December 1972
The semester rolled on relentlessly and before Ben knew where he was, Thanksgiving was over and it was almost Christmas. Classes were tough. He wasn't sure quite what he had expected, but it wasn't as straightforward as he hoped. He was struggling in most subjects except for criminal. He adored the latter and knew instinctively it was where his future lay.
As much as he could, Ben avoided Evelyn. It wasn't difficult. In class, she never looked in his direction. She kept her head down and her mind seemingly on her own work. To his surprise, he never saw her with anyone else, with any friends. Then he wondered why he was so surprised given her attitude. Despite the fact she lived next door to him, again he never saw her in Hunter House.
On the Friday before the Christmas vacation, Ben was in the library researching for a paper that was due in January. The place was pretty quiet, most people either celebrating the upcoming festivities or already gone home. It wasn't hard, therefore, to notice people who were there and to his surprise, he caught sight of Evelyn on the other side of the library. She was sitting at a large desk by herself surrounded by books. Her head was down, her pen writing furiously on pads of paper that lay on the desk. Ben ignored her, instead concentrating on his own work, and he forgot she was even there until a shadow fell across his light. Glancing up, he saw Evelyn standing over him, holding some books in her arms.
"Hi," she greeted him quietly, so as not to disturb the other people.
"Hi," he replied, before looking back down at what he was doing.
"What are you working on?"
"Whitworth's assignment."
"Getting anywhere?" Ben looked up at her, "I'm only asking," she continued, seeing his expression, "Just making conversation."
"Didn't think you were interested in talking to me."
Evelyn laughed and the librarian looked over sharply, "You're not still annoyed at me about that are you?" She grinned at him, "I was just being ratty."
"Ratty?" he echoed her.
She nodded, "I'm sorry, I guess I should have said something a while back. But I figured you wouldn't hold it against me." She pulled out a chair and sat down, "So, how are you finding the assignment?"
Ben was momentarily silent, taking in what she had said. She was like a Jekyll and Hyde figure and clearly he was seeing the nice side. "It's hard," he said finally.
Evelyn laughed, "I bet that's not all that's hard, right?" she cocked her head on one side. Ben looked at her as if she was crazy, "I'm sorry," she said, "that was uncalled for."
"You…"
"I can be a little off the wall sometimes," she said, "anyway, what do you think about the assignment?"
"I'm not sure if I agree with Whitworth's analogy," Ben replied, "I think he's being a little one-sided."
"Maybe that's his point," she replied, "maybe he wants us to pick up on that and argue against it."
"Maybe."
"You don't sound convinced."
"He just doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who would like to be told he's wrong," Ben said.
"True," Evelyn replied, nodding slowly, "very true. Are you going home for Christmas?" she asked.
Ben nodded, "You?"
"No," she said.
"You're staying here?" he was surprised.
Evelyn nodded, "It'll be fun, having the whole place to myself."
"Don't your parents want to see you for the holidays?"
Her eyes grew hard, "It's more a case of me not wanting to see them." She stood up, "Well, thanks for the help. Have a nice vacation." She was gone before Ben could say anything more.
SSSS
Ben spent most of his vacation thinking about Evelyn alone on campus. She occupied his every waking moment, wondering how she was, curious as to why she was choosing to be alone. For two weeks he was surrounded by his family wanting to know all about what he was doing and how he was getting on. His mother was so proud, she kept going on about what a great lawyer he was going to be at the end of it all. By the time he was ready to return to school, Ben was almost sick with embarrassment.
The first thing he did when he got back to Hunter House was knock on Evelyn's door. She answered almost straight away and her face seemed to light up when she saw him.
"Hi," she greeted him warmly, "how was your vacation?"
"Fine," he replied, "how was yours?"
"Good. I got most of Whitworth's monster done." She held the door open, "Want to come in?"
"Sure," Ben replied, stepping inside. It was the first time he had been in her room and he was surprised to find how sparse it was. There were no posters of Donny Osmond, no teddy bears, nothing that would seem to epitomise the typical girl.
"Not what you were expecting?" she asked, catching his look.
"No," he said quickly, "I just…"
"It's ok," she rescued him, "It's not exactly homely, I know. But that's not really me anyway."
"I see," Ben said, "So, what did you make of it?"
"The assignment?" he nodded, "Don't tell me you want to pick my brain."
Ben laughed, "Something like that." He watched as she lifted a sheaf of papers from her desk, "It's not exactly neat and tidy. I'll probably lose marks for being scruffy."
They spent the next hour or so debating the points raised in the assignment and arguing good naturedly about everything from Whitworth's eclectic dress sense to politics.
"I'd better go," Ben said, checking his watch finally, "I've got some reading to do before class tomorrow."
"Thanks for coming," Evelyn said as she opened the door, "It was nice talking to you."
Ben paused at the door, "Why didn't you go home?"
Her smile dropped, "It's not something I want to discuss with you."
"Evelyn…"
"Why can't you just leave it alone?"
"Evelyn, I didn't mean…"
"Good night," she closed the door on him.
"Evelyn…" he called through the door, "Evelyn, I'm sorry." But there was no response.
SSSS
"What did you say to her?" Craig asked the next day as Evelyn strode past them in the corridor without so much as a smile.
Ben could have kicked himself. He'd lain awake the whole night angrily going over and over why he had said it. Couldn't he realise that some people just didn't like talking about their home lives?
"I asked why she didn't go home for the holidays."
"Ouch," Craig replied. "Why is that a no-no again?"
"Because she obviously didn't want to talk about it. We were getting on ok and then I had to go and open my big trap…" He shook his head, "She's never going to talk to me again now."
"What do you care?" Craig shrugged, "She's a bitch, you said so yourself."
"Maybe I was wrong. Maybe there's more to her than meets the eye."
"Oh please!" Craig rolled his eyes, "what's got you so hooked on her anyway?" Ben didn't say anything, "Have you got the hots for her?"
"No!" he replied quickly.
"Yeah right," Craig grinned knowingly, "I'll tell you something, it'll be a good one that keeps her in line."
SSSS
The knock at the door stopped Professor Whitworth in mid-flow and he glared angrily at the intruder, "Yes?"
"Evelyn Sanderson?" the petite female messenger said.
Ben looked over at Evelyn who looked up at the sound of her name.
"Sanderson!" Whitworth barked, gesturing at the door.
Evelyn left her seat and trotted down the steps to the door. She stepped outside and closed the door behind her.
"Did I say to stop working?" Whitworth growled, "Hurry up. I'll be going over your arguments in five minutes."
Everyone looked back down at what they were doing, but Ben kept his eyes on the door, waiting to see if she would return.
"Stone!" Whitworth yelled, "Do you have a problem?"
"No sir," Ben looked back down at the pad in front of him. They had been given a fictional case and were supposed to be working on some good arguments both for prosecution and defence, but Ben's mind was now firmly focused on Evelyn.
A few minutes later, the door opened again and Evelyn came back in. She spoke briefly to Whitworth who sighed heavily, "If you must I suppose."
"Thank you," Evelyn replied quietly before walking back up the stairs and lifting her books. Ben watched as she stuffed them into her bag and then walked back towards the door. As she made to open it, she glanced in his direction and he thought he could see the glint of a tear in her eye.