Hadrian's Wall (42 page)

“Well, if they want to be goths, punks,
metal heads, or whatever else there is going on nowadays, it’s
their problem,” intervened a third girl—a blonde.

“She’s the one snooping around into people’s
privacy. And now she’s dressed like that...” said the formerly
monotone girl felt, finally encouraged to say something bad about
the girl in black. “We’re also new on the block, so don’t forget
it. Nobody likes strangers who stick their noses where they don’t
belong.”

Ouch!
This last comment sounded like a rebuke...
a
nd in public!
As expected, the girl in black became irritated.

“Shut up!” she said. “You’ll want to
announce my top-secret activities over a loud speaker, don’t
you?”

“How secret can your activities be, baby?”
The formerly monotone voice became monotone again. “We’ve already
ventured by your ‘Area 51’ a long time ago.”

The girl in black made a huge “O” with her
mouth. “I don’t believe you invaded my room!”

Oops!

“Yo! The door was wide
open, Delilah. We didn’t have to break in to see your coffin. We’re
not sure how Keyra allowed you bring that thing into the
boarding house!
”

The two girls forgot they
had an audience and were discussing things for real—and everyone
forgot about me.
Fantastic!

“Hey! You can you two stop it?” interjected
the tan boy. “You two look like dog and cat! Let’s forget the
conspiracy theories, okay? Otherwise, the new girl will think we’re
all just nutty.

Who me? No way!

15

PANSIES

The group approached me with Delilah in the
lead. I held my breath. The girl in black was just a bit taller
than me. She had dark brown hair which was very short and
bristling. Her eyes were also dark, but bright, naughty, and
smeared with heavy makeup matching perfectly with the full pointed
black fringes of her clothes that fluttered when she moved. She
seemed to be in perpetual motion, gesturing all the time, causing
her to look like she was spinning and floating like a character out
of a Tim Burton movie. I noticed that she had unusually small
hands—pudgy...like the hands of a child or a madonna.

“I’m Delilah Key,” she introduced herself,
extending her little hand to me in graceful formality. “This is
Nikos Tripopoulos. If you haven’t noticed, it’s a Greek name.”
Delilah gave her companion a measured look from top to bottom,
seeming proud to be able to say the complicated name with ease. “In
fact, he is Greek from head to toe.”

“I’m not,” Nikos interrupted, glancing at
me. I’m American. My parents are Greek.” He seemed bored, like this
discussion was something old between them. Nikos also extended his
hand to me. “Nice to meet you. Call me Nik. I come from
Philadelphia. My parents have a travel agency there. I’m here for
the journalism course.”

I returned the handshake, while Delilah
wrinkled her nose, chiding Nik. “Woe, my! Do you always provide
your police arrest record on the first date?”

Nik leered at her and took revenge. “This
annoying girl came from Michigan. She thinks she will be a great
fashion designer. Dressed that way, I think there’s no way!”

“I will be, asshole. These clothes are part
of a scientific experiment.” She abruptly turned to me and said,
“I’m working on a project—fashion within the urban tribes.

The Greek guy interrupted her. “Conspiracy
theory!” he mocked her in a friendly way. Everyone laughed except
the girl in black.

“I know how the fashion industry works,” she
said, unfazed.

Regaining control of the introductions, she
focused on the next guy. “This is David.”

“Martin,” the boy completed his own name.
“I’m from Frankfort, Illinois. I intend to major in American
History.”

“Okay,” said Delilah, “interrupting him.
That’s Sally, Ms. Know-it-all of the fastest cars on the planet.
She’d going to do mechanical engineering.”

The redhead stepped
forward. She had short curly hair and thousands of freckles dotting
her upturned nose. She was wearing jeans dungarees, old and
oversized, obviously trying for “tomboy look”; however, she hugged
me warmly.
Whew!
That was something I didn’t expect.

“That’s how you welcome visitors in Oregon?”
Delilah’s tone was acidic.

Sally stuck her tongue out at her.

“Welcome to the house of
freshmen. I’m Sally Benson and I come from
Idaho
, not Oregon.” She made a point
of emphasizing the name while casting a look of disdain at
Delilah.

“Small potatoes.” Delilah rolled her eyes as
she grabbed the arm of a blonde girl. “This one is Abby.”

“Hi! I’m Abigail Haines.” The girl seemed
very friendly and relaxed. She wore glasses with a shocking pink
frame. I briefly shook the hand that she offered me. “Everyone
calls me Abby.”

“That’s exactly what I said, wasn’t?”
Delilah intervened peevishly. “Abby also came from Michigan. Can
you believe that we’re both from Bloomfield Hills. It’s a very
small, quiet town... Isn’t that funny? We lived in the same town
for eighteen years, we studied at the same school, but we only met
each other two weeks ago when we arrived in Hadrian’s Wall. That’s
what I call fate!”

“And I call it a ‘communion between two
catastrophes’!” Sally muttered in a provocative tone, but Delilah
paid her no attention. Now that the “spotlight” was on her, she
wouldn’t allow anything to interrupt her performance for any
reason.

“...and already we feel like we’re already
great friends.” Delilah kept talking while she wrapped her arms
around Abby. They both laughed like mischievous accomplices and did
a couple of short hops.

“Ha! Ha!” Sally imitated the two girls with
an expression of displeasure.

Nik gently touched Sally’s shoulder. Sally
rolled her eyes, but restrained herself.

“Oh, that guy you saw leaving here, the
anti-social dude...” Delilah said in a confidential tone. “His name
is Derek Spencer. He will study classical music. In fact...he’s a
terrific pianist! They said that he’s a prodigy! I thought it was
an exaggeration, but when I heard him play the first time, I had to
acknowledge that he’s awesome!”

“Yeah, I’m already tired of hearing the
scales, in the morning, every single day,” said Nik.

“Bad luck, man! You got the bedroom next to
the music room,” David lamented supportively.

“Spencer and Preston. Dwayne Preston...”
Abby rolled her tongue to speak the name. “He’s not here now, but
he’s pretty hot! Both are pianists, you know, and...” She was
animated and didn’t realize that the boys were rolling their
eyes.

“But Dwayne hates classical music,” Delilah
interrupted Abby’s speech. “His business is pop music, rap, hip
hop...those things. Since the day we arrived, those two have been
embroiled in competition for ‘possession’ of the piano. The dispute
ended when Keyra convinced them to make a relay scale. She knows
how to be pretty convincing when she wants.”

Everyone laughed. There was something in the
air here that made me wonder just how convincing Keyra could be. I
imagined her with a shotgun in hand and ended up laughing with
them. When the laughter died, everyone turned and looked at me
expectantly.

The moment of the truth! My throat suddenly
closed.

“Well, I’m Melissa Baker. I come from
Dailey’s Crossing, New Hampshire. I plan to attend the arts
course.”

They remained silent. What? Did I forget
some important detail?

Prompted by the awkward silence, David
commented, “Cool! White Mountains, hey? Do you like to go mountain
climbing?

I shook my head. “No, not really.”

The silence returned. The boys exchanged a
few glances with the girls. As I remained mute, Abby could not
resist and pulled the thread. “We only knew that a new girl was
coming here...and that you’re a friend of the all-mighty family!”
Her comment was inappropriate despite her humorous tone of voice.
Even Delilah gave her a reproachful look.

I don’t know why I was so deeply
embarrassed. Maybe because I was starting to realize where the
implications that my friendship with Adrian would lead.

Delilah gave Abby a poke in the ribs with
her elbow. The blonde looked at her friend without understanding.
“All we know is that you came to HW before most of us,” Delilah
said, grudgingly. “We heard that you were attending an art workshop
in the Summer Session of UWall and you just decided take advantage
of your spare time to enjoy the attractions of the Mountain of
Polish Man.”

“Apparently you got lost and had an
accident,” Nik added, as if urging me to confirm the
information.

At that moment, I wanted to
disappear in shame. I spent a few very uncomfortable moments trying
to think of something appropriate to say, but then Adrian appeared
out of nowhere and everyone seemed to forget me. The boys just
stared at him, fascinated, but the girls...well, they literally
devoured him with their eyes.
Humpf!
My relief at being saved had
evaporated.

“Hi, everyone!” He greeted them all. He
seemed very relaxed, but his eyes were watchful.

“Hiiii...” the group responded in unison,
their voices sounding insecure, almost inaudible.

I looked at Abby and I
almost fell over laughing. She was literally frozen—eyes bulging,
mouth open, and outstretched hand on her chest as if she was
face-to-face with a pop star. Delilah also looked astonished, but
unlike her friend, she managed to keep a straight face. Her eyes
shifted back and forth from Adrian to me as if to evaluate our
reactions.
Why?

When he led me away, the boys looked at each
other, as well as the girls. The situation made me feel
uncomfortable...and angry. I’m sure they believed that we are
romantically involved. Of course, it would be nice if people think
that we’re dating. Nicer if it were true, but it wasn’t nice that
they thought I was getting some advantage because of him and I was
suspicious that this was the case.

Adrian wasted no time. He took me straight
to the garden. There was determination in his posture. He seemed to
have something important to say to me, but first I had some
questions.

“So this is my new address?”

“Yes,” he replied, not realizing how
disappointed I was.

Deep down, I expected him to take me to see
his home. I would be working with the great patriarch and
eventually I would need access to his personal library. I imagined
that the Cahills would kindly offer to host me—not that I would
accept, but I cherished the notion that at least the offer would be
made. Never mind! How pretentious! When Mrs. Newton and then
Charity told me that no one outside the clan was allowed to enter
the property, I imagined that they would not deny me that
privilege, but I was wrong.

But on second thought, maybe it was better
that way. I couldn’t stand a buzz on the campus. I mean, if by
chance the people thought that a girl like me—no family and no past
was living with the most eligible bachelor in town. People might
consider me old-fashioned, but I had a reputation to protect. I had
two things that were extremely important to me that wanted to
preserve at all costs: my integrity and my independence.

Aside from the issue of gossip, there was
the fact that everyone would want to hear a detailed description of
the Cahill’s house. Maybe they’d even try to convince me to take
pictures surreptitiously. I was sure that they wouldn’t leave me
alone until I told them all about the lifestyle of the Cahill
family.

Judging by the commotion caused by the
Adrian’s presence when we arrived, I’d always be walking on
eggshells. I’d have to be vigilant not to let slip any information
that would be damaging to his privacy. However, Delilah and her
friends did not look like they would give up easily. I’d be in the
spotlight for a long time and that would not be cool.

Adrian may have thought about all this when
he decided not to take me to his house. He may have wished to
protect me from the excessive exposure to which I would be
subjected. After all, HW is a small town. If that were the case, I
would be forever grateful to him and I would feel more attracted
than I already was by his complex personality. But, what if he just
wanted to keep a safe distance from me for some obscure reason?

Well, there were worse
hypotheses that I should not ignore. He could have a girlfriend. I
know he said he was not dating, but what if his concept of what
constitutes dating was different than mine? Casual dating, perhaps?
A lover?
That’s a nasty little
word.
What if he lied about not be dating
just to get my sympathy? That would make him a playboy...a
womanizer. However, I didn’t see him that way. Adrian wasn’t the
“rich, spoiled, and bored” type who was always playing with the
lives of people just to add some excitement to his own.

Yeah, girl...Happens that sometimes
appearances can be deceiving!

No. He wouldn’t have been
so concerned about my well-being just to play with my
feelings.
It makes no sense!
It would be a lot of work just to get moments
of...w
hat? Pleasure?
Moments that he certainly could more easily get with more
experienced and stunning women than me.

He could confusing pity
with interest...o
r I could be mistaking
his pity with some major interest
. Whatever
the hypothesis closer to reality, the fact is that there was a big,
a huge possibility that Adrian doesn’t want me for real. He might
be thinking that his mission was accomplished. In this case, I
would be eternally grateful...
and my heart
would break into a million pieces!