A Bridge of Her Own (2 page)

The rest of their trip flew by, and she was shopping and packing for school before she knew it.

Chapter 2

Moving into her new dorm room and meeting her new roommate was surreal. Her new roommate, Trisha, was certifiably insane. She looked normal enough, but upon actually entering their dorm room, Jane realized that was far from the truth. She had a collection of doll heads. Actual doll heads. No bodies anywhere to be seen. She had them displayed in a shadow box already hung above her bed. Jane distressed, looked from her mother to her father with her eyes wide. Jane could not live with her. She honestly wasn’t sure if it was safe for anyone to live with her.

Her parents were in complete agreement and took Jane to see the dorm rep of that floor. There was a short line of other unhappy dorm dwellers already waiting. This is where Jane first met Lacey. Lacey’s roommate was an avid taxidermist. Lacey, an (living) animal lover, could not deal with this. Jane’s father laughed and told Lacey about Jane’s roommate and the doll heads.

Lacey looked Jane up and down and decided she could not be any crazier than her current roommate and negotiated a prisoner exchange. Lacey was the opposite of Jane in appearance. Lacey was incredible in action, convincing each of their current roommates that they were perfect for each other. At one point, she even suggested her roommate use the doll heads in her taxidermy. Jane had to bite her lips to avoid laughing out loud. Lacey was not
phased by Jane’s shyness. She figured if they were going to live together, Jane would eventually warm up to her and decided she should do it sooner rather than the alternative. Jane found her absolutely refreshing.

They, of course had their moments. Jane tended to bottle up her frustrations until she made herself sick while Lacey would blow her top when in a mood for little reason at all. Early on, they set ground rules for what was expected of each other. Lacey let her know that she was not a mind reader, and Jane HAD to come to her if she was ever doing something that bothered her. Jane also asked that Lacey not entertain suitors in their dorm room because, let’s face it, there are some things you can’t un-see.

Navigating the unknown waters of their first weeks of their freshman year together was a bonding experience. Their schedules were very similar. Most days they would skip the cafeteria breakfast and opt for milk and cereal instead. Keeping their small dorm fridge stocked made Jane feel grown up. Which was funny to Lacey, considering her favorite cereal was the very grown up Fruit Loops.

Most evenings they would stay in studying, but Lacey was able to coax Jane out on average of one day a week. Happy to people-watch, Jane was really enjoying herself. Her mother was shocked that she was not coming home on the weekends given how close they lived. Part of the reason was she did not have a car since it was discouraged for freshman students. She didn't want to have her father come pick her up and then have to drop her back off again even though she was certain he would not have minded.

The other reason, not surprisingly, was that she was enjoying her independence. It also gave her an opportunity to get to know Lacey better. Part of her was dumbstruck that Lacey would elect to spend her free time with her. Lacey, while new to the area as well as the school, had no shortage of new friends. She just seemed to like Jane the best, and as long as Jane was willing, she was always welcomed if not encouraged out with her.

Jane had no idea what Lacey saw in her. What she did not know was most of Lacey’s bombastic bravado came from disguising how similar they really were. Lacey had at one time been shy and had learned how to overcome her shyness and felt protective of Jane. Lacey was originally from the Midwest and had also selected their school for its art program. But she was not Art History like Jane; her course of study was Theater Arts. Given her lack of ties to the area, Jane was curious why this program had appealed to her. It turned out the university’s professors were renowned, and many previous graduates of the program were fairly successful. So leaving her parents in Iowa, she set out on her own.

By the end of that semester, they were very in tune to their unique ticks. Lacey even went home with Jane for the holidays. She could have gone home to Iowa, but her folks were going on a couples cruise to the Caribbean. They had invited her to go along but Lacey did not want to be the third wheel. Jane's folks lived half an hour from their school. Lacey had never met anyone like Jane, so quiet and seemingly without ulterior motive in her friendship. Neither having a sibling, they formed a bond not unlike sisterhood. Lacey felt protective of Jane and stepped into the big sister role. Jane was the kindest soul she had ever met, and she could not wait to meet her parents. Lacey could tell her dad was pretty laid-back while her mom seemed wound a bit tightly. She fussed at Jane in ways Lacey could tell was driving her crazy so she suggested Jane give her a tour of the neighborhood.

“So why do you let your mom jump all over you like that?” Lacey asked once they were out of earshot in the driveway.

Jane shrugged. “What else am I supposed to do?”

“Um, how about telling her you are an adult legally able to vote so it is unnecessary for her to still know the time of your last cycle or examine your teeth so she can decide if you have been flossing or not?” Lacey retorted.

“I think she would have a heart attack if I ever said anything like that to her.” Jane giggled.

“I really think you should try setting some sort of boundaries though.” Lacey went on. “Otherwise, she will walk all over you your entire life."

Jane knew Lacey was right, but it was her mom they were talking about. Yes, she did feel as though she had to do things that she did not want to do around her, but aren’t most parents like that?

It was chilly, but the sun was out so they took a pleasant lap around Jane's block. Since it was still light out, none of the houses had their holiday lights turned on yet. Jane pointed out landmarks along the way. The pool was down that road, the home of the first boy she ever dreamed of kissing, and where the stupid lady who never cleans up after her dog lived. There was a bench at the end of the block, on a grassy hill. They sat for a spell enjoying the crisp air. On the way back, Lacey said it was a bummer they would not see any of the houses light up.

"Let's go on a tacky light tour!" Jane exclaimed.

"A what?"
Lacey replied.

"It's a route that you take past all of the WAY decorated houses.” Jane answered. “You’ll love it."

Jane’s parents declined the invitation to come along. After supper they bundled up, and with a map printed from Jane’s dad’s computer, they set off. On the way, Jane told Lacey she someday dreamed of taking the tour by limo like some companies in town that annually did that. As they drove neighborhood to neighborhood, checking out light display after light display, they found themselves at the mother of all over-decorated houses they had ever seen.

There were two houses side by side that had jointly decorated every inch of available lawn and roof space. The girls parked, and braving the cold weather, walked up to take a closer look, as many other people also appeared to be doing. A homeowner was offering cups of hot cocoa to everyone, and holiday music played in the background. There was also a donation box set up with proceeds going to a local charity.

“This is the most amazing thing I have ever seen.” Lacey said awestruck.

On Christmas morning, Jane presented her parents with an oil painting of the Arc de Triumph she had done as
an homage of their trip to France. Her father gushed over it while her mother continued to ask if she had met any nice boys. Her father shook his head and joked she should wait until she was thirty. Lacey and Jane exchanged their presents to each other.

Jane had gotten Lacey a monthly subscription to her favorite fashion magazine and a husband pillow since Lacey coveted Jane’s. Lacey gave Jane a calendar from the Louvre and a silver charm bracelet with a charm. The charm was a small heart with BFF engraved on it. Jane was truly touched and close to tears. She hugged Lacey in thanks.

From that trip on, the two were inseparable. They navigated the ups and downs of college life together. Lacey with the hope of someday ending up on Broadway or even in Hollywood. Jane was her always-willing audience and sometimes coach helping her learn lines. It was amazing how Lacey’s course of study also impacted Jane’s personality.

Jane studied with the dream of someday being the curator of a museum. The constant repetition of speaking out loud with Lacey while running lines with her gave Jane additional confidence in her own courses to occasionally raise her hand in response to a professor's question. Prior to her friendship with Lacey, this would have been completely out of character for her.

Chapter 3

Jane invited Lacey to come stay with her and her family for a couple of months while she worked on a production at the local theater. Lacey did not have a leading role, but it was a paying gig (minimum wage). She would not have been able to afford to stay had it not been for Jane’s parents. Jane’s dad especially got a kick out of Lacey’s antics while Jane’s mom secretly prayed Lacey would not rub off too much on Jane.

Jane, with her art background, also became involved in Lacey's production as she helped build and decorate the various set backdrops. They both had a blast and would be able to refer to their summer work during their next term. On sold out nights, Jane would sit with the audio crew and watch the show from the catwalk. It was a beautiful view high above the audience. Some of her favorite memories came from her quiet perch. If there was better light up there, it would be a fun place to sketch. Unfortunately, it was so dark she would be completely unable to see what she was drawing. It was good practice, though, to try, and once back at their dorm room, recall from memory something she had previously witnessed.

For Jane, it was wonderful to have someone at home to split the attention with. Her mother seemed less inclined to correct her when Lace was around. Also, Lacey seemed to notice when her mother was about to pick at Jane and would change the subject or ask Mrs. Martin to help her with something. They would also borrow her dad's car and tool around town, usually to the Fan, where they would park and window shop up and down Cary Street. For Jane, she was for the first time in her life feeling somewhat like an adult around her parents.

Before starting their sophomore year Jane went home with Lacey to Iowa for a couple of weeks to, now, meet her parents. She was particularly excited to meet Lacey’s mother, as she was an actual working artist. She was very eccentric and could easily be described as a hippie. Her current medium was found material that she would then assemble and paint. There was a large painted structure of lawn chairs welded to baby strollers and artificial tabletop Christmas trees in their front yard. Lacey rolled her eyes as they approached it.

“I wish she would go back to pottery.” Lacey sighed, walking up. “That took up way less space.”

Lacey’s father, on the other hand, managed a local wellness center and spa. Lacey and Jane helped out for a couple of days in exchange for a spa day.

“We have got to come visit your parents more often.” Jane said from her seaweed wrap.

“Just gotta remember to keep moving or we might end up part of my mom’s next sculpture.” Lacey joked from her mud bath. It really was a peaceful trip, but Jane did notice that Lacey’s mom, when “inspired,” was not really there for Lacey.

She mused to herself that if you combined her hover mom with Lacey’s flighty mom you might just come up with the perfect combination of interested disinterest. Returning to campus as a team was so refreshing versus all of the unknowns of their previous year. Again, they shared a room and took pains to match their schedules up for classes. Over the summer, they even bought all of their bedding together so it would coordinate. Lacey also shipped down a painting her mother had done. It was based off of a photo of Jane and Lacey from their trip.

This year they actually had one class together: a prerequisite math course neither of them was looking forward to. That is until their professor walked in. He could have been a model for an Italian underwear designer. Math went from their least favorite subject to suddenly their favorite. Lacey took pains to look flawless for each class. Jane teased her even though she had to admit that if it was a math class day she did tend to wear jeans instead of sweats. Otherwise, their year was flying by.

Lacey dated a guy named Anthony on and off one semester. He was an exchange student from Spain. Neither really understood anything the other was saying. It was mainly a physical relationship. When he left to return to Spain, she was really bummed, having decided he was the ideal mate. They spent their winter break at Jane's again. One night, a few days before Christmas, they drove to the house that had all of the decorations again. They decided it would be their winter ritual.

The second semester seemed to race by, each busy with their courses. Lacey was trying to work on her Irish accent nonstop. It was like living with a leprechaun, Jane teased. Her accent was improving, though. Someone who lived on their floor had even asked Jane about the new Irish chick. Lacey thought that was hilarious, especially since the person who asked also happened to be in one of her classes. Jane's favorite course that semester was the study of religious murals in ancient cathedrals.

That summer, they spent the bulk of their time at Lacey’s home and just a couple of weeks at Jane’s parents’ house. They worked at her dad’s spa, this time for pay versus treatments. They were saving up with the goal in mind to take a trip to Europe over the holidays together. They had even planned to continue working part-time their junior year to help fund the trip. Jane joked that Lacey just wanted to be on the same continent as Anthony again.