So Into You [The Jane Austen Academy Series #2] (6 page)

"You realize this means you’ll miss the opportunity to christen our new home."

"I know you guys will get a beautiful place and I’ll love it." And she wasn’t used to living with her parents during the year anymore—although she didn’t want to say that to her mother.

"You’ll miss the opportunity to make new friends and acclimate to your surroundings in your new school."

"The universe came together with this job and this achievement award. I should go with the flow."

She could feel her mother’s smile through the phone. "Very well done, Ellie."

"So does that mean..." Ellie bit back a squeal.

"I suppose Thanksgiving is just as well. It will take us time to set up a home and the studio."

"Thank you!" Ellie practically screamed. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

"Let me confirm with your father first."

Ellie knew her father wouldn’t rock the boat. It wasn’t like him to do so. Everything rolled off him with a smile.

"Don’t tire yourself out. Remember—you don’t learn by studying, you learn by living."

* * *

Josh smiled wickedly as he ushered Ellie, Lizzie, and Emma inside.

Ellie resisted the urge to chew her cheek while Emma and Lizzie charged into the room. Emma flopped on the edge of Josh’s bed while Lizzie made a beeline for Dante’s lap as he spun in Edward’s swivel chair.

Ellie stood awkwardly by the door, her gaze flitting to Edward behind a makeshift bar of red cups and plastic two-liter bottles.

"Ladies!" He caught her eye and draped a hand towel over his arm. "May I offer you a beverage—some of the Ferris family’s finest creations?"

Ellie smiled—how was he always making her smile?—as she approached the bar and nodded.

"Only the best for our favorite customer." He grabbed a bottle of Red Bull and another of Sprite and made exaggerated long pours into one cup, then tipped another cup over it and shook them up like a cocktail. "Wait, finishing touch." He grabbed a handful of cherries and dropped them inside with a fizz.

She took the cup, the tips of their fingers sliding together so she felt that sizzle, that zip, down her arm.

What had he said back in her room? That she owed him a favor and he’d collect.

She shivered and took a sip, coughing.

He raised a brow. "Does the drink not please the lady?"

"Um, no," she said, coughing again and laughing. "It’s . . . different." It was awful and sugary and wonderful and the most delicious thing she’d ever tasted.

"I’ve been working on it all day," he said. "Ever since I heard you were staying."

"Just until Thanksgiving for now."

He looked down at his own cup and took a quick swallow. "I’ll take what I can get. Another day. Another minute." He looked at her, his eyes dark and serious. "Every second."

Ellie’s heart seized beneath her ribs—was he saying he liked her? Did that mean he wanted to be with her? "We have over four million seconds, then."

Edward gave her a quizzical look, pulled out his phone, and typed into its calculator function. "Did you figure that in your head?"

"I can’t help it." She took another quick sip to cover her discomfort. "My brain just does math, whether I want it to or not."

"That is so cool," Edward said. He took a slow sip of his own drink. "You didn’t tell me you were leaving—before, in your room."

"I didn’t want to say good-bye."

A slow smile slid across his cheeks. "I don’t, either. Especially not now that I know you’re some math savant. We have got to take you to Vegas and start counting cards," he teased. "Refill?"

Josh leaned in and shook a silver flask. "A little something extra?"

"No, thanks," Ellie handed her cup to Edward, not missing how his warm fingers teased hers as he took it back.

"So that must be how you got the achievement award," Edward noted as he mixed another drink, this time flipping the red cup behind his back and catching it one-handed. "You’re a genius."

"I am not." Ellie blushed.

"She’s totally a genius!" Lizzie called from Dante’s lap.

"I feel kinda bad about Fanny, though," Ellie said. "She’s won the award every season."

"I told you already—she doesn’t need it," Lizzie said.

"Yeah, isn’t she that hot track star?" Josh asked.

Emma punched him lightly in the thigh.

"What? She’s hot. It’s just an observation," Josh said.

"She’s on full scholarship," Lizzie said. "I interviewed her about it when I was on the
Gazette
."

"Would you guys stop talking about boring things?" Emma groaned.

"Let’s talk about why Fanny’s not here," Josh said.

"She’s not really one of us," Emma said.

"And what about Anne?" Josh asked. "Where’s she?"

The girls went quiet. Dante and Edward did, too.

Anne had declined to come. She’d begged off, full of apologies, talking about her workload and responsibilities. But really she’d been worried Rick would be here. The fact that he wasn’t made Ellie think Rick had the same concerns about Anne.

"Boring again," Emma said, clearing her throat. "Let’s play a game."

* * *

"The game is easy." Emma leaned in to cast a cheeky smile at the circle sitting on the carpet between the two beds. "You tell two truths and you tell one lie. If we guess the lie, you do a dare."

Ellie sat between Emma and Lizzie as one half of the circle, and Edward sat directly across from her flanked by Dante and Josh. Watching Lizzie cozy up next to Dante and Emma brushing shoulders with Josh made her wonder how it was so easy for everyone else and not for her.

"Isn’t that two games?" Dante asked.

"Combined into one," Emma said, "which makes it better."

"No fair." Edward jerked his head toward Josh. "This one lies for a living."

"Acting isn’t lying," Josh said. "Acting is actually the craft of telling the truth."

They groaned collectively and Edward grabbed a random sock lying under his bed, balled it up, and chucked it at Josh’s head. He deflected the sock and said, "What? It is!"

Ellie smiled as she took another swallow of Edward’s drink.

She had to find a way to stay past Thanksgiving.

She just had to. But she was scared of wanting it. Her mother always said that when you wanted something too much, when you put wanting something above yourself and your spiritual growth, the universe would take it away to teach you that you didn’t need it. She didn’t want this taken away.

"What is a truth?" Lizzie asked. "Like . . . America declared independence in 1776?"

That garnered an even bigger groan and this time Josh threw the sock at Lizzie, but Dante’s arm shot out to catch it before it hit her. He tossed it over his shoulder.

"No," Emma said. "Like an
interesting
truth that we actually care about. Like . . ." She raised an eyebrow. "Like how far you and Dante have gone."

"Hey—that is
so
none of your business!" Lizzie rose up, but Dante wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back against his chest so she was half on his lap.

"Down, Lizzie," he said soothingly. "It’s just an example."

"Any kind of truth." Emma lifted her chin in challenge. "Like why you aren’t still protesting the school name change."

Lizzie went still. Dante’s fingers curled tighter at her waist.

"Here," Dante said. "I’ll go first."

Lizzie settled back onto her patch of floor, shooting eye daggers at Emma, who shrugged.

Ellie tried to catch Lizzie’s eye—tried to see if something was wrong. It wasn’t like Lizzie to get so touchy about things, but Emma was right—Lizzie had abandoned protesting the name change of the school.

"Three things," Dante said, his voice deepening with faux-seriousness. "One. I’m seriously, seriously good-looking."

"Lie!" Edward said, making the sound of a buzzer.

"Take it seriously, guys," Emma said.

"Okay, okay," Dante laughed. "I’ll start over."

"For real," Emma said firmly.

"Relax, Emma." Dante cleared his throat. "Three things. One. I’ve never tried peanut butter."

"Shut up," Josh said. "That’s insane."

"Not if he’s allergic to peanuts," Lizzie pointed out.

"Are you?" Josh asked.

"Two," Dante said, sidestepping the question, "I have visited every continent."

"Is Antarctica a continent?" Emma asked.

"Yes," Ellie said.

"Barely," added Edward. "It’s the bastard stepchild of continents."

"The practically Pluto of continents," Ellie added.

"Nerd humor," Josh sighed.

"Three." Dante commanded everyone’s attention. His mouth fell open but he pursed his lips. His gaze shot uncertainly around the room.

"What?" Emma prodded.

Dante kissed the top of Lizzie’s head. "My parents own The Jane Austen Academy."

The room went quiet. Lizzie pulled closer to Dante.

"The first two are true," Ellie said. "Wow—you’ve never tried peanut butter? It’s my total go-to snack. Like a vegetarian lifesaver. I practically keep a jar in my pocket just in case." She trailed off as she realized she was chattering on, the room stone quiet.

"I’ve never tried peanut butter," Dante agreed. "Georgiana is allergic to peanuts. We’ve never had it in the house and after that—I guess because she couldn’t have it I never cared about having it, either."

"It’s awesome," Edward said. "Like Ellie said. All around a good food."

"And you’ve been to every continent," Ellie said. "Wow—even Antarctica."

"Dante." Lizzie rested her hand on his shoulder. "You don’t have to do this."

Ellie glanced between them, confusion furrowing her brow.

Dante dipped his head to kiss Lizzie’s hand and smiled sadly at her. "You shouldn’t have to keep lying for me."

"Oh. Em. Gee," Emma said with a shake of her head. "I knew it. I knew it! Your parents own the school.
That’s
why Lizzie hasn’t been fighting the name change."

Chaos and noise erupted all at once. Ellie hushed it out, blocked it out and turned to Lizzie. "You knew Dante’s parents owned the school?"

Lizzie nodded.

"Since when?"

"Since before I sent in the petition about the name change."

More than a week. Lizzie had kept something this big from her for more than a week.

"So did I," Edward admitted. "For even longer."

"I can’t believe this," Emma said softly. "You’ve all been lying to us."

"Not me." Josh held up his hands defensively. "This is the first I’m hearing of it."

"And this is the last people should hear about it," Dante said threateningly.

"It’s not really our business," Ellie said, but she still felt sick about it, especially as Lizzie squirmed in her seat.

"It’s Anne’s business," Emma said to Lizzie. "Anne’s parents lost this school—lost her legacy—to strangers, and you knew this whole time who bought it. I don’t know how you could live with her and stand yourself."

"I know—I’ll tell her when I get back, and I wanted to tell you," Lizzie said, "but I figured . . . it wasn’t my secret or my place."

"Wasn’t your place?" Emma said, shooting to her feet. "Ellie was nearly sent to Guatemala for failing to pay tuition and you knew the one person who could actually let her stay, the one person who could convince the owners to keep her here anyway, and you didn’t say anything."

"Oh, Emma." Ellie shook her head. "I don’t have the right to expect that."

"Maybe not," Emma said. "But that’s why I would have done it anyway. If it had been me."

Tears brimmed in Lizzie’s eyes. The fact that she wasn’t defending herself made Ellie realize that Lizzie had had the same thought—that she held the key to her staying but hadn’t said anything.

"My parents wouldn’t do that for me," Dante said firmly. "I’m just telling you guys because I care about Lizzie and you’re her friends. I know it’s been hard for her to keep this secret. But that doesn’t mean I can do anything about your tuition or the name change."

"If you’re not even going to try, then yeah, you can’t do much at all," Emma said. "I’m done with this game. Come on, Ellie."

Ellie looked helplessly between Lizzie and Emma.

She knew it wasn’t fair to be mad at Lizzie, and she wasn’t mad, but she
was
a little sad that Lizzie had chosen Dante over her. That Lizzie seemed to be choosing a lot of things over her.

"I’ll come, too," Lizzie said.

"You don’t have to," Ellie said quietly.

Emma spun around and stalked away and Ellie followed her.