After the Capitol trip, itwas surprisingly easy to avoid Eva.
Their groups didn’t overlap, so Lily only saw Eva in their room, which was a rarity in itself. She still had no idea where Eva was spending her time—knew it wasn’t her business—and Eva hadn’t spent the night in the room once, always sneaking back in at around 6 a.m.
Lily had gotten used to it, she was sleeping better, and she was managing to enjoy herself, despite the trip to Georgetown fast approaching. She’d made good friends with the other teachers, and it was fun to learn more about the kids. They kept her entertained with random questions and interesting stories, and Lily was looking forward to teaching some of them in her AP class next year.
Lily had never gone on a trip when she’d been a high schooler, and it felt a bit like reliving her youth, in the best kind of way.
So she was in a good mood, the morning of the Georgetown trip. Eva seemed to be, too, smiling at something Carly was saying as they waited for the bus to arrive. Lily wondered if she was looking forward to visiting her old stomping grounds.
It wasn’t lost on Lily that this could be an opportunity to learn more about Eva. Had Eva been a different person when she’d lived here? Had moving away from her dream job made her bitter and withdrawn, or had she always been that way? Would there be anyone waiting to greet her at the department? Did she still have friends there?
All things Lily itched to know, to chip more away from the enigma that was Eva Thomas.
“Excited for today?” Paige said.
Lily nodded. “It’ll be nice to get into a proper lab.” She didn’t miss much about her old job, but getting to play around with fancy equipment was on the list. “I bet you’re not, though.” Lily knew she wouldn’t enjoy an English lecture.
“Correct. But at least I won’t have to do much. I can let my eyes glaze over while you and Eva go on about DNA, or something.”
“DNA or something?” Lily grinned. “Is that the extent of your scientific knowledge?”
“Yes. I failed science miserably in high school. I don’t know how you do it.”
“Maybe you didn’t have the right teachers.”
“Possibly. But don’t be offended if I don’t understand a word you say today.”
“Noted,” Lily said, still smiling when the bus pulled up outside the hotel.
Daphne called everyone to order. “Okay, kids. Let’s have group A on first. Look alive, people! It’s not even that early.”
No, but Lily suspected the excitement of the trip was beginning to wear off on what was to be the final full day. Plus, she knew a college visit wasn’t as fun as a museum or the various landmarks they’d seen over the last few days.
Still, Lily was going to try and make it as interesting as possible for them.
But she needed to get through Eva’s lab first.
Lily had gone to college at NYU, its buildings scattered across the city. In contrast, Georgetown sat on one campus, and Lily admired its old-school architecture as they approached.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Paige said. The building they pulled up beside looked like it should be part of a cathedral. Fitting, Lily supposed, for a Jesuit university.
“Gorgeous. A much better view than Greenfield.”
“That wouldn’t be hard. I don’t think we’ve had a remodel since it was built sixty years ago.”
Lily chuckled, because she had to agree. The science labs were painfully outdated. She was sure the labs here would make her insanely jealous.
“I’ll let you take the lead today, Dr. Thomas,” Daphne said once they’d all disembarked, and Eva stepped to the front of the group.
She looked happy, Lily realized, not listening to a word Eva said as she outlined what they’d be doing for the day. Freer than Lily had ever seen her, and Lily had to brace herself.
She had a feeling it was going to be a long day.
* * *
Eva had forgotten how good it felt to step back into a lab.
She’d been given access to her old teaching lab for the morning, and she reveled in the familiarity as she booted up the computer and slipped on a pristine white lab coat.
