The Eve Illusion by Giovanna Fletcher & Tom Fletcher

Author:Giovanna Fletcher & Tom Fletcher
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781405927185
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2020-04-15T16:00:00+00:00

23

Eve

There’s a knock on my door. I roll over in bed – Bram isn’t here.

‘Bram?’ I call through the dark.

‘Eve? It’s Saunders,’ comes the unexpected reply, causing a heaviness to land on my chest. He’s the first visitor I’ve had – where the hell are Chubs and Bram?

Calm down, Eve, I tell myself.

‘I have something for you,’ Saunders whispers, through the wooden door.

‘Oh?’ I say.

‘I know it’s early but I saw Chubs and Bram on their way to breakfast and thought … Well, I owe you an apology. For the other day.’ I hear him take a deep breath. ‘You’ll like it,’ he adds.

‘How do you know I will?’ I ask, sliding out of bed and throwing on yesterday’s clothes – they’re already damp.

‘I know a lot about you.’ He chuckles, ‘Remember?’

‘You did,’ I remind him. He’s irritating me. I instantly regret my bluntness when he doesn’t reply. Our last encounter left me feeling sick with guilt. ‘Thank you,’ I mutter.

‘You haven’t seen it yet,’ he calls.

‘But you know I’ll like it.’ I’m deliberately kinder. The last thing I want is tension between us.

Saunders is so emotional. I remember that from when he was Holly, childlike and bashful, and the memory transports me back into the Dome. He was the most fun Holly. His heart was on her sleeve, which meant I knew just how invested she was in every moment with me. Someone like Saunders wouldn’t be able to fake that delight.

‘So … can I give it to you?’ he asks.

‘Of course!’

I open the door of my room to see Saunders wearing the beaming smile I’d predicted, a vast contrast to the cloud that had fallen on it the last time we were together. In his hands is a little box, his fingers cradling it against his chest.

Suddenly I’m nervous. Whatever he has must carry some sort of importance. I thought it was something silly – something to apologize for his crappy attitude towards me. Seeing him looking at me so expectantly, with a charged energy that zaps from his body, makes me think otherwise.

‘Come on in,’ I say. I step aside and open the door wider. My own olive branch and attempt at an apology. Our conversation has bounced around my brain since our last meeting, leaving me to question my words and how they must’ve hurt him. It hasn’t made me feel particularly good.

‘Oh, I …’ He hesitates. He glances down the corridor. Unlike Bram, Saunders is evidently more cautious about entering my room.

‘Come on,’ I say, managing not to laugh while grabbing hold of his arm and pulling him inside. ‘Take a seat,’ I say, pointing at the desk while pulling across an armchair so that I can sit next to him.

I see him glance at something across the room and cringe when I spot yesterday’s bra hanging from a lampshade – I’d been trying to dry it out. Not an easy feat when everything here is permanently moist and soggy. ‘It’s just a bra,’ I explain, as though he’s asked a question.

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