Love Left Behind (61 page)

"Isn't
that kind of personal?" I was cautious, not sure how to maneuver this
conversation.

"I
don't know, is it?" he asked cryptically. Simon spoke lightly but he was
watching me closely.

I
didn't know how to answer so I decided to go for the truth but with very little
detail. "He was just interested in me but he wasn't my type, that's all.
Everyone's making it into a bigger deal than it was." Although it
had
been a little creepy the way
Jonathan would always show up wherever I was. But I didn't really want to go
into it with Simon.

Simon
leaned back smiling, his arm still around my chair. "What's your
type?"

I
felt myself losing control of the conversation and tried to reign it back in. I
looked around at the rest of the table, but everyone was too busy arguing the
merits of some band to pay attention to us.

"I
don't have a type," I replied slowly. "I'm not really looking to get
involved right now. School is enough and this is our last year. I want to just
concentrate on graduating and having fun with my friends."

"We
could have fun," he replied, his mouth crooking up in a half-smile.

"Sure,"
I said with an edge. "As
friends.
I don't have time for anything else except friends." There was a warning
in my voice that if we weren't friends, we weren't going to be anything else.

"That
sounds good to me," Simon said innocently. He then cocked his head with a
small smile. "For now."

I
didn't know what to say to that, so I didn't say anything at all. I took a sip
of my beer to have something to do and then leaned forward, joining the
conversation at the table and trying to ignore the presence beside me.

**********

The
night flew by quickly and before I knew it, it was almost midnight. Simon
seemed to have backed off and I was relieved that we were just interacting as
friends. I told myself that I didn't feel the least bit disappointed. Not in
the least.

I
learned that Simon and Grant had pretty much grown up together, since they
lived so close to each other and were the same age. I knew Grant came from a
wealthy family, but it seemed by Grant's comments that Simon came from an even
wealthier family, although Simon downplayed it. Simon's father and Grant's
mother were siblings, so Simon's last name was Crewe instead of Matthews, like Grant.
Simon had a younger sister in high school and it sounded as if they were close.
I had always wished for a sibling growing up since I felt so isolated from my
father. I envied anyone who had a sibling they could confide in. I was lucky I
had Sarah though. She really did feel like my sister.

I
watched in amusement as Sarah flirted with Grant, putting a hand on his arm and
brushing her hair as she spoke to him. Grant wasn't exactly oblivious and
flirted back, although he kept it casual. I knew they had kissed once in the
past, but that had been a while ago and they had both been drunk. Grant had a
rocky relationship with his ex-girlfriend Cara, and I really wished that he
would give Sarah a chance for something more than a flirtation. At the same
time, I wished Sarah would give up this infatuation with Grant and move on. It
was painful for me to see her interested in someone that didn't reciprocate her
feelings. Sarah downplayed Grant's lack of real interest and made it seem like
it was just a fun game for her, but I knew that she felt hurt by it.

Simon
shared that he had been pre-law at Yale, but it had only been at his father's
insistence. He had agreed to try it for a few years because his father was
convinced that Simon would soon see the value of practicing law, but after
three years, his father had finally relented and agreed that he would support
Simon changing his major, as well as schools.

That's
how Simon put it, but Grant implied that Simon's father had no choice but to
relent; otherwise, Simon would have gone off on his own anyways.

I
wondered what it was like to have a father that thought so much of your
potential, even if it caused Simon to butt heads with him, instead of a father
who seemed convinced of your lack of potential. Whenever my father asked me how
I was doing in school and I shared that I was making high marks, he answered
that of course I would be. After all, the business school at Maxwell wasn't the
top in the nation, never mind that it was still well respected. I didn't
mention that I had been accepted to plenty of other schools that were more
prestigious, but Maxwell had given me the biggest scholarship and that had made
my decision for me. I didn't want to throw my father's lack of financial
support in his face, despite the fact that he didn't seem to hesitate to say
hurtful things to me.

"Okay,"
I announced. "That's it for me. It's almost midnight and Cinderella needs
to get home."

"Yeah,
I'm with you," Marcus said. "Let's head back. If I stay any longer,
soccer practice is going to kill me tomorrow."

Marcus
stood up as I did. Simon also stood up beside me. He had never relinquished
Marcus' seat back to him and Marcus didn't seem to mind since that put him next
to Jenny.

"I
think I'm going to head back too," Simon said, glancing at me. "I'm
still recovering from the move here."

"Aw
man, come on," Grant protested. "The night is still young and there's
more pitchers to be had. We haven't even played pool yet."

Sarah
looked up at me. "You want me to come home with you?" she inquired.

No
matter how much Sarah wanted to hang out with Grant, I knew that making sure I
was okay was a greater priority for her. I smiled at her warmly, happy in the
fact that there was one person on this earth that truly cared about me.
"No, it's okay. Stay. I'll go back with Marcus."

"And
me," Simon added stubbornly.

As
Grant opened his mouth to argue, Joel stopped by the table. "Hey
guys," he said. "Happy to see the new band together."

"Hey
Joel," Grant replied. "Can we go over some things for next Saturday? Simon
has some new equipment and we want to make sure that you guys are equipped to
handle it." Grant turned to Simon. "Let's go over this stuff now,
man."

Simon
frowned and glanced at me. "Can't we do this another time?"

I
pushed Simon's arm gently, the past couple of hours making me more comfortable
with him. "Stay. Marcus and I are fine. I promise to protect his
reputation and make sure he gets home safely."

Simon
smiled but still looked uncertain. "Well..."

"C'mon,
Simon," Grant urged. "Better to do this now than wait, in case we
have to jimmy the set-up."

"It's
cool, Simon," Marcus said. "I'll make sure Caitlin gets home safely.
It's a good idea for you to go over the equipment."

Simon
relented and sat back down. Grant started talking about the new equipment as
Marcus and I said our goodbyes and walked to the door, holding our breath as
the cold air greeted us. I looked behind us as the door was closing and saw
that Simon was still looking in our direction.