for Dari to stop himself when she was so close to him, but Lia always managed to stop before they went too far. Not that she wanted to, but she had to. She could not disappoint her mother.
Lia had a really good time with all the kids at Dari’s house on New Year’s Eve, dancing with Dari, Butch and some others, and getting to know several people she hadn’t met. And Mrs. Wilks had laid out a great variety of refreshments, with pizza being the main dish. Chips, dips, different cookies and colas were available and there was no set time for them to eat. One or two were always at the table nibbling on something. Anything that kids liked to eat was available.
Upon meeting Dari’s mother and father, she’d been shy, but soon opened up to them and showed off the necklace that Dari had gotten her for Christmas. Of course, his mother had seen it, since she’d gone with Dari to one of the better jewelry stores to pick it out, but Lia didn’t know that. The necklace was so special, a gold chain with two hearts in the center, one slightly above and to the right of the other, as if they had been forged into one. Engraved in the center were the initials D and L that had been so elaborately and delicately intertwined, they looked to be inseparable. When she’d seen it, she had cried, thinking how very much they meant to each other and that, as the initials, nothing could ever separate them.
All too soon, it was time for her to leave the party. It would take her a while to get from the nice ranch style house that Dari’s family lived in to the Trenton’s up on the hill overlooking the city. There was a world of difference in the extravagance of the neighborhoods, but also a world between their small apartment and Dari’s nice house.
Dari kissed her goodnight at her car, wanting so much to go with her, but he had guests, and she, unfortunately, had to be home. He understood to a certain degree, but had never heard of anyone being as strict as her mother. As she drove away, he got an idea, but didn’t know how his own mother would feel about it.
Running back into the house, he grabbed his jacket, asked Butch to go with him, and told his mother he’d be back shortly. Please, he had to go for a few minutes. Not long. Just long enough to make sure that Lia got home all right. There was a skiff of snow on the streets and it bothered him. And his mother acquiesced, understanding his concern. The way these kids were, Dari didn’t have to be there every second. They were having a good enough time and there were so many of them, they probably wouldn’t notice whether he was there or not.
In truth, Dari wanted to see where Lia lived. She’d never invited him there, evidently because of her mother, and he was curious as to where she did live. Butch thought he was nuts, running the risk of her mom maybe noticing that he had followed her daughter home.
“How could her mother know, Butch? She’s never seen Dad’s Chevy and will just think it’s another car taking the same street.” But he was worried, nonetheless. He wouldn’t have Lia get into trouble because of him for anything.
Following at a discreet distance, he wound around the curves, watching the taillights of the Mercury move slowly over the snow up into the ritzy section of town. Where was she going? Surely Lia didn’t live in that neighborhood! Only the most affluent in the city had homes on Liberty Highway and they were few and far between. You might see one house and go for a mile or more until you came to the next large estate. Some homes you couldn’t see from the road, only gates leading to them.
“Butch, would you have believed this? No wonder her mother is so strict! Probably doesn’t want her associating with us common folk.” He watched as she slid around a corner and turned into a driveway of a mansion that, with the grounds, took up more than two city blocks. What? His Lia lived in this gigantic place?
“Holy moley! I would have never believed this, would you?” Butch was flabbergasted. “I knew her name was Trenton, but sure didn’t associate her with these Trenton’s. Look at those towers on that place. And even the fountains are lit up. I’ve been up by here, but it’s been awhile. And there’s her name, right on the gates. Good gosh, Dari! You sure got yourself a rich one.”
As they passed the huge mansion, Lia had followed the driveway around to the back of the house and was out of their view. Why hadn’t he thought of following her before? Why had he let so much time pass and him not know that she was a member of the Trenton family that owned the steel mill and practically half the town. They owned most of the buildings downtown, for Christ’s sake! And if he had heard right, had their fingers in every Blue Chip company there was. What in God’s name was he going to do? He didn’t want to lose Lia, but this? How could he get past her being one of the Trenton’s? Why hadn’t he thought of that possibility?
Darian traveled to the end of the road, turned in the cul de sac and following his own tracks, stared again at the mansion that Lia called home. His heart felt heavy, as if he carried the rock of Gibraltar in his chest. How could he ever touch her again, knowing that she was so far out of his league? Her mother had probably warned her about boys like him, average Joe’s, who would probably end up taking over his father’s garage when his dad retired, making a fairly decent living, but nowhere near what she would be accustomed to. But she’d seemed so common, just like the rest of them. She didn’t act rich at all, and probably went out of her way to dress down so people wouldn’t know who she was.
The more he thought about it, the more he was rattled by what she’d done. The least she could have done was told him the truth. Where had she been that she’d only now come back to town? Away at school? He’d heard the Trenton’s had a son and a daughter, but she’d sure never gone to school with them and he’d never seen her. Lia had come home, and her parents, for some reason, had decided she was to go to public school. And here he’d thought the Merc was their family car, but he knew the Trenton’s were either driving a Mercedes or at least, a Rolls. He’d seen Warren Trenton in the Rolls. The Merc was probably the car she drove when she went slumming.
“Man, Dari, I never woulda thunk it! Lia always seemed a little shy, backward, you know, like she didn’t have a pot to pee in. One of the Trenton’s? I just can’t believe it!” Butch shook his head, staring at Dari who was staring straight ahead, a muscle twitching in his jaw.
“Just goes to show how people can fool ya, don’t it, Butch? She was probably laughing at us the entire time, thinking how stupid we must be to believe her shit.” He hit the steering wheel with the heel of his hand. “And to think I saved for weeks to buy her that necklace for Christmas! She probably has underwear that costs more than that necklace did.” And he remembered back to the tears that filled her eyes when he’d fastened the gold chain around her neck, as if he were giving her something really special. Man, how could he have been so taken in by the girl?
“Well, at least you know that now. Just what are you going to do about it? Are ya gonna tell her you followed her, or wait until she tells you? You know she’ll have to say something sooner or later. Hell, her mom ain’t strict. Lia was just usin’ that. She just has to grow up and marry somebody named C. Henry Smythe III or somebody like that.”
“Just keep this under your hat for the time being, Butch. She’s been laughing at us all this time, going home after bein’ out with us, calling all her rich friends, and puttin’ us down. That’s probably what she’s doin’ right now and her own family party was why she had to leave my house early. Did you see all those Caddies, Jags and Lincolns parked in that fancy circular driveway in front of the place? Oh, they were having a party, all right. And she had to get home before midnight.” He laughed a bitter laugh. “Just like Cinderella, only that Merc won’t turn into a pumpkin. Just let it ride and we’ll see how she feels when it all blows up in her face.”
Dari was talking tough to Butch, but he felt as if his world had just fallen apart. How could she do that? How could she pretend to care so much for him? With her ‘Oh Dari, you’re the only boy I ever wanted to kiss’. God, he felt like such a fool, and now that Butch knew, everyone in school would know, too. He wished he hadn’t brought Butch with him then he could have simply broken up with her, after he’d told her that he knew about her cruel deception, and that would be that. But now everyone would know that he’d been a fool, going around bragging about his beautiful, sweet, wonderful girlfriend. And she was nothin’ but one big fat lie!
When