Page 39 of Second Chance

Tony eyes the mix of academics and students in black and gray through the door, milling around and making small talk. “Not sure I’d call this a party.”

Sean laughs. The upward curve of his mouth makes the mustache even less fitting on his face.

Tony reminds himself he doesn’t hold a monopoly on facial hair. If some guy younger than Tony’s baby sister wants to experiment with looking likeMagnum P.I.in puberty, that’s his prerogative.

“Nah, man.” Sean leans against the building in a way he probably thinks makes him look cool. “Not my idea of a good time in there.”

“What brings you here, then?”

Sean sighs, flicking ashes onto the ground. “My girlfriend made this whole thing about it.”

“Lily, right?”

“Yeah. Good memory, dude.”

“My, uh—” It seems weird to mention his boyfriend in this context, especially given Sean might not even know who Daniel is, let alone that he regularly tells Tony personal information about Sean’s girlfriend. Worse, he probably doesn’t know Daniel and Colette are friends. No one wants to be reminded that people talk about them behind their back, but Tony imagines it would be especially brutal to hear about a trusted advisor telling two other unconnected people about your relationship difficulties. At the last second, Tony changes tack. “My sister said Lily found Professor Lawrence.”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot you were Gianna’s brother.” Sean says it like a revelation, as if he barely bothers to remember personal information about his friends.

Tony takes a breath and tries to stop himself from judging. He knows way more about this guy than he should, a guy who has so much going on he has no reason to remember Tony. “Seems traumatic. No wonder she wanted to be here.”

“I guess.” Sean sounds doubtful, as if discovering a stabbed woman doesn’t count as a life-altering event in his book. “She’s a little…” He gestures at his temple with his free hand, drawing lazy circles to indicate insanity.

Sean leans in, too close for comfort. Tony smells the cigarette smoke on his breath and notes how unsteady he looks. The skin under his eyes is red, and something about them doesn’t seem right; the pupils are the wrong size.

“Just between us, dude,” Sean says, “there was no fuckin’ deer on the road when she lost it and crashed the car. Had to tell y’all I did it so she’d stop fucking crying.”

It takes supreme effort for Tony to keep his expression neutral. “I figured. Story didn’t quite add up.” The deer story didn’t add up, and an absence of deer still doesn’t explain how they got a flat tire hitting the guardrail. Tony didn’t guess that Lily was driving, though, and Sean covered for her. Presumably, she’s not insured to drive his car. It’s nice of him to lie for her. Illegal and bound to get them both in trouble, but nice.

“Yeah, well.” Sean shrugs. “Storytelling’s not my thing. I may be a film major, but I’m more interested in, like, autobiographical filmmaking. Was hoping to screen this short film about my parents in this cool theater in Germantown, but that place went up in smoke.”

Last semester, Daniel took Tony to a screening of student films—not an experience he looks to repeat. Colette threatened to take them both to similar screenings in Germantown. Tony’s never been so happy to see a small business die.

“So, Lily is…” Tony starts, trying anything to distract Sean from the topic of his films.

Sean drops the stub of his cigarette and crushes it with the heel of his dress shoe. What kind of college student has dress shoes lying around in his dorm room? The rich kind, probably. “She’s not even here.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah. Texted something about how she was feeling sick, and it was too much for her when it was too late for me not to show up.”

“Sounds tough.” The customer service voice turns out to be a good trick for expressing sympathy and condolences while simultaneously prodding for information. Tony thinks it’s probably tougher for Lily, but he’s still curious to hear what Sean has to say.

“Yeah. It’s…hard. I want to support her and stuff, but it’s hard when she keeps changing the tune on me, y’know?”

“Mm-hm.”

“And I need to do better at school this year, and it’s all getting to be too much right now.”

Tony nods sympathetically. “Do you have anyone to lean on?”

“Huh?” Sean looks up at him with a frown.

“It sounds like your girlfriend needs support, and you’re doing your best to give it to her. It’s a lot to take on though. You probably need someone to talk with too.”

“Oh.” Sean looks as if it’s the first time he’s considered that his own emotional needs are also worth taking care of. As much as Tony suspects he’s a spoiled rich kid who needs to rethink his major and his grooming choices, he gets it. He knows intimatelyhow it can be more comfortable to offer support than to admit you might need some yourself. “I have this professor. She’s…she’s been helping me out.”

Hoping Colette will forgive him, Tony says, “That’s great. Maybe you should make an appointment with her to talk about it?”

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