Love and Its Lies

Eight- 6 Years

6 years ago:

With a backpack behind her, and a map of the university in hand, Aly awkwardly walked to find the hall where the college freshman orientation will be taking place. Everything was new to her—the people, the buildings—and it excited her. She was ready to learn and make new friends. As she read the labels on the door and checked her map, she noticed an elderly professor accidentally slip on the floor. She was about to run to her aid, when someone got to it first. That was when she first saw him: a stunning young man with messy curly hair, running to the professor with genuine concern in his eyes. The scene was like something she had only seen in the movies—it was as if time slowed down as the man jogged and offered a hand.

It was love at first sight—

“Okay, hold up. You don’t need to go back that far,” Danny impatiently said, snapping Aly out from her memories. “You also don’t have to go in such detail. I said I have ‘some’ time, not 6 years worth of time to listen to your life story.”

Aly rolled her eyes at him and continued, “Fine. As I was saying, that was the first time I saw him and it was love at first sight.”

Danny stifled a laugh.

After that moment, Aly never thought she’d run into him again—the student population was large, and she had learned that they were in different academic courses—but when classes started, she was delightedly surprised when she saw him sitting at the back of the room on the first day. For two more semesters, Aly was lucky enough to always have at least one class with him.

Even with his then-unruly hair and unfashionable sense, John was quick to become famous due to his charisma and talent in extracurricular activities. He joined the college orchestra, football team, a environment organization, and a well-known fraternity, yet somehow managed to maintain good grades. Everyone he met seemed to like him, and he was always so friendly—greeting everyone back with a smile, even the ones he didn’t know.

Aly had wanted to formally introduce herself to him in one of their classes, but by the time she gathered her courage, he was already surrounded by friends and girls. So, she settled with watching and admiring him from a distance.

That was until their second year in college. Their professor had announced a project to be done by pair—to conduct a research about specific groups of people, their culture and how their environment affects the way they live. Aly was about to leave after class, slightly worried that she had yet to find a partner because her best friend Brenda was not in the class, when John suddenly tapped her on the shoulder.

“Hi, there,” he smiled at Aly, who initially thought he was talking to someone else, that she even looked behind her shoulder.

“Me?” she asked, just to make sure.

“Yes, you,” he said with a chuckle. “I don’t think we’ve been introduced. I’m John Wendell, also a sophomore.”

He didn’t need an introduction. At that point in time, Aly already knew his name, his friends, the clubs he was part of, his favorite food from the cafeteria, and even how he tries to sneeze so quietly in class so he wouldn’t disturb other students.

“Oh, hi,” Aly nervously said as she discretely wiped her palms on her shirt. “I’m Aly Craig. Also a sophomore.”

As expected, John shook her hand, and for a second all she could think about was the feel of his skin on hers—he has such soft hands! she noticed. “Very nice to meet you, Aly. Do you want to be my partner for the project? All my friends already paired up. I’ve also wanted to meet you for the longest time. I noticed you get such good grades! You must be so smart!”

Aly could not help but turn red from the compliment. She awkwardly waved a hand. “Me? Psh, no. I just do alright.”

“Oh, no need to be shy! I saw you get straight A’s on all our essays,” John teased.

“You… noticed?” Aly's smile was from ear to ear.

“Yeah, of course. You always sit here in front, right?”

She nodded vigorously. She couldn’t believe that he had noticed her all this time!

“So, what do you say to a partnership?” John asked.

Aly wanted to scream yes and hold his hands more, but she maintained her cool and only nodded. “Sure thing.”

John brought out his phone and handed it to her. “Type your number in, so we can contact each other. I’ll be pretty busy with football practice the next few days, so do you mind if you start on it? Just for a bit, and I’ll help out,” he assured her. “You’re so smart anyways so I figured you would have way better ideas than I would. We can meet up at a coffee shop some time, and I can give some input…”

Aly mindlessly agreed to every suggestion he had. She was still hung up on the fact that he asked for her number and asked her to be his partner. Just think of all the alone time she would have with him! Oh, the conversations they could have!

Even when John left and didn’t show up for most of the work, Aly rode that high. She didn’t mind that she basically did 80% of the work. What was important was that she met up with him once in a library and once in a coffee shop for a little less than 10 minutes to discuss. He barely gave any input, but Aly was able to learn where his hometown was, and he even bought her coffee.

After they had passed the project—and got an A for it— they never had a chance to hang out. Although, John would occasionally greet her when they passed each other in the hallways, making her feel closer to him—even though he would sometimes mispronounce her name.

On their junior year, John once personally talked to her when he was handling the donation drive for the park—so, of course, she gave quite a chunk of money, which he and his organization were extremely grateful for. During graduation, he also congratulated her in passing while he was carrying a handful of bouquets. After that, they never had the chance to speak again. It was by chance that Aly saw him walking the street in a suit while she was applying for her Master’s classes. She then learned from her friend Brenda that he had started working at Barrington and Co., and for the past two years, she had been trying to find the right time to try to reconnect with him.

“So, wait, let me get this straight,” Danny said as he held up a hand. “The man had never talked to you before, asked you to be his partner in a project and basically made you do all of the work, never talked to you again, then got you to donate a heck of a lot of money for his nature club,” he roughly summarized. “Basically, you’ve never had a proper conversation with him for 6 years and yet you thought that following him here would give you a chance with him?”

Aly made a face at his blatant disapproval. “Well, when you put it like that…”

Danny burst into a fit of laughter. “Oh my goodness, you poor, sweet, innocent, stalker, city girl!”

Aly rolled her eyes and waited for him to finish. “Are you done now?” she asked.

He cleared his throat and tried to compose himself. “I was waiting for a grand love story, but—wow!” he exclaimed. “Wow! This is—this is just next level. You know what? You should be glad your romance never blossomed, or else you would be caught up in the crap he's in right now.”

“Did you not listen to a word I said? John is not capable of—”

“With all due respect, miss, but I think you don’t know your man well enough to be making such a statement. Why do you think he’s hiding out here in this small town?”

Aly stood up and retrieved a change of clothes. “He only came here to take care of his sick mother, you doof.”

Danny seemed amused. “Oh, is that what he’s telling everyone?”

Aly turned her head just to glare at him. “That’s what he’s been doing,” she emphasized the last word. “My friend works in the same building and that’s what she told me.”

He scrunched his nose as he stood up from the chair. “Is that true? What a good son. Taking care of his sick mother who lives in a city 6 hours away,” he said in a sarcastic tone.

She stared at him and asked, “What do you mean?”

Danny shrugged. He collected his jacket and walked towards the door. Aly followed him and asked again, “What did you just say?”

He sighed and put a hand on the doorknob. “His mom left when he was still in high school. I checked and she’s still living with her new family—alive and well, except for that one time she got a tennis elbow. So, whatever excuse he has been giving out is just that: an excuse. So, for the hundredth time, stay away from him.”

Aly was speechless as Danny left the room. She remembered a conversation she overheard between Fred and Marion—about a “Wendell boy" long abandoned by his mother. She couldn’t believe that they were talking about John specifically. That would mean that he was lying about leaving the city to take care of his mother, which would raise the question: why did he have to lie? Why did he suddenly come back to the town? What was he hiding?