I
You and I must make a pact
We must bring salvation back
Where there is love
I'll be there (I'll be there)
I'll reach out my hand to you
I'll have faith in all you do
Just call my name and I'll be there (I'll be there)
"I'll Be There", The Jackson 5
Five Years Earlier, Langley College, Peekskill, New York
"Jo, come on, we're gonna be late for English Lit!"
Blair Warner, the heir apparent of Warner International Corporation, rolled her eyes, waiting for her best friend, Jo Polniaczek. It was usually Jo yelling for Blair at the start of the day, as the debutante was usually preening and making sure everything was just so when she walked out to greet the world.
"Oh, for cryin' out loud, Blair", the Bronx native replied, heading out of her bedroom, "I'm a little behind one time, and you're all over my case! Geez!"
"Really Jo", Blair said, tossing her long, thick blonde hair, "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about?"
Jo caught the commencement of a smirk at the corners of Blair's lips, making the former gang member roll her own eyes. But she laughed at the end of it. No matter what, she could never stay mad at Blair, despite how different they were. "Yeah, yeah, blondie, you're always ready in ten minutes flat every freakin' morning." As she moved by Blair toward the door to their shared apartment, she nudged her, with a smile and a wink, letting her best friend know it was all in fun.
It was a beautiful spring day at Langley, nestled along the Hudson River. It was only a month until the end of their Sophomore year at the very exclusive college. Langley was a college that the rich and powerful sent their children to school, usually after finishing up at either Eastland School, or Bates Academy for boys. There were rumors that the two schools would be combined in the near future, but that hadn't been decided yet. Pretty much everyone Jo and Blair had known at either Eastland or Bates, was now at Langley.
Blair was being groomed to one day take over for her father at Warner International, formerly known as Warner Textiles, just as David Warner had been groomed for where he was now by his father. It was simply part of the "circle of life", for many who were rich and powerful: be raised within society, get a first-class education, marry someone who also had excellent pedigree, and have offspring that would go through the same thing-to be bred to be wealthy and to hold power that few in the world had.
Joanna Marie Polniaczek was from the complete opposite end of the spectrum: born and raised in The Bronx, in a poor neighborhood, she was the product of the street gangs that roamed New York City, groups of boys and girls looking to build an empire far smaller than that the one Blair would inherit, and one that certainly wouldn't lead to wealth. Jo had been leader of the Young Diablos street gang. She had been involved in more than a few scrapes, some which had left both physical and emotional scars on her.
How the two, with so different upbringings, with such different personalities and outlooks on life, had become the best of friends had amazed them and everyone else they had known since Jo first arrived at Eastland. They still fought constantly, but it did not have the bitter class warfare-type feel to it that it once held. Now, it was simply because they enjoyed the arguments. They enjoyed pushing each others' buttons. Yet if anyone threatened the other, the were taking their very life into their hands.
Langley, like both Eastland and Bates, were made up almost completely with children from wealthy families, like the Warner's, the St. Clair's, the Worthington's, as well as children of diplomats, and even foreign leaders from across the globe. Blair was perfectly at home in this upscale, fast-paced social environment. She was expected to act like she owned the place, and she often gave off that very air.
It had been something that Jo had trouble adapting to from the moment she arrived at Eastland, running over Mrs. Garrett's magnolia's in the process. She came from a blunt, dangerous world, where acting like Blair Warner would get you in serious trouble. It wasn't about social status-it was about survival. Blair knew how to negotiate herself out of certain situations. Jo, on the other hand, oftentimes used foul language and her fists to work out disagreements.
Yet they both cared deeply for each other. Blair spent many a day over the years, defending her best friend from the aristocratic crowd, even when she seemed to join them occasionally in their disdain for the tough tomboy. Jo would do anything to protect Blair from any guy she felt wasn't good enough for the blonde. The fact was, Jo didn't think any man was good enough for Blair Warner.
And that's where her problem lay. It was not just a problem, but went to the very core of who Jo Polniaczek was. It was something that she had tried to keep hidden since she first entered puberty, and, try as she might, was something she couldn't change.
Years earlier, Jo had kissed her best friend at the time, Gloria. Gloria's mom had caught them, and literally banished Jo from her daughter's life, informing Jo's mother, who was a devout Roman Catholic, of the transgression. Rose and Charlie Polniaczek, while divorced, had united against Jo in expressing their anger that she would do such an immoral thing, and that she had to purge herself of such sins.
She and Gloria still found time to meet clandestinely, usually on the roof of their tenement. Yet Gloria's mother had continued to berate her daughter to the point where, one day while sitting on the roof together eating lunch, Gloria had simply walked to the edge of the building, and jumped off, much to Jo's horror.
Jo had never recovered from that.
Yet it steeled her mind that she would not try to be something she wasn't, even as she was determined not to tell another living soul about it. So she hid her sexuality under the cover of her tough, no-nonsense persona, which, if anyone had looked, made her stand out even more. But it served to deflect any and all musings about the fact that Jo was a lesbian.
Then she had met Blair, and, in under two years, she had gone from almost hating the slightly older, sometimes infuriatingly snobbish girl, to falling madly, hopelessly in love with her, wanting the curvy, buxom blonde for herself, but knowing, for a multitude of reasons, that it never could be. Jo, a lesbian, courting the boy-crazy Blair Warner? Preposterous! Jo, the juvenile delinquent and gang leader, being a love interest for the girl, that one day, would probably be a billionaire? Outlandish.
So, as she had done for years, she hid it best she could. She simply wanted to be with Blair, and she reasoned that she'd rather have Blair as her friend, than not have her in her life at all. The latter, Jo knew, would rip her heart out.
"What are you doing after class tonight, Joey?"
Jo blushed every time Blair used that corny nickname on her. "Princess, why don't you just call me 'barbarian', or 'my delinquent', like you do, instead of Joey. I feel like a Kangaroo when you say that."
Blair snorted a very unlady-like laugh at Jo's turn of phrase.
"Anyways, I do have to study some more for that Econ test, then I have field hockey practice until about 7. I'm free after that. Watcha' got in mind?"
"I was thinking of going to that new pizza place for dinner-what's the name of that place?"
"You mean Mancuso's?"
"Yes, that's it", Blair said with a wide smile. "I've heard good things about their pizza."
"I think that might be fun, blondie", Jo mused. "Okay, unless something comes up, we'll head over the after I take a shower when I'm done with practice."
"It's a date", Blair said excitedly. "I can't wait."
They continued to talk on their way to class, but one thought stayed in Jo's mind.
God, if only I could date you, Princess.
