Page 59 of Try Hard
I almost cried, which was a ridiculous response. I guess I’d just gotten so used to not wanting to discuss things with anyone—or not having someone to discuss them with—that finding someone who felt reliable and like I wanted to talk to her was unfamiliar.
Maybe my mum had a point about human connection. I might have cut that off a little.
I didn’t reply, just waited. Thirty seconds wasn’t a long time, but, when you were waiting for something, it really could draw itself out. Eventually, though, the screen before me flashed with Eve’s call and I didn’t need to think for another second.
“Hey,” I said, pulling my feet up onto the armchair with me—a deep, comfy, cream thing that was perfect for reading or writing in.
“Hello,” she said. The smile so,soclear in her voice felt like a balm to grazed skin I hadn’t realised I’d cut.
“Thank you for calling.” My voice was low, quiet, almost scared or guilty.
A therapist I’d had years ago once told me, in the aftermath of a relationship that hadn’t been as supportive as I’d needed, that people required safety in the form of love and support. That was human and natural and didn’t make me a terrible partner. I hadn’t really understood or bought it back then. I was pretty sure I got it now.
“No place else I’d rather be, Pendrick.”
I couldn’t help smiling. That was Eve’s magic—always had been.
When we’d been sixteen, the most irritating guy in our science class had been holding the bunsen burners hostage just to be annoying. I’d glowered at him, feeling like the whole thing was my fault, that I was supposed to be sweeter, nicer, boost his ego so he’d like me enough to hand one over. Of course, that ridiculous messaging had come from external sources and it butted up against the part of me that didn’t want to participate, didn’t want to be beholden to some annoying guy and his own inflated sense of self. So, I’d silently fumed, holding out a hand for the equipment he’d taken hostage.
Eve had arrived at my side, taken one look at him, and said, “Just because you’re thinking with your dick, doesn’t mean you get to be one. Give Ophelia her bunsen burner so we can all seehow much better at science she is than you.” And she’d smiled at me. She’d turned the situation from something that was my fault into something that was powered by his insecurity, his need to take something from me.
I’d wished, in the moment, that I could have defended myself, but she’d always been more outgoing than I was. She’d been less afraid of getting in trouble, so she’d tossed out a swear word in class—luckily outside of the teacher’s hearing—but, in doing so, she’d given me something I’d carried ever since. She’d been unafraid to stick up for someone she hadn’t needed to. She hadn’t shrunk herself for someone annoying.
I was pretty sure I’d been convinced she didn’t know my name, that she heard it and repeatedly threw it out of her mind as inconsequential. But she’d known my name. She’d known I was good at science. She’d known I needed help—and she’d just given it, expecting nothing in return.
“Do you remember me in school?” I asked without thinking. I did next to nothing without thinking it through, but, apparently, around her, I just said whatever came to mind.
She laughed softly. “Of course. Firstly, our school wasn’tthatbig. But, more importantly, you were kind of impressive. I imagine a lot of people remember you.”
“What?” I scoffed.
“Ah,” she sighed. “If only you saw yourself the way I do—the way the rest of us do.”
I blew out a breath, considering how the rest of the world saw me. “Rude? Kind of mean?”
“Who have you ever been mean to?”
“Erm. Well, nobody on purpose, but I’m not exactly warm and fuzzy, am I? I imagine people find that mean.”
“I think you’re warm. And the level of fuzziness you prefer is entirely your choice, Ophelia.”
The wave of emotion hit me again. I had to be premenstrual for how sentimental I was feeling. But… the way she said my name, like she’d never cared about anything more in her life, just did something to my heart. Did she say everyone’s name like that? Perhaps it was no wonder the whole world was in love with her. She so effortlessly made you feel precious and important.
I tried to shake it off but my voice wavered as I laughed. “I haven’t hit the athletic heights you have, Archer, but it’s pretty standard practice among swimmers to shave or wax.”
“Understood. Dolphin smooth. Gotta reduce that drag.”
“Absolutely,” I snorted.
She hummed and sounded like she was adjusting her position. “I don’t remember you being a swimmer in school.”
“I wasn’t.”
The comment hung in the air, Eve testing whether I was going to say more, before she said, “Thank goodness I didn’t just miss it.”
I laughed. “Our school might not have been thousands of pupils big, but I’m sure there are plenty of things you weren’t paying attention to. You can’t have been tracking every detail of the lives of each one of us.”
“That’s very true,” she said seriously. “I did not have the time to monitor the private and academic lives of every student. And doing so would probably have been a bit creepy.”
