We leave the market square and walk another few blocks to get to the parking lot. Around us are European cars with weird yellow license plates. They all look pretty normal except for the one Will is walking toward. I don’t know crap about cars, but even I know the car in front of us isnice.
Dev does a stutter step when he sees the Jaguar figurine on the hood.
“Ready?” Will asks me.
I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life.
The drive is incredible. Warm air whips at my face and hair through the open window. Every time another car zooms past on the wrong side I freak out and lean toward Will, then crazy-laugh once it’s passed. Spending my car fund on this trip is alreadywellworth it.
Dev leans forward between the two front seats. “Looks like you’re having a good time up there, Ellie.”
“Ellie?” Will looks over at me. “Do you go by Ellie?”
“No. It’s Elle. It’s what I prefer. He’s being dumb.” I stare at Dev, willing him not to rat me out.
Dev’s mouth quirks up in a smile. “Yep. That’s me. Always being dumb.”
“You know,” Frank says from the back, “Will doesn’t care for his given name either.”
“Oh, sod off, Frank.”
“What is it?”
“His mother insisted on naming him Willoughby.” Frank tries to muffle a chuckle.
“After the character inSense and Sensibility?” I ask.
Will glares at the car in front of us. “I hate that woman’s bloody books. My whole life people won’t stop talking to me about them.”
Good to know. I guess I won’t be convincing him to take me onany of the Jane Austen tours Mom and I researched.
Will turns onto the long dirt drive that leads back to Emberton Manor. It’s good he knows his way around since I’m completely clueless. The car bounces over the bumpy road and kicks dirt into the air. Emberton looks magnificent in the distance, but I don’t feel the same excitement I did when I arrived. How am I ever going to see Will again if I’m here every day?
Will must be thinking the same thing because he slows and leans toward me. “Today was fun,” he whispers.
“It was.” He smells divine, like lemon and thyme. A thousand times better than Andy. I want to bury my nose in his shirt.
“I’d like to see you again, Elle.”
“Me too.”
“I’m having some friends over to my house next weekend. They’ll mostly be getting pissed, but you’ll know all about that from university.”
I blink, not 100 percent sure what he’s saying. Behind me, Dev makes a choking sound.
“Um, you mean a party?” I ask. When he nods, I nod with him. “Yes. Wow, that would be... amazing.”
“So you’ll come?” His face brightens. “Can I pick you up around seven next Saturday?”
“Won’t you have schoolwork, Elle?” Dev asks pointedly.
I glare at him. “No. I should be fine. Seven sounds perfect.”
“You’re welcome to come too,” Will says to Dev. “And bring your friends.”
Frank sits up at that.
Will rockets down the circular drive quicker than he shouldand leaves a huge trail of dust in the car’s wake. There are students milling around the grounds and they stop and turn. I cringe, a knee-jerk reaction, but shake it off. Today, at least, I have nothing to be embarrassed about. In fact, I bet every girl at Emberton wishes she could switch places with me right now.
