Page 64 of Save You
The man at the woman’s side puts his hand on her lower back and I watch them step into the hall together.“Yes.”
For a moment, he doesn’t speak.Then…“Sorry.”
The couple vanish into the crowd and I look back at Wren.
“I’ve had a pretty crap week.I thought we could cheer each other up a little bit.”
“I’m happy to talk about it, if you like,” I say.“But I’m not up for more than that.Especially not if you’re drunk.”
“I’m not drunk.Just a bit tipsy, maybe.So I know exactly whatI was just doing.And I’d want to do it again, without a drop of booze inside me,” he says, eyebrows furrowed.“Just so you know.”
“OK.”
Wren nods again and sinks back into the bench.He crosses his arms over his chest and looks up at the chandelier over the lobby.
“So why was it a bad week?”I ask after a while.
He holds his breath.I can tell by the way his body tenses that he wasn’t expecting the question, and that he’s making his mind up whether he wants to answer it or not.
We can just about hear the school choir singing, but I only dimly take in their gentle harmonies.
After a while, Wren takes a deep breath and shuts his eyes.“My parents went bankrupt a while back.”
“What happened?”
Wren gives a barely perceptible shrug.“Dad lost almost his entire fortune playing the markets.”
Oh, wow.I can imagine what it must be like for someone at Maxton Hall to lose practically everything from one day to the next.
“I’m sorry.”
Wren presses his lips together and stares at the railing.
“What does that mean for you?”I ask cautiously.
“We’re moving.After that, I don’t know.I got into Oxford, but God knows how I’ll pay for it now.”
“Well, you can get a student loan, and there are scholarships and stuff.My sister is applying for one.Maybe you could get a job too.”
He nods absently.“Yeah, I guess.”
For a moment, we listen to the choir down below, who’veswitched to a cover version of a pop song.It feels almost peaceful up here—not like Wren just told me something so sad.
Suddenly, his upper body turns toward me and he looks at me again.I don’t know how much effort it costs him, but from one moment to the next, his expression is no longer lost, but as curious as it was at the start of the evening.
“Your turn,” he says.“Tell me something about you.So far, all I know is that you’re Ruby’s sister and that you’re into fashion.”
I smile at him, unsure what I’m prepared to tell him.“I’ve been running a plus-size fashion blog for about eighteen months.It’s calledBellbird,” I say, deciding to start with the most important yet most innocuous thing.As far as I’m concerned, the entire world can know about my blog.I’m proud of what I’m doing, especially since the rebrand.
The smile is back on Wren’s face.“That sounds cool.How did you get into it?”
I’m surprised by his question, but in a good way.I lick my lips.“I’ve been fat all my life.”I pause for a moment, keen to see how Wren will react to this statement, but he surprises me a second time by just looking attentively at me, waiting for me to go on.“And it’s not because I eat too much, like people always think.That’s just the way it is.And it’s really hard to find attractive and fashionable clothes for my body shape.So eventually, I started to sew my own.And I’ve been sharing them on my blog ever since.And I write stuff, encouraging people to accept themselves the way they are.”
Wren’s smile doesn’t budge an inch.If anything, it’s broader now.“You sound like a superhero, Ember.”
I feel the heat creep into my cheeks.But false modesty is not exactly my thing, so I say: “Iama superhero.”
Now he laughs.It sounds raw and lovely, and I think I’m going to remember it all night long.For a moment, I regret breaking off the kiss.But deep down, I know that it was the right thing to do.I’d regret it a lot more if I hadn’t, I’m sure of that.
