could not walk down and join them. I hung suspended
between a room of cheering college friends and an interesting discussion on
education funding. The conversations among the faculty were far more
interesting, as they all came from diverse and distinguished careers.
I
would never fit in with them if I didn't concentrate on my own career path. Yes,
declaring my journalism major as a freshman had narrowed my areas of study
immediately, but it kept me focused. There was no way I could be accused of
being flighty or free-spirited like my absent mother. She never held a job or
relationship that kept her in one place, and the consequential loneliness of
that choice drove me in the opposite direction. The straight and narrow was
just fine.
And
that made it no less exciting for me. I turned back to the house and imagined a
correspondents’ dinner. I'd get the scoop, I'd capture the perfect quote, and
Ford would congratulate me on my keen observations again. No, scratch that. I
kicked Professor Bauer out of my daydream.
I
couldn't wait to go to press conferences and listen intently to the hidden
truths behind the spin. The idea of arguing over interpretations with Ford sent
a zip of anticipation up my back. No, again, he was a professor at Landsman
College and I was a student. Not only a student, but the Dean of Students’
daughter. I couldn't be daydreaming about him no matter how those metal-gray
eyes sparked something inside me.
I
pushed the handsome stranger out of my head. Tomorrow would arrive soon enough,
and I could still get to know him. Then it would be easier to think of him as a
stuffy, probably strict, teacher.
"Clarity,
there you are. Professor Bauer, I'd like you to meet my prized assistant and
the arranger of this successful party," my father said.
Ford's
lethal smile hit me full force. "Nice to meet you, Clarity. Dean Dunkirk
has been telling me all about how indispensable you are to him."
He
didn't realize I was the dean's daughter; his smile was too warm and he held my
outstretched hand a beat too long.
My
father didn't notice the caress or the misunderstanding. "Clarity is
indispensable, but that doesn't stop me from wishing she would break out, see a
little more of the world, get inspired. Perhaps you can help convince her that
it's actually better to bounce around a little and try things out before
settling down."
Ford's
smiled took my temperature up another five degrees. "She needs someone to
bring her out of her shell?"
"Exactly,"
my father said. "Someone to show her it's okay to bend the rules now and
then."
"Dean
Dunkirk, should you really be talking about bending rules?" I asked.
My
father laughed. "Ah, Clarity; she's my voice of reason. I just want you to
feel some passion. What kind of person plans so carefully?"
"The
person in charge of the desserts table. Please excuse me; there's an empty
cookie tray I need to refill." I spun away from my father and Ford. I
wasn't ready to see his gray eyes cool when he realized I was a student.
Professor
Bauer, I reminded myself as I ignored the empty cookie tray and slipped out the
back door of the kitchen. I edged along the sidewalk underneath the kitchen
windows. Risking being seen for a second, I dodged into the shadows of the
small fruit trees that separated the house from the vegetable garden. The sounds
and pressures of the party faded behind me.
One
of the few pieces of advice I remembered from my estranged mother echoed in my
head. "You wanna know what love really feels like?" she had asked me
when I had my first crush. "Imagine you're an outlet and your special
someone is a plug. They come along, you realize how you fit together, and ding!
The whole room lights up."
It
was an odd memory to surface as I hid in the shadowed garden. I was glad for
the cool breeze. Now that the temperature was dropping, it was actually
starting to feel like fall. A good time
to be wrapped up in a blanket in front of a crackling fire. My cheek resting
against a
between a room of cheering college friends and an interesting discussion on
education funding. The conversations among the faculty were far more
interesting, as they all came from diverse and distinguished careers.
I
would never fit in with them if I didn't concentrate on my own career path. Yes,
declaring my journalism major as a freshman had narrowed my areas of study
immediately, but it kept me focused. There was no way I could be accused of
being flighty or free-spirited like my absent mother. She never held a job or
relationship that kept her in one place, and the consequential loneliness of
that choice drove me in the opposite direction. The straight and narrow was
just fine.
And
that made it no less exciting for me. I turned back to the house and imagined a
correspondents’ dinner. I'd get the scoop, I'd capture the perfect quote, and
Ford would congratulate me on my keen observations again. No, scratch that. I
kicked Professor Bauer out of my daydream.
I
couldn't wait to go to press conferences and listen intently to the hidden
truths behind the spin. The idea of arguing over interpretations with Ford sent
a zip of anticipation up my back. No, again, he was a professor at Landsman
College and I was a student. Not only a student, but the Dean of Students’
daughter. I couldn't be daydreaming about him no matter how those metal-gray
eyes sparked something inside me.
I
pushed the handsome stranger out of my head. Tomorrow would arrive soon enough,
and I could still get to know him. Then it would be easier to think of him as a
stuffy, probably strict, teacher.
"Clarity,
there you are. Professor Bauer, I'd like you to meet my prized assistant and
the arranger of this successful party," my father said.
Ford's
lethal smile hit me full force. "Nice to meet you, Clarity. Dean Dunkirk
has been telling me all about how indispensable you are to him."
He
didn't realize I was the dean's daughter; his smile was too warm and he held my
outstretched hand a beat too long.
My
father didn't notice the caress or the misunderstanding. "Clarity is
indispensable, but that doesn't stop me from wishing she would break out, see a
little more of the world, get inspired. Perhaps you can help convince her that
it's actually better to bounce around a little and try things out before
settling down."
Ford's
smiled took my temperature up another five degrees. "She needs someone to
bring her out of her shell?"
"Exactly,"
my father said. "Someone to show her it's okay to bend the rules now and
then."
"Dean
Dunkirk, should you really be talking about bending rules?" I asked.
My
father laughed. "Ah, Clarity; she's my voice of reason. I just want you to
feel some passion. What kind of person plans so carefully?"
"The
person in charge of the desserts table. Please excuse me; there's an empty
cookie tray I need to refill." I spun away from my father and Ford. I
wasn't ready to see his gray eyes cool when he realized I was a student.
Professor
Bauer, I reminded myself as I ignored the empty cookie tray and slipped out the
back door of the kitchen. I edged along the sidewalk underneath the kitchen
windows. Risking being seen for a second, I dodged into the shadows of the
small fruit trees that separated the house from the vegetable garden. The sounds
and pressures of the party faded behind me.
One
of the few pieces of advice I remembered from my estranged mother echoed in my
head. "You wanna know what love really feels like?" she had asked me
when I had my first crush. "Imagine you're an outlet and your special
someone is a plug. They come along, you realize how you fit together, and ding!
The whole room lights up."
It
was an odd memory to surface as I hid in the shadowed garden. I was glad for
the cool breeze. Now that the temperature was dropping, it was actually
starting to feel like fall. A good time
to be wrapped up in a blanket in front of a crackling fire. My cheek resting
against a