Саманта Янг – The Impossible Vastness Of Us (страница 16)
She was so proper, so constrained. It occurred to me that her demeanor was a defensive strategy. It hid her emotions. It hid her vulnerabilities. It was a different kind of defense from my own, but a defense nonetheless, and I found that it was a small piece of common ground between us.
So I replied, “That works for me. Thanks.”
Eloise looked back at me, apparently surprised by my response as her face softened with questions and curiosity. But the look was fleeting and just like that the warmth was zapped from her hazel eyes, the cold distance crystallizing in them once more.
“Well—” she stood up “—I’m off to Finn’s. I’ll see you later.”
“Bye.” I watched her leave, more confused than ever. Like her father, I couldn’t figure Eloise out. As much as I’d been convinced she and Theo would be the villains in this chapter of my life, now I wasn’t one hundred percent sure that was true.
No matter my confusion, the apprehension I’d been carrying around with me for the past week was draining from me.
Tomorrow at school I was to make my first appearance with the “in” crowd. I had a lot to overcome, what with the rehab and bulimia rumors, but those would be so much easier to get past while walking at the side of the most popular juniors at Tobias Rochester High.
I smiled, my shoulders melting into the lounge chair. I was on my way to making my way back up to the top again.
WHATEVER I WAS expecting the next morning, the usual awkward, tense silence between Eloise and me wasn’t it. Yet awkward, tense silence was what I got.
I’m not going to lie—I had a moment of panic as we slid into the town car, thinking yesterday’s encounter had been a dream and I was back to being persona non grata with her.
Thankfully, as Gil pulled out of the drive, Eloise spoke.
“When we arrive at school you’ll walk in with me.”
I looked at her. She wasn’t looking at me. She was staring forlornly out the window.
Maybe if she’d been pissed off about the fact that she had to give me the time of day, I would have enjoyed the situation more. As it was, the wary look on her face not only confused me but it almost made me want to cut her some slack and tell her to forget about helping me. If it were any other rich princess I’d say Eloise was bothered by the fact that she had to associate with a lowly peasant such as myself, but somehow I knew that wasn’t what was bothering her.
It was something deeper.
Something more troubling.
And that confused the hell out of me.
It also made me a little uneasy.
“Okay,” I said softly.
My tone made her look at me and just like that the forlorn expression she’d been wearing was wiped away. The cold distance was back.
“You’ll be okay.” Her words were kind, but her tone was empty.
“Yeah.” I nodded and looked out the other window. “I always am.”
We were silent the rest of the way to school and I knew for sure then that Eloise may be welcoming me into her group for the sake of appearances, but I was still an outsider to her.
Gil gave me a bolstering smile when he saw that Eloise was waiting for me to get out of the car. I wished him a good day and followed my new “friend” through the school gates. Walking at her side, I immediately drew stares from our fellow students. Confusion seemed to be the most popular expression among them.
I knew by the unsurprised looks on Bryce’s and Charlotte’s faces that Eloise had already forewarned them about me. Bryce gave me this cool little chin nod of acknowledgment, while Charlotte full-out beamed at me.
“Hey, India.”
Her warm welcome soothed me a little. “Hey.” I smiled back, doing my best not to feel like a total fish out of water as we stood by Eloise’s locker.
“Do you need to go to your locker?” Eloise asked, but she was putting books in hers so I didn’t know who she was talking to.
“She means you.” Bryce sighed as if I was an idiot.
I ignored her. “Yeah, I do.”
Eloise slammed her locker door shut. “Well, let’s go, then.”
Wow. She really meant it when she said we would hang out in the halls. I led the way, Eloise at my side, while Bryce and Charlotte chatted behind us. They were gossiping about some girl called Katherine who had “so obviously been coming on to Finn” at Bryce’s party that Saturday night.
I glanced at Eloise for a reaction to this. I saw a flash of something that looked an awful lot like jealousy cross her eyes before she turned to stone.
“She is so delusional. As if Finn would ever go for her,” Bryce said.
“She’s a senior. And she’s very pretty,” Eloise suddenly murmured.
Was that insecurity I heard?
“Uh, not as pretty as you,” Charlotte defended her friend heatedly.
“And let’s not forget the fact that you’re a Fairweather, Elle.” Bryce rubbed Eloise’s shoulder reassuringly. “Katherine’s only a Kelter. Rochesters don’t date nobodies like that.”
I just barely contained my snort at the outrageous comment. These people were crazy choosing who was cool enough to date based on their family’s last name. Not only had I moved across the country, I’d moved into a freaking Jane Austen novel.
Eloise didn’t seem to hear her friends. “As I was saying, she’s a senior and she’s pretty, but Finn and I are solid. No one is breaking us up.” It was the first time I’d heard any kind of passion from her. And it was about Finn. Clearly he was more important to her than I’d thought.
Her tone made Charlotte quickly change the subject to the calculus homework she was struggling with. Eloise offered to tutor her as we reached my locker, and as I sorted books into it and got out my Microeconomics stuff, I realized I hadn’t once been invited into the conversation and my response wasn’t really expected.
I sighed inwardly.
I could cope with that.
For now.
The bell rang and the four of us walked to our Microeconomics class. I started toward my seat on the other side of the room when Charlotte’s voice stopped me.
“Where are you going?”
“My seat.” I gestured to it.
Bryce sighed. “I don’t think so.” She rolled her eyes and motioned me to the seat next to Charlotte’s. If I remembered correctly it also happened to be the seat in front of Finn. “Sit.”
“Isn’t that someone else’s seat?”
“It was. Now it’s yours,” Bryce insisted. “Sit.”
I looked at Eloise, who was settling in. She nodded. “Sit.”
Okay, then.
I’d just put my ass in the seat when Finn wandered in with Gabe and Joshua. My eyes clashed with Finn’s first and this time he held my stare. The fact that he did made me breathless for some weird, stupid reason. My cheeks felt hot as he approached, but he broke the moment by looking away. Without acknowledging me he passed us, squeezing his girlfriend’s shoulder. “Hey,” he said to her as he took the seat beside her.
Eloise gave him a small smile. “Hey. You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re here.” Gabe sat on my desk, taking my focus off the couple. He was grinning down at me. “I knew this day would come.”
I smirked at him. “Apparently my charm is too great to resist.”
Bryce snorted derisively as Gabe laughed.
“Yo, India,” Joshua said behind him as he took the seat next to Bryce.
I nodded a hello and looked back at Gabe. “Are you planning on staying there?”
“Well, we could remove the desk between us.” He waggled his eyebrows at me suggestively.
It was my turn to snort. “Unless you’re Channing Tatum I really don’t want a lap dance.”
Charlotte giggled.
“Pfft,” Gabe huffed. “Magic Mike ain’t got nothin’ on me.”