Austin, Texas
20 May 1967
"Congratulations."
Waking up feeling stronger and more empowered than she had in months, Sue Ellen had made a plan, one that was falling into place nicely. Clint first up on her list, she had a couple more people to visit before the weekend was over, then she could close the junior year chapter of her life for good.
"Thank you."
Smiling, he looked so very handsome in his cap and gown, ready for the commencement ceremony, making her next comment very genuine.
"I'm sorry about how things ended between us."
She didn't regret her suggestion to cool down what they had together, because she'd needed to do it, however now that things would never be the same she felt nostalgic for what had been before.
"Yeah, about that…"
"Alex hurt me, but he's gone, and he's not coming back. I was unfair to you, you never did anything to make me believe you'd hurt me, but I was scared, the memories were terrifying."
Explaining in vague terms, mostly just to give him something to ease his mind, to know that it wasn't about him at all, she didn't feel good about it still, but she could talk about it without breaking down, which was progress.
"What did he do?"
"That's in the past. Let's move forward."
"Ok. Are you staying over the summer?"
Looking and sounding as if he still didn't entirely understand, he didn't push the subject any further, instead enquiring about her plans following their departure from campus life later in the day.
"Mostly. You?"
She had no job other than sporadic modelling assignments, no plans to take summer school, and no certainty about her future as a pageant queen, but that was ok, she needed a break and she was about to get one.
"No. We're leaving tonight, and I have job interviews all over the country lined up from next week."
"You'll do great."
"Thank you."
Holding eye contact with her, his words and smile indicated he genuinely appreciated her belief in him.
"Will you let me know where you land?"
"I will."
"Goodbye Clint."
Leaning up, she wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug, the closeness not sending her into a panic any longer. She liked Clint, she trusted Clint, and she wanted their last moment together to be positive.
"Goodbye Sue Ellen."
Finding Margaret, Christine, Jane, Ann, Cheryl, and Martha waiting for her back at the sorority house, the next stop of the day wasn't one she anticipated ending nearly as well as her meeting with Clint, but it had to be done.
Individually they held very little power, but as the women's liberation movement had proven, a group could instigate change where change needed to occur.
Registering a formal complaint about the behaviour of their male peers was unlikely to get them very far, especially at the end of the semester, but playing into the coquettish stereotypes they were accused of, only to make it clear they didn't intend to follow through was exactly the sort of thing that might make a man think twice.
It was dangerous, but they were prepared.
The house had been abuzz since it had all unfolded, the consensus on the behaviour of the girls split down the middle. Half of his brothers thought the girls had a point and the other half thought they were absolute witches and deserved to be called every name in the book, and more, for what they'd done, their behaviour cruel and calculated.
Bobby was in the former group, his admiration of Sue Ellen growing when word got out that it had been her idea, the plan coming together in the hours of the lock in, executed the next day while emotions ran high, and for several of the guys he shared a house with, very low.
Apparently, there was only so long a lady could take being told she was one thing when that wasn't her intention before she gave in and became exactly that.
He'd planned to do something and in the future he still could and should but he was proud that Sue Ellen had defended herself.
21 May 1967
"Bobby?"
Fitting a box of clothes into the back of his car, he stopped when he heard her voice.
The semester was over, the seniors were now graduates, the campus was full of families assisting with move out, and while he planned to say goodbye to as many of his classmates as he could, he knew not to expect to get to everyone before the end of the day. He had hoped to see her though and now she'd just made the task a lot easier.
"Sue Ellen."
Turning around, something strange happened; he'd always thought she was attractive and he'd always wanted things to be different to how they'd ended up being, but now those feelings were heightened. Her yellow and white striped dress and matching hair ribbon emphasised her youthful beauty. They were the same age, both juniors, both twenty, but he didn't believe he'd possessed the same innocence she did for a long time. She could play the game when she wanted to but it seemed that that was an act. Standing in front of him, she was the complete opposite of the vamp several of the men on campus were determined to define her as, and he liked that, a lot.
"I wanted to see you before I left."
Smiling, she reminded him of the circumstances of their encounter, her intentions beyond that not clear.
"You found me."
Nodding, she didn't say a word, leaving him to continue the conversation.
"You said you're leaving. Where's home? Will I see you around?"
"Home is here, in Austin, and maybe."
"Meaning?"
"Well, I'll be here all summer, but I'm not sure I'm returning next year."
Summer he could make work, his plans at Ewing Oil were loose and for now that was all he needed.
"No?"
"I might transfer. I'm waiting to hear back from a few women's colleges."
Relieved that was all it was, that he wasn't losing her to another man, or worse, a problem he had no way of fixing, he didn't let on that he wasn't concerned about her plans to leave.
"That'd be a shame."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I was hoping…"
"What?"
Her eyes large, not blinking as they fixed on his, she appeared hopeful and he wondered whether she was thinking the same thing he was.
"Tell me, did I ever have a chance?"
"At first, no, not really."
"And now?"
Leaning in close to him, she whispered her answer in his ear.
"Maybe you should ask me, then we'll see."
Turning his head at her suggestion, he did as he'd done months ago, kissed her, this time sober and even more surprised when she pulled away from him the way she had at the cabin.
"That's not what I suggested."
Stepping back, but not in fear if her expression was anything to go by, he had to assume that she simply had higher standards and expectations for any future interactions.
"My apologies. I'd like to get to know you. Would you like to go on a date with me?"
"I'm sorry, not at present."
Shocking him with her answer, he was speechless.
"I do mean that, I am sorry. I don't think I can date anyone just yet but it mightn't always be that way."
Offering him a sweet smile, she slid a piece of paper into his hand, and as quietly as she had appeared in front of him, she disappeared.
Watching Sue Ellen walk away, he waited for her to vanish into the crowd before he turned around, shaking his head when he noticed JR and Ray each separately watching him, Ray standing in the front yard of the fraternity house and JR in the doorway.
"Who was that?"
Approaching him, opening the back door and sliding a box onto the floor, Ray asked the obvious question, unable to keep the amused grin off his face.
He'd never been known to his family to not attract the attention of beautiful ladies, but the way Sue Ellen had treated him was quite different to how his interactions with women usually went.
"That was our next Miss Texas."
Answering the question for him, JR's response was a surprise. He knew Sue Ellen participated in pageants but he had no idea whether what JR was saying held any truth and if it did how JR knew.
"You know Sue Ellen?"
"Only from pictures."
Clear, but unclear, his older brother's demeanour set off alarm bells in his head. Whatever thoughts he had he'd best not get too carried away with them because JR was apparently having exactly the same ones and while they both liked to get what they wanted JR was a lot more used to doing whatever he had to to get it.
The end