Chapter 19

Thursday, August 20th (roughly 1 week later)

Lindsay walked out of her calculus final, trying to suppress her grin. She didn't succeed.

When she had received her Exam 3 grade several days ago, there was good news and bad news. The bad news was that she had failed, at least by standard grade percentage parameters. Lindsay's exam had the number 56 scrawled across the top in red pen.

But there was good news, too- the rest of the class found the exam almost as difficult as she did- so it turns out the class average was only a 62 (an average that her calculus professor seemed profoundly disappointed to announce). It was very fortuitous that Lindsay happened to slack off studying for the one exam that everyone else bombed anyway. So what she thought was a horrible grade, percentage wise, ended up being pretty generously curved. Rather than the letter 'F' accompanying her 56 she had the completely unexpected and slightly less hopeless 'D'.

Now, a D wasn't exactly killing it. But what Lindsay realized that day was that although her hopes for a final grade of an 'A' might have been out of reach, a 'B' was still entirely plausible. That said, it required her to get a VERY good final exam grade- 94 or above.

But Lindsay was grinning now because she was quite certain that she had just accomplished it.

Lindsay had spent most of the last week studying calculus, even requesting off of work, explaining to her dad that this last unit was giving her trouble and begging him to allot her some extra time to study. Her dad must have sensed the desperation in her voice because he ended up giving her a several day stretch of vacation (though of course he did make Lindsay work the busy weekend prior to her workweek off). Doing so poorly had really lit a fire under Lindsay- she had never failed a class before and wasn't about to start now. She used her time off wisely and really put her nose to the grindstone. She had cleared the math hurdle about as well as she could have considering the circumstances.

Now it was just the guys. That was a lot less straightforward.

When Lindsay wasn't doing schoolwork (and a small percentage of the time that she was), her thoughts vacillated back and forth between Nick and Barry, Nick and Barry. She was even more confused than after her first dates with them. But Barry's classes started in a week and a half- which meant he would be leaving town next weekend- so time was running out for Lindsay to make a decision.

Lindsay was tempted to ask her parents if they would be willing to un-ground her early so that she could go out with Barry and Nick this last week without breaking the rules. At this point she was under the impression that her official grounding didn't end until the first day of school the Tuesday after Labor Day. If her grounding ended early, maybe she could see the guys in a more normal environment, reach a decision faster- but she figured she ought to at least wait to see what her final calculus grade was before making that kind of request. If by chance she didn't receive at least a B, her punishment would probably be even more severe if her parents thought she was keeping it from them.

Yet Lindsay always tended to overthink things- maybe she was better off just going with the flow and seeing how things went. Like ditching the Academic Summit to see the Grateful Dead?, a little voice inside her head asked. Yes, precisely, a different voice replied, it doesn't matter that we're grounded now- it was all worth it.

Well, one thing that Lindsay did plan on doing was assessing how she felt after seeing the guys again after a week and a half hiatus. She didn't have any concrete plans with Barry yet, but she knew that she was going to see Nick tonight, and she couldn't wait. Things felt so different- she wouldn't have any schoolwork to worry about for the rest of the summer, and he'd already had two more drum lessons since she had seen him last. They'd have a lot to talk about.

Lindsay didn't work that night either- her dad had the sensibility not to schedule her at the store immediately after her cumulative final when her brain would be complete mush. So instead, she came home and lounged around all afternoon, the fact that she was finished with her class finally sinking in. Lindsay was able to relax in front of the TV with her parents that evening and even take a little nap before her date with Nick. It was a rarity that she had so little to do before a date.

By the time Lindsay showered, it was after 10. She picked up a (non-calculus!) book to pass the time while she waited for her parents to go to sleep. When she could hear the distinct sound of her father's snoring, she finished getting ready- Nick said he wanted to take her out to "celebrate", so she had to assume it would be relatively nice- she put on a black skirt and purple tank top with some dressy sandals. She applied a little makeup- just a touch heavier than usual- then went back to her book.

When she heard the soft tapping on her window, Lindsay couldn't wait to greet Nick after over a week and a half of being apart from him. She crossed the room quickly to see-

"Barry!" Lindsay exclaimed, surprise not even remotely describing how she felt. Barry was in fact standing there outside of her window instead of Nick, grinning like an idiot.

"Lindsay, it's so good to see you. God, it feels like it's been forever," Barry replied, giving her a quick once-over. "Damn, you look great. I see you're ready to go out?"

Panic had officially set in. Nick is supposed to be here any second! Lindsay practically shouted to herself. What's Barry doing here? I didn't actually tell him I would see him tonight, did I?! She was incredibly confused, not to mention anxious.

"Um- it- it's- it's good to see you too, thanks," Lindsay stammered, stalling for time, a feeble attempt at sounding casual, though she knew she failed miserably, way worse than her calculus test. How could she sound composed when her heart was racing like this? "Um- " she was desperately trying to concoct an excuse that made even the slightest bit of sense. "Um- I just got back, actually," the lie came out a little more easily than Lindsay would have predicted given how panicked she felt. "Um, yeah, my parents took me out to a fancy dinner. You know, to celebrate my class being over."

"Yeah, that's what I came here to do, too," Barry said, a little wistfully. Join the club. "Did you not read my note?"

Of course Lindsay had, but failed to make the connection between Barry saying he wanted to take her out when her course was over and him showing up outside her window the night after her final- until precisely that moment.

"Oh, um, yeah, mm-hmmm," Lindsay nodded absentmindedly, though all the while the wheels were turning. I have to get him out of here! She stole a quick glance at her clock. 11:07 p.m. Nick was never late. If he wasn't already outside her door, than he was parking and making his way to her house right now. She was about to be flat-out busted. She added quickly, "I didn't realize you meant tonight." She let what she hoped sounded like disappointment creep into her voice (it was terror in actuality).

She tried to think of a reason to get Barry to leave quickly, as in, within a second, but couldn't. So she settled on the first thing she thought of. She rubbed her belly and faked a yawn.

"Yeeeehhhh," she said, stretching one hand over her head while tapping her stomach with the other. "I'm exhausted, Barry. I pulled an all-nighter last night because I still had a ton of studying to do. And I'm stuffed from the steak my parents bought me. Do you mind if we take a rain check? I'm really sorry." She looked at him, the horrible feeling setting in. How awful it was that she was doing this to him! And what was worse, she really did want to spend time with Barry too- just not right now.

Barry looked taken aback for a moment, but after a few seconds a look came over him that told Lindsay that he had somehow accepted it. He glanced downward, shrugging his shoulders. "Whatever you say, Lindsay," he said.

But then he looked back up at her, and Lindsay couldn't even begin to interpret the expression on his face. Sad, hurt, angry? Knowing? It was inscrutable; Lindsay couldn't tell. She just nodded, mumbling 'sorry' again. Ashamed, she went to turn away from him.

But Barry called out for her before she had turned around, "Hey, Lindsay, wait a sec."

"Yeah?" She was still trying to get Barry away from her house as quickly as possible to save her own hide, but she couldn't help hesitating, caught by his eyes for a second. They were so big and round and dark, so perceptive and intelligent and observant. She wondered what he was going to say.

"I'll see you soon, right? I mean, um, I'd like to at least see you before I leave next weekend."

Lindsay nodded, relieved. So that was all he was asking. She brightened a bit. "Of course, Barry. I'd like that too. Just let me relax a little bit this weekend first. I'll pass you a note. See you soon," She flashed him a quick smile before turning away, hoping beyond hope that he would take the hint and get the hell out of dodge.

He must have listened to her, because when she turned back towards her window a minute later, Barry was gone.

But Nick was there.

"Nick!" Lindsay exclaimed in surprise, a strong sense of déjà vu overtaking her. Not often she gets shocked at her window twice in one night. Her heart was beating so fast and hard it felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. She frantically searched Nick's face for signs that something was wrong, in case he had, oh, she didn't know, run into the other guy she was seeing on his way there.

And once again, she couldn't really tell anything from an expression on a guy's face. But her heart was still skipping in double-time when Nick finally spoke.

"Hi, Lindsay," he said.

Damn, she couldn't tell anything from the tone of his voice, either- it was very even-keel, almost detached. She tried to will her heart to go back to its normal cadence, not that it would listen. "Hi," she replied, as casually as she could muster.

"So- do you want to know why I'm late?"

Lindsay gulped, nodding her head slightly (though even the prospect of doing so terrified her; she really just wanted to scream 'no!' at him).

In response, Nick simply held out his hand.