Wrecked(87)

Richard returns her stare. “I don’t feel guilty.” What the hell? He glances at Haley. Who looks very uncomfortable.

“Jen,” Haley says. “Richard has an idea about why Jordan and Brandon Exley withdrew. Just hear him out, okay?”

Jenny shifts in her seat. For a moment, it looks like she might get up and leave.

“Okay,” she finally says.

He keeps it short and sweet and doesn’t spare himself. He recounts each conversation and shares his theory: Dean Hunt bluffed. He brought the guys individually into his office, told them he had enough to hang them with. Told them he’d do them a favor and give them a chance to escape with their records intact. Both went for it, believing the other had been the source of the damning information. Once they had officially withdrawn, the college had to drop the case.

Jenny is quiet after Richard finishes. She stares intently at the salt and pepper shakers on the table before she speaks.

“Why would Dean Hunt do that?” she finally asks.

“He thought they were scum and couldn’t figure out another way to get them out of here,” Richard says.

For the first time since they’d all sat, Jenny looks upset. “But if he believed me, why not take it to the committee? Throw them out that way. Get it on their records. Instead, they got off with nothing.”

“Maybe because he didn’t think the committee would throw them out,” Richard says, as gently as he can. He’s a little surprised he needs to spell this out for her.

“Because they wouldn’t believe me?” she says, the hard edge returning to her voice.

“He wanted a guarantee,” Richard says. He has no interest in debating who believes her and who doesn’t. “He wanted a win. Look, from the college’s point of view, this is the best possible outcome. You’re safe and the bad guys are gone . . . but with nothing for their alumni parents to complain about and no rape stat on MacCallum’s record.”

“But what about my point of view?” Jenny challenges.

“Honestly,” he says, “I get how this is disappointing for you, because you wanted to see justice done. But I also get that this probably saved you from the devastation of a ‘no sanction’ decision. I mean, wouldn’t it suck more if the committee found in Jordan’s favor and he and Exley were still prancing around here?”

To his left he sees Haley wince slightly. What? More offensive vocab? His choice of ‘prancing’? Or something else he completely doesn’t get?

Jenny doesn’t look particularly pleased, either. “So you’re telling me I’m supposed to be happy that Dean Hunt fixed everything?”

“I’m not telling you how to feel,” he answers without hesitation. “And I don’t for one minute think he fixed anything. I think this was broken beyond repair. But here’s what I do know.” He leans forward, his elbows on the table. “Dean Hunt believed you. I hope it helps. Knowing that.”

Jenny looks at Richard carefully. Whether she’s trying to decide whether to believe him or she’s gauging her own reaction, he can’t tell. Maybe she’s waiting for him to say more. Finally, when she realizes he’s done, she takes a deep breath and stands.

“It does. Help, that is. It’s not nearly enough, but it helps to think he believed me.” Jenny turns to Haley. “Thanks. You were right. This was . . . okay.” Her eyes rest briefly on Richard. “Thank you.” She shoulders her backpack—he’s startled by its size compared to her—and leaves the café.

Haley waits until the door closes behind Jenny to speak. “Not really impressed by the warmth of that exchange.”

Richard doesn’t respond right away. He feels wrung out.

“It was never going to end with a group hug,” he finally says. Haley punches him softly on the arm. “So I have to ask: what’s she going to do?”

“Do?”

“Will she stay at MacCallum?”

“That’s the most surprising part of this whole thing,” Haley says. “She refuses to go. Her parents think she should transfer. Her dad even threatened to pull her tuition, but she told him she’d get herself financially emancipated and take out massive loans if he tried it, so he backed off. At any rate, she’s staying. Res Life is making her a permanent Out--Houser, and her profs say she can get any extensions she needs for this semester.”

“That’s pretty cool,” Richard says.

“Yeah,” Haley agrees. She looks across the table at him, an expression he can’t quite read on her face. “Here’s what’s cool: you. Thanks for talking to her.”

She thinks I’m better than I am. It’s worrisome. The opportunities for disappointing her are vast.

Then again, it beats Carrie’s relentless underestimation of him. Hands down.

“So, am I to believe you now have a permanent single?” Richard grins at Haley. He watches as the blush makes its slow journey across her cheeks.





. . .


No.

She’s broken a heel clean off. At first she doesn’t understand her own steps, the lurching stumble of her own feet over cracked, winding sidewalks through the woods. When she does realize, she stops, looks. These aren’t her shoes.

“Oh no,” she breathes out loud. She doesn’t see the heel. She can’t find the heel. Tamra? Marliese? Whose shoes are these? Someone is going to be angry with her.