Evan
my newfound understanding of Anne Elliot, or maybe it’s because of Sophie’s good luck message, but I come out of the last Lit exam feeling more confident than I’ve felt after any exam. Maybe that’s partly due to the fact that this is also the last exam of the year, it’s hard to tell. Either way, I emerge from the hall and into bright sunlight, so full of positivity that I grab Zach as soon as I see him and hug him so tight that he goes slightly purple in the face.
“Let me go, you big oaf!” he hisses.
I release him and he pushes me away, straightening his blazer with as much dignity as he can muster.
“I take it you did well?” he asks, cocking one jet-black eyebrow.
I nod and grin at him. “I mean, I definitely passed.”
“Well,” he says with a slight smirk. “Let’s hope Sophie’s good work didn’t go to waste, huh?” Zach gives a sudden smile. “Right, Sophie?”
My head turns so fast that my entire body spins with it. Sophie, slinging her backpack over her shoulder, emerges onto the lawn. Her hair is knotted at the back of her head, and she’s wearing her summer uniform impeccably. I take in the sight of her like I’m dehydrated and she’s a glass of ice-cold water: her long legs, her pretty features and dark eyes, the loose strands of dark hair framing her face. She raises her eyebrows at me as she approaches.
“Well,” she says imperiously. “How did you do?”
“I think I did pretty well.”
“He told me he thinks he definitely passed,” Zach adds.
I throw a kick his way, which he gracefully side-steps, but Sophie laughs and says, “Oh, that good, huh?”
“Couldn’t let you down, could I?”
“Can’t believe this might be my greatest professional achievement and I’ve not even started my career yet.”
Her tone is aridly dry, but there’s a smirk on her face that’s so sexy I have to clench my fists to resist the urge to grab her and kiss it off her face.
“How did you do, Sophie?” Zach asks.
“Not too bad,” she says. “And you? Full marks?”
He shrugs, hiding a smile. “Mm, we’ll see. Are you coming to the lake on Friday?”
On the last Friday of the last year at Spearcrest, it’s tradition to have a party by the lake. The lake lies at the northmost end of Spearcrest, past a forest of firs and oaks, and is normally strictly forbidden to students. But on the last day of the year, since everybody is leaving or about to leave, the Year 13s gather by the lake for one last party. I stare at Sophie, ready to get on my knees and beg her to go if I have to.
To my surprise, though, she nods. “Mm-hm. It’s tradition, after all.”
Gathering my courage and speaking before I can think better of it, I ask, “Wanna go as my date?”
She looks at me, and even though her expression gives nothing away, a faint cloud of pink blossoms at the surface of her cheeks. “I’m going as Audrey’s date but… you can get me drinks and I won’t be mean to you.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, really.”
“No matter what I do?” I ask, tilting my head.
She meets my gaze boldly and gives me a slow smile. “Mm-hm.” And then she turns away with a wave. “See you both there.”
half-hour of the party with my friends, thinking about Sophie the whole time. She’s sitting down by the jetty with her friends, and I’m too scared of bothering her and inducing her friends’ ire to go over.
As I sit amongst the other Young Kings of Spearcrest, I look at them one-by-one: Luca is sitting a little away from us, staring out absent-mindedly at the lake. We’ve not spoken much since our fight. Our friendship doesn’t feel either alive or dead. It feels like something that never really existed. Séverin and Iakov are reclining in the grass. Iakov is showing Sev something on his phone, but Sev seems distracted, as if he’s waiting for someone to turn up.
As for Zachary, he is under the trees having some sort of heated exchange with Theodora—whether they’re arguing or flirting, it’s always hard to tell with them.
How often will I see them after this week? Probably not all that often. I’ll keep in touch with Zachary regardless of where we both end up. Iakov and Sev are headed back to Russia and France respectively, and although I’m sure we’ll all text at first, they’re equally as bad as I am when it comes to keeping in touch.
As for Luca, I don’t think he’s someone I want in my life going forward. Somehow, I’m pretty confident he won’t want me in his.
Why did I ever worry so much about what these guys would think of me? Looking back, I can’t help but feel a mix of wry amusement and regret. I wasted so much time worrying about what they would think, what they would do, but that’s all it was: a waste of time. Because this whole time, I could have been making the most of my time at Spearcrest, my time with Sophie.
I spot her, sitting at the end of the jetty with her arm wrapped around a post and her toes caressing the surface of the water. She’s wearing high-waisted shorts, a strappy black top and a baggy plaid shirt with the sleeves folded back. Her hair is loose, the sun giving the glossy strands a blood-red sheen, and she’s watching with a grin as her friends, Audrey and Araminta, pass a bottle of champagne back and forth, taking deep swigs.
The sun is low in the sky and someone’s started a (definitely illegal) bonfire by the time I gather the courage to swim over to her. The water is cold, but the afternoon is warm, the setting sun’s final rays turning everything they touch red and gold. I relish the cool waves lapping at me as I wade over to the jetty, where Sophie sits back, her hands propped behind her, her head leaning on one shoulder, watching me with hooded eyes.
Grabbing the edge of the jetty on both sides of her, I pull myself closer. The wood is warm under my fingers, but not as warm as Sophie’s skin; I can feel the heat radiating from her thighs inches away from my hands.
“What happened to you getting me my drinks, Knight?” she asks lazily.
I jab my chin in the direction of the multiple empty bottles of champagne crowding at her side, the glass glittering with sunlight. “Looks like you guys had it covered.”
She sits up and suddenly leans forward, her face above mine, her hair falling like a dark curtain around me, the feathery strands tickling my shoulders.
“Well, I’m not drunk.”
I can’t help but laugh. “No?”
“No,” she says. “So don’t try anything.”
“No?” I haul myself up, closer to her so that I can lower my voice. “Not even a kiss?”
She does a hoarse little fake gasp. “What? In front of all your cool friends? What would everyone say?”
“I. Don’t give. A fuck.”
I wrap my arms around her and kiss her, hard and long and slow. I pull away and her lips look pink and wet, glimmering in the pink-gold light of the setting sun.
“See?” I say. “The sun didn’t explode. The world didn’t tilt on its axis and send us all hurtling through space.”
She raises her eyebrows. “I knew that,” she said. “I always have. Well done for catching on.”
“Well, I’ve caught on. So why don’t you give me a chance?”
She says nothing, so I take her face gently in my hands, draw her to me, whispering in her ear. “Please. Please, Sophie. I like you so fucking much it hurts.”
“We only have the summer, Evan.” Her voice is low and rough and a little sad.
I swallow hard. “Then give me the summer. Give me a chance to make up for everything.”
She hesitates. The wind brushes through her hair, sending it streaming across her cheeks and mouth.
“And then?” she asks finally.
“And then you tell me what you want. Whatever you want—you’ll have it. You want me to come with you to New York, I will. Or London, or Massachusetts in the fall. You want me to leave you alone, then that’s fine. You want me to become worthy of you, then I’ll bust my ass to become the man you deserve to have. Whatever you want, Sophie.”
She watches me in silence for a moment, then runs her fingers through my hair, pushing it back, gazing at me thoughtfully.
“Okay,” she murmurs. “Let’s do the summer.”
“Starting now?”
She laughs. “Starting now.”
I pull her into the water with me, and she doesn’t cry out or tell me off. She laughs and wraps her legs and arms around me and I kiss her, over and over again, until I’m hard and breathless and she’s arching against me and loud voices fill the shimmering dusk with jeers.
“Mary mother of god, you two, is this utterly necessary?” Zachary calls out from the shore, where he’s probably still fight-flirting with Theodora.
Sophie breaks away from me with a laugh and I throw myself up in the water, punching the air. “She fucking said yes!” I yell out loud to nobody in particular and everybody at the same time.
“For fuck’s sake,” Araminta says from the jetty, “it’s not like you guys are getting married.”
“Not yet,” I reply, catching Sophie’s eyes and holding her gaze. “One day. You’ll see. One day.”
