On December 31 1986, Lily Rhodes had
promised to herself to keep her new year's resolutons, which were
the following:
Never to let Rufus out of reach (not in this year
and not in the following years)
Never to play him a classical
record again (what a glorious desaster, but he had taken it with a
sense of humor)
To go to every concert he played and to throw her
bra on stage herself this time.
Not to flirt with other boys ,
even if she liked being the crush of every boy in school.
To
fight with her mom more often – it was fun, (at least for Lily) and
freed her soul.
To reconcile with Elly, they barely even spoke at
the moment...
The last thing on her list seemed to be the
hardest, so Lily decided to deal with the other five first.
In
the last couple of days, she had asked herself if she would ever
regret having slept with Rufus so soon. But the more she asked
herself that question, the more she was sure that she had done the
right thing. Sure, they were young (even if Lily told everybody who
wanted to hear it, that she would turn 17 soon). Lily didn't know
if her mother had found out that she wasn't an innocent little
angel anymore. Sure, she couldn't keep her big mouth shut at home
and the Pre-New-Years-Party had shown CeCe (she had come home early)
that her daughter had become a rebellious teenager.
But she
didn't really believe that Lily had lost her virginity to this
intolerable little rocker.
In this case. Lily would have already
felt the consequences.
But Lily didn't want to think about her mother today. Lily was very happy that Rufus had reluctantly agreed to celebrate New Years Eve in her favourite club. It was a place for young people, in contrast to 'Palace' or the 'Golden Diner'. The oldest people were seniors from college.
CeCe was away for the week, she didn't mind leaving her daughter alone, although Bart's dad never stopped mentioning that she needed a strong hand. He was the reason, CeCe had no time for her daughter and her newly discovered hormones. Lily didn't even want to know what they were up to in his mansion in Mauritius, which was to be Bart's house one day.
She wanted to spend every moment with her
Rufus, even if Elly kept calling them an 'old couple'. Lily took
it as a compliment, which bothered Elly even more. Lily had no idea
her friend was going through a dificult phase, not unlike what Lily
had been through. Elly couldn't hide her feelings and she also was
dating a boy her mom didn't approve of. Harold wasn't a bad
catch, but he wasn't 'the chosen one'.
And then there were
these rumours...but Elly dismissed them laughingly. She did not
believe her Harold was gay...
Lily was so in love, she had not noticed that Elly's mother had taken her to a hospital for a certain procedure. Eleanor Waldorf had shocked her mom when she told her that she was pregnant. But she couldn't stand up to her mom who thought that an abortion was the best way to deal with this shameful matter.
It wasn't until much later that Lily was to find out about her friend's fate. Luckily, Elly was to have Harolds's daughter later in life.
Lily and Rufus entered the club together. She looked adorable in her beaded blue silk dress while Rufus was a little ashamed for wearing his dad's suit.
Howard Archibald was the first to greet Lily with a kiss on each cheek He had only a look of pity for her companion.
"Lillian, Sweetie! So good to see you again. You look amazing! Where's Bart?"
"In some slut, I suppose. Whatever, good to see you, too, Howie!"
Rufus grinned at Lily's remark, but Howie looked like he was about to go to a funeral. Bart was one of his best friends and this guy next to Lily really didn't do it for him. Lillian Rhodes had dumped the most irresistable guy in New York (next to him, of course) to be with this loser?
A little later, the lovebirds were on the dance floor,where Rufus felt much more comfortable. He tenderly touched Lily's naked cleavage and whispered:
"I am the happiest young man on the planet, Lily Rhodes. My little hot minx!"
Lily smiled and kissed him.
She was wondering why Elly hadn't come, usually she did not miss
the opportunity to party. Maybe she wanted Lily to feel guilty? Rufus
pulled her closer and she couldn't think of anyone else but him.
Rufus was surprised when he looked over Lily's shoulder and saw
Howie pouring some white powder into a cocktail glass. His surprise
turned to horror when Howard came up to them.
"Wow, you're great dancers!" You must be really thirsty. Sorry, Rumulus, but..."
"It's Rufus!" The young musician didn't even realize that he was shouting at this snooty guy. Lily raised an eybrow in surprise.
"Whatever, I don't know your taste, if you're old enough to drink..."
Rufus could not believe that a person this small could be so nasty. Lily shook her head and wanted to take the glass her friend offered her. She froze in horror when Rufus grabbed the glass from her hands and smashed it on the floor.
While Howard was staring at him, Lily could not belive what he had done. Either Rufus was suffering from some kind of weird desease or he had gone mad. Maybe he was jealous of Howie which was cute to some point. But she had told him repeatedly that Howie was just a friend of the Rhodes family.
"Rufus, are you out of your mind?" What are you thinking?"
"Maybe he doesn't appreciate a good cocktail." Howie suggested. Rufus wanted to wipe the smirk of his face, but he checked himself.
"This guy wanted to give you drugs. I saw him..."
Howie started laughing loudly, Rufus could not believe that Lily didn't trust him.
"That's the weirdest story I have ever heard. And it's coming from you, Rufus. I am so disappointed. Howie would never do this to me!"
Lily could not find an explanation
for Rufus' behaviour. Was he really that immature? Was her mother
right and he was not the one for her? She couldn't believe it. She
looked at her boyfriend and saw him make a fist when Howie brought
over his friends to make fun of this lunatic.
What hurt him the
most was the fact that Lily didn't trust him. He angrily shook off
her hand.
"Lily, believe me, god damn it!"
"Rufus, stop cursing, please. It's so embarrassing. Why don't you just apologize..."
Rufus could literally hear his heart break. He didn't recognise her anymore. So he was an embarrassment to her? He was only embarrassed by the fact that his manners kept him from hitting this Archibald guy. But Lily seemed to like this group of people, they meant more to her than her boyfriend. What should he apologize for? Wanting to protect Lily?
Rufus shook his head. He gave his girlfriend one last look. This couldn't be the end of their young love? Rufus was risking their feelings, just because he was jealous.
When he saw the expression on her face, Rufus realized that she didn't understand. Disappointed he turned around and left the club. Worse things happened at this place than at their concerts. Lily followed him with her eyes and her heart broke, too. Why did he do this to her? She didn't let Howie console her and went back to her place.
The two young people celebrated New Years Eve of 1985 with lots of tears, which were soon to dry again. At least for a while.
