Page 6 of Crossing the Line

“Don’t you people have to work tomorrow?” Amy asks.

Deathly silence is her response.

I’m relieved when I make it to the elevators. I take a quick look over my left shoulder. I’m out of sight in the short hallway. As I push the button to go down, I think that I probably should have said goodbye to Hercules.

But then, maybe not.

Definitely not.

I stare, unfocused, at the numbers above the elevator as they climb higher. Lake has reclaimed the microphone from Amy and is encouraging everyone to dance and drink like there’s no tomorrow.

I chuckle at Lake as I think about how seeing someone makes certain memories return as though they happened only yesterday. When I ran into Hercules at that New Year’s Eve party, I was with my roommate Eden, the younger sister of my cousin Treasure’s friend. Being a Grove meant I could afford an Emerald Suite at AIT University and be all by myself. But Treasure insisted I take in a roommate, convinced that if I didn’t, I’d end up being the loneliest girl on campus.

I hate to say it, but Treasure might have been right. Eden never let me sit around and be bored for too long. And she certainly wasn’t going to allow me to sit at home, binge on ice cream, and watch New Year’s Eve celebrations from coast to coast play out on TV. So she dragged me to a party near Harvard’s campus. And there, while I was ordering a Coke at the bar, I found myself standing next to Hercules Lord.

Hercules and I admired each other back then just as we did tonight. I was wearing a black dress that belonged to Eden. It was so short that I had to constantly tug the hem down when I walked to keep my crotch and rear covered. I was miserable in that dress until Hercules’s lustful gaze passed over me twice.

We looked into each other’s eyes and smiled, and he said—just as he did tonight—“PG.”

Hercules and I have natural chemistry. There’s no denying that. However, there’s also no denying that it would be difficult for us to have a normal boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. My family might disown me if we did. He would probably be disowned by his family too. Even though the hate is preposterous, it is real.

I yawn into my hand as the elevator arrives and the doors slide open. As I enter and search for the L button, I dream of falling into bed. I’m exhausted. I had more fun than I’d planned by dancing with Lake and then Clive. I probably shouldn’t have ditched Clive the way that I did. Pressing the lit L button, I feel bad about that. He was such a nice guy. I expel a slow and comforting sigh as I lean against the wall.

Before the doors can finish closing, they slide open again. Leaning against the steel frame of the elevator, displaying the grin that should be trademarked, Hercules Lord asks, “Leaving early?”