Page 72 of Love & Notes

“It’s from a thrift store, Maddie.” I say.

“So?”

“The gala is—”

“Full of people who are going to spend a fortune to look half as good as you right now,” Maddie interrupts. “Money is not what makes you belong in that room, Ellise. You know that. And this dress? This dress is going to destroy him.”

I am quiet for a moment, processing her words as I look at my reflection in the full-length mirror near the counter. I lean down and check the handwritten tag pinned to the inner lining.

Thirty dollars.

I let out a short, disbelieving laugh.

“Sold.”

We walk back toward the Academy in the late afternoon light, my dress carefully folded inside a thick paper bag tucked securely under my arm.

“Can I say something without you telling me I’m being dramatic?” Maddie asks.

“You’re always being dramatic.” I laugh.

“Without you telling me specifically that I am being dramatic.”

“Fine.”

She is quiet for a moment, which is unusual enough that I actually stop walking to glance at her.

“I’m glad,” she starts. “About Julian.” She says it simply, stripping away all her usual humour. “I know I’ve been winding you up about it, but genuinely, Ellise, I’m glad. You’ve been so—” She pauses. “You’ve been so locked, Ellise. For so long. Like you’re afraid that if you put yourself first, everything will collapse.”

I stand in silence for a moment.

“He’s— I’m—” I stumble over the words, not knowing what I want to say to explain the terrifying shift happening inside me. “I’m trying, Mads.”

Maddie nods, apparently satisfied with that. “Good. Also, girl, that dress is going to absolutely ruin him. I need you to tell me exactly what happens when he sees you.”

“Maddie—”

“You might not make it to the gala, just saying.” She laughs wickedly. “A full and detailed report, Ellise Vance. I mean it. I want to know everything. And I mean, everything.” She draws out the final word with a dramatic eyebrow raise.

I look at her, shaking my head as a helpless smile breaks across my face.

“You’re impossible.”

“Yes.” She grins, slinging her arms through mine as we continue walking. “But I’m right.”

She is almost certainly right.

25

Julian

“Iwas going to ask how the Nocturne is coming along,” Josh says. “And then ask about Ellise Vance.”

I didn't plan to have this conversation today.

“What about her?” I ask, keeping my voice as casual as possible.

I’m currently on another little “errand” for Professor Mathias to collect yet another textbook. This time the focus is on why musicians “feel things." As if I need a fucking text to explain basic human emotion to me. He is such an arsehole.