Black Chalk

Chad said ‘boo’ because Dee didn’t look up when he arrived. She didn’t jump. She paused and placed a feather in her book. Shielding her eyes from the sun, Dee looked up at Chad and smiled. There was so much joy in her smile it caused Chad to blush. ‘How many books do you get through a week?’ he asked, hoping to distract Dee from the heat in his cheeks.

‘Six,’ said Dee. ‘One per day. I’m like the Lord. On the seventh day, I rest.’ Dee patted the grass beside her. ‘How’s everything with Mitzy these days?’ she said, when Chad was beside her.

‘She’s enjoying torturing me,’ said Chad. ‘Although no one in the house is speaking to me, it is permissible to speak about me. Especially when I’m in earshot. She told everyone that I’m a virgin and whenever there’s a bunch of us crossing paths in the kitchen, she’ll say something like, “So, did anyone hear Chad say he was from one of the Virginias? Or, does anyone know Chad’s star sign? I bet he’s a Virgo.” Oh, and her latest, “I’m going home for spring break, who do you think it would be better to fly with, American or Virgin?”’

‘Oh dear, sounds like Mitzy’s a minx,’ said Dee, pulling her hands inside her cardigan. ‘But never mind, Chad, you’re too good for her anyway.’

‘You never really met her,’ said Chad.

‘Didn’t I?’ said Dee. ‘Well, I still think you’re too good for her. And I’m hugely confident you’re going to find the right girl very soon, Chadwick Mason,’ she said.

‘Theodore Chadwick Mason,’ said Chad.

‘Really?’ said Dee. ‘You’ve kept that quite a secret.’

‘Jolyon knows,’ said Chad.

‘Of course Jolyon knows,’ said Dee. ‘It wouldn’t be a secret if Jolyon didn’t know.’

‘I hate it,’ said Chad, his fingers ripping up grass, tossing it aside.

‘No, it’s elegant,’ said Dee. She shook her hair in front of her face, tossed it behind her and tied it with a red band. And then she said to Chad, ‘Oh, here’s something funny. Apparently David keeps bumping into Jackie-oh. Every time he turns a corner. And Jolyon’s warned him that he can’t be rude to him or he’s breaking the rules.’

Chad looked admiringly at Dee. ‘What made you think of it?’ he said.

‘Female intuition,’ said Dee. ‘You boys have such blind spots. Or should I say spined blots,’ she added with a wink. ‘But enough games and our ridiculous friends. I have an idea, Chad. It’s such a nice day, how about we go punting together?’

‘Punting?’ said Chad. ‘I thought you hated punting. That was the one expedition of Emilia’s you all refused. You said it was outrageously pretentious.’

‘Really? Are we always that boring?’ said Dee. ‘Well, goddammit, Theodore Chadwick Mason, you and I are going to punt. And we’ll buy Pimm’s and strawberries and I may even purchase a straw hat. Because, even though it’s such a ridiculous phrase, you should try everything once.’

‘That should be a defence for murder,’ Chad laughed.

‘Precisely,’ said Dee. ‘Then you’ll come with me?’

‘I have a tutorial over at Bethlehem at twelve,’ said Chad. ‘Will you still be here when I get back?’

Dee riffled the unread pages of her book. ‘Absolutely,’ she said.

LII(iv) Jolyon left Jacks’ room just behind his tutorial partner, Prost. He felt so tired he had to steady himself going down. ‘Bad luck in there,’ said Prost at the bottom of the staircase. ‘He’s incredibly hard on you,’ he said. ‘Look, I haven’t forgotten you lending me your essays on Roman law when I was struggling. If you ever want to borrow one of mine . . .’

‘Thanks, Prost,’ said Jolyon. ‘I’ll get through it, but thank you.’

Jolyon felt his tiredness like a weight in the back of his skull. Did he want his room, did he need breakfast? He plodded randomly around college. And then he saw Dee and his uncertainty dissolved. He swayed from the path and toiled toward the shade of the ancient tree. And then when he reached Dee, without saying anything, Jolyon curled up beside her and fell asleep right away.

Dee looked at him fondly. Jolyon’s hands were between his legs and his knees tucked in. His breathing stuttered on the way in but was smoother going out. She wished she had a blanket to tuck around his edges.

Still asleep, Jolyon rolled over and his face fell against Dee’s bare leg. Then his arm stretched out and soon his fingertips were resting against the inside of Dee’s thigh an inch beneath the fray of her cut-offs.

It felt good, the tingle, the fingertips cool. Dee stroked the hair from Jolyon’s eyes.

LII(v) Chad crossed the Bethlehem bridge. There were two punts drifting on the river below, shallow and draped with young limbs. Three swans, the sky cloudless. Chad’s chest was light, the paths of his mind awash with delight.