“Isn’t your anatomy final tomorrow? I figured you’d be studying with Huan and the rest of your study group all night.”
“Oh, I—” He frowns and shakes his head. “I don’t have anything going on. That is, if you don’t mind me hanging around.”
My heart squeezes painfully. Of course I don’t mind. But howthe hell am I supposed to act normally around him now? Why does everything have to be so hard?
An hour later we’re together again in the conservatory. It’s busy here, but we manage to snag a small table in the back.
“You’re doing your project on John William Waterhouse?” Dev grabs one of the books I found in the library, props his feet up on the armrest of my chair, and starts flipping through it. “I should have known.”
My mind isn’t remotely interested in art history right now, but I force myself to be normal. Dev is my friend and I need to be able to have conversations with him without morphing into an embarrassed ball of goo.
I point at a photo ofThe Lady of Shalott, one of my favorite pieces from Waterhouse. “He’s the perfect choice. His art is gorgeous—each painting feels like I’m stepping inside a fantastical world—plus he’s British. You know I’ll get brownie points for that.”
“You do have something there. Maybe I shouldn’t have chosen Giorgione.”
“Which one was he again? That name sounds familiar.”
“Ellie!” Dev’s absolutely aghast and it makes me smile. “We talked about him in class.Andwe saw hisLa Tempestain Venice. Don’t you remember? I told you all about the academic debate that surrounds it because experts can’t agree about which biblical story it’s depicting.”
I avert my gaze. I was too distracted byotherthoughts in Venice to remember the details of that painting.
“You’re lucky I recognize his name.”
“And you’re lucky I don’t pull out the flash cards and start quizzing you right now.” He shakes his head in disgust. “She can remember every flower fairy drawn by Cicely Mary Barker, but she doesn’t remember Giorgione. Art historians are rolling over in their graves right now.”
“You’re just grumpy that our class is over.”
“I can’t believe they don’t offer a single art history class at Waterford,” he mutters.
“Onlyyouwould complain about the lack of classes. Well, you and Sage.” A thought occurs to me then. “Do you think we’ll have lunch at the same time next semester?”
“We better.” He looks up from the book. “It might not be too late for you to get into an AP class next semester. Then we’d all be together again. I’m sure they could move you around if your mom asked.”
The idea scares me a bit, but not nearly as much as it would have at the beginning of the semester. It would be so great to have a class with Sage, Huan, and Dev again. I might even enjoy AP classes a bit... assuming it isn’t more chemistry.
“I’ll look into it,” I tell him. “Mom will think I’ve lost my mind, though.”
I focus on my biography of Waterhouse and Dev gets caught up reading through my reference books. I know I need to buckle down if I expect to finish a ten-page paper in one night, but I keep sneaking glances at him while he reads. Will it be like this when we get back to Waterford? Or will our study sessions fall by the wayside once he starts dating someone new? Maybe our friendship will fade altogether. It’s hard to be best friends with one personwhile you’re dating another... as I well know.
Dev looks up and catches me staring. His lips twist in a small smile. “Having a hard time concentrating?”
I turn to the pond, flustered. “Just wondering what it’s going to be like to leave all this.”
“Hard.Particularly leaving these views.” He glances around the conservatory. “You really did an amazing job here.”
My chest puffs with pride. “Actually, that reminds me. Do you remember that afternoon I caught you playing Quidditch and it was the best day ever?”
He chuckles. “How could I forget?”
“Well, I never told you I was at the park that day for a fairy gardening class. It turned out to be for little kids, but it got me thinking about teaching my own classes when we get back home. I’ve sent out a few emails to local businesses that might want to host me.”
“That soundsperfectfor you, Ellie.”
I beam. “Yeah? I don’t know, it seemed kinda crazy at first—me basically starting my own little business—and childish too. But I don’t care about that now. Why not teach classes if that’s what I like to do?”
“Can I bring my sisters to it?”
I squeal and clap my hands together. “Yessssss! And bring Sahil too! You never know who’s going to love fairy gardens.” I dance in my seat, thinking about the different projects I could teach. Maybe I could even expand it into a monthlong class and the kids could build a whole fairy garden in time for the summer? I can’t wait to get started planning. The fact that Dev and his familymight come too makes it even better.
