Chapter Six
The New Boy
Even
before Ben arrived, there was a lot of whispering in the halls… Confessions of a Teenage
Hermit
The summer of my childhood friendship with
Ben had almost been erased from my mind by the time I reached sophomore year.
By
then, I’d learnt to be a popular girl – a Social.
I hadn’t asked for inclusion into this elite group but Elizabeth’s leadership
aspirations and plans for Missy to take her place after her reign, meant my
vote would be useful in all matters and I was an accepted addition. The
inclusion of the Elliot sisters (and friends) into this select school society
was a given. We were the legacy of one of LA’s most scandalous and celebrated
families. Liz even held secret dinners in her dorm room most weekends, plotting
sororities she might join at East Coast colleges. We’d spent part of summer at Kellynch and the other parts shifting
between New York and Los Angeles. I was still reeling from my “vacation” in Bel
Air at dad’s place.
One weekend early in August, we’d been
preparing to attend dad’s birthday party. The Bel Air house was decorated and
staffed for this express purpose – a formal dinner. I wasn’t sure how I’d
endure it.
“The
Elliot name stands for all that is good, sociable and well-bred,” my father
announced that weekend during one of his infamous gatherings where his “perfect
daughters” were expected to impress members of the Board, as his birthday
present.
“The Elliot name stands for all that is shallow, groundless and possibly corrupt,”
I whispered to myself under my breath when it seemed no one else was paying me
any attention, except my father.
There was a moment’s silence before people
resumed eating. One of the hired hands delivered a note to me direct from Dad,
along with my side of mashed potatoes. On the paper he had written; “Just to let you know you are not too old for
me to ask you to leave the table. Now.”
I returned to school early to prepare for
the coming semester.
Boarding school was making me independent,
but as my Godmother told me that night before I left, “that is no excuse for
publicly humiliating the family.” Eleanor had a point and I resolved to hold my
tongue in future.
My sisters were happy to be literally fed
by the same system which seemed to subject me to a subordinate role. I had to
learn what was expected of me as an Elliot. It was as if, once I’d learnt to
style my hair perfectly and apply the right brand of lip gloss (our allowances
had always been very generous), and fit in by being a shadow against the cool
crowd – an almost-pretty girl (how I saw myself) with no obviously conflicting
opinions of my own – everything would be okay.
By then, I walked a fine line between outward popularity and inward
chaos.
I had slowly built myself again from the
shoes up in the shadow of my fashionable older sister. By the start of
sophomore year and with Jenny’s help, I’d decided to reinvent myself from the
child I had been, to the “in control” young adult I was becoming. I’d drifted
through my classes until then, transforming from a hermit-like teen to a
social, well-dressed cheerleader, gaining above average grades.
I knew I’d have to lift my game by junior
year in order to get into a college worth attending, but deep down I wasn’t
ambitious for anything beyond a good relationship with a boy I could love. A
job I enjoyed would also be nice. I liked reading, writing my own stories and
babysitting. My Godmother had taught me to draft patterns and design clothes,
so that was another of my interests, my “little hobbies” as my father referred
to my passion for design. My least favorite subjects were biology and math and
I generally found myself sketching under the desk while my teachers talked.
I’d almost ceased thinking about Ben on a
daily basis when he finally arrived at Hallowed Halls. I remember hearing about
him first from Jenny Covington, now my closest friend. I was surprised Serena
Collins (another Social with
leadership aspirations) held bragging rights already.
“He’s mine,” she announced over lunch at
our special table with a full view of other, less socially connected aspirants.
“She needs to take a chill pill already and
get over it,” Jenny whispered.
Dana Lawrence, Serena’s bestie nodded her
head in perfect agreement and gave me a knowing look. Ever since I’d taken a
more central position than Dana on the cheer squad she’d been acting jealous
and mean towards me. It was only because I was Liz’s sister that either of
those girls were even civil.
“Oh, she played spin the bottle with him at
a party once,” Jenny assured me as we walked to class. “No big deal. They were
only eleven.”
I
zoned out as Jenny talked schedules for the day.
I interrupted her when our teacher, Miss
Clay, brushed past our lockers.
Miss Clay was very well-dressed and held
her head high, high enough to look down on her own students. Miss Clay, under
the guise of friendliness, stopped me to talk about my father.
“Is your father coming to parent-teacher
evening, Jane?” she asked me. Miss Clay was very keen on all things my-father related.
She’d wanted to know, “how he was getting along,” since the divorce. I found
this quite amusing but Eleanor Russell, who came to take me for lunch one Sunday;
assured me I needed to be more perceptive about people’s true intentions.
Eleanor went so far as to suggest my
teacher, Lilly Clay, was interested in my father romantically and that he would
be susceptible to the charms of a much younger woman. Perhaps Eleanor was
right.
All I could say was, “poor Miss Clay.” Even
though daddy was my father and thought himself very good-looking, it was clear
to me, that since he drank too much and exercised too little, his skirt-chasing
days were way behind him (I’m just being honest). Eleanor assured me this was not true, that
men like my father enjoy the chase at any age and that I should be careful
about Dad connecting with unsuitable women.
“What do you mean?” I asked Eleanor.
“That woman, Lilly Clay, has her eye on
your family’s money - mark my words; and marrying your father would be the
fastest way to get it.”
“Oh,” I said, this was an eye-opener to
me. I really couldn’t see how any younger woman, in fact any woman, would find Dad appealing but let’s not go there right
now. I put thoughts of Miss Clay out of
my head. I had to, in order to stay sane.
My sisters and I generally carried the
notes we needed to class and kept spares in the row of lockers which made
Hallowed Halls seem more like a six star resort for unwanted rich kids, rather
than an academically focused boarding school for Type A personalities.
That morning, the first day of Ben’s
arrival, Serena Collins and I had just come back from our morning gym session.
I loathed gym but Serena loved it because she liked the coach’s assistant, an
older student from the nearby college campus. Soon Serena would have someone
newer to focus on; Ben.
Jenny met us for hot chocolates post-shower
and pre-first class. We had an awesome cafeteria which remained open from dawn
till dusk. The facilities at Hallowed Halls – an Olympic sized swimming pool,
tennis courts and a games room - were pretty amazing by the stretch of anyone’s
imagination. We were seated at a round table when Serena started gossiping.
“So, let me tell you more about the new
boy....” Serena stated as if she already knew him well. It was a given that she
would have the jump on me in the way of any sort of juicy details. I listened absently as I readied myself for
cheerleading practise. Ben Wentworth was all Serena talked about for thirty
minutes. I was elated that he’d arrived but I didn’t show it. I acted cool
since I was learning it never paid to let mean girls like Serena and Dana know
everything I was thinking. They’d just use it against me.
