“Evie!” I grab her arms and spin her to face me. “I really like you, but there’s a limit.”
She laughs. “Yes, okay. Normal pants. But the poet shirt is a must.”
“For when I emerge from a pond?”
“Are you a closet Regency romance fan, Drew?”
Hardly! “Pride and Prejudiceis Mum’s comfort watch,” I explain.
Her smile widens. And suddenly I don’t care what I wear to this formal. Or who’s there. Or what they think. I just want to make her this happy, all the time.
40
Evie
After Drew’s revelation at the suit store, it was inevitable that I would invite myself over to his house to rewatchPride and Prejudicewith his mum. So now Annie and I are binge-watching the BBC version on a Sunday under blankets on the couch and having homemade pumpkin soup and crusty sourdough. My social life has left the building, entered a time machine, and emerged somewhere in my fifties.
Every so often Drew saunters through the room on his way to the kitchen or down the hall, until eventually we tell him to either stop it or join us. He flops down between us on the couch, acting like it’s a total burden.
“Did Drew tell you this was my go-to distraction during chemo?” Annie asks. It’s the first time she’s acknowledged her specific illness in so many words.
“He did say it’s your comfort watch,” I answer. “It’s mine too.”
“She gets dressed up in period costume and goes to balls, Mum. She’s fanatical.”
“It’s not just me dressing up,” I explain to Annie. “Drew has agreed to wear period costume for the formal!”
I wish we could take a photo of her face. She is elated. Andso pretty; I can see where Drew gets his looks from. I love the idea of doing something small to brighten her life.
My phone pings on the coffee table and Drew passes it to me. It’s Oliver.Don’t forget your modern history exam tomorrow, it reads. See, this is why I like him so much. Helistens. I sigh, and Drew’s body stiffens beside me.
“Are you reading my messages?” I whisper.
“Stop waving them in my face,” he says. “Has he committed your exam schedule to memory, then?” He isn’t hiding the snark in his tone.
“He wants to support me,” I explain. “He knows how much my results mean to me. He synced our calendars so he can help me stay on track.”
“Shush,” Annie says, just as Elizabeth starts bickering with Darcy at the Netherfield ball.
Drew frowns. “Evie, you’re a straight-A student. You don’t need help. You need space. He just wants to know where you are.”
That is such an outlandish accusation. Drew is ruining what was a beautiful afternoon. I get up and collect the empty soup bowls so Annie can watch in peace.
He follows me into the kitchen, trying to take the bowls from my hands, but I won’t let him.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “Maybe you’re right and he’s just being supportive.”
The idea of Drew criticizing Oliver just makes mefurious. Olly has been nothing but amazing to me since the moment we got together. And extraordinarily patient.
“You don’t hear conversations in the common room from other girls about boys they date,” I tell him. “The only ones whoever seem happy are dating girls! Oliver could run master classes on how to be a boyfriend.”
“I’m sure he could,” Drew says, but I can tell he’s just trying to stop me from arguing.
“They complain that boys won’t listen and forget important things and are generally awful.”
He nods.
“But Oliver is constantly aware of every aspect of my life.”
