What They Left Behind

Gennie enjoyed being part of the Formula One Club with one exception. The assistant to Professor Rossi, who oversaw the whole project, was none other than Foster Conrad. She never spoke to him once the whole six weeks she had been working on the car. She used Page as a relay if she needed to speak to him. If that annoyed him, he never mentioned it. He also used Page to send messages back.

  “I think I’m starting to live up to my name,” Page said in the campus pub one day.

  “Why don’t you and Foster talk to each other?” Sam Galvin asked. He was friends with Page and Gennie and the only guy willing to hang out with them outside the Formula One Club.

  “We have a history,” Gennie replied

  “He’s her ex-boyfriend,” Page added.

  “Hey!” Gennie said.

  “Oh please!” Page replied. “It’s Sam we’re talking to here. He doesn’t care.”

  “I won’t tell anybody, Scout’s Honor,” he said, holding his hand up. “So I guess it wasn’t an amicable break-up, huh?”

  “It was because of her brother,” Page said.

  “I’m not going into that,” Gennie warned.

  “Did you cheat on Foster with your brother or something?” Sam asked.

  Page and Gennie burst out laughing.

  “Oh I see,” Sam said, “Your brother had sex with Foster.”

  They laughed even harder.

  “No,” Page said. “Actually, her brother had sex with Foster’s sister.”

  “That’s even messier,” Sam replied, “and I guess something bad happened, right?”

  “That’s one way of putting it,” Gennie said.

  “And Foster was mad?”

  “More like obnoxious,” Gennie replied.

  “Maybe it wasn’t totally his fault,” Sam said. “Maybe he thought his sister got hurt.”

  “No, actually it was the other way around. Ben was the one who was hurt.”

  “Maybe his parents put him up to it or something.”

  “That’s possible,” Page said. “They’re probably all concerned that their daughter isn’t the virgin princess that they thought she was and they forced Foster to break up with you, just because you’re Ben’s sister and it would be awkward to have you still hanging around.”

  “I don’t know,” Gennie replied. She sighed. “And you know what? I don’t care. Either way, that family doesn’t accept me. Foster told me that he would never marry someone like me. He’s looking for the perfect rich girl.”

  “You might be surprised,” Sam said. “He talks about you twenty-four seven.”

  “Well, I don’t want to talk to him,” Gennie said.

  “You should give him a chance,” Sam replied.

  “I don’t have anything to say to him. He didn’t give me a chance so I’m not giving him a chance.”

  “Do you know what he said to me once? He said that he’s never getting married. You know why? Because you’re the one he wants.”

  “I don’t care,” Gennie said. She wished they would talk about something else for a change.

  “Do you know Rory Fox?” Page asked Sam.

  “Who’s that?” Sam asked.

  “The president of the Dart Club,” Page added. “And the one I want to get my hands on.”

  “Do you know who I want to get my hands on?” Sam said. “Bad Ass Betty.”

  Page nearly choked on her beer. “You’re kidding!”

  “No, I’m not. Have you ever seen the size of her breasts?”

  “We don’t look in that area,” Gennie said.

  “You should,” Sam said.

  “By the way, Sam, I’m curious…what’s that girl’s real name?” Gennie asked.

  “Bad Ass Betty? Her real name is Elizabeth Bandura.”

  “The same last name as Freddy?” Page asked. “Tell me they’re not related!”

  “I know this is hard to believe, but they are. And they’re twins.”

  “No way!” Page shouted. “They’re like day and night!”

  “So are me and Ben,” Gennie replied.

  “I didn’t know you were a twin,” Sam said.

  “Yep,” Gennie replied. “I am.”

  “Can you read each other minds or something?” Sam asked. “I heard that twins can.”

  “Well, I know how he feels just by looking at him. That doesn’t mean I understand him though.”

  “Your brother is weird,” Page commented.

  “You can say that again. I think it would take six or seven Ph.D.’s to figure out why he does the stuff he does.”

  “What makes him so weird?” Sam asked.

  “He married a lady ten years older than he is and he hardly knew her. And oh yeah…she’s his boss,” Page said.

  “Maybe she’s good in bed or something?”

  “Is that all guys think about?” Page asked, mocking him. “Or something?”

  “Hmmm…yeah.”

  Page slapped Sam on the shoulder. “You’re a pervert.”

  “So are you,” Sam said. “By the way, do you want to go to my party tonight?”

  “Sure!” Page said. “That’s what college is all about.”

  “Yeah, okay,” Gennie replied halfheartedly.

  “You can invite your brother too and his woman.”

  “He’ll probably be working,” Gennie said, “but I’ll ask.”

  “Is Foster going to be there?” Page asked.

  “Nah, he’s a square. He spends his whole life studying. I guarantee he won’t be there,” Sam said.

  “Good,” Gennie said.

  Gennie called Ben from a pay phone at the pub a few minutes later and invited him to the party, but of course, he said he would be working.

  They went to Sam’s dorm room a few hours later. Page was having a good time, along with fifty of Sam’s closest friends, but Gennie wasn’t. The second hand of her watch was barely moving as she glanced at it. She wanted to go back to Page’s off-campus apartment where she stashed her books and get some of her homework done. This was turning out to be a big waste of time.

  “Are you as bored as I am?” Someone asked from behind her.

  Gennie jumped about a foot in the air. It was Foster! He probably thought she was someone else. What was she supposed to say?

  “You could say so,” she said, then turned around to look at him. His eyes widened and he stepped back.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  “I could ask the same thing of you,” she replied. “Sam said that you never go to parties.”

  “My girlfriend made me come here,” he said, then closed his mouth quickly.

  “So the truth comes out,” Gennie said. “I guess you didn’t have trouble finding a replacement.”

  “She not serious,” he said. “You know, since we’re talking to each other now, I wanted to ask you something.”

  “What?”

  “Can you forgive me…for being such a jerk?”

  Gennie was surprised to hear that coming from him.

  “I’ll think about it,” she said.

  “I was wondering if it would be all right if we can talk to each other one-on-one in the F1 club from now on. I’m sure Page is getting sick of being a go-between.”

  “Okay,” Gennie said casually.

  “Maybe we can even be friends.”

  “I don’t know about that right now, but maybe someday, I guess.”

  “How’s your brother doing?”

  “He’s getting along. He’s co-owner of a new restaurant, and he just got married.”

  Foster nodded, though he looked surprised.

  “How is Charlene?”

  Foster paused before speaking. “I guess she’s all right.”

  “You guess?”

  “Well…she won’t tell any of us this, but honestly, I think she’s miserable.”

  “I would be too, if I were in her position.”

  “Maybe when she gets older, she’ll understand.”

/>   “I doubt it,” Gennie said sarcastically.

  Foster stiffened and changed the subject. “So, how are you? Do you have a boyfriend or anything?”

  “I’m doing fine, and no, I don’t have a boyfriend. I’m not a guy magnet at all. All the boys I know just want to be friends, and besides, there’s no one I’m particularly attracted to.”

  “Oh, that’s too bad.”

  Gennie didn’t want to talk with him anymore. “I have to get going.”

  Foster opened his mouth to say something but then he closed it.

  “What is it?”

  He shook his head. “Oh nothing. See you later.”

  Without telling anyone else she was leaving, she grabbed her jacket and left Sam’s room. A heavy rain was coming down outside, but Gennie didn’t care. She took her time and didn’t bother to cover her head with anything. When she arrived back at Page’s apartment, she was soaking wet. She went into the bathroom to take her clothes off, but instead she sat down on the toilet seat and sobbed.

  Everyone here was happy, except for her.

  Chapter 36: October 13