I walked a little slower so that I could hear Natalie’s answer. Instead of answering them, however, she diverted their attention by pointing to her friend. “Oh, there’s Missy, she’ll want to say hi to you two.”
I left Natalie to her little family moment and headed outside. The lawn had been freshly mowed, and students milled around with their families, taking pictures and catching up with friends. I continued my search for Lindsey, but I couldn’t seem to find her anywhere.
It was then that I saw Jason. He was standing by the water fountain alone, and he had his hand placed awkwardly over his face. I took a few steps forward and realized that he had a black eye and a bruise that ran down one side of his face. He looked awful, and I felt a spark of satisfaction at the sight. At least there was something to be said for Karmic retribution.
I watched him hide beneath the shadow of the fountain. If he hadn’t blackmailed me into breaking up with Natalie, I might have actually felt sorry for him. I saw someone walk up to Jason and say hello, so I moved a little closer so that I could hear the conversation without being seen.
“Hi, man,” a gangly boy with short cropped brown hair said. “What the hell happened to you?”
“Nothing,” Jason mumbled, his voice slurring a little. I realized that he’d probably lost a few teeth, too.
“It doesn’t look like nothing,” the boy said. “It looks like someone beat you good.”
“I fell,” he insisted.
“Sure, if that’s your story,” the boy nodded. “What are your plans?”
“My plans?” he repeated. He sounded annoyed and fed up.
“Yeah, you must have some plans now that you’ve graduated?”
“Oh, right. I’m moving.”
“Oh, cool. Where to?”
“The East Coast probably. I’m done with the Midwest.”
“Geez, what did the Midwest ever do to you?”
“Fucked me over,” Jason replied. “But good.”
His friend laughed as though he thought Jason was joking. When it became apparent that he wasn’t, the boy gave Jason an awkward smile and nodded. “Well… Good luck, man, wherever you end up.”
A part of me was thrilled Jason was leaving. But a part of me didn’t entirely trust it, either. I was fairly certain that he was not the type of guy to leave without laying some sort of trap and I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of falling right into it.
I turned and left Jason by his lonely spot behind the fountain. I was about to give up on Lindsey and head to my car when I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned around, only to be faced with Natalie. The sun was slanting down on her face, casting her blue eyes into high relief. I resisted the urge to tell her how stunning she looked. Instead, I forced my expression into one of impatience.
“Hi,” she said timidly.
“Hi,” I replied, without emotion.
“You look well.”
I shifted on my feet. “You do, too,” I replied shortly, hoping that Jason wouldn’t see us talking.
“Thanks for saying hi to my parents,” she continued, and I knew she was filling the time with random things to draw out the conversation.
“Of course,” I nodded. “I would have said hi to any of my student’s parents.”
I saw her face fall a little at my words, but I held myself together.
“Mom and Dad are wanting to walk around and get the feel of my campus. They haven’t been here together before.”
“Do they know who I am?” I asked bluntly.
“Do you mean do they know that we dated?”
“Yes.”