Most of the attendees were juniors, but Lily spotted a few familiar faces. Mark and Hannah from the GSA waved when they saw her, and a couple of her students had been brought along as dates.
Lily glanced at her watch and groaned when she saw barely an hour had passed. No one would miss her if she ducked out for a breather, would they? A quick round of messages with Elsa would perk her up, and then she’d be ready to take on the rest of the night.
The club was a maze, and Lily found herself on a balcony overlooking the golf course, the lights of the suburbs visible in the distance.
Somehow, she wasn’t surprised to find someone else already there, their hands splayed across the wrought-iron railing.
Eva turned at the sound of Lily’s heels hitting the concrete floor.
“Hiding from someone?” Eva leaned her back against the railing. “Or looking for me?”
This was a bad idea,Lily thought as she stepped closer, a shiver running through her as the night air hit the bare skin of her arms. “Why would I be looking for you?”
“I don’t know. You always seem to be around, don’t you?”
“What can I say? I live to annoy you.”
“So it seems. Are you not having fun?” Eva looked more relaxed than usual, her eyes dark in the moonlight.
“Watching teenagers awkwardly slow dance? Love it.”
Eva’s lips curled, and Lily pressed a hand to her chest.
“Oh my God, I didn’t know you could smile.”
“Don’t ruin the moment,” Eva said, without missing a beat. Like this, shrouded in darkness, her face open and unguarded, it was so hard for Lily to deny the attraction igniting in the pit of her stomach.
Wrong, Lily thought, as she drifted closer. Wrong to feel that way for Eva. To think of her like that. She shouldn’t want Eva.
But then, maybe that was part of the draw. Knowing it was wrong. Knowing it could end in nothing short of disaster. Lily had trust issues a mile long, and what better person to want than someone who would never want her back? Who could never hurt Lily, because she wore her intentions on her sleeve like some people wore their heart, someone who had walls even higher than Lily’s, so high they were impossible to scale?
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Eva tilted her head to one side, and Lily blinked—she was staring, lost in her own self-realization, and she hoped her cheeks didn’t burn red in the moonlight.
“Sorry. Miles away.”
“Everything okay?”
“Are you feeling okay? You sound concerned.”
Eva rolled her eyes. “I could insult you, if you like. I wouldn’t have to dig deep. That dress is…” She trailed off, her gaze taking Lily in, and Lily felt the heat of it like a physical touch. “Interesting.”
“Is that the best you can come up with? You’re losing your touch.” Lily found herself gravitating closer, until her hip was leaning against the railing beside her. “I think you like it.”
“I don’t like a thing about you.” Eva said it like a reflex, and Lily tried not to grin.
“See, I think you do,” Lily said, her voice light. “And that’s what you can’t stand.”
Eva’s expression turned thoughtful. “Are you sure you’re in the right career? You might prefer being a therapist. Or teaching psychology.”
“I don’t think I’d be good at that.” Lily rested her arms on the balcony railing and tried to ignore the heat she could feel radiating from Eva as she glanced up at the sky. It was a cloudless night, and the stars glittered above. “It’s too subjective. I like chemistry because it’s certain. You add an acid to an alkali and you know they make a salt and water. You know if you add a catalyst it speeds up the rate of reaction. But people—people are hard to understand. People don’t make sense, and they rarely do what you expect them to. They’re messy and unpredictable and that—that’s terrifying.”
Eva tilted her head, studying Lily closely. “I agree, but isn’t that what keeps things interesting? Life would be boring if we all went around behaving the exact same way.”
“Maybe you’re right. God, imagine a world full of yous.” Lily shuddered, and Eva’s eyes narrowed into slits. “You’d fight to the death until there was only one left standing.”
“Imagine a world full of yous,” Eva countered, her lip curled in distaste. “Everything all sunshine and rainbows. Talk about boring.”
“I suppose everything needs a counterbalance. Acid and alkali. Bitter and sweet.”
