I catch the pillow and let out a squeal. “I knew it would! Tell memore.” I sit on the edge of my bed, leaning toward him.
“After I got to the farm, she started showing me the process of extracting honey. I listened while she explained it, showing me the step-by-step. First she removed the honeycomb frames from the hive. After she scraped off the wax caps, she spun the honeycomb in a centrifuge to separate the honey. At the end I got to help her strain the wax bits out of the honey to get the final product. We had to squeeze it manually through a cheesecloth together. It was so cool.”
“I bet it was,” I say suggestively. “I’m envisioning the pottery scene inGhostwhen Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze’s hands lock while shaping clay on the potter’s wheel together.”
His brow quirks. “Never saw it.”
“You don’t have to watch the movie to know the iconic scene. It did the impossible by making pottery sexy.”
“I think I get where you’re going with this.” He smiles bashfully. “There was a moment when we were straining the honey. My hands weren’t securely fastened around the cheesecloth, so when I squeezed it, honey oozed out of the top. Callie had to help me by clamping her hands on mine. Then some of it accidentally got on my lip, and she tried to wipe it off, but by then our hands were too sticky, so she suggested another way to get the honey off my lips. By using her—”
“Ew, ew, ew.” I plug my ears. “I get it; you don’t have to tell meeverything.”
He laughs, rolling his eyes. “Anyway, we had a great time. I even got to show her how to make whipped honey to add to coffee, teas, and desserts. Having an extensive repertoire of recipes involving honey, she was surprised to learn a new one.”
“Sounds like you had an amazing time.”
“Yeah.” He smiles drunkenly, thinking back on it. “I didn’t haveto remind myself to think of follow-up questions. Everything Callie says is so interesting. The questions came naturally. Did you know she lives in the house she was born in?”
“She’s lived here her whole life?”
“I know. She told me about what it was like to grow up without Wi-Fi. Since it wasn’t something she grew up with, she doesn’t miss it. Which is interesting when you think about it. She’s got such a different perspective on life than anyone I’ve ever met.” The way his face lights up tells me this could develop into something more thanlike. He’s never talked about any girl like this.
Suddenly I’m thinking of Sonya. “Did you tell her about your past?” I ask.
His expression changes. “Not entirely. I mean, I didn’t lie about how I felt trapped going down the path Mom and Dad expected me to, and I told her I wanted to go to culinary school….”
“I think you should tell her the truth,” I say, startling Gavin. I can understand why he didn’t tell Callie all the details. But in order for this relationship to make it—and I hope it does—I feel like it can’t start with lies. “You didn’t do anything you should be ashamed of. The company filing for bankruptcy is out of your hands, and getting expelled from USC speaks more to your abundance of ambition rather than a lack of it. If she’s as cool as you say she is and as accepting as I know she is, I’m sure she won’t think badly of you because of it,” I say.
“I guess,” he says with less certainty. “Didn’t think you’d want anyone here to know the truth about our past.” He glances at me sideways.
“I know. But it sounds like you like her, Gavin. Like, really,reallylike her. And I’m happy for you, which is why you can’t mess this up.” I see now that this is what Gavin needs. In order to change, hehas to break the patterns of his past. “You said so yourself, your time in Blaire is your chance to be the person you’ve always wanted to be. But that can’t happen if you’re not honest with her. Because in the end you’re still pretending to be someone you’re not for the sake of their opinion.”
What I say must resonate with him, because he nods, agreeing with me. “I hear you. And you’re right,” he says. “I’ll tell her. When the time is right.”
I suppress the urge to make him tell her now before it gets more serious. The more time that passes, the more personal it’ll feel to Callie when she learns the details of Gavin’s past.
“What about you?” he asks, startling me.
“What about me?”
“Would you be okay with Callie knowing who you are?”
It seems belated, but it didn’t occur to me until now that Callie isourfriend. And the advice I gave him is the advice I should have given myself.
“I wouldn’t want her to know who I am,” I say, surprising myself. Not because I’m ashamed about our family’s scandal or because I don’t trust Callie not to leak our whereabouts to the media. But the version of Elena that Callie knows is the best version of myself I’ve ever been. And part of me wants to hold on to that for a little while longer.
“So you get it, right?” Gavin asks. “How we reveal the truth about ourselves to Callie—and anyone here, for that matter—has to be delivered delicately.”
“You’re right,” I admit.
“We’ll tell her when the time is right. Together,” Gavin says, and I nod, agreeing with him.
Chapter 23
Even though the crops are still TBD, that doesn’t stop Dad from prepping the field for harvest with Gavin the next day. Which leaves me home alone with Mom. As soon as I get out of bed, Mom is chiding me for the state of the room and the laundry and everything else. When I finish cleaning my side of the room and start a load of laundry, I reward myself by flopping onto my bed and staring up at the ceiling. Still, Mom is unrelenting. Despite my success in making progress with Dad, I’m not making much progress with Mom.
“Come, learn how to make kimchi.” Mom motions for me to join her with abutcher knifein her hand.
