The Ivy: Scandal (28 page)

“You’d be surprised,” he answered. “And now, if you would answer a few simple questions for a feedback survey,” he went on, miming holding a clipboard. “You: a) have a boyfriend, b) don’t find me attractive—”

“I have a boyfriend,” Callie said quickly, opting for the Vanessa way out. Option B would have also been a lie anyway, since he
was
attractive—in a tan, blond, distinctly not-Gregory kind of a way. Callie sighed. Would there ever come a time when she might stop inadvertently comparing every guy that flirted with her to
him
? Stop hallucinating his face in a crowd? Stop clinging to that final shred of hope and accept the inevitable: that Gregory would most likely never, ever, be—

“Oh yeah,” Jeremy was saying, examining her face. “You’re that IM soccer chick who’s dating Bryan what’s-his-face, you know, from the Fly?”

“Uh…what?” asked Callie.

“Yeah,” he said, “I just saw a picture of you two on the front page of the sports section last week about to go at it on the field!”

“
What?
”

“You didn’t see it?” he asked. “Aw, you need to get your hands on a paper because it’s actually totally cute—you’re on the ground and he’s holding you and there’s some clever caption like ‘Lovers Face Off for Playoffs’ or something—”

“Uh—yes,” said Callie, just to shut him up. “That’s us.” It appeared that Grace had not been exaggerating two days ago when she’d announced that the editorial board was now “officially
in shambles.” Apparently Lexi’s regime no longer required basic fact-checking. One simple phone call to Callie and she could have confirmed that she was
not
dating Bryan, as Jeremy—and who knows who else—had assumed….

Callie gasped.

“Hey—where are you going?”

Callie ignored him, racing over to where Vanessa stood, readying to toss her beanbag. “Vanessa!”

“What?” asked Vanessa, irritated at the interruption.

“That article—the one about the date auction—did it imply that Bryan and I were, like, romantically involved?”

“What article…Oh.” Vanessa made a face. “
That
article. Yeah. I think it did. But it was also very clear that almost everything in the article was totally made up. Pure—gossipy—trash. I mean, I think it even misattributed and misquoted some of the things that
I
said about Gregory…. What? Why do you look like you have to pee and there’s no bathroom?”

“Just—give me your iPhone for a second, would you?”

“Don’t you have a new phone now?”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t have the internet!”

“Okay, god, calm down,” said Vanessa, handing over her phone. “That applies to you guys, too!” she yelled at Tyler and his teammate, who had been signaling at her to throw the beanbag, and Mimi, who was tapping her foot impatiently.

It didn’t take long for Callie to find the article she was looking for. There it was: the caption about her and Bryan being “lovers,” just like Jeremy had said, underneath a photograph that actually
kind of made it look like they were. “Oh my god,” said Callie, her fingers flying across the screen as she searched for the Society Pages article.

“I know, right?” asked Vanessa. “We are totally about to win.”

“Oh…my…god…” Callie repeated, reading the words on the screen.

“
Quoi
?” asked Mimi. “
Ce qui s’est passé?
”

“I gotta go,” said Callie, thrusting the phone at Vanessa.

“Where—hey—why?”

“I’ll explain later!” Callie called, racing toward the back gate. Bursting out onto Garden Street, she ran without stopping until she reached Wigglesworth.

“What are you doing home so soon?” asked Dana, looking up when the door to the common room flew open.

Callie leaned against the wall, struggling to regain her breath. “Had to—just realized—need to talk—to Gregory.”

“Gregory?” Dana repeated. “Is he back?”

Clutching a stitch in her side, Callie shook her head. “Have to find—a way to get—a message through.”

“How?” asked Dana. “Did he reactivate his phone line? Or his e-mail?” She suddenly looked sheepish. “I overhear things…through the walls sometimes—without meaning to.”

Callie shook her head. “No,” she said. “And I don’t know how I’m going to get through to him. I already tried
everything
, and none of it worked. I guess…” Her eyes grew wide. “I guess I’ll just have to go to New York!”

“New York?” Dana echoed, following Callie into her bedroom.

“Yes!” said Callie, flinging open her closet and reaching for her gym bag. “I’ll go to New York. Now what should I pack?” she muttered, turning to her dresser.

“Is that—such a good idea?” asked Dana, hovering near her bed. “How are you even going to get there?”

“I don’t know. Bus?” said Callie, tossing a sweatshirt into the bag. “I think they leave every hour from South Station….”

“But where will you stay?”

“I don’t need a place to stay,” Callie insisted. “I just need to find Gregory and then everything else will…work out. Somehow.”

Slowly Dana shook her head. “It doesn’t sound like you’ve thought this through.”

“Maybe not,” said Callie, “but there isn’t any time!”

“Why not?”

“Because there just—isn’t!”

“Stop,” said Dana, her tone shifting from gentle to forceful. “Drop the bag, sit down, and look at me.”

Callie obeyed, sinking onto her bed.

Dana sat next to her. “Now what, pray tell, is the rush?”

“I think Gregory thinks that I started dating someone else the second he left—and that I told a reporter for the school magazine that I don’t want him now that he’s poor! That’s why he suddenly stopped trying to reach me! That and because my phone broke. But all those calls from the restricted line to Vanessa’s phone afterward were from before that article about the date auction, too! And of course, the soccer photos appeared, and—well, who knows what else!” Callie cried, trying to explain. Dana listened patiently, but
her demeanor somewhat resembled a nurse listening to the rants of a feverish patient.

“So don’t you see?” Callie pleaded. “I have to go to New York so I can explain it all and then he can finally break up with Alessandra and we can…finally…”

Dana rested a hand on Callie’s back. “Gregory left in a huge hurry,” she said finally. “He didn’t have time to break up with his lady friend or leave you anything more than that Post-it note. I—understand how hard that must have been, how hard it must still be. So it’s only natural to want to believe that there must have been something more, some great misunderstanding, perhaps, with an equally grand
deus ex machina
type of explanation.”

Dana cleared her throat. “But things don’t always turn out the way they do in stories. Sometimes real life and real troubles like Gregory’s get in the way, and real people just don’t have time to write secret love letters confessing everything. Like that character in your book you like so much.” Dana nodded at the volume on the nightstand before continuing, insisting that God had a plan and that waiting patiently was actually the fastest way to a resolution.

But Callie was no longer listening. Reaching for the copy of
Persuasion
, she flipped through the pages until she found the section that she had volunteered to read not one week earlier. Her bookmark had only been a chapter away. In a few days she would have found it—although it might have been many weeks earlier if she’d been smarter, or less preoccupied.

“What are you doing?” asked Dana. “Are you okay?”

Tears were pouring down Callie’s face. “Read it,” she said, handing the book to Dana with trembling fingers.

“What—”

“Just read it,” Callie insisted.

“Fine,” Dana conceded, spreading the book across her lap.

“Wow,” Dana said softly, setting down the book. Grabbing a tissue from the nightstand, she blew her nose loudly. “Allergies,” she muttered, wiping her eyes.

“I knew it,” Callie whispered. “I knew it all along! Dana,” she cried, leaping to her feet, “I could kiss you!”

“Please—don’t,” said Dana. “One from OK was already bad enough as it is.”

“All right,” said Callie, giggling deliriously and slinging her bag over her shoulder. “Well, then—wish me luck!”

“Good lu—
wait
. You’re not still entertaining the idea of going to New York, are you? When your hearing’s less than a week away? And, last I checked, you still don’t have any idea who…” She gestured at the bulletin board, which had started to look like the work of a conspiracy-theory-driven madman.

Callie opened her mouth to protest, but Dana pressed on. “What about finals? Reading period is supposed to be for studying, not spontaneous trips to—Well, do you even
know
exactly where it is that you’re going?”

“No.” Callie froze in her doorway. “But it can’t be too far from that PO Box address….”

“Why not just write to him,” Dana pleaded, “like his note suggests?”

“Because I can’t bear to wait another minute knowing that he thinks—that I think—when I know—that he doesn’t know—I just need to clear it all up and
now
!” Callie cried. “I’m sorry, but I’ll just have to explain it better when I get back! Please tell Mimi and Vanessa—”

“Tell us what?” Vanessa called from the common room. She and Mimi had just returned from the party.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Dana muttered. “I never thought I would say this but—I need you two to talk some sense into her!”

“
Qu’est qui ce passe
?” asked Mimi, starting for Callie’s bedroom. “Why did you quit the party
très rapidement
?”

“Yes, and why does it look like you’re about to run away from home,” Vanessa asked, “wearing
my
Tory Burch dress?”

Too flustered to speak, Callie handed Vanessa
Persuasion
while Dana summarized what had transpired.

“But why should she not go to New York
maintenant
?” asked Mimi. “Even if you do not locate him, you can return within a day or two—
je sais, je sais
,” she added grumpily to Dana. “
Mais un ou deux jours sans
studying never killed anyone’s grandma, and perhaps
un petit voyage c’est exactement
what she needs for the brain clearing to
attraper
the Insider!”

Slowly Vanessa shook her head. “Believe it or not, I agree with Dana. Even if you didn’t have less than a week left until your hearing, not to mention finals, and even if you did know where to find Gregory, I still don’t think now is a good time to go to New York.” Setting down
Persuasion
, she sighed. “It’ll probably be all over the papers later tonight, but according to the latest update from that tireless gossip-whore otherwise known as my mother, the SEC hearings start tomorrow.

“Essentially,” Vanessa continued, placing a hand on Callie’s shoulder, “it’s like being on trial except without the handcuffs. The proceedings could entail”—she cringed—“months of
testifying, all day every day, and given certain confidentiality issues, you can bet the lawyers have Gregory and his dad locked in a hotel somewhere not even the most ruthless reporters could find them.”

Wailing, Callie flung herself onto the bed. Every ounce of adrenaline-induced energy evaporated instantaneously. She resolved never to move again.

“There, there,” said Dana after a beat. “‘Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.’”

“Um…yeah,” said Vanessa. “Like Journey and the D-meister said, ‘Don’t stop believin’.’ You just need to be patient, get through your hearing, and let Gregory and his dad get through theirs. And in the meantime you could still try writing him that letter….” She stood, digging through the desk until she found paper and pens.

“
Oooh, c’est romantique!
” exclaimed Mimi. “Let us hope that he has not ceased to check
le bureau le poste
because you have been having
des relations sexuelles avec
Bryan.”

“What?” Callie shrieked, sitting up. “I have
not
been having
des relations
—I mean,
sexual relations
with Bryan!”