I unlocked the door and stood back, letting Lucas enter the room first. He did, taking his time and looking around. I tried to see it through his eyes—a blending of two very different styles that seemed to work. Jane’s side was eclectic and edgy, and yet kind of peaceful in a way. She had framed black-and-white photography on the walls, though sparingly. Her bedding was white with a black pattern through it, and some bright red as well. Her pillows and throw blanket were in the bright red, but her desk accessories were a deep eggplant. It was jarring when you looked at it at first, but then it all kind of blended together nicely once you got used to it.
Kind of like Jane.
My side was a study in comfortable textures and soothing colors. My comforter was a gorgeous sea foam color with white accents. A slate-gray cashmere throw lay at the foot of my bed.
My mother and I had gone shopping together to pick out all my stuff, then had a nice lunch at the mall. Over burgers, we’d talked about the great find of the comforter and how nice my room would look. How excited she was for me to be starting school. She’d even told some stories about her and my dad in college together, a wistful yet tender look in her eye. A look I didn’t often see in my typically all-business mother.
It’d been a really good day.
I didn’t have much on my walls. I hadn’t wanted to bring the posters of the bands I liked that adorned the walls of my bedroom at home. I thought that might be too, you know, high school.
And I hadn’t wanted to put a ton of family photos on the walls, either. I’d wanted to start fresh, be a new person. Wasn’t that the whole idea?
The problem was, I didn’t know who I wanted to be. Who was Lily Spaulding if not Grayson and Susan Spaulding’s daughter? If not Alexis’s younger or Gray’s older sister?
Was I, like most of my wall space, bare?
Was Lucas my definition? Was loving Lucas who I was to become?
Saturday night, I would have said an overwhelming yes. Today, I didn’t think so.
Though, standing behind him, watching his long hair move from side to side as he took in the whole room…
“I’m glad you came,” I said in almost a whisper. It was more to myself, but his back stiffened, and his head gave a small nod.
I locked the door behind me. “Let me just text Jane that I’m not coming to class so she doesn’t worry.” I pulled out my phone and quickly did the deed.
Skipping class, I texted.
You need to get your ass out of bed and stop obsessing about that loser, she responded.
Lucas here now. We’re going to talk.
A pause. Either Montrose had just come in and she’d had to put her phone away, or for once Jane was speechless. Textless?
Make the SOB grovel first.
First? She seemed to know there’d be a second act to this visit.
Lucas crossed to my side of the room and sat down on my bed, then turned to watch me. He was wearing jeans and a black hoodie. So simple, yet he looked so good. And seeing his large body taking up most of my small bed…
Yes, there would be an act two today.
I set my phone down on my dresser and put my backpack on the floor next to it. “How did you know what side was mine?” I asked as I went to the desk chair and sat down.
Our desks were side by side along the wall that separated our beds. Oftentimes while studying at the desk, I would turn the swivel desk chair and put my feet up on my bed, they were that close. I didn’t do that now, just kept my legs down, feet on the carpeted floor.
Yes, we had paid the extra for the carpeted floor. And we had a Keurig, and a small fridge, and a large TV, though not nearly as big as the one at Lucas’s apartment. Gorgeous leather office chairs replaced the stiff wooden ones that we’d been issued. We’d had the guy who builds lofts create cool overhead storage units that helped with the small closet space.
My father didn’t want to get caught pulling strings to get Jane and me into an Ivy League school (“The press would have a field day with that”), but he had no problem with me living in the style he felt becoming to a Spaulding. And so, our room was decked out way more than most college freshman’s rooms. Though, honestly, it wasn’t that much different than the other rooms here at Bribury.
“I don’t know Jane that well,” Lucas said, “But I know you, Lily. And I knew what side of the room was yours the moment I walked in.”
I didn’t know whether that was a good thing or that I was predictably boring, with none of Jane’s flair and edge. But I let it go; there were more important things to deal with today. Like… “So, why are you here, Lucas?”
I expected him to start throwing out typical guy excuses about being really busy and meaning to call, and he could throw in some good “Andy needing him” stuff to make it even more legit.
“I really don’t know,” he said. He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs, clasping his hands together. It was the same pose he’d been sitting in when I first saw him at the pool, way up in the stands, watching Andy. Watching me.
