Lofty Dreams. Ch. 18-19 (The Picnic)

Author's Note: These two chapters incorporate the second short story I wrote from Will's POV.

Jack and Jill is a social organization for children and teens founded by wealthy African-American mothers in the early part of the 20th century, at a time when black people were barred from participation in many similar organizations. Over the years, it developed a bit of a reputation for snobbery. Jack and Jill has seen a resurgence in recent years as mothers living in predominantly white suburbs look for ways to help their children connect with other African-American youth. When I first posted "Lofty Dreams" on another site, a couple of readers asked why it included no humorous mentions of Jack and Jill. In their honor, here it is.

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Chapter 18

(Will)

Will was expecting to have a miserable day.

He really didn't want to go to the LOFTY Dreams end-of-year picnic, but he knew he couldn't opt out without raising questions from his mother. The last thing he wanted was to get her started again.

He'd been reduced to begging his cousin Chuck to come, just so he'd have someone to talk to, that's how bad it was. Then his Aunt Lois and Uncle Jeff had said they wanted to come, too, which was okay—maybe they'd help keep his mom occupied.

The sad fact was that he didn't have any friends left in the LOFTY (Leaders of the Future: Today's Youth) Dreams program. Ironic, given how popular he was at his high school. There would be students at the picnic from the older LOFTY classes, but Will wasn't in the mood to get to know anyone new. Although he wouldn't put it past the program directors, Sheila and Paul, to plan some corny get-to-know-you game between the classes, he thought wryly. He'd have to figure out how to slip away in case that happened.

He knew that the problems within his own LOFTY class were his fault. He hadn't tried to become friends with most of the kids. Of those he had been close to, Mike and Anna were no longer speaking to him, and Heather would go along with whatever Anna did.

As for Liz… she was a subject that was painful to think about. He knew she still hated him. She hadn't responded to his email. Not that he'd expected her to, but he'd had a small flicker of hope that maybe it would make a difference. When he'd seen her at the May LOFTY Dreams meeting, he knew that it hadn't. She barely acknowledged him when he'd said hello.

Sheila had stopped him after that meeting and asked how he was doing since her talk with him at the LOFTY Dreams retreat in April. "Other than feeling like pond scum?" he wanted to respond. Sheila had told him he was a disgrace to his late father, his hero and the person he most wanted to emulate. Okay, she hadn't said those words exactly, but that's how he'd heard it. How did she think he would be doing after that?

Surprisingly, Sheila didn't object to his mumbled non-answer. Instead, she'd asked whether or not he had a man in his life who he could talk to.

He shrugged. "My godfather, I guess."

Sheila nodded. "You might want to tell him what happened. See what he thinks."

So he had. He had told Marcus that he needed to talk to him, and they had gone out to eat. "There's this girl..." Will began, and then hesitated for so long that Marcus asked, "Wait, you didn't get someone pregnant, did you?"

"What? No!" Will responded.

Marcus held up his hands. "Just checking. So what's this girl's name?"

"Liz. Elizabeth," Will answered.

"All right, then. Tell me about Elizabeth."

Will had, and Marcus mostly listened in silence, nodding compassionately. However, when Will got to the part about encouraging his cousin Chuck to break up with Liz's sister Janelle, Marcus had actually facepalmed.

"You think I shouldn't have done that," Will said slowly, feeling foolish since Marcus' expression obviously conveyed just that.

Instead of confirming, Marcus said, "Did you know there was a time when your mother and I didn't get along?"

"Really?" Will asked in surprise. His mother wasn't the easiest person to deal with, but she and Marcus were good friends. "Why?"

"Because I thought that she was going to hurt your dad, and she thought I was going to hurt Susan."

"Why'd you think that?" Will asked. He knew the story of how his parents met. His dad's best friend Marcus had started dating his mom's best friend Susan, and Susan had set Will's parents up on a date. However, he didn't know much about how things proceeded from there, other than that his parents eventually got married, and Marcus and Susan broke up.

"Susan and Billy were both wonderful, kind, sweet, loving people. I always thought it was ironic that they never got together and instead chose me and your mom. Meanwhile, your mom and I both had rougher backgrounds, and had dealt with a lot of mistrust and pain." He shrugged. "That stuff comes out in your relationships."

Will nodded, thinking back to his young childhood when his parents used to fight a lot, with his mom often screaming and hurling insults at his father. He recalled all the times he had tried to console Jenny, who was afraid their parents would get divorced, with a comfort he himself didn't feel. But their parents had worked through a lot of their struggles, and their marriage and lives had gotten much, much better.

Until his dad died.

"The reason I'm telling you this," Marcus went on, "is that although Marletta and I let each other know that we didn't trust each other, we never shared that with Susan and your dad."

"Why not?"

"Because it wasn't our place. Billy and Susan were adults. They had to work out their relationships for themselves. And looking back, I'm so glad I stayed out of it. What if I had interfered, and it led to Billy breaking up with your mom?"

Will looked up in shock. His family would have never come to be.

Marcus made that point explicit. "They had some hard times, but overall, your mom and dad were very happy together. And best of all, they had you and Jenny. None of that would have happened if I had convinced them to break up."

"But..." Will interjected, "Janelle cheated on Chuck." That still mattered, didn't it?

"You don't know that for sure, do you? You just know she started to avoid him, and drew that conclusion. Listen, men can be knuckleheads sometimes, and women sometimes expect us to realize it. Maybe Chuck did something to hurt Janelle, and she was giving him the silent treatment until he figured it out. Instead, you told him to end it."

Will swallowed hard. "Okay, so I was stupid. But what should I do now? Liz didn't reply to my email, and she wouldn't talk to me at the last meeting."

"Did you apologize to her in the email, or were you just trying to explain yourself?"

When Will didn't respond, the answer was obvious to Marcus. "Well then, apologizing to her might help," he told him. "And after that, just be a friend to her. Don't put any pressure on her for anything else. If something more is meant to be, it'll happen."

Will left that dinner loathing himself even more. He had hurt Liz badly, he could see that now more than ever, and he wanted to make it right. But how do you apologize to someone who won't even talk to you? And how do you be a friend to someone who hates your guts?

At least his mother's lectures had finally died down. She'd been all over his case, wondering why he was so moody after coming back from the retreat at Hunsford, especially since she'd been told that the event was supposed to be such a great experience for the participants.

Then she talked to Mike's mom. His mother and Mrs. Allen had met at the LOFTY welcome dinner in October and had stayed in touch. Mike had come back from the retreat in a bad mood, also, and apparently, he'd told his mother what had happened.

His mother threw a fit after the phone call. "What on earth is wrong with you?" she had yelled. "I did NOT raise you to act like some 'playa' from the 'hood, having girls fight over you. And this whole thing would involve three kids of color! You know how bad that makes us look to people like Mrs. Allen?"

By "us," Will knew his mother meant black people. "Did Mrs. Allen say something about that?"

"She didn't have to! I could tell what she was thinking. You're supposed to represent us better than that!"

There she went, with "us" again. Will rolled his eyes and tuned her out as she continued yelling.

When screaming didn't work, she tried the guilt trip. "This is all my fault. Your father and I moved out to Pemberley because we wanted you and Jenny to go to the best schools. But we should have realized that you wouldn't have many dating opportunities because of it."

He almost laughed. Did his mom really believe that his dating pool was limited at Pemberley High? He wondered if he should enlighten her.

"I knew I should have gotten you involved with Jack and Jill! And because I didn't, you fall for the first pretty black girl who comes along, no matter how ghetto she is."

Ghetto. That was what Mike had called Liz, too, simply because of where she grew up. It was a label that made no sense, and because Will loved Liz, it stung like a personal insult. Liz was beautiful, smart, sweet, and funny. Why couldn't they see that?

Eventually his mother stopped carrying on, and then his younger sister picked up where she left off, only teasing him instead. Jenny couldn't help but hear all the commotion, and had pressed him for more details. "I have to meet this girl who has you all wrapped around her finger!" she said.

Jenny had been teasing him nonstop that morning. "So is today the day I'm going to meet your girlfriend?" she asked mischievously.

"Forget about it!" he joked back. "There's no way I'm going to let you get anywhere near her."

Actually, he had a lot of affection for his sister and would love to introduce her to Liz. His joking was a way of deflecting the fact that he doubted Liz would even talk to him.

His mom let him drive them to the picnic in his new car, a concession, he figured, for all the fighting they had been doing lately.

The picnic was held at a large state park on a sunny Sunday afternoon in June. Balloons and LOFTY Dreams signs directed them to an area with several long picnic tables. Two caterers were standing in a covered pavilion, grilling burgers and hotdogs, and a variety of side dishes and beverages were available. His aunt and uncle and cousin were already there, sitting at a table and eating.

Will clasped hands with Chuck and Uncle Jeff, and allowed Aunt Lois to kiss him as they sat down. "They have touch football going on over there," Chuck said. "Want to join a game later?"

Will nodded absently. He was scanning the area to see if he could see Liz. He finally spotted her when he and his mom and Jenny got up to get plates of food. She was sitting with her parents at a nearby picnic table. There was another girl with them, laughing loudly. Another sister, he guessed. The Bennet sisters all seemed to be really pretty.

Liz looked up for a moment, and he could see her face. His heart did a flip-flop. If he had thought he'd be over his feelings by now, he couldn't have been more mistaken. He was just as much in love with her as ever.

"I don't know why I got this pop," his mother complained, looking at the can of cola in her hand after they returned to their seats. "I hate sweet drinks on a hot day. Will, will you see if they have any water over there?"

He walked back over to the pavilion and started searching through the ice-filled barrels that contained beverages. He had spotted a bottle of water and was fishing it out when he heard someone call his name. He looked up to see Anna standing there.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked.

"Go ahead," he replied tersely. He didn't want to talk to Anna.

He immediately regretted snapping at her when he saw the uneasy look that crossed her face. Anna fidgeted with the necklace she was wearing, sliding the charm back and forth across the chain.

"Liz and I did the community service project this past week," she said, referring to the consequence she and Liz had received for fighting at the retreat. "It went well. She's pretty cool."

Will nodded wordlessly.

"You really like her, don't you?"

Will felt himself tense up. Then he looked at Anna's face. There was no hostility there, nor had there been in her voice. He softened. "Yeah, I do."

"I know you were trying to let me down easy at Hunsford, but I wasn't listening, because I didn't want to hear it. I know I got in the middle of you and Liz. I'm sorry about that, and I hope it works out for you and her. That's all I wanted to say."

Without waiting for his reply, Anna turned and walked away. Will stood in silent surprise for a minute. Then he began to feel oddly encouraged, for the first time that day. If Anna's attitude had changed so much in two months, maybe Liz's had as well.

He returned to the table where his family was sitting and gave his mother the bottle of water. He wanted to go talk to Liz, but she was still sitting with her parents. He'd wait and see if he could catch her alone. He started eating his burger.

About ten minutes later, he saw Liz rise and walk away. He stood to see if he could catch up with her, but Kathy, another girl from the LOFTY program, was by Liz's side before he could start moving. Will sat back down.

Several minutes later, Liz was sitting at another picnic table with all of the girls from their LOFTY Dreams class. He was starting to feel like he'd never have a chance to talk to her.

Maybe he should go over there anyway. He'd already made a fool of himself at Hunsford, so it wasn't like it could get any worse. By the end of the retreat, everyone had known he liked her. So what did it matter if he walked over there to talk to her?

Will made a decision, and stood up again.

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(Liz)

"Is it okay if I go look for some of my friends?" I asked Ma and Daddy. They were both busy eating at the LOFTY picnic on Sunday afternoon. Janelle had had to work, but Dee was there, off checking out a bunch of guys who were playing touch football.

"Oh, baby, go," Ma said. "You know us; we'll find some people to talk to."

I grinned. Ma would talk to anybody, so I knew she was right.

I found Kathy and we sat down at an empty picnic table to talk. Anna soon joined us. Within minutes, Stacy and Heather were also sitting with us. Everyone was excited to hear that Kathy and Pete had gone to both her prom and his prom together.

"Oh, I have to tell you guys who I went to prom with!" Anna said. "One of my friends has a cousin who just finished his sophomore year at Princeton. He had just come home for the summer and my friend told him that I needed a prom date so he took me. Oh my God, he is so cute! And he was so nice. He took me out again last week. His name is Mario."

"Forget about these high school seniors, huh?" Heather said, and we all laughed.

Anna flicked her hands. "Kids—who needs them? I want a real man!"

"Hi, Will," Stacy said.

I looked behind me to see Will standing there, and my heart started racing. Since Tuesday and Tiana's question, I had thought about him non-stop. After everyone greeted him, he said, "Liz, will you take a walk with me?"

Nervous, I looked around at the other girls. Anna grinned. "I don't know why you're looking at us. You don't need our permission!" They all laughed again.

I stood and started walking through the park with Will. Neither of us said anything for about a minute, and then we both talked at once.

"Go ahead," Will said.

"I was just going to say congratulations. I saw that Pemberley came in second place in the state this year and you broke your own record twice."

Will grinned. "Yeah, it was a good way to end senior year. And how about you? Anchoring the winning 4 x 200 team in the Meryton city finals?"

"You know about that?" I said.

"After all that coaching of you, did you think I wasn't going to follow how you did? I'm proud of you."

I felt my face get hot, and was thankful that I was a little too dark to visibly blush. "Yeah, I never really thanked you for helping me out. I guess I never really thanked you for a lot of things. For standing up for me and Anna. And for your email and telling me what happened with Geo. I know that probably wasn't easy."

"So you did read it."

"Yeah… I'm sorry I didn't answer."

"It's okay, Liz, I wasn't expecting a reply."

"I can't believe I believed the things Geo told me."

Will shrugged. "He can be convincing."

Embarrassed at what a fool I'd been, I changed the subject. "I saw the summer internship list. That's cool that you'll be in the DA's office."

"Yeah, I thought it would be good to learn about the prosecution side of things. See if it's anything like Law and Order." We went on to talk about my own internship at a nonprofit organization, and then were quiet again.

After a minute, Will stopped and looked at me. "Liz, I'm very, very sorry I was such a jerk at Hunsford. You were right to go off on me like you did."

I knew I shouldn't, but I couldn't help it; I laughed, thinking, Hey, he really can apologize!

I regretted my laughter as soon as I saw Will's earnest expression. Besides, he wasn't the only one who had been wrong. "I appreciate your apology. I'm sorry, too. I wasn't very nice, either."

He smiled wryly. "I deserved it. Anyway, I was wondering if we could start over and be friends."

I smiled. "Yes, we can definitely be friends."

"So you won't delete my emails even if I don't write, 'PLEASE DON'T DELETE' on them?"

I laughed. "No, I promise I'll read all your emails."

Will's smile widened. "Listen, my sister's here and she wants to meet you. Can I introduce you?"

"Sure. I'd love to meet her."

He led me to a nearby picnic table. I recognized Will's mom and the girl who'd been with them when they picked him up from the retreat on the far side of the table, along with a husky man with salt and pepper hair. Chuck and Lois were sitting on the side of the table closest to us. Will's mother was watching the other four play cards.

Chuck jumped up from the table immediately and gave me a hug, with his mother right behind him.

"It's great to see you, Liz," Lois said. "And congratulations on graduation."

"Thank you."

"How are your parents and your sisters?" Chuck asked.

"They're doing great," I answered. "They're all here except for Janelle, who had to work. She's taking some summer classes and working at the east side Target," I said. I don't know why I threw that in, but maybe he'd stop by to see her sometime.

Will placed his hand on my shoulder. "Liz, this is my mother, Marletta Darcy, my uncle Jeff Benson, and my sister, Jenny."

Will's uncle stood and reached across the table to shake my hand. Mrs. Darcy just nodded at me as I said hello. Jenny, however, stood and walked around the table. She was taller than I was and very pretty, with the same golden brown eyes as her mother and brother. When she reached me, she gave me a hug. "I've wanted to meet you for so long! Will's told me a lot about you."

"Oh, really?" I said. I glanced over at Will, wondering what he might have said. "Good stuff, I hope."

Jenny grinned. "Very." She and I talked for a few minutes. She told me that she loved to dance and to write, and would be spending the summer in a dance program and working on her poetry.

"Jennifer, you're holding up the game," Mrs. Darcy said tersely.

Jenny smiled apologetically. "I've got to go. It was really nice to meet you, and I hope to see you again."

"Same here," I replied, and hugged her again.

For a second, Will looked as if he were going to hug me also. Finally, he said, "I'll see you later, Liz. Thanks for coming over."

I told everyone goodbye and walked back to the table where the other LOFTY girls were sitting. I swear all of them greeted me with big grins on their faces.

"Well?" asked Heather.

"Well, what?" I answered.

"Oh, come on, Liz!" Stacy replied. "What'd he say, what'd he do, are you two going to hook up? We want the juice."

"There is no juice," I answered. "We're friends, that's all. He took me over and introduced me to his family and I came back. That's it."

Anna laughed. "You heard what she just said, right? He introduced her to his family, and she wants to act like nothing's going on."

"I give you guys to the end of the summer," Kathy said.

I let them keep joking and didn't respond, but I couldn't keep the smile off my face. I could finally admit it: I really liked him.

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Chapter 19

(Will)

It had seemed like a good idea, but now that he was standing about ten feet away from Liz, he couldn’t work up the nerve to keep going. Liz’s back was to him, and so far, none of the other girls had noticed him. He started to turn and walk away.

“Hi, Will,” Stacy said.

The girls all looked at him. Liz turned around, and he felt his pulse racing.

Everyone said hello to him. Everyone, that is, except Liz, who hadn’t opened her mouth. “Have a seat,” Stacy offered.

He didn’t want that. He wanted to talk to Liz alone. So he took a deep breath and said, “Liz, would you take a walk with me?”

When Liz turned back around to face the other girls, Anna said to her, “I don’t know why you’re looking at us. You don’t need our permission!” The rest of the girls laughed, and Will himself smiled. He’d have to thank Anna for that later.

Liz stood up and started walking beside him. It had been two months since he had been this close to her, and he almost felt like he was going to stop breathing. She looked so good. She was wearing shorts, a tank top and sandals, which allowed him to admire her nice body and great legs. Her straightened, shoulder-length hair was blowing a little in the breeze. And then there was her beautiful face. She was the kind of girl who didn’t need make-up to be pretty.

Will didn’t mind just walking quietly and looking at her, but he figured he should say something sooner or later. Liz started talking the same moment he did, which broke the ice. They spoke first about their end of year track and field races, and Liz was surprised to hear that he’d been following her stats. He didn’t tell her that he had almost shown up at the Meryton City Finals to watch her run. He had had these fantasies about how she would react with joy when she saw him at the meet. But then reality hit, and he knew it would be a bad idea.

As good as it felt to talk to her about anything, Will’s heart started thumping when she thanked him for standing up for her and for his email. He tried to respond casually, but he was elated. Not only did she no longer hate him, but she knew that the things George had told her weren’t true. His former foster brother George had done a lot of damage to his family, especially to Jenny, in the wake of their dad’s death. George told Liz a lot of lies about their family, blaming Will especially, which was one of the reasons why Liz had resented Will so much.

They continued to walk through the park, talking about their upcoming summer internships. Will decided to take a chance on Marcus’ advice. He apologized and asked Liz whether they could be friends. When she said yes, Will was so ecstatic that he almost blurted out that he loved her. He tried to calm himself down by asking if he could introduce her to his sister.

“Sure. I’d love to meet her.”

Will led Liz to the table where his family was sitting, and introduced her to those that didn’t yet know her. His Aunt Lois and Chuck greeted her warmly, but Jenny was the one who really made a big deal out of it. He cringed in embarrassment when Jenny said that she’d heard a lot about Liz.

“You’re younger, right?” Liz asked Jenny.

“Yeah, sixteen.”

“What are you doing with your summer?”

“I’m in a modern dance troupe. We rehearse every day and we’ll be doing some performances at the end of the summer. I’m also working on my poetry.”

“That’s really cool,” Liz said. “I like to write, too, but I’m not much of a poet. I do mostly journal writing.”

“So do I, but poetry is where I really get my feelings out. I submitted some stuff to my school’s literary magazine, but most of my poems I just write for me.”

Will’s heart felt really full. He was so glad to see Jenny getting along with his girl—. OK, she wasn’t his girlfriend. Yet. But he was starting to believe that she could be.

Of course, his mother had to ruin the moment. “Jennifer, you’re holding up the game,” Mom said, in the curt tone he was all too familiar with.

Jenny and Liz hugged each other and said goodbye. Liz turned and looked at him, and he wanted to hug her too. Screw it, he really wanted to kiss her. He still recalled kissing her at Hunsford. And he was starting to forget the fact that she’d kicked him to the curb a minute later.

It took every ounce of energy he had to not take her into his arms right there in front of everyone. Instead, he said, “I’ll see you later, Liz. Thanks for coming over.”

Liz said goodbye to his family and walked away. He watched her go, remembering the feel of her in his arms, the softness of her skin, and the sweetness of her lips on his.

After she had gone, Will realized he could forget about being cool where Liz was concerned. When he sat down at the table, he knew he couldn’t erase the stupid grin he was wearing. No one in his family said anything, but they were all staring at him. Chuck and Uncle Jeff were both grinning, and Aunt Lois had a twinkle in her eye.

Jenny finally broke the silence by laughing. “Will, you should see the look on your face! I can see why you like her. She’s really pretty, and she seems very nice.”

“You have good taste, Will,” his uncle added.

“Is she your girlfriend now?” his mother asked. He heard the anger in her voice.

That succeeded in getting him to stop smiling. “No, Mom, she’s just my friend.”

“I didn’t notice you bringing any of your other friends over.”

“Jenny wanted to meet Liz.”

“Oh, I see. Have you been telling Jenny about your other friends, too?”

He shook his head, his good mood now spoiled. “Mom… let’s not start again.”

“Why not? We’ve had this conversation before, but it obviously didn’t get through to you.”

“Marletta, maybe this isn’t the time and place for this,” Aunt Lois said.

“Oh, it’s definitely the time and place. After all we’ve been through, how could you get involved with a girl like her?”

Will glared at his mother. “What do you mean, a girl like her?”

“You know what I mean.”

“No, I want to hear you say it!” Will could barely contain his fury. “When I look at Liz, I see someone who’s intelligent, caring and college-bound. But you obviously have a different opinion. I want you to come out and say it!”

“All right, I will! She reminds me of some of those little tramps I grew up with. All they thought about was how they could get a man and get into his bed.”

Will was hurt and incredulous. “How could say that? You don’t even know her.”

“Both of you should stop,” Uncle Jeff warned.

His mother didn’t stop, though. “Are you so in love with this girl that you’re blind? She got into a fight over you! And her mother almost started a fight with me at the dinner last fall. You’ve been sheltered, so you don’t realize that for some people, that’s their whole way of life. That kind of street behavior is all they know.”

His mother was a hypocrite. Liz’s mother had apologized to her last fall. His mom was the one who tried to start something. She might be more sophisticated about it, but she was as nasty as anyone.

Will stood up. He suddenly felt weary. He was sick of fighting with his mother. He didn’t want to fight this battle. Not here, not now. Not ever, really.

He rested his hands on the table and leaned toward his mother. “You don’t have anything to worry about. Liz isn’t interested in me, so we’re just friends.” He turned toward his sister and relatives. “I’ll see you later.”

“Where are you going?” his mother demanded.

Will looked at his uncle. “Will you take Mom and Jenny home?”

His uncle nodded.

He turned and started walking toward the parking lot. “I’ll come with you,” Chuck said, jumping up to join him.

“Don’t walk away from me, young man!” his mother shouted.

“Let them go,” he heard his aunt say.

He and Chuck reached the parking lot, and Will pressed the button to disable his car alarm.

Chuck started smiling when he saw the car. “A Jeep Cherokee? Sweet. So how do you like driving this baby?”

Will knew his cousin was trying to cheer him up, and to a small degree, it was working. No matter how angry he was, it was hard not to be excited about getting a new SUV as a graduation present.

They both got in, and Will started the engine. He had no idea where he was going; he just wanted to drive.

“What’s up with you and Liz?” Chuck asked.

“Nothing.”

“That’s not how it looked to me.”

“Doesn’t matter. There’s nothing going on,” Will said bitterly.

“But you have some feelings for her.”

Will looked briefly at Chuck. If anyone would understand, it would be him. “I love her.”

“You love her, yet there’s nothing going on.”

“She doesn’t love me back.”

Chuck grinned. “I feel your pain. You know, there’s either something really special about these Bennet girls, or something really screwed up about us.”

That got Will to smile. “Or both.”

“Yeah, it’s probably both.” Chuck shook his head. “I don’t know if the stuff with George has messed up her perception, but I can’t get over what Aunt Marletta said about Liz. If she weren’t so mad, it would be funny.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because she doesn’t realize what a tight rein their parents have kept on those girls. Janelle was so damn innocent when we first got together.”

Will snickered. “You corrupted her, huh?”

“No comment,” Chuck laughed. His expression then turned more sober. “Seriously, that’s why it was so hard to believe what Janelle did. You kept telling me she had someone else and that all the evidence pointed to it, and I couldn’t see it, because she was so sweet and innocent.”

Will suddenly felt very uncomfortable. He recalled Marcus telling him that he didn’t know for sure that Janelle had cheated. Was it possible that he had been as wrong about Janelle as his mother was about Liz? And that his interference, supposedly to keep Chuck from being hurt, was as misguided as his mom’s?

Chuck went on. “I think you’re wrong, though, when you said Liz doesn’t love you back.”

Will glanced quickly at Chuck, and then turned his eyes back to the road.

“We were laughing about how you were looking at her, but it seemed to me that she was looking at you the same way.”

Could he really believe that? Liz had told him that he was the last person on earth she would ever go out with. But that was before she knew how George had lied to her. And she had kissed him back at Hunsford. Before she had gotten mad at him, she had kissed him.

He was getting ahead of himself. Marcus had said not to put pressure on her, but to just be her friend. And she was willing to be his friend. For now, maybe that was enough.

“Where are we going, anyway?” Chuck asked.

“I don’t know,” Will grinned slyly. “How about Target?”

They both started laughing. As his tension lifted, Will thought to himself that life was looking better than it had in weeks.

Today wasn’t such a bad day after all.

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