Bird-Dogging: an Academy Fan Fiction [on hold indefinitely]

Chapter Twenty-three

          Victor watched me for my reaction. I was surprised, but also very much so confused. Why does he need a date if he'll be entertaining the whole time? I shrugged one shoulder in response to my own question before asking, "Oh, do you sing?" His smooth baritone voice would probably have girls swooning.

          "Only in the shower." His eyes lit up in amusement.

          "That's a shame." Maybe he has some techy skill that is entertaining? I couldn't imagine that would be something people would want to see though. Unwilling to give another wrong guess, I waited for him to tell me.

          But he didn't.

          We drove for a while in near silence. A soft piano concerto played over the speakers. I had turned to look out the windows, watching the scenery change. I'd never been in this part of town. It seemed like we were slowly going back in time the further we drove. At one point, we passed an open horse drawn carriage with a couple snuggled in the back. I smiled and settled back in the soft leather of the car seat, letting my imagination play with the new images it had acquired.

          "I wasn't actually sure you'd be coming tonight," Victor said as he leaned back in the seat. The car seemed to be slowing down. "I called."

          I turned and smiled at him. "Oh?" Blink. Blink. "Oh! That's right." I brought my hand up to my cheek. "My phone broke. I couldn't charge it, so it died."

          "Can it be fixed?" he asked.

          "I don't know. I was actually hoping that you would look at it for me. Just to see if it can be fixed."

          Victor seemed happy. "Yeah. I can do that. Do you have it with you?" he asked.

          I nodded, and he held his hand out for it. I picked up the clutch that Tess had let me use and pulled out my ancient cell phone.

          Victor turned it over a few times, flipped it open then closed, and shook his head. He looked into my eyes and said, "You'll have a working cell phone by the end of the night."

          "You mean you can fix it!?" This is great news! I really hadn't wanted to spend any money replacing it, and all my contacts were stored on that one. I didn't want to lose any of those.

          Victor swallowed hard before saying, "Just let me take care of it, Sang." He put the phone in his front breast pocket. He then pulled out his own phone and sent off a message.

          A minute later, the car came to a stop in front of the largest house I'd ever seen. It was almost as big as my dorm building, but if I counted the space from the large outbuildings, I was sure that there was more room here than the entire dorm.

          I went to open my door when Victor put his hand on my arm. "One second."

          The driver came around and opened Victor's door for him. He exited the car. Then Victor held out his hand to me, and I took it. I tried my best to keep my shoes out of sight. Victor adjusted his stance to block me from sight as much as possible. I smiled up at him and mouthed, 'Thank you.'

          Once out of the car, Victor turned and offered me his arm. I took it, and he led me toward an arched entrance. People dressed in gorgeous gowns and smart tuxes were milling about around the large, white columns that were spaced along the porch, chittering with one another. A few of them nodded their heads in our direction. Victor would nod back, but continued to walk toward the door.

          "Victor! Victor, darling!" a voice called over the crowd.

          Victor tensed but kept walking as though he hadn't heard anything. He spoke to me as we went. "The first hour, I'll be playing. You can stick near me, or you can mingle if you want. I'd prefer you stay close though. These society ladies look like peacocks, but they're actually snakes." The voice called for him again, but he continued to ignore her. "Then when I've finished, we'll have to stay for the speech. But as soon as that is over, we can do whatever you want; stay and eat all the chocolate eclairs, leave and catch a movie, take a carriage ride around downtown?"