The Long Winter #35
Fortunate Daughter part seven
Only one person inhabited the art classroom. She worked at her easel, diligently applying paint in short, swift strokes, seemingly oblivious to the storm raging outside the windows. Delaney knew she was a girl because, even though the painter’s dark hair was cut short as a boy’s, she showed off her pleasing hourglass shape with a skin-tight tank top and hip-hugging jeans. Delaney glanced around, taking a moment longer than truly necessary when her eyes reached the painter, and turned to leave.
“Your buddy skedaddled an hour ago,” the painter said, stopping Delaney in the threshold. She turned around, her big doe eyes smiling up at the redhead. “You’re buddies with Nadine Dow, right?”
“She’s my friend.”
“Yeah. She skedaddled an hour ago. Something about meeting a friend of hers. I assumed it would have been you.”
“I got held up.” Delaney felt her guard come up. There was no reason to tell this pretty girl she had been stuck in a lecture Shawn felt the need to deliver unto her regarding the merits of always walking across campus in the dark with a friend.
“For an hour?”
“I’m only 15 minutes late. I texted her.”
“She was already gone. Poor you, I guess.” The girl turned back to her painting.
“I’m sorry I bothered you.”
“It’s no bother.” The girl turned back. “I’m Lin, by the way.”
“Delaney.”
“I recognize you…”
“Yeah. I’ve become sort of famous these days…”
“You were the one going out with that unicorn, weren’t you?”
“Unicorn?”
“That fascist lesbian who goes to the Institute.”
“Fascist?”
Lin laughed, a low-key sort of laugh like she was sharing a secret joke with a friend. Delaney frowned back. They were not friends. At least not yet.
“All right. Maybe that’s a little harsh. But she does go to the Institute, and she is from Port Matthew. Both places have that reputation, you know.”
“I guess…” Delaney approached Lin. She was pretty, something like Penny with her darker complexion and exotic dark eyes. But different. Softer in her curves. More womanly. And she looked up at Delaney with intrigue in her big, doe eyes.
“You’ve been spending some time with Shawn.”
“I have.”
“Hm. She’s something else. But she won’t steer you wrong.” Lin turned back to her painting. The wind rattled the windows. Delaney was in no rush to leave the building. She stood at Lin’s shoulder and watched her paint.
“She’s been nice to me, but she comes on strong.”
“Heh. That’s one way of putting it.”
“Her words,” Delaney said.
“She’s only a sophomore up here, but she tries to act like all our mother hen. It’s adorable.”
“All our… then you’re—“
“Yeppers. Your ex was hot, in a shallow sort of way.”
“That’s what Shawn said…”
“You are, too. If I didn’t have a girlfriend I’d be interested in seeing how deep that hotness goes.” Lin’s eyes were on her painting, but Delaney knew she was dancing through the inside of the girl’s head.
“What’s your girlfriend majoring in?”
“Some sort of media thing. I don’t know exactly, she goes to some small art college in Chicago.”
“Are you from Chicago?”
“Ohio. Some town you’ve never heard of, I’m sure.”
“Really? Try me.”
“No. I’ll let you guess, though.”
“Columbus.”
“No.”
“Cleveland.”
“No. I said “town,” not “huge-ass city.””
“Defiance.”
“That’s more like it. But still no.”
“Mansfield.”
“No.”
“Athens. Bryan. Mansfield. Mason.”
“No times four.” Lin looked back at her with a sardonic smile on her face. “Shit, you’re just all over the map, aren’t you?”
“Sylvania.”
“Damn. You guess right. Horrid little place.”
“It seemed nice to me.”
“Nice? That fuckin’ place is full of suburban trash. Virtue-signaling losers.”
“Virtue-signaling?” Delaney felt a little bit of mischief creep into her smile. “Isn’t that what people like you and Shawn like to do?”
“First of all, lumping me in with Shawn is bad karma for you.” Lin spun around, meeting Delaney’s mischievous smile with one of her own. “Second of all, there’s virtue signaling, and there’s virtue signaling. You should know better, but maybe you’re still new at this.”
“I’ve only been out since I started going out with Penny.”
“Now why is that?”
Delaney frowned at Lin. They had only just met, but Lin’s manner was overly familiar, her words too informal. She initially thought it might just be how Lin was, but she could not imagine anyone treating Shawn like this. Not without repercussions of some sort.
“I wanted to be sure this is who I am before I said anything to anyone.”
“What, you were waiting for this Penny of yours to turn up and allow you to do so?”
“No, not exactly. I was fine being single. For a while I thought I just didn’t want to date anyone. Then I saw Penny out on a thing with that Geri—“
“Geri! That’s right! That big bitch, I swear she makes us all look bad. Especially hanging out with those other rich pricks and fucking frat boys.”
“She’s the one who poured her drink on Penny first at that party.”
“You weren’t feeling valiant enough to rescue your darling Penny?”
Delaney cringed, first at the flippant way Lin responded, then at the memory of everyone pawing at her. She ended up with bruises on her bottom and her costume had been torn in several places before the booze bath distracted everyone.
“I tried to follow her, but she was gone before I could get out of the room. One of the sorority girls said her “sister” was already taking care of Penny and they didn’t let me go upstairs to help.”
“Tragic. You still dumped her.”
Delaney nodded. She glanced out the window. Penny was on the other side of the campus, at that Institute by the lake. Delaney may have broken up with her, but the half-Asian girl had not tried to keep her. She had several times dismissed the thought as unfair to Penny. Maybe they would have another chance in the future. Maybe someday they would both be ready.
“I’m not ready for her yet.”
“Yet.”
“No. It was shocking to see her on the screen like that. With someone else.”
“Too shocking, I imagine.” Lin’s eyes lost their focus. Delaney knew the painter had seen the movies just like everyone else. “I imagine she was very loving when you were together.”
Delaney felt her cheeks pinken.
“Hm. I guess so.”
“It was different between us,” Delaney said. “It wasn’t like the movie. She said the movie was stolen. I heard, well, Shawn told me, um, that a boy had set up cameras and uploaded the videos everywhere to get back at his ex-girlfriend.”
“Yeah. I heard the story. Maybe she’s not as shallow as I’m trying to imagine.”
“She’s not.”
“Still, a couple of normie-looking chicks like you, it’s hard to imagine you as part of the community.”
“I won’t be dating any boys ever again. I can’t even imagine her with one.”
Lin smiled at her. Delaney liked her smile. Despite her earlier sarcasm there was something guileless about the way she looked up at Delaney. It reminded her a little of simpler times back home, before her friends were forced away from her after the “incident” she had spent countless sleepless nights trying to forget. But her experience with Penny and her new ability to embrace this aspect of her life made her wonder if bottling it all up inside was really the right choice. Besides, Lin looked like she needed a friend, sitting all alone in the art room. Delaney pulled up a chair and sat down beside Lin as the painter turned back to her easel.
“I’m glad you’re not a LUG. There aren’t enough pretty girls in the community.”
“That sounds like a shallow thing to say.”
“I’m feeling awful shallow these days.”
They laughed.
“I’m in PT. Are you an art major?”
“Graphic design. Business and marketing double minor. My dad won’t foot the bill unless I prove I can make money doing this.”
“Your painting is really good.”
“I guess.”
“I mean it. I love the colors you chose.”
“That’s because you’re shallow.” Lin shot a sarcastic look at her. Delaney smiled back.
“I might be a little bit. But I still dated that unicorn for a couple of months.”
“Ah, Pretty Penny, the Unicorn. But we’re not ever going to mention her again.”
“Fine with me.”
“At least, not until you’re ready. I’m sure you’ll tell me when you are.”
“I feel like we might be becoming friends.”
“I feel like that, too.” Lin stood and began cleaning her things. “Come on. Since your bitchy friend ditched out on you, I’ll give you some quality company for the rest of the day. We’ll go have some pizza down at the Stud.”
“The Stud’s pizza is great. Let’s go.”
After a quick cleanup Lin pulled a heavy parka on and the pair walked out into the wind. Lin walked close to Delaney, their shoulders brushing as they went. Despite the other girl’s consistent mentioning of a faraway girlfriend Delaney knew she was inside Lin’s head. Something about the way her eyes sparkled kept Lin in Delaney’s as well. When their pizza was done and it was time for Delaney to venture home, Lin called her “Del” and giggled when Del touched her arm. It was too soon to be thinking of a new girlfriend, too soon after the Unicorn, but that did not stop her from dreaming of Lin that night. She wondered if Lin was dreaming of her as well.
***
“Yo, Penny, quit macking on my girl!”
Penny looked up from her studies to see Clark approaching with half a smirk on his face. She made a face at him and stuck her tongue out.
“She invited me because you’re already busy for winter break!”
“It’s Christmas break, heathen, and of course I’m busy. I have to visit my mom. I haven’t seen her in like ten years and she is paying for this, after all.”
“Don’t inflict your breeder relationship problems on my bro Pen here,” Ash said, waving her book at Clark as he sat down with them in their little corner of the common area. “If you two are having maritals us gays want nothing to do with it.”
“Nah, we’re doing fine,” Clark said, putting his hands up behind his head. “I’m just razzing her bro Pen here.” He leaned over and slapped the half-Asian girl’s shoulder. “You two are going to have a hell of a time wherever you end up. Sandra’s a fucking wild chick, man.”
“You would know,” Penny said.
“She’s a hottie,” Ash agreed. “She seems to be up there on the crazy scale, too.”
“All you chicks are crazy,” Clark said. “But anyway, I just wanted to give you some shit about it. I’m not jealous at all. See you round, pards.”
He patted both their shoulders and vanished up the stairs, taking them three at a time. Ash sighed and rolled her eyes.
“What a display of incredible masculinity that one is.”
“Are you being sarcastic?”
“Always.” She glanced up the now-empty staircase. “But that one is more insecure than my own incredibly insecure mother.”
“And how insecure is that?”
“So insecure. But you’re not interested in that. Both of us are interested in just what your odds are at stealing another girl from her boyfriend.”
“Ash, come on. It’s not like that.”
“Yeah fuckin’ right it’s not,” Ash dropped her book in her lap and laughed at Penny. “Come on, Maddie was right, it’s a totally romantic thing to do, taking you to a fuckin’ tropical paradise.”
“It isn’t! We’ll be like sisters!”
“Which is one of your fetishes. You were petting your bunny to that last night, weren’t you?”
“I never should have told you, you’re so gross.”
“Whatever, you’re one to talk.”
Penny giggled and glanced around the common area. A few other students sat around the fire and an attendant cleaned on the other side of the room, but she and Ash were near one of the big windows looking out at the snowy landscape. Not much had fallen, but there was enough to cover the ground and make the sidewalks icy.
“Fine. I know. I’ll admit it.” Penny leaned closer to her and lowered her voice. “But only to you, so please don’t be too loud with it. I’ve been embarrassed enough the past six months about that sort of stuff.”
“Well, at least you’re getting something out of it. Sandra’s hot as hell, man. And to have the chance to spend a romantic week alone with her in a tropical paradise, think of all the skin she’ll be baring, that you’ll both be baring. Shit, you’ll be sleeping in the same room, sharing the same shower. You might get invited to help her scrub her back.”
“I can tell your mind is no longer on our studies.”
“It rarely is.”
“You need to find a girlfriend.”
“Maybe I already have.”
“You definitely have not. You’d have told me every dirty detail by now.”
“Yeah, you’re right, I would have. Why’s it so hard to find one?”
Penny shrugged.
“Yeah, but you’ve got that fuckin’ magic touch. Every girl you lay eyes on wants to go out with you, or take you on magical, romantic tropical vacations.”
“Stop it! It’s not going to be like that!”
And again she shared a laugh with her friend. She wanted to believe there was no possibility of something happening with Sandra, but she would be lying if she said a small part of her was not hoping for something to happen. Ash was right. Sandra was very pretty. But she was also Clark’s girlfriend, and she would not do that to him. And especially given Sandra’s background, she was content to simply spend a few days admiring her beauty close up. Ash understood. She would still tease Penny about it, but she understood. They picked their books back up and dove back into their studies, continuing to argue about Penny’s upcoming vacation with her pretty new friend.
***
“I can’t say I’m happy about it,” Clark said, sitting down on Sandra’s bed beside her. “But I trust Penny. It’s not like you’d be going somewhere with Braden Garies or something.”
“Braden Garies is a jerk. I’m glad Penny got him kicked out of school. It’s just kind of a shame everyone had to see that video for it to happen.”
“Don’t let anyone tell you you’re a bitch,” Clark said. “Deep inside your icy exterior is a heart of molten gold.”
“I know, Clark.”
“But why her? I thought, well, I mean, you gave everyone the impression you were totally disgusted by lesbians.”
“I’ve spent enough time with her at this point that I trust her. Plus she’s not seeing anyone anymore so I don’t have to deal with her being in an actual relationship with another girl.”
“And they’re teasing each other about how it’s going to be a romantic tropical vacation.” Clark crossed his arms and gave her a far more hostile look than he intended.
“Look, Clark, if you’re going to turn into a gigantic jealous asshole you can just leave.”
“I’m not jealous. You’re not attracted to girls. What’s there to be jealous of?”
“You’re jealous that it’s Penny I chose to go with me.”
“Well, you didn’t even bother asking me.”
“You’re going to France!”
“Well—“
“And you told me about that first, and you didn’t invite me. So I see what you think of me. How you feel. Don’t worry, the feeling is mutual—“
“What the hell? Are you talking about breaking up? Because that’s not how I feel about you at all.”
“No, of course not. I’m talking about how neither of us is ready for a couple’s vacation. You can go ahead and think that about Penny and I going off on a romantic thing, but it’s totally not true. I trust her. I trust myself. We’re going to have an adventure. She’s far more adventurous than she lets on.”
“Yeah, right, that frightened little chick? I’m surprised her own shadow doesn’t freak her out.”
Sandra balked at him, then stood up and paced around the room.
“She's incredibly brave for coming here alone,” Sandra said, stopping once to jab a threatening finger at Clark. She started pacing again. “This is already a huge adventure for her, remember, this isn't her home country, even though she's from another sort-of-English-speaking country this is a lot different compared to what she's used to. And given all that, she handled the thing at the party as well as anyone could have in that situation. Honestly, anyone would be a sobbing wreck after that. She did not even remotely deserve that. You know the background to those videos. I’m telling everyone I know to shut the fuck up about them and why.”
Sandra stopped at the window, staring out at the lake, roaring in the distance. Clark walked up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.
“I’m sorry…”
“You’re fine. But you haven’t been treated that way.” Sandra turned around and looked up at him. “And you won’t be. You’re a big, tough man. Even Braden knew better than to mess with us too much with you around. She was right to be as scared as she was. So was her girlfriend. Me, too, really. I wonder what would have happened if the sorority hadn’t shut the whole thing down.”
“They shouldn’t have let that happen in the first place…”
“They had no choice. It was a mob. We were lucky. That could have been much, much worse.”
Clark nodded and they held each other for along moment.
“So we’re going somewhere tropical and fun. We’re going to climb a mountain and take a picture of ourselves at the top.”
“Sounds nice.”
Sandra nodded. She rested her head against his chest and he sighed. He told himself he did not mind her going somewhere with Penny. Penny was his friend. Hers, too. Their friend. And Sandra was staunchly not-gay. He had no reason to worry. Nor to be jealous. But as he held her, his grip tightened, and it was not out of love.
Follow The Long Winter into #36 Fortunate Daughter part eight here.