rudely derogatory, and the next, almost flirting.
He’s probably trying to get a reaction so he can tell Eric. To break us up.
Staying close to Eric, I hold his arm as we ascend the stone steps covered by a green and gold runner. Towering flower arrangements line the stairs.
I’m in awe of the spectacle. A quartet is positioned next to a grand piano, playing a sweeping sonata.
People are everywhere, dressed in their finest. I do a double take when I spot an actor whose posters hung on my childhood bedroom walls, then turn to see an internationally famous singer laughing at a joke a television talk show host is telling.
Eric’s arm is pulled away by one of the Regents to speak with an alumnus, and I’m left gaping at the room of glitz and glitter.
Aaron sidles up next to me.
Waitstaff circulate with flutes of champagne and hors d'oeuvres topped with caviar. I politely decline it all, terrified I’ll spill on myself, the impeccable furnishings, or one of the other guests. Hell, I may end up wanting to toss a drink in Aaron’s face… the night is young.
My attention tends to be pulled toward artwork wherever I am. This is no different.
I step closer to a painting I’ve never seen before titled Santa Maria del Fiore by Filippo Brunelleschi. I frown, confused. He was a well-known sculptor and architect during the Renaissance, not a painter. I lean in closer to examine it when Aaron grabs my hand.
I’m quick to pull it back.
“No thank you. We’re not doing that.”
His response is that smirk I want to wipe off his face every time I see it.
“You were the one who told Eric about The Divinities painting being in the chapel,” I force myself to look him in the eye. It’s hard to do when he’s so skilled at pulling me in.
“How hard is it for you to just drop something when you’re told to?” he asks before taking a drink of his champagne.
“Maybe as hard as it is for you to be decent.”
I look around, searching for Eric, Henry, Amy or JJ. I’d even beeline it to one of the Regents. The longer I’m stuck next to him, the worse this tension grows.
What catches my attention is Robert Waverly stationed at the top of the double staircase, watching the door. I follow his gaze to JJ, looking dapper in his tux beside the entrance, distracted by… why is he tracking Birman Donovan’s movements near another doorway?
What’s going on now?
Did Aaron tag along to babysit me while they search the Amherst estate for something? I can’t see Eric anywhere.
I don’t bother to say a word as I slip between groups of people to confront JJ.
“Don’t you look devastating,” he coos as I pull him a hug.
“You clean up well,” I tell him, stepping back slightly.
He pulls his collar away from his neck, coughing lightly, shifting from one foot to another. His eyes roam the room before he nods toward Robert.
“Top secret mission? Something to do with a painting from Rockefeller’s collection?” Come on. They’re not trying very hard to cover it, not when I’m picking up this weirdness from them lately.
“Mmm? Let’s dance, shall we?” He sweeps me away from the door into the ballroom off the foyer, where a band plays a rendition of Alone by Heart.
I close my eyes, resting my head on JJ’s chest, feeling his pounding heart and slight tremble on my cheek. Whatever he’s up to, it has him nervous. His hand rests on my neck, his tender caress bringing tears to my eyes.
This should be Eric… I should be spending my evening with him, but he’s disappeared.
A massive chandelier, lowered from the vaulted, gold-plated dome ceiling, sends prisms of light dancing over JJ’s face. He doesn’t let himself look directly at me. I don’t even try to speak to him over the music and the din of loud discussions from the tables surrounding the dance floor.
Mid-spin, my eyes lock on Aaron being dragged by the arm onto the dance floor by a leggy blonde in a low-cut, black velvet dress.
He’s staring right at me. Not once during the song does he focus on his partner, his eyes remaining on me.
My chest and face flush hot. Damn him… I don’t like how provoked my entire being is by him.
JJ catches on as we break away, and polite applause resounds for the band. He looks between us chewing on his lip.
I’m saved from having to explain when Eric lays a hand on my shoulder from behind, “Thanks for keeping Biz company. Dr. Fraine needs a word with you.”
The silent auction doesn’t start for an hour, but I already want to leave.
Besides Aaron’s behavior, Eric’s acting strangely, and JJ is nervous as hell… something isn’t adding up.
“He does?” JJ asks before fidgeting with his bowtie. “Uh… yeah, okay.”