The boys were just deciding to call it a night and turn in when they heard an almighty scream that caught them off guard. It was well after midnight by then and they didn’t expect anyone else to be on campus grounds, outside their dorm rooms, since they had never seen anyone else wandering around during one of their midnight games. They knew it couldn’t be Ryan because the scream came from nothing other than a girl and out of instinct, they all jumped to their feet, grabbed their stuff and went off to explore the sudden sound. It was pitch black out, with only the moonlight to guide them through the courtyard as they soon heard sobbing that guided them into the middle of the garden. Devin was smart enough to use his lighter to give them a better look at things until they reached the rockery area and found that it was lit up by little garden lights all around the walkway.
And there they found a girl, sitting hugging her knees on the grass verge, crying her heart out. Niles and Devin looked at each other, confused as they signalled for Jones to take a wander and see if there was anyone else around who could be responsible for making the girl cry. If she had been attacked or chased, they needed to know as much as they could in case they had to call the police but when Hamish took the initiative and stepped forward to gain the girls attention, lightly touching the top of her head, she screamed at him not to touch her, letting them all know that something was seriously wrong. Girls didn’t scream that for no reason and Devin was on the verge of suggesting that they just call the cops and leave it for them to handle when the girls suddenly looked up and backed away from them in a panic.
“Are you alright?” Niles asked with a touch of worry in his voice as the girl stared at them as if she couldn’t speak and so he thought that in case she really couldn’t, he would try the usual universal gestures for kindness, starting with offering his hand to help her get up. It didn’t seem to work as she physically flinched as if he was going to hit her and Devin couldn’t help but place his hand on Niles’s shoulder, shaking his head when he looked around at him, telling him not to touch her. But he didn’t know what else to do, he was only offering to help her up and she was acting like he was going to slap her around. She looked so fragile and lost that he just wanted to help her.
He tried the visual methods again, in case it wasn’t her ability to talk that was the problem but that she simply couldn’t hear him. Once he was at eye level with her and she was looking up at him again, he smiled and attempted one last time to talk, in case she could read lips. He didn’t really know what he was doing but he was trying his hardest to think of every possible scenario that would make her so afraid of him. “We won’t hurt you. We just want to make sure you’re okay.” Standing up again, once he was sure she saw exactly what he said, he reoffered his hand and after a few tense moments, just when he thought he’d be better giving up and letting someone else try, a small hand appeared on his, making him smile as he pulled her to her feet, surprised to see that she didn’t seem to have much strength herself.
“There. You’re not hurt are you?” He asked softly, only getting a shake of the head in reply and he was glad to know that no-one had tried to hurt her, or at least succeeded in doing so. He didn’t think any of them would be able to live with knowing that a girl had been attacked or chased on campus while they had just been a few feet away and they hadn’t helped her. When he picked up her rucksack, at her feet, he really thought she was going to run again as he saw her almost bracing herself for a blow, clenching her fist as if she was ready for whatever he did to her. She seemed almost surprised when he simply handed it to her with a smile.
“Thank you.” She spoke for the first time, surprising them all, only to go on again and talk even more. Niles guessed they could rule out being deaf or being unable to speak and he realised she was probably either in shock or just absolutely terrified out of her skin. “I’m Skylar and I’m sorry.” She explained, apologising at the same time, only for Niles to smile to himself.
“Well, I almost wasn’t expecting you to speak there. You gave us one hell of a fright, screaming like that.” He admitted, only to see her smile and blush in embarrassment, wondering how he thought she’d been able to scream if she wasn’t able to speak. But her reaction to his words intrigued them all so much that after Niles introduced himself, even shaking her hand, Devin stepped forward and did the same, until they all knew each others names. There were five of them altogether, Niles, Devin, Jones, Piers and Hamon and to show them how sorry she was, she shook hands with them all, glad to see that she was right to give in and trust them. “How about we get you home? Do you stay on campus or something?” Niles suggested suddenly, making her explain that she stayed in the Wentworth building, in room 203 and none of the boys could believe she actually did stay on campus. They had been there a long time, most of them were in their last year there and they thought they just about knew everyone there was to know and not one of them knew Skylar. “That’s right down the hall from me.” Niles smiled, stepping back and gesturing for Skylar to go first and she couldn’t help but let out a small giggle as he practically skipped into step beside her, throwing all kinds of questions at her that she was glad to find, she didn’t need to rehearse to answer.
Devin was a little surprised to see Niles taking such an interest in Skylar, particularly when they had found her the way they had and she hadn’t yet explained why she had screamed, but after Niles had grilled her on who she was and where she was from, when she’d arrived and found out that she was a new transfer student who didn’t have any classes until her transfer papers came through, he found he was able to get a few words in, during the silence that Niles took to think about the possibilities the delay in her transfer papers might give him. Until they arrived she was free to do what she liked when she liked…and with who she liked. So if he could just wangle it that they hung out as much as they could until her papers arrived, he would be one happy bunny. “So do you mind me asking what happened back there? Why you screamed?” Devin asked, finally getting a word in only for Skylar to lose her smile and sigh, about to make up a brief explanation until Niles piped up for her, as if to rescue her from having to tell them anything she didn’t want to.
“Look, she’s not hurt, no-one tried to hurt her, let’s just leave it at that. It’s been a long, rough night and I think she should get some sleep before she starts answering any complicated questions.” He decided, not surprising Devin with the territorial tone of his voice that said he was her new protector and hero. But now that she knew not everyone was out to hurt her, she didn’t need a hero, however sweet it was for him to offer. And she felt that the only way to show that to them all was to explain as best she could, just what had made her scream in such a terrifying way that five grown men had run to her rescue just after the midnight hour.
“It’s alright. I…I’ve moved here to get away from some memories I’d rather not have and lets just say, moving didn’t stop them from following me. I thought that if I was somewhere new with no connections, I could get over it, so that’s what I intend to do.” Skylar explained it as best as she could, knowing that no-one would really understand the depths of her feelings without knowing the absolute truth. And no-one could ever know that. Stelian however, still wasn’t happy with Devin for making her explain and it was written all over his face so that by the time they stopped at her dorm room, he didn’t say anything other than offering to hold her rucksack while she unlocked the door, since it got a bit stiff at night with the cold and sometimes it needed a good kick to get it open. She appreciated his help and he was right, when she turned the handle she couldn’t make it budge and even when she kicked it, nothing happened. Niles offered to give her a hand, giving it a good shove with his shoulder behind it until the door sprang open and she saw that Link had been thoughtful enough to give her a room by herself. “So, how do you know that little trick?” She wondered thankfully, only to see the swell of pride that said he had been her hero once more as he answered her.
“I used to have this room back when I first got here. If you ever need a hand with it again, I’m just down at 230.” He explained, making her smile and look down at the floor, unable to help but be impressed by him and admit that if it hadn’t have been for her love for Ryan, he would have been a good friend to have during her assignment. But she didn’t have time for friends. She had a job to do and nothing could take away from that. “But how about, since you’ve got nothing else to do but get settled in, I come by for you around noon tomorrow…let you have a long lie in…and you come skating with us?” He suggested, making her wonder if it was such a good idea when she had so much to do and it was such a sweet offer that she didn’t just want to turn him down for no reason, since she didn’t have a reason to give him. “We’ll all be there, the whole gang…me, Jones, Hamon, Kensington, Devin and his little pain in the ass brother Ryan. It’ll cheer you up.” He tried to convince her, only for the single mention of Ryan to make her realise that she could go and do her job at the same time. After all, she wasn’t purely there for her own wishes to come true, she really was to make Ryan’s life better and so all she could do was take a deep breath and sigh.
“I’ll be ready for noon then.” She agreed, making Niles smile happily, promising her she wouldn’t regret it but when he stepped forward and kissed her cheek, wishing her sweet dreams with a cheeky smile, she realised that she was already regretting giving him some hope for something that would never be. She wasn’t interested in him in any other way than that he was a short road to Ryan, but she couldn’t tell him that and she quickly realised that she was in trouble. But, at least it was the kind of trouble that she could handle.
*****
Silvia couldn’t stand the suspense much longer. She and Paige had been up early, since half past six staring at the front door from the living room sofa, impatiently waiting on the mail to arrive. It was a very important day, and they were finally going to find out if Paige was going to get her Degree, which she had been studying to get for the past three years. If she did, then she was going to be a very useful asset to her fathers business. Paige was studying International Business and Law and was hoping, that if she had successfully finished this course, then she could go on to do a Masters in Criminal Justice, even though it would take her almost five or seven years to complete. But she had plenty of patience and her father was willing to pay for each and every course she wanted to go on so the fifteen hundred dollar bill for the entire course, didn’t even weight on her mind. Silvia sighed, biting her nails as Danny walked back into the room with a cold bottle of water, handing it to her daughter before perching himself to sit on the arm of her chair. “What’s wrong Mrs Donna?” He asked quietly.
“Oh it’s nothing.” She smiled back at him, not oblivious to the body language between her daughter and the bodyguard her father had insisted followed her everywhere. But, as he kept reminding her, both he and Dino were involved in very dangerous professions and he didn’t want anything happening to his little girl when he could afford to make sure nothing did. “I’m just an impatient woman.” She sighed, turning back to stare at the door, hoping to ignore the chemistry between the two love birds behind her. She knew that Paige was in love with her young bodyguard, and even though he was twenty one, the same as herself and was smart and thoughtful, Silvia knew that he would never be accepted into the family and that Paige could never admit to how she felt for him. Both Dino and Julius lived in the olden days. If anyone wanted to date their children, permission had to be asked for first and even then anyone who was not Italian, or Italian speaking, couldn’t ever hope for a chance. But tradition was important to them and rightly so. But not allowing any non-Italian boy to date their daughter, when she was already in love with an American boy, was just cruelty.
“I told you Paige, there’s nothing to be worried about.” Danny’s whispers cut through her line of thought as she glanced back as her daughter sneakily, only to see the boy she loved so much, taking her hand in his, stopping her from following her mothers bad habits of biting her nails, before kissing the top of her head warmly. “Everything’s going to be fine.” He promised with a smile that Paige returned faithfully before looking away from him. But how could she not turn away? He loved her so much and told her so often, and yet she could never tell him the entire truth of how much she loved him, because he would only get his hopes up. And her father would be right there to smash them again, reminding them that they could never be together simply because it wasn’t allowed.
“Oh…oh.” Silvia screamed excitedly as she jumped out of her chair. “It’s here.” She claimed enthusiastically as she crossed over to the front door, reached down and lifted the multiple items, ignoring all but the large brown envelope at the back of the pile as Paige and Danny walked over, hand in hand. “Here…open it.” She urged happily. But Paige could only glance down at the envelope in her hand sceptically, before taking a deep breath and carefully tearing open the side panel, worried that she hadn’t done well and had wasted her fathers money and ruined his hopes of having her taking over the business. And when she slid out the piece of paper that lay inside, she couldn’t help but smile, a scream of excitement breaking through the silence of the room and she turned to Danny and hugged him warmly.
“Thank you…thank you so much.” She chirped happily, her mother sliding out the contents of the envelope from her daughters hand with a smile, letting her have a moment with Danny.
“Oh, that’s nice.” Silvia talked to herself as she walked through to the living room, giving her daughter some privacy, which Danny only took to mean that she didn’t care how either of them felt as long as they were happy. And he couldn’t stop himself from taking the first opportunity he’d ever been given, with complete privacy, and her father out of the house, to kiss her. It was just a simple, single kiss, a gently brush of his lips against hers but it made them both smile as he planted her back onto her feet and took her hand, leading her into the living room.
“They’ve invited you to a dinner.” Silvia announced as they walked in, keeping their feelings to themselves by sitting next to each other on the sofa, making sure not to be too close. Paige asked quietly what kind of dinner it was, still quite stunned by the sweet kiss she had shared with Danny, the first of what she was hoping would turn into many. “It’s a sort of graduation dinner. With the postgraduates and the undergraduates in one room and the degree graduates in another, all able to socialize together after the dinner.” She explained, squinting to read from the letter attached to her informal qualifications certificate, until she remembered that her reading glasses sat on top of her head, and brought them down to her eyes.
“Yes, it’s in two months time, allowing for each set of graduates to get their results and certificates in and have their work returned to them and…” But before she could continue, the back door bell rang and interrupted her. Danny offered to answer the door as he got up and wandered through to the kitchen. “Well, there’s not much left except that you get to take a date with you to the dinner. That sounds nice.” Silvia smiled up at Paige who was happy to hear it, but equally scared of what it could mean. “Who do you think you’ll take with you?” She asked excitedly, but her daughter only shrugged with a shy smile.
“I could take papà, and let him meet all my friends. Since he did pay for the course.” She thought aloud, not sure why her mother suddenly coughed and looked away from her with an unmistakable look of guilt. “It would be like a sort of thank you, for paying so much to let me do it.” Silvia didn’t know what to say to such a thing but she couldn’t help but admit that it sounded like a good idea. “But then again…I might have to take Danny. If I can only take one person I can’t exactly go to them and say, this is my bodyguard, he has to come too.” She sighed, looking consumed with mixed feelings. But Silvia could understand how hard it was for her. She was in love with a boy that she knew her father would never allow her to be with.
“He is a nice young boy.” She approved subtly, casually dipping her glasses to take a sneaky peek at her daughters shy smile. “I’m sure it wouldn’t exactly be a punishment for you to spend one evening with him. To let him meet your friends.” She hinted with a faint smile, returning her attention to the handful of mail that had accompanied Paige’s letter. She wasn’t sure what to say in response to that, agreeing with a smile before getting to her feet with a sigh. She was trying to decide what to do with herself when her mother called her back. Paige was about to go through and tell Danny the good news when her mothers curious tone caught her off guard and made her sit back down. “Darling, you do know that unless you father changes his mind…and we all know how often that hasn’t happened…” Silvia began uncertainly, even thought they both knew the awful truth of it. “Unless he lets you date an American boy…unless he actually begins to stop hating Danag some time soon, then you know that you can never be.” She spoke so softly, as if she understood how hard it was for her that Paige couldn’t help but smile sadly.
“Si mamma, I know.” She sighed with a soft shrug, her Italian accent slipping through with the strain of emotions. It was barely noticeable most of the time, except for a slight hint with her words, but she and Angelo had both been brought up the same way, neither having the strong accents their parents still held with every word, both sounding mostly American. Which made it even harder to know she couldn’t be with Danny. “Danny knows too. But he lives in a dreamland and I’m not sure he really thinks papà’s rules will last. But I know we can’t be together, and I know that, whether we want it or not, we’d never be allowed to get married.” Crossing over to her mother, she kissed her forehead gently and offered her a smile that said that she knew her place and that she would never try to hurt her father by going against his rules.
“That’s just the way it is, and it’ll always be that way. But we can pretend, can’t we?” She asked teasingly before walking off to meet Danny, who was no longer on cloud nine. He’d overheard every word and no longer felt so certain about what they had lasting the test of time. Just because he wasn’t Italian and couldn’t speak it fluently, or just because he wasn’t the fabulous Angelo D’Angelo, he wasn’t allowed to be with the girl he loved. Well it wasn’t fair. And he wasn’t going to play nice. He hated Angelo as it was, especially with the way he looked at Paige but if he ever did it again, he knew he wouldn’t be able to contain his temper and might just end up losing his job for an entirely different reason other than being in love with the boss’ daughter.