Wrecked(32)

“So, what did Jordan say to you?” Richard plucks at the thin plastic covering the treat.

Haley’s head snaps up. She looks startled. “What?”





. . .


The house begins to fill.

“Hey, you started without us!”

“Catch up, man.”

“Exley, you’re a genius.”

It’s the party before the party. The rev--your--engines part. The bring--it part. The part where they prepare themselves for whatever and anything and everything the night offers.

It’s almost enough. Almost.

. . .





13





Haley


“What?” Haley exclaims. Jordan? It’s like Richard’s Tasered her with the name.

Richard is having trouble with the cellophane on his Rice Krispies Treat. They pretty much shrink--wrap them for freshness.

“My housemate,” he says. “His name’s Jordan. I thought he said something to you just now.” He tries pulling, but the plastic won’t rip.

She reaches across the table and grabs it from his hands. She slides a finger beneath the folds of plastic wrap, plucks the treat free, and holds it out to him.

“Thanks,” he says, accepting it from her. He takes a bite.

“Jordan,” she repeats. “I always thought that was a girl’s name.”

“Could be both,” he says. “I like names that cut both ways. You know, non – gender specific? Taylor. Ryan. Francis. Although with Francis, you have to change the spelling.”

“I’ve never met a guy named Francis.”

“Frank,” he tells her. “Every Frank’s a Francis.” He takes another bite. “You’re right: these are good.”

“What’s Jordan’s last name?” she asks. Casually, she hopes. There could be more than one Jordan on a campus, right?

“Bockus,” he says. “Why?”

Shit. This isn’t happening. Never, in all Haley’s sort--of dealings with guys, has it been this easy. Like she’s known him forever. Once she’d gotten over the nerve--racking attractiveness of Richard Brandt (usually these sorts of crazy good looks mess with her, making her say even more stupid things), being with him is so comfortable. Like pulling on a pair of favorite, stretched--out jeans.

Except these jeans live in the same house as Jenny’s rapist.

Hang out with Jenny’s rapist.

“No reason,” she says. “I just ask random questions. Can’t you tell?” She smiles at him.

Richard isn’t buying it. “Did he say something rude to you?”

“Not at all. He just surprised me. As I passed him, he sort of leaned in and said, ‘Watch out for that guy, he’s a smart one.’ ”

Richard glances away from her. Drums his fingers on the table.

“Why? Is he the rude comment sort?”

“He thinks he’s funny.”

“But you don’t?”

“Let’s just say I’m not a fan,” he says. He breaks off another piece of treat but doesn’t put it in his mouth.

“Must be a drag to share a house with someone you don’t like.”

Don’t say you like him. Please please don’t say you like him.

Richard hesitates before answering her. When he does, he looks into her eyes. “He’s mostly just annoying. He was on my freshman hall, and when he and some guys applied to live in Taylor, they needed one more person and asked me. I figured, great house, I’ll have a single. I just wasn’t prepared for the level of partying, and when we got sanctioned, my parents were really upset about the fines.”

“Was it a lot?”

“A lot for us. I mean, I don’t tutor math because it’s fun; it’s my work--study job. But some of these other guys? Like Jordan? His parents just toss cash his way. I don’t think he even works during the summers.”

Haley is quiet. She’s only had one sort--of summer job herself. Part--time, scooping ice cream at the local stand in her town. She’s always been too busy attending soccer camps to commit to a real job. Her parents pretty much cover everything, including her books and spending money.

“Well. I’m glad you tutor math,” she says. This brightens the expression on his face.

“I don’t mean to be negative,” he says. “There’s just . . . a lot of money at this school. It surprised me. Not only because I’d never known people with this much money, like, parents who run hedge funds sort of thing, but because it sets a bar for what you do. It affects who you hang out with. Like, you don’t drink craft beer if you can only afford Natty Lite.”

“And Taylor is full of craft beer guys?”

“With the occasional barrel of Everclear thrown in for fun.”

I drank some stuff at a party and it really hit me.

Haley can’t help it. She not only hears Jenny, she sees her. Jenny--Mouse, toddling off to some crowded house party in the woods. Older guys ladling red cups with god--knows--what from a barrel.

Was Richard there that night?

She has to go. She needs to think.

She’s barely touched her Rice Krispies Treat. She rewraps it and tucks it in her pack for later.