Evan’s cheeks flushed with annoyance. “She’s not some strange girl. She’s friends with Hunter. And her mother is best friends with the First Lady. The president is like an uncle to her!”
She instantly regretted adding that last irrelevant tidbit especially when her mother threw up her hands in the air in exasperation. “Well then, that makes all the difference. As long as this girl knows the president, then I guess I have nothing to worry about.”
“Mom, it’s just a party.”
“Are there going to be drugs there?” her father asked quietly, like the question was too disturbing to say any louder.
“What is wrong with you guys? Since when do you not trust me?”
They were interrupted by a knock at the door.
“That’s Hunter,” Evan said, praying her parents would pull it together.
“You didn’t tell us he was picking you up,” her mother said as if this new piece of information was too overwhelming to handle and she might go into shock.
Evan opened the door to find Hunter in khaki chinos and an indigo round neck sweater, a white tee peeking out from the top of it. The sight of him made her momentarily forget her parents were losing it.
His eyes lit up when he saw her. “Wow. You look great,” he said, his perfectly straight white teeth visible behind his broad smile.
She blushed, glad she had put in a little extra effort and ditched the ponytail. She wanted to throw her arms around his neck, but instead, she opened the door wider so he could see her parents were sitting there.
“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Harnett. How are you?” he asked politely but genuinely.
“Just fine, Hunter,” her father answered formally, standing and shaking his hand with a little more force than Evan thought was necessary.
“Well, we better get going,” Evan said quickly, grabbing the black and white Anthropologie jacket Luke had bought for her from the coat closet. Normally, she wouldn’t have minded hanging out a bit with her parents so they could get to know Hunter better, but they had been acting so weird all night, she didn’t want to take any chances.
“Now where is this party?” her mother asked, a frantic concern in her voice.
“I told you, Mom. Sarah Corliss’s house,” Evan answered through clenched teeth.
“I understand that, Evan, but where is her house exactly?”
“The Palisades,” Hunter added helpfully. Evan had purposely not mentioned the name of the Corliss’s extremely affluent neighborhood, but at least her parents couldn’t complain the area was dangerous.
Her father crossed his arms over his chest. “And your car, Hunter…it’s safe?”
Oh my god. This was humiliating. Ellie’s mom never would have asked Hunter these ridiculous questions when he picked Ellie up. He was going to think her parents were crazy. And if he thought her parents were crazy, he might start to question Evan’s sanity.
Hunter gave a quick glance to Evan then looked back to her dad. “Yes, sir. It’s very safe.”
Her father nodded seriously like he needed a few moments to absorb this information, then added, “And I take it your vehicle has passenger side airbags and the seatbelts are all in working order?”
Evan’s face turned six shades of red.
Hunter shifted his feet uneasily. “Um, yes. It’s, uh, a new BMW SUV, so Evan should be perfectly safe, sir.”
In a normal Georgetown Academy household that would have been a great answer, but Evan inwardly cringed. Her mom and dad had often said how unfortunate it was that G.A. parents felt the need to flash their wealth around and bestow new luxury cars upon their sixteen-year-olds.
An incredibly awkward moment of silence followed until her father finally said in a low voice, “Alright, drive safe, then.”
“I will,” Hunter assured him.
“Bye,” Evan mumbled.
She opened the front door to freedom and had one foot out the door when her father called out, “Be home by eleven!”
Evan’s jaw dropped. It was the first time she had been given a curfew in her life. She slammed the door behind her and they walked toward Hunter’s car.
“That was kind of intense,” Hunter said with an eyebrow raise.
“Can we please never again mention that whole thing back there happened?” The extreme humiliation over that five-minute debacle was already going to give her nightmares as it was.
Luckily, Hunter laughed. “Done.” They reached his car and he opened the passenger side door for her. “Now buckle up, Harnett.”
Sarah Corliss’s white brick and stucco six-bedroom home was situated along the bluff on Potomac Avenue in The Palisades, which was just north of Georgetown. She and Hunter walked through the front door hand-in-hand and Evan tried not to let her eyes pop out of her head as she took in the house. Right past the foyer was an expansive living room with floor-to-ceiling arched windows and wraparound views of the Potomac River and the Virginia waterfront. She would never get used to the scope of these types of houses. There were a few people hanging out in the foyer, but most of the mix of forty or so G.A. and Sidwell students were sprawled on the sofas and armchairs in the living room. And judging by the amount of alcohol in plain view, Sarah’s parents were clearly not there.
“Hi, guys!” Sarah Corliss said in her deep, raspy voice as she flitted up to them. Her makeup was expertly applied, her glossy highlighted brown hair was perfectly straightened and her outfit of a black-and-white printed blouse, flared jeans and a black blazer looked like it had been ripped off the pages of a fashion magazine. But despite what seemed like an exhausting grooming effort, something stopped Sarah short of being pretty and Evan couldn’t put her finger on why. It was like each one of her facial features were part of a jigsaw puzzle that didn’t quite fit together.
“Hey, Sarah,” Evan responded.
Hunter glanced between them, surprised. “I didn’t realize you guys knew each other.”
Sarah avoided eye contact with Evan and quickly replied, “We met briefly on the ski retreat.” They had met more than briefly. Evan was the only other person besides Ellie and Brinley who knew Weston Morris had tried to drug Ellie and inadvertently drugged Sarah instead. However, Sarah was not interested in divulging that piece of information to anyone and Evan had promised to keep her secret safe.
Another group came through the door and Sarah waved at them. “Everyone is putting their coats in the downstairs office and drinks are in the kitchen,” Sarah said before dashing off to chat with the new arrivals.
“I’ll put your coat away,” Hunter said, already helping Evan out of it, which she found beyond adorable. “Meet you in the living room,” he added more into her neck than in her ear. It gave her chills and she was grateful for her long sleeves so he couldn’t see the effect he had on her.
Evan walked uneasily toward the modern-style beige and white living room, which a lot like Sarah’s wardrobe, looked like it was right out of the pages of a catalogue. Judging from the stumbling, slurring, and shouting going on around her, Evan was most likely one of the few people there who had never been drunk before. She didn’t care if other people drank, but she had no interest in partaking. She did enough embarrassing things on a daily basis that she didn’t need to add alcohol-induced incidents to the list.
She weaved through the sea of faces, searching for someone who she was actually friends with, as a few people she barely knew said hello and smiled at her as if they’d been close for years.
“Hi, Evan!” Nora and Liesel said in unison as she passed them.
“Hey,” Evan said with a quick smile. Were they only being polite or was she supposed to stop and have a conversation with them? She wished she knew proper house party etiquette.
“How are you?” Nora asked, her words a little slurred as she took an impressively large swig from what looked like a margarita.
“Good. Thanks,” Evan answered, almost gagging from the overwhelming smell of tequila. How did she down that so easily?
“You and
Hunter are seriously like an adorbs attack,” Liesel gushed.
“Totes,” Nora added in agreement, pulling on her ever-present long braid.
Evan wasn’t sure how to respond. “Thank you,” she finally said, but it came out more like she was asking them a question. She was about to fill the subsequent silence with a mundane question about their own love lives, but they were both now looking right past her at Rebecca Soldinger, the assistant secretary of state’s daughter, who had just entered the room.
“The ASS’s daughter is here. Let’s go talk to her,” Nora trilled to Liesel.
“All over it,” Liesel responded, chugging the last of her drink. “I heard she’s really into ballet, so we should make sure we tell her how many times we’ve seen Step Up. Bye, Evan!”
Evan nodded good-bye, slightly amused. That was another thing about these parties. No matter who you were, everyone was constantly scanning the room in case there was someone more exciting they should be talking to instead.
Evan sighed, feeling awkward as she stood in the middle of the room, looking around. Her Macbeth essay seemed more and more appealing by the second. But now that she was here, she needed to find someone to talk to and fast. She didn’t want Hunter to come back from the coatroom and see her standing by herself like a loser.
She spotted Taryn sitting by the large, white brick gas fireplace and was about to approach her, but she seemed deep in conversation with Brinley. It was a jolting sight since Evan had never seen them hanging out socially. In fact, when Evan and Taryn were roommates on the ski retreat, Taryn had made it pretty clear how much she disliked Brinley. But right now, they were speaking so closely you never would have known they didn’t get along. Taryn nodded her head intently at whatever Brinley was saying as if she was taking copious notes in her mind. Their fathers’ new alliance must have brought them together. Looks like politics really did make strange bedfellows.
“Ev!” Evan whirled around at the familiar voice behind her and smiled in relief at Ellie.
“You came!” Evan exclaimed, unable to mask her utter relief. She might feel awkward around Ellie when Hunter was around, but she was incredibly thankful to finally have a friend here.
“Yeah, I figured why not,” Ellie said, giving her a hug. “It’s kind of weird seeing you at parties like this.”
“It’s kind of weird being at parties like this,” Evan responded with a smile.
They both perched on the arm of one of the pristine bright-white sofas.
“Did you end up going to work today?” Ellie asked.
Evan nodded. “It was nonstop craziness.”
“Yeah, I bet. Between my mom’s statement yesterday and everything from the Reyes camp today, Paul Nelson’s head is probably ready to explode.” Ellie’s eyes were all of a sudden focused on inspecting a stray split end. “And speaking of that…you didn’t, um, happen to talk to Gabe about what my mom said, did you?”
Evan shifted her weight on the arm of the sofa, stalling so she could figure out the best way to answer. She really didn’t want to get stuck in the middle of this.
“Yeah, I talked to him for a second about it,” she said carefully.
Ellie swallowed as she brought her gaze back up to Evan. “What did he say?” Her voice was pained and Evan’s heart sank for her. Being stuck in the middle of Gabe and Ellie was looking pretty unavoidable at this point.
“He was upset, Elle, but it’ll probably blow over by tomorrow. You know Gabe.” She hoped her words sounded reassuring because she didn’t know if she believed them herself. He had sounded uncharacteristically unnerved by Marilyn’s comments.
Ellie nodded, but it looked like she was a million miles away. Before either of them could continue, Portia Davies suddenly popped up in their faces, her heavily mascaraed dark eyes inches away from them. Portia wasn’t a big fan of giving people personal space.
“Hi, guys,” Portia said in a way that made the innocuous statement sound more like an accusation. “Ellie, I totally voted for you today on the D.C. Dish poll.”
Even though Ellie hated how D.C. Dish was pitting her and Taryn against each other, she actually perked up a little. Evan knew she had been worried no one was voting for her on any of the poll questions so she was probably relieved.
“I mean, it’s pretty obvie you would be the first one to have sex at One Observatory,” Portia finished proudly.
Ellie cringed. That was obviously not the poll she wanted to be leading.
“I’m going to go get some water,” Ellie said to Evan, blatantly ignoring Portia.
“You’re not drinking tonight?” Portia asked in an obvious attempt to stir up some drama. “Neither is Taryn. I guess this isn’t a good time for either of you guys to get a DUI, right?”
Or for someone like Portia to get a quick photo on her phone of Ellie or Taryn with alcohol so she could leak it to the press. They were both smart to be cautious. Ellie inadvertently glanced over toward the fireplace where Taryn was sitting, still talking to Brinley. Evan wondered how she felt about that weird new friendship.
“Who would have a hotter mug shot?” Portia asked, giggling. “Now that would be a brills question for the poll.”
Ellie gave Portia a withering look, then pushed her way out of the room. Luckily, Evan didn’t have to plan her own exit strategy because at that moment, Hunter grabbed her hand and pulled her away.
“You seemed like you needed a save,” he said, his blue eyes shining with amusement.
She was about to express her extreme appreciation when Brinley walked by her, Taryn in tow.
“Hey, guys!” Taryn greeted them cheerily, stopping for a moment, though she seemed slightly distracted. Brinley was oddly too busy watching Taryn to acknowledge Evan and Hunter.
“How are you doing after all the press today?” Evan asked. “Are you okay?”
An uncertain look clouded Taryn’s face for a split second before a solemn smile found its way on to her lips. “My statements were taken out of context, but I’m not going to validate it any further by commenting on it.”
Brinley gave Taryn what looked like a curt nod of approval then turned to Evan and Hunter. “Sorry, guys, we’ve got to get upstairs. Sarah is going to give Taryn a quick debrief on POTUS and FLOTUS’s likes and dislikes for when Taryn meets them at the Dedication Party tomorrow night.”
With that, the two of them hustled off toward the staircase.
“Wait a second. I’m not going to meet the president tomorrow night, am I?” Evan asked Hunter, suddenly excited and terrified all at the same time.
Hunter smiled, taking a sip of beer. “You might. Do you want to go talk to Sarah about his likes and dislikes?”
She laughed, but was still reeling over the possibility of shaking hands with the president.
“And speaking of meet-and-greets,” he continued, “you have an even more important one tomorrow night. My parents are excited to meet you.”
His parents. She had been so distracted thinking about attending such a huge event and being in the same room as the president, she had completely forgotten about that part of the evening. A nervous pit immediately settled in her stomach as she imagined the plethora of reasons his parents wouldn’t approve of her. Evan’s biggest fear was they were going to wonder why Hunter was slumming it with the scholarship kid. What if they got in Hunter’s head about it and he started to second-guess dating her?
“They’re going to love you,” he said sweetly, pulling her into him as if he could sense her nerves. She lost herself for a moment in the softness of his sweater, and when she looked up at him, he bent down to kiss her. But right before their lips met, she felt an entire roomful of eyes on them and she pulled back, embarrassed. She didn’t want everyone wondering what kind of kisser the book nerd was.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. Either he was oblivious they were being watched or he was so used to it, he didn’t care.
Hunter blended seamlessly into parties like this. He blended seamlessly anywhere.
But no matter how hard she was trying to enjoy herself here, she wished they were somewhere else.
“It’s nothing,” she lied. She didn’t want to seem lame, like she couldn’t handle being at a party.
He raised an eyebrow. “I’m smart enough to know that’s what every girl says when something is very wrong. What’s up?”
“Um, it’s just…” A wave of anxiety swept through her as she considered the most non-lame way to put it. “I don’t know if you, uh, realized it, but before we started…dating…we weren’t exactly in the same, um, circle.”
Hunter examined her uncertainly. “Yeah, I know.”
“Right, yeah. Of course you do,” she said nervously. At least he wasn’t pretending like she hadn’t catapulted up the social hierarchy the second they got together. She should have never brought this up. It was like reminding Hunter she wasn’t worthy of dating him.
Before she could think of a way to get out of it, he looked at her seriously and said, “When I broke up with Ellie, all the girls who came out of the woodworks were clones of each other. Their biggest life aspiration was for us to get photographed together in Capitol File. That’s the opposite of you. You actually have an independently thinking brain.”
Her cheeks warmed at the compliment. Maybe bringing this up wasn’t such a bad idea. She took a deep breath, refusing to give in to her rising panic. “I have to be honest…these parties. They, um, aren’t really my thing.”
“That’s what this is about?” he asked with an exhale, like he was expecting something much more catastrophic. She nodded and he planted one hand on each side of her waist. “Look, I like seeing my friends, but I like being with you, too. And the only reason we came tonight was because you said you wanted to.”
“Well, I mean, the party sounded fun, but…” She trailed off, annoyed that after this whole conversation, she still couldn’t bring herself to be honest with him.
Georgetown Academy, Season One Page 49