“I’d like to think I do, yeah. But who doyouthink you are, Lily?”
“I’m…I’m…” I fidgeted in the desk, pulling it a bit a way from him. He readjusted, moving his phone from his pocket to the desk and setting it next to Bribury key ring he carried, seemingly settling in.
I loved to look at him, but I found it easier to speak if I looked away, at the front of the out-of-use classroom. These rooms still had blackboards, not the whiteboards or electronic whiteboards that all the other rooms on campus were equipped with.
In my mind I saw snatches of words, phrases writing themselves on the blackboard. “Alexis’s younger sister. Gray’s older sister. Grayson and Susan Spaulding’s second child.” I paused.
“You mentioned your father that night we went to look at the graffiti. Who is he, anyway? I’m assuming politics or some CEO or something.”
It was a fair assumption, given the majority of the student population at Bribury came from one of those two worlds. Sometimes both.
“Politics. He’s a political consultant. He’s run a presidential campaign.”
“Did his guy win?”
I didn’t want to get too deeply into it. We were now sliding from my story into Jane’s, and it wasn’t my story to tell. “No. But he’s had other big wins.”
“So, a kingmaker?” I nodded. “And what’s that like to grow up with?”
I tipped my head back, closing my eyes. The blackboard still in my mind, adjectives still writing themselves.
“Exciting. Prestigious. Scary. Nerve-racking. Lonely.” Lucas didn’t say a word, but I could feel his presence next to me. I always seemed to sense when his body was near mine.
“There were times when I was in awe of my father’s genius, of his maneuvering, of his staying a step ahead of…everyone. Most of the time, though, I just wanted to stay out of his way.”
“Did your brother and sister do that too?”
I let out a long breath. “No, they’re both really…I don’t know, colorful, I guess. Kind of like Jane.”
I felt his big hand on my neck, could feel his breath as he whispered in my ear, “Sometimes muted colors are the prettiest ones, the most beautiful. Sometimes bright colors hurt your eyes if you look at them for too long.”
Oh God, I felt a tear slide out of my closed eye and down my cheek. Lucas caught it with his thumb, absorbing it.
“What if all I am is truly a Bribury Basic?” I whispered. Another tear slid down. God, so embarrassing. I had no idea where these tears came from. I truly liked the person I was. So what if…what?…there wasn’t much substance? I was only eighteen, for Christ’s sake. Give a girl a break.
“You are not just a Bribury Basic,” Lucas said, squeezing my neck. I heard him get up, the desk screeching across the floor, though his hand stayed on me. I could feel the heat of him as he leaned over my back and kissed the top of my head. “Iknow how much more you are. You just need to figure it out too.”
I didn’t open my eyes for a long time, and when I did I was alone.
Chapter17
Lucas
I tookmy dinner break around midnight. I was hungry from all the sanding I’d been doing to prep the steam room, but instead of digging into my packed lunch, I went back to the classroom where Lily had been on the off chance she’d still be there.
Part of me hoped not—she should be back in her room, in bed. But another part of me was hoping that—
There she sat. Well, slumped, actually. Asleep at the desk she’d been sitting in when I’d left her. Her phone was next to her, on mute, but I could see a bunch of missed texts from Jane.
Are you okay?andCheck in, asshole!I smiled, thinking of Jane’s angry fingers typing out of fear.
Lucas here. Lily fell asleep while studying in IM building. I’ll walk her home later.
A pause, but not a long one, before,Thanks.
“Lily,” I said quietly, laying a hand on her back, not wanting to startle her. “Time to go home.”
She jerked, her head coming up quickly. So quickly I had to take a step back or she would have head-butted me. “Hey, it’s me. You fell asleep.”
