Divine Contract

Lost

Glancing around herself, Lillian noticed that she was dressed more conservatively than most of her peers.  It was August which, in New York, still gets pretty chilly in the evening but many of the girls were wearing short shorts, some even wearing shirts that showed off their mid drift.  She noticed many piercings and tattoos and could almost see the scrunch in Lady Catherine’s nose.  The older woman would never approve.

    Lillian’s simple gray dress fell a bit below her knees and was buttoned nearly to her throat.  She wore the silver cross Lady Catherine had bought her years ago at her throat and, standing there stiffly with her suitcase on the sidewalk of a semi-deserted road, she felt utterly lost.

    The flight had been nerve-wracking for Lillian who had never flown in a plane before and, though the man beside her had been friendly, she’d felt wary of him.  Lady Catherine had warned Lillian time and again to keep her guard up around the opposite s*x.  “Demons of the mind, lust of the body,” she’d said many times in her life.  “You cannot always tell who has good intentions for you, for wolves will approach you in sheep’s skin.”

    When Lillian’s feet had finally been back on solid ground, the New York City airports terminal had been a busy one and she’d already felt overwhelmed by the time she’d made it to the campus which, to be fair, may not have been the largest in the world, still seemed massive compared to the small convent she had come from.

    Lost, she was.  And apparently, lost she looked, because after only moments of glancing about nervously, she was approached by another student.  “Hey there,” he said, flashing her an easy smile.  He had shaggy blonde hair and deep green eyes.

    Lillian didn’t have much experience with the opposite s*x.  There were the priests at her Church, of course, and a few guys she had run across in her youth group but she could tell that this one wasn’t like any of them.  His eyes flickered over her with a curiosity that made her nervous.  “Hi,” she said, thinking that he must be one of the wolves Lady Catherine spoke about.

    “You lost?” he asked.  “I can help.”

    Lillian bit her lip, looking him over doubtfully.  She was lost and she did need help.  Glancing around at the few people wandering around, her eyes drifted back to the man and she gave a small nod.  “Yes please, I’d really appreciate the help.”

    Something shifted in the boys’ expression, his eyes gleaming.  “You’re a first year?”

    “Um,” she said, rolling back on her heels, nervously gripping the handle of her luggage.  “Yeah.  I’m looking for my dorm room.”

    “What building?” he asked, seeming to lean toward her.

    Carefully, she took a step backwards, offering him a small smile as she handed the paper with the information to him.  He scanned over the information before handing the paper back.  “I’ll walk you,” he offered, abruptly turning on his heel to walk the opposite direction of where she’d been going.  Obviously she’d been walking the wrong way this entire time.

    She blushed with frustration, following after the guy.  “I’m Seth,” he introduced himself.  “Engineering major.  What about you?”

    “Lillian,” she offered, tucking her head nervously.  “Humanities.”

    “You’re shy, huh?” Seth asked, amusement in his voice.

    She just nodded, not sure what to say.  Lillian rarely ran out of things to say but this was new.  The whole situation was new to her.  She’d been so sure about her decision to come, ignoring every comment about the dangers of New York that Lady Catherine had made.  She’d insisted she would be fine, that it would be an easy transition—and yet, she felt so nervous.  Her palms were sweating even as they made it to the dorm.  Seth held the door open for her, walking her inside to the check-in desk.  “Here it is,” he offered, giving the same calm smile.

    “Thank you,” she said quietly, looking him over.

    He scratched the back of his neck, eyes averted as if in deep thought for a moment.  “Lillian, uh, this might seem a bit forward,” he started, eyes moving back to her as he offered an almost reassuring smile, “but can I have your number?”

    Lillian was taken aback by that.  She had all the nuns numbers programmed into her phone, as well as all of the on-campus emergency numbers, but that was it.  She wrung her fingers nervously, debating with herself.

    He cleared his throat at her hesitation, catching her eyes once more.  “It’s not like that,” he said quietly, “it’s just that I’ve got a pretty big group of friends and I think you’d fit right in with them.  We’re going to be hanging out at my buddies’ house tonight if you want to come.  It’s just a small gathering.  Thought you might want to meet some people, being new and all.”

    Seth was charming and Lillian found herself smiling at the prospect of new friends.  “Okay,” she said quietly.  He programmed her number into his phone, offering another sweet smile before making his way back out of the building.

    Her phone buzzed before she could even reach the check-in table.  It was from Seth with the address to his friends’ house.  She bit her lip, thinking about Lady Catherine and all of her warnings.  She’d just ignored an important one:  Don’t talk to strangers.