The Jimmy Soul Memorial Party

Carol was deep into her notes when Professor LeClair came back from lunch. To Carol's dismay, she was holding a single red rose. "Happy Valentine's Day, Carol," she said.

"I'm glad it is for you, Professor."

"Oh, Carol!" Professor LeClair pulled up a stool and sat down across the table from her. "Have you been unlucky in love?"

"Not unlucky, just stupid," Carol said. "I'm sorry, Professor, I know it's not appropriate to bug you with this stuff."

"Carol, it's okay!" Professor LeClair said. "I hope you don't mind, I've noticed you've been kind of downcast the past couple of weeks. It hasn't hurt your grades any -- congratulations, by the way, you got the highest score in the class on yesterday's quiz -- but I have noticed."

"Thanks." Carol finally put her pen down. "For both things, I mean. I'm really relieved to hear about the quiz. I thought after what happened my grades might suffer, so I've thrown myself into studying even more than usual. That's what I'm here for, to learn, after all."

"Yes, but you're not here to work all the time, Carol. Now what is it that happened, if you don't mind my asking?"

"I fell head over heels for this guy on my floor, I even asked him to the Valentine's dance and he said yes, but then I found out he was taking someone else to some stupid track team party. He didn't even tell me there was a party, never mind ask me to it!" She still felt like crying as she said it, but she managed to keep her cool, barely.

"Track team party," Professor LeClair repeated.

"Yes, and behind my back he asked some other girl! Men, huh?"

"Track team party," Professor LeClair said again. "Carol, I think you know my husband?"

"That's where I met my no good ex!" Carol said. "In your husband's class. They call him 'Doo Wop', if you can believe that."

Professor LeClair stood up. "Carol, I need to call my husband. I think he might have some good news for you."

"What?!"

"Just come by my office in five minutes or so, would you?"

Carol wanted with all her heart to tell the professor to forget it. But she knew the cardinal rule of making top grades -- never give a prof any excuse to make it personal as far as your grade was concerned -- so she nodded and spent the next few minutes doodling in her notebook until she figured Prof LeClair had had time to call her husband.

He wasn't there yet when Carol arrived, but Prof LeClair waved her in. "He'll be right here," she said. "I'll tell you what, Carol, I don't have my husband's knack for connecting with the students, but sometimes it's good enough just to be married to someone who does."

"I don't understand," Carol said. "No offense to your husband -- and I loved his class, but what's he got to do with it?"

"Thank you, Carol," came his voice from behind, and Carol jumped up to see him. He shook her hand and sat down in the other chair beside his wife's desk. "Good to see you again."

"Scott got some rather unpleasant news from a current student of his last week, Carol," Mrs. LeClair explained.

"And when Fran said a track team party was involved, I think we both understood why your friend didn't want to involve you," Mr. LeClair added. "Remember the chapter on the early sixties? The dance crazes?"

"Barely," Carol admitted. "Sorry."

"Oh, that's fine, it's one of my least-favorite eras too," Mr. LeClair said. "Do you happen to remember a singer from that time named Jimmy Soul?"

"Not offhand," Carol said. "What was his big hit?"

Mr. LeClair nodded to his wife, who'd been typing on her computer. She turned the monitor so Carol could see she was on Youtube. "Here it is, Carol," she said, clicking on a video.

Carol only needed to hear the first line to place the song. "If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never make a pretty woman your wife..."

"I hate that song!" she snapped. "Disgusting."

"Exactly," Mr. LeClair said. "Carol, the title of that party your ex didn't tell you about was the Jimmy Soul Memorial Party."

"Oh my God!" Carol exclaimed. "You mean..."

"The point was to invite the ugliest girls they could find," Mrs. LeClair explained.

"It's had some big consequences, too," Mr. LeClair told her. "Once I learned about it, I called Coach Meller and he's kicked at least two guys off the team over it."

Now Carol did let the tears come. "So Derek just didn't tell me because he didn't want to hurt me," she sobbed.

Mrs. LeClair jumped up and put her arms around Carol. "There's still time to let him know you know the truth."

"It still doesn't explain why he did invite someone else," Carol grumbled. "He should've refused to have anything to do with it!"

"There are two sides to every story, Carol," Mr. LeClair offered. "You'll never know unless you ask him."

Carol nodded. "Thanks. Thank you both. I just wish it were a day or two earlier."

"Why?" they asked in unison.

"The Valentine's dance is tonight," Carol sniffled. "Of course I wanted nothing to do with it, so I haven't got a dress or anything."

Mrs. LeClair stood up again. "I think we can help with that, too, Carol. You and I are about the same size."

Because Derek was sometimes a glutton for punishment, he put on the Platters good and loud when he got back from dinner. Smoke got in his eyes, all right, and no doubt it was going to stay there all semester long, so he might as well play the most romantic music in his collection and drink a toast to what might have been. But he wasn't up to being anyone's great pretender tonight, so he opted to shut the door and lock it. Surely even Neil would have the sense to leave him alone on a night like this.

The dance would be starting at nine. It was just past eight-thirty and he'd only taken a couple of swigs from the bottle of wine he'd bought in town when the knock came at the door.

"I'm not goin', Neil!" he called out.

"It's not Neil!"

Derek's heart flipped. Carol? But why, on this of all nights? He almost didn't get up, but he decided if she'd come to gloat about having moved on, he might as well let her do it and get it out of her system. He turned the stereo down, and opened the door.

There she stood, in a red and white dress that was Valentine's Day itself, holding a single yellow rose in her hand. Her hair was done up in an elegant arrangement he'd never seen before, but -- true to herself -- she was still wearing her glasses, and they were as adorably geeky as ever.

She held out the rose for him. "Know what yellow roses are for?"

"Friendship, I think," Derek said.

"That too, but also welcome back," Carol said. "If you'll have me back."

Derek opened the door and welcomed her in. "I will if you'll take me back," he said. "But I want you to know about that party..."

"I do know about it," Carol said. "The Jimmy Soul Memorial party."

"Oh, man." Derek buried his face in his hands.

"Derek, no, I see!" Carol said. "Of course you didn't want to take me to that! Thank you! I just wish you'd told me about it."

"I was too damn embarrassed to tell you I didn't just quit the team as soon as I heard about the stupid thing," Derek said. "I have quit it now, you know."

"You might want to reconsider that," Carol said. "I hear the guys behind the party have been kicked off the team."

"No kidding?"

Carol nodded. "There's just one thing I want to know. You and Neil's ex..."

"Yeah, I let her make a fool of me again," Derek said. "She talked me in to taking her -- she didn't know about the ugly girls thing -- she just wanted me to take her to make Neil jealous. And she canceled on me anyway, so I didn't go to the party at all."

"I'm so sorry I didn't let you explain!"

"I probably wouldn't have let me explain either," Derek admitted. He gave her a sad smile and looked her up and down in her lovely outfit. "So who's my lucky replacement for the dance?"

"Very funny, Derek!" she said. "You've got half an hour to shower and iron your suit!"

The ballroom was decked out in pink and white and red streamers, paper plates with conversation hearts pasted on in the shape of bigger hearts, and because they were a snooty institution of higher learning, the words for "love" in over twenty languages tacked on the walls. Derek's heart was sailing as he and Carol stepped hand-in-hand into the dance, which was just getting into full swing.

He couldn't resist a glance around the room for Kent, and Carol saw him looking. "Yeah, I don't see him either," she said.

"Don't see who?"

"Kent."

"How'd you know --"

"The same way Professor LeClair knew this afternoon when she was helping me with the dress," Carol said. "She asked how I found out about the Jimmy Soul party in the first place, and I said a friend of yours let it slip, and then I said, wait a minute, knowing who it was, it probably wasn't a slip. And she knew the way I said that, it must have been Kent!" She pulled him out onto the dance floor. "But don't worry, he'll see us soon enough. And he'll know we won."

"I'm so glad to know 'Fran' knows how slimy he can be," Derek said.

"She knows all about it. Trust me, as a woman in the sciences, you know a guy like that a mile away. You know, she doesn't really let him call her Fran," she said. "I asked."

"That figures. Any chance he'll know this dress is hers?" Derek asked.

"I can't remember ever seeing her wear it, so I'm betting he won't either," Carol said. "But I can certainly tell him."

That had to wait, for a guy Derek didn't know asked Carol for the next dance. Derek gave them both an agreeable smile and set off for the sidelines, only to feel someone take a hold of his arm. "Okay, you're taken for the next song!" declared Nancy.

"Well hello there," Derek said. He didn't pull away, but he also didn't smile or agree to dance with her. Nevertheless, as the band kicked up, he found himself in her arms and he reluctantly returned the gesture. "How's Nate?"

"I don't know, and I hope he's getting his drinking under control," Nancy said. "I'm doing the same, from this weekend on. And I'm sorry I ditched you."

"Are you really? Don't you know the truth about the party?"

"I told you in that email, I didn't learn until later. And I swear, I had nothing to do with Carol finding out about us. That was Kent!"

"I know it was Kent," Derek said. "And I know why he did it."

"Why did he do it?"

"He wants to win the Bio Student of the Year award again, and Carol's his only real competition for it. He didn't want her getting too close to anyone who knows how dirty he's willing to play, and I know more about that than anyone on campus. So he wanted to keep us apart."

"God, how manipulative!"

"Takes one to know one, huh?"

"Derek!" But she didn't let him go, and after a moment her face softened. "Yeah, okay. Look, I did really enjoy our friendship, whether I remember all the things you do or not, okay?"

"If you say so."

"Can this be us parting as friends?" she asked. "One last nice memory?"

"I'd like that."

As the song drew to a close, Nancy hugged him goodbye. "Hope you have a great semester, and good luck with Carol."

"Thank you." He hoped she didn't take offense that he didn't hug her back.

Only as she was vanishing into the crowd did he remember what he'd wanted to ask her. There was one last thing he and Carol hadn't been able to piece together: just who had told Mr. LeClair about the Jimmy Soul party? Hadn't Nancy said she was taking his class this semester?

"Hey, Nancy?"

She didn't hear him.

Derek opted to let the mystery be.

He and Carol found their way back into each other's arms two songs later, and they waltzed past Neil and Rebecca. "Hey, guys!" Neil said. "Derek, you made it!"

"Hi, Neil," Carol said with a grin. She'd heard about what had happened to Neil's sweater and it had her in a forgiving mood -- after all, he was Derek's best friend and her neighbor.

"I hope that means you two will get along from now on," Derek said as they retreated into the bubble that was their own dance.

"I think so," Carol said. "I'd draw the line at actually dancing with him, but it didn't look like that girl wanted to let him go."

"She's been waiting for this moment for two years," Derek agreed. "I wonder if Neil even knows that."

"Probably not!" And they laughed.

They did finally run into Kent towards the end of the evening. He and his date, Hannah, were standing by the punch bowl when Derek and Carol sauntered up for a drink. "Well, hello!" he said to them both, hiding his bewilderment as well as ever; it was only a setback after all. "Derek, I figured you'd come after all."

"Hi, Hannah," Carol said.

"I love your dress, Carol!" Hannah explained. "Where'd you find that?"

"It's Professor LeClair's," Carol proclaimed, wishing she could hug Hannah for asking. "When she heard I didn't have anything to wear, she and her husband had me over for the afternoon. They saved my life!"

"Hannah, would you like to dance?" Derek asked.

"Sure!"

Derek gave Carol a contrite look as he led Hannah off to the floor, and she smiled and nodded at him -- it was perfectly all right.

"Well, Carol," Kent said, "Shall we follow their lead?"

Carol grinned and shook her head. "Forget it."

"Oh, man, I wish I could've seen the look on his face when you said that!" Derek said as they walked home just past midnight.

"I've got to give him credit for keeping a stiff upper lip," Carol said. "He brushed it off like it was nothing. But did you see his look when he first noticed us? He let it slip for just a moment -- 'crap, I lost!' I know I saw it!"

"I missed that," Derek said. "But I know that look. Every time he pushed me too hard and I wouldn't do his bidding...yeah, I've seen that." He squeezed her hand. "You know, he doesn't give up," he said. "Now that he knows we're back together..."

"We'll be ready for him this time," Carol said. "Besides, now we both know not to listen to a word he says."

"I already did know that," Derek said. "I wish I'd just told you about that stupid party..."

Carol pulled him to a stop on the path just outside their dorm. "Derek, it's over! We won! Look around you!" They both did; the beautiful campus was awash in snow and icicles in the trees, and a warm bed beckoned just inside. "Enough about Kent! Let's celebrate our victory!" She threw her arms around him, and the midnight chill only made their kiss all the sweeter.

"Isn't it amazing," Derek said after the kiss, while he was still holding Carol tightly, "how a winter scene like this can be gray and depressing, or it can look like a fairy tale, depending entirely on how you're feeling?"

"It wouldn't feel like a fairy tale if you were in a dress out in this cold!" Carol said with a laugh. "Let's get inside!"

"'Night, Kent," said Hannah as they reached her dorm, which was on the way back to his. She gently but firmly disentangled her hand from his clutch and gave him a cordial smile.

"Don't you want to go chat somewhere?" Kent didn't want to face the night alone after what he'd seen at the dance. "I think maybe my floor has some wine left, if you'd like."

"No, thank you," Hannah said. "I have church in the morning."

"Oh. Well, good night." Kent turned and stepped on, trying and failing to remember any time Hannah had ever said anything about going to church before.

There wasn't any wine left upon his return, as it turned out. Fortunately, there was also no sign of Nancy, and so he shut himself in his room before she could turn up and pump him for information about Derek or Neil or anyone else.

Thinking there might be time to tie up a few loose ends somewhere before he went to bed, Kent turned his computer on. Once he had his tux off and was settled before the computer in his bathrobe, he checked his email.

Only one potentially-important one jumped out at him, from Fran. Kent, I'll need a word with you on Monday after class. Before you ask, no, we cannot reschedule for some other time, because the dean of students will also be in attendance. So I'm afraid I'll have to insist you fit it into your schedule this time.

Kent smiled and more than willingly penciled in the meeting. Probably something about the student of the year award. It was awfully early to be awarding it just yet, but maybe they just wanted to make sure he could keep his schedule clear for the ceremony in May. He would be willing to bend his schedule on Monday to fit Fran in for that, of course.

Neil got back to his dorm, with Rebecca still on his arm, just after Derek and Carol had gone inside. "Well," he said, turning to face Rebecca, who lived two dorms down. "It's been a lovely evening. Thanks!"

"I'm so glad we finally got to go out, Neil," she said. "Are you up for a movie next week or something?" She looked more than willing to go inside with Neil if he invited her.

Neil had his doubts, but he thought about the past few weeks and said, "Sure." He hugged her good night. "See you Monday and we can make plans?"

"Sure!" Rebecca chanced a kiss on his cheek, and Neil smiled but didn't return the favor. "See you then!"

He thought she looked just as giddy as a little girl on Christmas morning as she made her way down the path to her dorm. That made him smile, but it also reminded him of Karen. He hadn't seen her at the dance. He had an apology email to write, he resolved, and as he turned to go inside, he decided he ought to write it tonight.

Karen had in fact been asked to the dance by a couple of guys, but the track party had turned her off dating for the time being, thank you. She was curled up in her bed with a textbook, doing her best to forget the occasion and ignore the joyous sounds of friends returning from the dance, when her phone buzzed with a new email.

It was a good time for a studybreak anyway. Karen got up and stretched, and went to pick up her phone from her desk. Who, she wondered, would be sending an email at this hour?

The answer gave her a stab of fury and humiliation as she saw Neil's name on the feed. The next thing she saw was the subject line: "Sorry!" That made her feel a tiny bit better, and, though she wasn't at all sure she wanted to hear his explanation, she opened the message.

Derek turned on his desk lamp just long enough to see what he was doing as he lit a scented candle on the desk. Then he turned the lamp off and watched as Carol shut the door and was bathed in the candlelight. "Welcome back," he said.

"I love you, Derek," she said, holding out her arms.

"I love you too." The dim lights of his stereo joined the candle as the only light in the room, and he took both her waiting hands and swept her into his arms. "Last dance of the evening?" he asked.

"First of many more evenings like it, I hope!"

"Me too."

Derek was already hard with anticipation, and he had little doubt Carol was aware of it. He didn't plan to act on it right away, but they hadn't even made a full turn around the room before it became clear that Carol had plans of her own.

She loosened his tie first, with a smile but no words. He wasn't surprised when she also unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. He was surprised when she kept going with the other buttons, but he played along and drew his arms back just long enough to shrug his coat off.

"Nothing like unbuttoning a shirt like this," Carol whispered, remembering all the times she'd fantasized about having it done to her. "It's like unwrapping a present."

"I like that!" He kissed her again, a long and deep one while they continued gliding ever-so-slowly around the narrow floor, and Carol kept it up with his shirt buttons. When she'd unbuttoned the last one, she helped herself to his belt buckle and his pants, which soon slid down with a wonderful swoosh.