“Yeah, rough, but enlightening.” Of course he was able to put a positive spin on things. “I’ve always known that D.C. is like a pressure cooker, but I guess I’ve mostly just experienced the highs. It’s kind of surreal being on the other side of things. My dad’s been trying to hide it, but he’s so stressed about everything going on with Marilyn. He can’t exactly help her spin the P.R. on this one,” Hunter said, the stress of the situation reading on his face the same way Evan imagined it did on his dad’s. His father, the Attorney General, was a close friend of Marilyn’s, but even more than that, they were political allies who always had each other’s backs within the party.
“I’m sorry. That must be…really awkward,” Evan said faintly.
Hunter finally managed a small smile, pulling himself out of his own funk. Evan couldn’t imagine he ever let himself wallow in anything for too long. “Yeah, but don’t get me wrong, I still love politics. It just might be nice to take a step back for a few years.” He paused, then said with a grin, “You know, shake things up.” It was what Evan had said to him last week when he asked her why she decided to go to the rookie party. He remembered. Evan inwardly beamed.
They spent the next three hours talking about pretty much everything except Upton Sinclair.
“You really didn’t have to walk me home,” she said to Hunter as they approached the door of her townhouse. It was probably a quarter of the size of Hunter’s house, but he didn’t seem to notice. She was feeling a little light-headed even though it had only been a ten-minute walk. They had stayed at the library so long that the street lamps were their only light and there was now a chill in the air that made them stand even closer together.
“No problem.”
“So I guess I’ll see you Monday?” Evan asked.
Hunter didn’t answer her. Instead, he kissed her. Evan’s mind went blank.
The kiss started out slow, then just kept getting more and more intense until Evan unconsciously threw her arms around his neck and he locked his arms around her waist. It continued this way for almost another entire amazingly perfect minute.
And then Hunter abruptly pulled away.
“We can’t do this,” he said, out of breath. “Luke and I are friends.” It was like a professional boxer punched her in the gut. He was a much better friend than she was. She had been so caught up in the moment that she had betrayed Ellie without even realizing it.
“Right, yeah,” she mumbled.
Hunter stepped back a few inches, the brushstrokes of regret painting his face like a canvas. “I broke up with Ellie for doing this exact thing and now I’m doing it to some other guy.”
“Well, um, you know, these things just happen sometimes. Everybody makes mistakes,” Evan stammered. The last thing she wanted was for Hunter to feel bad about kissing her.
“Yeah. You’re right.”
They looked at each other for a long beat and Evan strained to see his eyes in the murky street light.
“We should just…” Hunter started. Evan knew he didn’t want to say what he was about to say, but he did it anyway. “…pretend this never happened. I really am glad you and Luke worked things out. Maybe I should take your advice about Ellie.”
Evan nodded, fighting the tears. She watched him walk away from her front stoop thinking that this was somehow the best and worst moment of her life.
CHAPTER TEN
Friday, 7:35am.
Taryn’s cell phone rang as she exited her car in the student parking lot. A nervous feeling filled her stomach as she dug through her book bag to retrieve it. In fact, every time her phone had rung in the past two days, she had immediately broken out in a cold sweat thinking it could be Emily Dorsett, the reporter she had left a message for at The Washington Post. On the one hand, some of Taryn’s initial resolve had waned as the days had passed. The more time she had to think about it, the idea of outing Brinley made her increasingly uncomfortable. But on the other hand, Taryn was still floating on a cloud of anonymity at G.A., the after-effects of the Percocet rumor never really clearing, and it wasn’t right that Brinley had gotten away with it. Maybe it was because Taryn was a Libra, which made her particularly sensitive to inequitable situations, but she couldn’t stop mulling over the unfairness of it all, even days later.
When Taryn finally scraped her phone out, she saw it was merely the dry cleaners, most likely calling to inform her that her clothing was ready for pick-up. She pressed “ignore,” the adrenaline that had been coursing through her veins now stopped in its tracks.
She wondered, not for the first time, why it was taking Emily so long to get back to her. She had promised a juicy, scandalous story. Wasn’t that enough to get a reporter salivating? Taryn resolved to call her again after school if she still hadn’t heard anything by then.
Taryn reached the front doors of McKinley Hall where dozens of students were milling around, all engrossed in their own copies of that day’s Washington Post. What was that all about? Taryn suddenly noticed a tall stack of them just inside the doors and grabbed one. She spotted the headline first: Republican Strategist’s Daughter Bravely Reveals her Struggles with ADD. She flipped inside and found Brinley’s photo taking up a sizable portion of page eight. What the…
Taryn plopped herself down on the floor then and there to read the article, a cushiony soft powder-piece about how Brinley Madison was going public with her personal struggle after years of quietly suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder. And as she reached the end, it completely sunk in.
She had been one-upped by the Madisons. And their strategy was, she begrudgingly had to admit, almost kind of genius. By publicly pretending that Brinley had ADD, Taryn’s big news about Brinley taking several Adderall pills a day became a non-issue. Of course, she would be expected to take medication to keep her ADD under control. If anything, after the white-glove treatment Brinley had gotten from the reporter, being made out to be some sort of martyr for the cause, Taryn would look like a bully, someone claiming that those who suffered from ADD didn’t need medication.
By the time Taryn was walking under the covered walkway toward the Assembly Hall building ten minutes later, she had already read the entire Washington Post piece two more times. She should be furious. Her big chance to get Brinley Madison back for everything she had done, and they had ruined it for her. But the funny thing was, as Taryn continued along the path, she felt about a million pounds lighter and couldn’t help but grin. Her first actual real smile in days.
“That’s not quite the reaction I was expecting from you.”
Brooks was now walking beside her, in his perfectly pressed khakis and Lacoste shirt. It was shocking he didn’t have a sweater tied around his neck.
“Unless that’s more like an evil smile as you try to contemplate your next move,” he continued. “In which case, I obviously understand considering you got remarkably outmaneuvered.”
“Actually it’s a smile of relief,” Taryn answered truthfully.
“Excuse me?” Brooks furrowed his brow in confusion, a look she was unaccustomed to seeing on him.
“From the second I told you I was going to leak that story, it was like I had a permanent nervous stomachache,” Taryn explained. “I guess there was part of me that just wasn’t sure I could live with myself after doing something like that. So, in a way, I’m relieved you and Brinley took the decision out of my hands.”
Brooks narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re serious?” he asked, searching her face for some kind of conflicting emotion or sign that would indicate this was a strategic move on Taryn’s part.
“Guess I wasn’t ready to lose myself to the dark side just yet,” she said airily, her wrist of beaded bracelets jangling beside her like little bells.
They stopped in front of the Assembly Hall and Brooks opened his mouth to say something, then abruptly shut it. Brooks Madison was momentarily speechless.
When he opened it again, he asked her, "Did you ever even call the Post?"
“Yes,�
�� Taryn responded, “but the woman never got back to me.”
“Who’d you call?”
“Emily Dorsett.”
Brooks let out a laugh. “She’s on maternity leave. No wonder you never heard from her.”
“How do you even know that?”
“I know everything, Taryn.” She kind of believed it, too.
“I better go inside. I want to get a good seat,” Taryn told him. The Speaker Series assemblies held every Friday morning at G.A. usually filled up quickly.
“Why?” Brooks asked. “The speaker today is the head of the EPA. She’s just going to promote her oppressive agenda that’s strangling the economy and then probably throw in a few choice words about global warming and drowning polar bears.”
“Well, I think it’s cool. At my old school, the only speaker we ever had come and talk about the environment was Leo DiCaprio.”
And with that, Taryn swiveled around and headed into the Assembly Hall, feeling more and more herself with every step she took.
When she walked out of the Assembly Hall an hour later, she ran smack dab into Gabe at the double doors to exit the building. He pushed one of them open for her.
“Thanks,” she said. The sense of goodwill and airiness she was feeling as a result of the Brinley situation had permeated her entire being. She hadn’t spoken to Gabe in almost an entire school week, ever since their confrontation in the parking lot on Monday. But she wasn’t going to give him the silent treatment anymore. It didn’t make her feel any better about what happened. She exited through the doors, still thinking about the points the speaker had made and whether or not her parents would go for putting a composting bin in the kitchen, when Gabe quickly caught up to her, walking alongside her.
“Listen, Taryn, now that you seem to be talking to me…” he began, “I owe you an apology. I get that what I did must have made you feel really bad.”
She hadn’t prepared for this scenario. She wasn’t used to guys apologizing so earnestly. Gabe was always full of surprises.
“Yeah, it sucked,” she answered. “But I could have given you a chance to explain. You and Ellie clearly have some kind of history I don’t know about.”
“I think history is a pretty accurate word for it,” he said evenly. Taryn wasn’t sure how she was supposed to take that.
“I don’t want you to think you were some kind of pawn, though. All that stuff with Ellie was totally separate,” he finished.
“It’s fine. My plan is to erase the last two weeks from my memory, anyway,” she replied.
“I hope that doesn’t mean you’re going to re-up your Percocet order.”
Taryn laughed. God, there was just something about him. She didn’t think she would ever laugh about that rumor, yet here she was.
“So you going to Follow the Stars tonight?” he asked as they reached McKinley Hall and ambled toward the locker area.
Taryn nodded. A few days ago she would have never imagined herself going, but now that she was feeling more like herself, she was kind of excited about it. “How about you?”
“I’ll be there. Maybe I’ll see you on the dance floor,” he said, his lips curling into a smile.
“Just tell me it’s regular dancing. I have these visions of everyone waltzing to Gershwin.”
Gabe laughed. “You really were scarred by your first two weeks here. D.C. isn’t that stuffy and tame.” He stopped at her locker with her. “I may just have to prove it to you.”
“One step at a time,” she said, smiling, as she opened her locker.
“Sounds like a plan,” he said. “See you tonight.”
She put her books in her locker, not entirely giving in to the little flutter in her stomach. She didn’t want to set herself up to get hurt again, but hey, like Chandini said, everyone deserves a second chance.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Friday, 4:02 pm.
Ellie stood at the kitchen counter, spreading peanut butter over graham crackers, her favorite after-school snack ever since she was little, while balancing her phone against her ear as she talked to Brinley.
“So you don’t really have ADD?” Ellie asked her. Brinley had not wanted to discuss it at school earlier.
“No. My dad is just doing a huge favor for the Secretary of Education.”
“That’s a pretty big favor.”
“They need all the help they can get over there. Anyway, Sarah sent me over the list of Mills’s interns. I cross-referenced them to people at the rookie party and so far no dice. But she said there a couple other avenues she’s pursuing.”
The importance of who the photographer was had slightly lessened for Ellie, but she was still curious to see how it linked up to Gabe’s dad. “Thanks, Brin.”
“Did Evan talk to Hunter last night?”
“Yeah, she said it went really well, but she had to run before she could give me any of the details.” Ellie found herself smiling. Things were definitely looking up. There was progress on the Hunter front and she had her two best friends by her side. Gabe had even left her alone yesterday and today. She pushed away the quick thought that this somehow didn’t make her feel nearly as happy as she thought it would.
“I knew that would work,” Brinley said proudly, honking her horn loudly as she always did when she was in the car. “Listen, I’ve got to go prepare for a phone interview about my new condition, but I’ll see you at Follow the Stars tonight.”
Ellie had not initially planned on going, but since she was feeling a little better, she had agreed that morning to go stag with Brinley. “Good luck,” Ellie said, teasingly. She hung up the phone just as her mother entered the kitchen.
“Hey, Elle,” Marilyn said, wearily.
Ellie was shocked not only that her mother was home so early, but that she had actually acknowledged her presence for the first time since Monday.
“How was your day?” Ellie asked, carefully.
“Exhausting.” Marilyn had the same languishing tone Ellie recognized from when her parents were going through their divorce. She wasn’t sure what was worse—seeing her mother angry or seeing her mother sad.
“Mike Lim still wreaking havoc?” Ellie already knew the answer to this question. You couldn’t turn on the news without seeing his face.
“He got the chairman position.”
Ellie’s face went slack, the graham cracker in her hands crumbling to the floor.
“Mom…” She couldn’t even bring herself to finish the sentence because an apology would never make up for what her mom had just lost. Ellie’s good mood was instantly shattered and replaced by more guilt than she had felt all week.
“At least Richard can’t gloat about it,” Marilyn continued, her voice raspy from the tears she must have shed on the way home. “He’s getting screwed over, too. The Committee on Finance won’t even consider his tax bill after Mike Lim’s character assassination speech.”
Ellie bit her lip, wondering what was going on in the Mills’ household right now.
Marilyn sighed, staring out the window like she just wanted to escape. “You know, I would have been the first woman to ever chair that committee.”
Ellie’s heart plunged into her stomach with such a low feeling she didn’t even know she was capable of experiencing. She couldn’t formulate any words as her mother walked toward her office, her posture slumped and defeated, an entire career’s worth of work down the drain.
Ellie looked down at her shaking hands like they were two foreign objects. She was completely out of control and there was only one person in the world who would understand exactly what she was going through.
Twenty minutes later, the sky had erupted into the cloudy, rainy weather typical of D.C. in the winter. But Ellie didn’t care, as she strode down the sidewalks of Lafayette Square, her Hunter Wellington boots splashing through puddles and soaking the bottoms of her jeans. She was jittery and charged, her mind empty of everything except an urgent desire to see Gabe. It was wrong. It was worse than wrong, but once she
had decided to see him, it was all she could think about. She was powerless, immune to any sort of rational thought.
The rain fell through her hair as she approached the impressive Italian Renaissance architecture of the historic Hay-Adams hotel at the end of the block, directly across the street from the White House. Gabe’s family was staying there until his mother found a suitable house for them.
She was about to approach the doorman when she saw Gabe rounding Sixteenth Street, earbuds sneaking out through the army green jacket Ellie recognized from the rookie party. As he got closer, he looked up in complete surprise when he saw her.
“Ellie, are you okay?” he asked. For the first time, Ellie realized what she must look like, clothes drenched, hair soaking wet. She had run out of the house so quickly she hadn’t even grabbed her jacket.
“I just needed to get out of there. I can’t think about all this stuff anymore. I needed to see you,” she said hurriedly like it was one long sentence. She hadn’t been this close to him in two days and standing in front of him now, she felt a dangerous rush.
Something flashed across his face, but it was gone so fast that she couldn’t identify what it was. “It’s freezing out here. Come inside to the lobby.”
“No. I don’t want to be around anyone else. Just you.”
She moved closer to him, the raindrops trickling through her hair, waiting for him to pull her into him and evaporate her horrible week in his kiss. Kissing him would erase all the stress, all the pain, all the reality that was her life right now. She needed this. Needed to forget, even if it was just for a little while.
She reached up to pull him closer, to finally feel his lips on hers, but instead he backed away. A myriad of emotions danced across his face for a split second before his usual inscrutable expression took residence.
“I can’t do this, Ellie,” he said in a detached voice. His words catapulted through her like a direct blow.
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