Dev turns to the others. “Anyway, I’m heading inside. I’ve got to call Sahil. He’ll want to hear everything.”
He bounds off toward the manor and I watch him, guilt welling in the pit of my stomach. Not only is everything screwed up with Will, I was wallowing so much I didn’t even see Dev’s big moment. I hunch my shoulders and follow the others back to Emberton, wishing I had a redo button for today.
Chapter
20
The next week crawls by. I don’t hear from Will, otherthan a text from the airport to say he’s leaving for Belgium and that we’ll talk when he gets back. The only thing that pulls me from my funk are thoughts of London. When Saturday finally arrives, I don’t need an alarm to wake up.
“Excited?” I ask Sage.
“Absolutely.” She puts in chandelier earrings with little pewter books. The small addition accentuates her short hair and reminds me of how striking she can be. “My only worry is that we won’t get to everything on the list. It’s pretty jam-packed.”
“Either way you’ll have the whole day with Dev.” I bump my hip into hers.
“I already told you that I’m not looking for a boyfriend.”
“I know you aren’tlooking.” I come up behind her so our faces are both reflected in the small mirror. “Let’s just relax and have a fun day together. We’ll explore London and you can spend time with him. He’s a pretty fun guy if you get to know him.”
Sage shoots me a withering gaze. “You forget I’ve known him since I was in fifth grade. And like I already said, I want to tell Mom and Wren about the lifesaving research I’m helping with, not which boys I dated. Plus, Wren’s always been boy-crazy and look where that got her.” Sage nods toward the half-finished baby blanket lying across her desk chair.
“Um, you know she had to do a little more than walk around a museum with someone to get her bundle of joy.”
Sage huffs. “Oh, I’m aware. Do you know how many sex talks I got from Mom after Wren got pregnant? I couldn’t walk out to get the mail without her putting a condom in my back pocket.”
My jaw drops open. Sage and I have definitely gotten closer over the last seven weeks, but talk of condoms iswaybeyond our usual topics of conversation. Sage’s amused smile—like she loves that she’s shocked me—makes me burst out laughing.
“What did you do with all of them?” I flip through one of her genetics books. “Are you using them as bookmarks?”
“Stop!” She laughs and slams the book closed. “Actually”—her cheeks turn pink—“I sold about a dozen to the guy who had a locker next to mine last year. He was too embarrassed to go buy some and I wanted extra money.” She points to her earrings. “Guess how I was able to pay for these?”
“Ack! Those arecondomearrings?!”
I fall back onto her bed, laughing, and she follows suit. When I can get a breath, I point at her. “And you’resureyou won’t be needing any of those?”
She smirks. “I didn’t say I sold themall. They have a longexpiration date and I might have more free time after graduation.” I squeal with laughter and she throws a sweater at me.
A knock interrupts us. I throw the sweater back at her and swing the door open. Huan is there. He’s used extra gel to make his hair stand straight up and he has on a Union Jack T-shirt that says,If I Had a British Accent, I’d Never Shut Up.
“Nice.”
“Frank gave it to me after the cricket game.” He looks between us. “Sounded like you two were having a good time.”
“Just talking about shopping and extracurricular activities,” I say, and Sage snorts behind me.
Dev pops his head in the door. “Are you two coming?”
I turn to Sage. “Didn’t you say you weren’t until after graduation?”
The sweater smacks me straight in my face this time.
Thirty minutes later, I stare out the window as our train whizzes toward London, happy to eat up the view of the countryside. Beside me, Huan is texting (Frank?) and Dev and Sage sit across from us with their heads tipped toward each other, flipping through his London tour book and discussing entrance times. They’re so cute it gives me a pang in my stomach. What is Will doing right now in Belgium?
We’re about twenty minutes from London when my phone rings. My heart does a double beat when I see it’s Will calling.
“Hello?” I say quietly. Three faces automatically turn to me.
“Hello, Elle.”
