Fall With Me

I will even write the date down so I don’t forget it.” I rip a corner from the calendar and use the pen that’s hanging from a piece of twine. Take Jill out. Friday, 7/2. Something about the date seems familiar, though probably it’s the birthday of some other girl I once knew. I show her what I’ve written and then fold the paper and tuck it into the pocket of my jeans. “So.” I look up. “Where should we go? Or would you prefer I plan the whole thing?”
    “Well, I hate to disappoint you,” she says, “but I’ve already got birthday plans. I’m going to do dinner at my mom’s house, and maybe watch a movie, and then come back here and go to sleep.”
    “Dinner and movie with Mom sounds nice; the rest sounds terribly boring. Maybe you hate your birthday so much because you haven’t done anything fun .”
    “That’s an excellent theory, but unfortunately I’m not going to change my plans. Why don’t you tell me about your plans.”
    “What? For your birthday?”
    “No, for what you’re going to do after camp.”
    “Oh. Well, I haven’t gotten that far yet. I have no idea, really. But you want to know something, Jill? Just being here at the ranch, and getting to do all the things I’ve been doing—this might sound kind of silly, so don’t laugh—but it’s like it’s opened my eyes to other possibilities, other things I could be doing with my life than just being some rich man’s son. ‘Cause that’s great and everything for a while, but I want to do something different. I want to work. Doing what, I don’t know, but I just don’t want to waste any more time being a waste, spending someone else’s money. It’s actually a very, very nice feeling to earn your own money.”
    She smiles. “It is, isn’t it? My uncle is pretty well off, and he’s been helping pay for my mother’s medical expenses, and I think he’d probably be willing to just pay for everything, if we let him, but I just couldn’t be okay with him doing that. Not that I don’t appreciate what he’s done, but I’ve never wanted to take money that I didn’t earn. Something my dad taught me, actually. He had a really great work ethic.”
    “What is it with the rich relatives always trying to foot the bill?”
    She doesn’t smile when I say this, even though I was trying to make a joke. Not so funny, I guess. But I watch her for a second and her lips turn up at the corners in a tiny smile.
    “Fuck the rich relatives,” she says.
    I laugh. “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”
     
    Though Jill isn’t letting me take her out on the actual date of her birthday, I think I can probably get her to agree to go out the next night. I’m not exactly sure what’s caused her sudden change in feelings toward me, but it’s nice, and I’m not going to question it. And I find myself thinking about the fun things we might be able to do, and no, I’m not just talking about getting her into bed. Which is odd, I’d be the first to admit it. Any girl I’ve ever taken interest in before has mainly been because of her carnal potential. Maybe it’s because Jill spurned me at first, or maybe there really is something different about her, I don’t know, but I sure would like to find out.
    Then there is the small problem of Allison. In the past I could’ve just bounced—gone somewhere else, disappeared, as there are few things worth sticking around for if you’ve got a lovesick girl hounding your ass—but now, it seems, I have found something that is worth it. A few things, and one of those being Jill.
    Cam calls me again one night when I’m lying in bed.
    “Are you calling to check up on me?” I ask. “Christ, what time is it?”
    “Have you noticed anything strange? I’m worried that you might still be in danger.”
    Now this is interesting. If there’s one thing my brother doesn’t do, it’s worry, and certainly not about me.
    “Everything is fine,” I say. “I fit right in here. Who would’ve thought, right?”
    “I’ve actually got some business meetings in San Francisco coming up,” he says. “I was thinking of leaving a day or two ahead of schedule and coming down there.”
    “Really?”
    “Yes. Would you be available?”
    “What, for like a lunch date or something?”
    “Sure, Griffin, I’ll take you out to lunch.”
    “Well, I’ve got a job now, so maybe I should take you out to lunch.”
    Still, he doesn’t laugh. If anything, his voice is tight and he sounds tired.
    “It might