This is both ex-citing and crazy, I thought, never recalling doing anything as impulsive.
Minutes later we were on the highway. and I was sitting rigid in the back, embracing my books as if they were a parachute and any time I wanted I could pull the cord and bail out. I replayed Mommy's advice to me as if it was a prayer. I want you to have fun, too. There's a balance you have to find. If you make every boy you meet feel like he a rapist, you won't ever have any good times, and before you know it, you'll have left all the opportunities behind and never have a real youth. With all the moving, we've done, we always afraid you will miss out on the fun.
Those words calmed me down. and I sat back until we pulled into the driveway of what was obviously a very expensive home in one of the upscale communities.
With his crutch under his right arm. Trent came to the front door. I saw he wasn't wearing a shoe on his right foot, and it was bandaged about the ankle. He grimaced.
"Sorry about all this," he said. "Thanks for coming."
"How did it happen?"
"Bad slide into third base. I tried to make a double into a triple and paid for my greed," he explained with a laugh, "Come on in."
His house was a beautiful ranch-style home with a large front lawn. The stonework on the outside looked very expensive, and when I entered I saw a chandelier, plush area rugs, and elegant furnishings. No home we had lived in was even half its size. I thought. I remarked about how beautiful his house was, and he flipped on some lights by a patio door to show me the patio and the swimming pool.
"C'mon," he said, turning the lights off "I know how sacrosanct your study time is. See?I'm not only learning my history with you, I'm improving my vocabulary."
We both laughed.
He limped his way down the corridor and turned into his room, which was easily twice as big as mine. I was impressed with how neatly it was kept. He had school banners up on his walls. trophies on the shelves. and pictures of sports heroes. There was an expensive-looking computer station as well as a separate desk. He had a king-size bed with thick posts and a massive head-board, all in a dark cherry wood.
"I'm connected to the Internet in case there's something you want to look up," he said, nodding at the swirling heavenly bodies on the monitor screen. "I downloaded that screen saver from the Hubble telescope site."
I didn't have a computer. Now that we were somewhat settled in Norfolk. Daddy had mentioned he was going to buy one for me. but I didn't say anything and pretended to know exactly what Trent was talking about.
You want anything to drink, juice, soda. anything?"
"No, thank you," I said. "I'm fine."
I put my books on the desk, and he hopped over to a chair and brought it closer.
"Then let's go at it he said, flipping the cover of a notebook open. He looked up expectantly. I smiled.
Not every boy is a rapist.
This was nothing more than what it was intended to be, what he said it was. I was glad of that but also felt a strange contradiction. What if that was really all he wanted from me, history help? Maybe I wasn't as attractive as I hoped I was or as much as Mommy assured me I was. I didn't want to be invited under false pretenses, but my feminine ego was complaining.
Look, Grace Houston, I told myself, make up your mind. Do you want to exchange historical facts or kisses?
"Here is how I've organized it all," I began, and he leaned over to glance at my pages.
We studied hard for a good hour. Every once in a while I saw his eyes brighten with an understanding. He copied information quickly, rearranging his awn notes.
"You've got an order to everything that makes this so much easier." he complimented. "I guess I never really learned how to take notes properly."
"I redo it all when I get home. It helps reinforce it in my mind, too."
"Yeah. I can see why. Does all this orderliness and structure came from military life? My father's always threatening to send me and even my sister to military school."
"Maybe it does," I said. wondering about it myself "It's not something I'm aware of constantly, but I suppose when you are around it all day and all night..."
"Exactly." He glanced at the clock. "We haven't studied as long as you thought we would, but is sacrosanct over yet?"
I laughed. "I think we did pretty well.'
"Good. Let me show you my card collection." he said excitedly, and got up and went to his closet. He took out an armful of albums and plopped them down on the desk beside me.
"This first album has my oldest cards. Most of them are reproductions, of course. but they are still rare or hard to get." he said. "These first cards were distributed in cigarette packs."