"Marvelous"

Something was wrong, dreadfully wrong; Julie could feel it in the very air. Why hadn’t Allen written? Too busy, of course, he would say. And it was true. With Allen working every spare moment at San Margo Academy, it was hard for him to keep up correspondence with parents, a brother, and a sweetheart a hundred miles away. But he had found time before. Those rumors of those other girls—were they true? And what if they were? Must that be the end of Allen and Julie’s love? Was she still in love? Why did she feel this creeping, cold complacency?

“Don’t you hope he’s there!” an excited voice intruded.

“Huh?” Julie looked around. “Oh, I guess.”

“Well, come on,” urged her best friend Sandra, “let’s get back to the building; it’s almost time for supper.”

Julie was fully aware of her surroundings now. Earlier that afternoon, the young people and the minister’s wife, Mrs. Macintosh, had arrived at Beach City for the Youth Congress of the southwestern states. Julie, Sandra, and Allen’s brother Peter had walked along the beach for a while. Now they saw the huge Sports Arena and adjacent municipal auditorium where the Youth Congress organizers held the meetings and served the meals.

Sandra scanned the crowds for a glimpse of Bob, her husband-to-be in just three summers. Sandra could not understand why Julie was not as excited to see Allen. In fact, neither could Julie.

“Julie!” called her young sister-like friend Darlene, “take your meal ticket. Meet you guys after the meeting; I’ll be with Sandy.” And, as she dashed away, Julie unconsciously watched Darlene’s ponytail bob through the crowd. At that instant, she realized a presence—very near.

“Hi, there, Julie.” It was an old, soft, familiar voice at her ear.

“Allen!” she whispered ecstatically, not being able to help being just a little delighted. But with a pre-determination to play the cool sophisticate—just until she was sure of him—she followed with a brief, “Hello, how are you?”

During supper, everything seemed to be just perfect. Bob, who had come 600 miles from Pacific Christian College that day, had found Sandra; and now they were inseparable. But deep inside Allen was tense, terribly tense. Peter hadn’t meant to tell him about Bill Johnson, the tall, dark, handsome stranger from Garden Grove; but somehow it had slipped. Would Julie tell him? If not, was he to bring it up? Just how did she feel, anyway?

Allen looked at her for a long moment. My Julie! So delicately pretty in her own little way. He knew he could never forget her—with her patience, her endurance, and her loyalty. Nothing but a diabolical instinct could have made him so thoughtless and mean. He had hurt her—dreadfully—and he knew he must never hurt her again.

“Julie. Julie?”

Julie started. “What?” How many times had Allen said her name before she responded?

“Julie,” Allen said, “you aren’t listening.”

“I’m tired.”

“Thinking of ‘marvelous’?”

Marvelous! Julie felt her mouth starting to fly open, but her pride held it shut. How had Allen found out that “marvelous” was Julie’s pet name for Bill?

“Marvelous?” she repeated.

The feigned innocence in Julie’s eyes amused Allen. “Peter told me all about it,” he said in quiet seriousness. “Haven’t you found him here yet?”

“No,” Julie said sharply. “No, I haven’t seen Bill Johnson.”

Suddenly Allen felt fear—he didn’t know why. His Julie seemed like a cold, fragile porcelain doll he could no longer reach. Once he got out of the building that night, he conveniently slipped away from her, retreating into his own little world to stall for time until he-didn’t-know-what-or-when.

But the next morning at breakfast, even though they talked, an invisible but thick cloud hung between Allen and Julie. And soon thereafter, he disappeared again with a nonchalant, “And I’ll see you subsequently!”

A strange sense of freedom came over Julie. Bill has to be here, some place. Those girls from Garden Grove had said that the Garden Grove fellows were staying at the Lafayette Hotel. Perhaps after morning devotion…

“Which discussion group are you going to?” Peter asked when they had finished praying.

“How about the one on ‘Sound and Communication’?” Julie suggested.

“Say, that sounds pretty good! Where is it?”

Julie looked at her program. “Supper Room, Lafayette Hotel.”

The discussion group was excellent, but there was no sign of Bill. “Call for him at the desk, please, Peter?” But Bill was not there. Dejectedly, Julie walked back to the Sports Arena with Peter.

“What is wrong with Allen?” Sandra asked Julie. “This isn’t right; we four should be together, like at Christmas. Doesn’t he realize what he’s doing?”

“I don’t know,” Julie said helplessly.

Bob shook his head. “That Allen! He’s been cold to us, too. I can’t figure him out.”

“Confidentially, Julie, don’t you still love him?” Sandra, who spoke so tenderly, was so much in love.

Julie stared straight ahead at nothing. “I don’t know, Sandra. I just don’t know. If he’s only discouraged because he thinks I’m stuck on Bill,” she tried to explain, “then all it’ll take is a little lovin’ to pep him up. But if he really doesn’t love me—” Her voice choked. This wasn’t right; something had to give—and soon.