The Purity of Blood: Volume I (22 page)

Without another word he hung up leaving me to stare at the
phone in my hand in disbelief.
 
With a
sigh, I was fully aware that even if my friends didn’t see us, others
would.
 
As much as Daniel tried to fade
into the background outside of class, I knew I would draw the wrathful stares
of his coed admirers.
 
We were sure to
run into at least one of their number at the festival.
 
Word would spread; NPU just wasn’t that big a
place.
 
Besides that, Daniel couldn’t
hide in a crowd even if he wanted to.
 
He
was just that good looking.
 
I, on the
other hand could be invisible if I chose to.
 
It wasn’t easy with my mess of red hair, but I knew how to go undetected
if that was my goal.

I tried to sleep in the next
morning, but woke up only about an hour later than I usually did.
 
Groggily sitting up, I looked around the
room.
 
Why did something feel off, like something
was just a little bit different than it had been when I went to sleep?
 
I’d had that feeling a lot lately, but as I
rolled out of bed, I ignored it like I had every other morning for the past few
days.
 

I went through
my morning routine, doing my best to pretend that I didn’t feel like someone
had been in my room last night.
 
But I
did.
 
I could feel a strange presence
hanging in the air like a smell I couldn’t quite detect with my nose.
 
It was unmistakable, but to elusive for me to
really comprehend or try to explain rationally to another person.
 
Somehow in the back of my mind, I didn’t feel
alone.
 
And being who I was, something
about that both unnerved me and felt comforting at the same time.
 
As always, nothing was easy with me.

After I showered
and dressed, I curled back up in bed and watched mindless TV.
 
As hard as I tried, I couldn’t muster up the
enthusiasm to study.
 
We didn’t have
cable in our room so we only got the few channels that came in with the
antenna.
 
To get cable would mean I’d
have to get a job to pay for it.
 
And
besides, was there really anything on television that would justify getting a
job?
 
It seemed unlikely.
  

I ate my fruit loops for breakfast, but decided to skip
lunch.
 
The thought of all those fresh
baked apple pies, apple fritters and apple turnovers at the festival made the
thought of dining hall food almost repulsive.
 
No, I’d save room for later.
 
Maybe it was a good thing I was going to the festival with Daniel.
 
All things considered, I could care less if
he thought I was a pig.
 
Now, had I gone
with my friends, I’d have at least tried to pretend to eat somewhat responsibly
and not be my usual glutinous self when it came to apples.

At 4:50 I headed down stairs
dressed in jeans and a nice sweater.
 
How
to dress had been on my mind all afternoon.
 
I wanted to look nice but not like I was trying to, which of course
required an enormous amount of effort on my part.
 
This was new to me.
 
I’d never dressed to impress someone and was
finding that this facet of womanhood could be exhausting.
 
Somehow, I doubted Daniel ever gave much
thought to what he wore; he was probably born looking that good.

Wanting to be
able to jump in as soon as he pulled up, I was early down to the curb.
 
I knew too many people around here and still
held out a hope we could get through the night without too many people giving
us a second look.
 

As I sat on the
back steps of Capen Hall, I found myself muttering “You shouldn’t be doing
this,” over and over again.
 
Yet somehow
I felt compelled to go against my own better advice.
 
I hoped my acceptance was out of a sense of
gratitude that he’d taken care of me in my hour of need and not because I found
him attractive in any way.
 
If that was
the reason, surely I was setting myself up for a world of hurt.

I think in the
back of my mind, I already knew it was inevitable he’d cause me pain.
 
I was pondering this thought a few minutes
later when that fancy black car of his pulled onto Pond Road.

“I
really
shouldn’t be doing this,” I
muttered one final time.
  

He pulled over,
coming to a stop in front of me and instantly jumped out to run around the
front of the car.
 
Quickly waving my hand
away from the door handle, he opened the door for me.
 
I frowned up at him as I got in.

“You’re a lady,
Sara.
 
You should try to remember
that.
 
Any man who doesn’t open a door
for you, isn’t worth your time.”
 
With a
smile, he closed the door behind me.

Gees, he sounded like my father.

As he walked
back around, I rolled my eyes at him while he shook his head and suppressed
what I assumed was a laugh at my expense.
 
I hope he wasn’t thinking this was a date or anything.
 

I rolled my eyes
again, this time at myself.
 

Duh, of course he doesn’t stupid.
 
This is you we’re talking about
.
 

What he was thinking was a complete mystery to me, but that
this was a date seemed impossible in my mind.
 
People like him did not date people like me.
  
It was as simple as that.

The festival was something of a
cross between a large travelling carnival, a farmers market and a church
bazaar.
 
Held on the athletic fields of
the local high school, we parked off to the side of South Putt Corners Road and
silently walked over to get in line to buy our tickets.
 
We hadn’t actually spoken since his comment
about my not being lady enough for him.

When we got to
the head of the line, I reached into my pocket for a few bills, but when I
looked up, Daniel was already paying for both our tickets.
 
I frowned again, but he didn’t seem to
notice.
 
As we walked away he casually
handed me a ticket.

“Thank you, but
I could have paid for mine. It was my idea to come after all.”
 

Still under the
impression this wasn’t a date, I felt a little awkward.
 

He immediately
stopped and looked at me.

“I could never
let a woman pay,” he said condescendingly as he continued towards the entry
gate.
 
He stopped a few feet later when
he realized I was still standing there.

“That’s kind of
an old fashioned attitude, isn’t it?
 
I
thought this wasn’t a date.”

“Well, I guess
I’m an old fashioned guy,” he smiled. “And maybe this
is
a date.”
 

I stood there
eying him.
 
I couldn’t tell if he was
kidding or not, or if I wanted him to be.

“Didn’t I tell
you before that you’ve got to start getting used to being treated like a
lady?”
 

With a smile I
wasn’t sure I trusted, he reached over and offered me his arm.
 
I looked at it appraisingly.
 
I had a feeling that accepting it meant I’d
be crossing that line into date territory.
 

I’m going to have to do it tonight,
I
thought to myself as I closed my eyes for a moment.
 
I don’t think I can wait any
longer.

I slowly walked
over and gave his arm a long look before I finally took it.
 
He tried not to smile as I did, but failed
somewhat miserably.

“So where would
you like to go first?” he asked as we walked through the gate.

When I pointed down an aisle of stalls from some of the local
farmers, we began to move in that direction.
 
I could smell the wonderful aroma of baked apple goods calling me as we
approached one of the apple orchard stands.
 
Unable to resist, I purchased a couple of apple turnovers and began to
eat them as we continued to walk around.
 
He, of course, insisted on paying for them and the discussion that
ensued seemed to amuse the lady behind the register to no end.
 

After walking around for a while,
it was about dinner time, so I also ate some corn on the cob and fried chicken
and then back to the apple stand for apple fritters and a slice of apple
pie.
 
When we got back to the head of the
line.
 
I silently rolled my eyes as
Daniel pulled out his wallet and paid.
 
At this point, I knew there was no point in arguing with him.
 
Besides, I think he liked it when I did.
 

As Daniel turned
away, pocketing his change, the lady behind the register smiled as she gave me
a wink.
 

Gees,
Not her too!

Daniel ate –
nothing.
 
He said he’d already eaten, but
that excuse just wasn’t flying with me anymore.
 
I let it go.
 
I’d find out sooner
or later what his story was, and wasn’t in the mood to stir up that particular
pot at the moment.
 
I knew the time for
answers was coming, knew it had too.
 
There was no way to avoid it now, but that didn’t mean I was looking
forward to it.
 
Either I’d learn
something I wasn’t prepared to hear, or I’d embarrass myself with humiliating
questions.
 
Neither seemed like a
pleasant alternative in my eyes.
 

We’d been
walking around for a while and besides seeing a few women take a long second
look at Daniel, no one seemed to recognize us.
 
I was thankful.
 
I really had no
idea what I was doing here with him.
 
To
be honest, if I’d thought this was a real date before, I don’t think I’d have
agreed to come.

As we wandered
through the craft stalls, I stopped to admire some quilt work.
 
I wasn’t very handy with a needle and thread,
but could appreciate all the artistry and intricate work that went into
them.
 
While Daniel strolled to the back
of the stall to take a closer look at a display, I started talking to the woman
selling her quilt work.
 
When we
finished, I walked over and joined him while he examined a simple but elegant
quilt that hung on the back wall.

“My mother made
one just like this,” he said almost dreamily as I came to a stop by his
side.
 
He continued to stare at it as if
his mind was far away.

“Isn’t it
lovely?” the woman said.
 
“It’s an
antique.”
 
She gently turned over a
corner to show us where the artist had delicately embroidered her name and the
date, 1887.

We thanked her
and walked through the rest of the stalls, examining the work of some local
woodworking and glass artisans.
 
Every so
often, I’d peer over at him and catch him watching me or looking suspiciously
at someone I would talk to.
 
For some
reason I felt like he was studying me, like I was a research project he was
working on.
 
I’d have been convinced of
it if it wasn’t for the shy smile I’d see him wear sometimes.
 
If this wasn’t a date, it sure was beginning
to feel like one.
 
At least it did when
he looked at me like that.

“So how about
going on some rides?” I asked.

“Alright.
 
Which one first?”

We went on the Ferris
Wheel, tilt-a-whirl and a few others, the last one being an especially twirly
one.
 
I walked off a little dizzy, and as
I started to walk a little of course, he reached over and took my arm to steady
me.

“Whoa,
there.
 
I’m thinking I should probably
hold on to you for a while until you get your footing back.”
 
He was laughing at me behind that innocent
smile of his.
 
I could tell.
 
“Let’s take a break from the rides for a
while.”

I didn’t argue.

“Alright.
 
Let’s go
back to the apple stand,” I suggested.

A few minutes later we sat down
at a picnic table in the concession area.
 
Taking a seat across from me, he patiently watched as I devoured a
caramel apple and a basket of fried apple slices with a soda.

With raised
eyebrows, he shook his head back and forth as he watched me savoring them one
by one.

“What?” I asked
when I finally glanced up to see the look on his face.

“I don’t understand
how you can eat like that.
  
I’ve never
seen anyone eat that much and be so skinny.”

I looked at him
incredulously.

“You think I’m
skinny?”

He shot me a
look, insinuating how stupid a question he thought that was.
 

“I may have
limited experience with women, but even I know enough not to answer
that
question.
 
Don’t you worry about diabetes, cholesterol
or high blood pressure?”