a sun that never sets

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE | POMPEII

"SIXTH FORM," AUDREY whistled over the phone. "You know what that means?"

"Freedom?" I laughed back as I tidied my room. It was eight o'clock and I'd just finished dinner, and Audrey had messaged me with a simple i'm bored before the two of us had started a call.

"Well, yes," Audrey mused, "but also, suits. Have you bought yours yet?"

"My mum has some from her years. Actual vintage. Cute as all hell too, and she never really wore them so they're quite new. I'm going to need to get a skirt and pants and a shirt, but that's basically it."

"Fancy," she muttered. "I'm going to Harbour City to see what I can get tomorrow."

"Dear mighty god, you're going to Harbour City for school uniforms? You insane woman."

"It's not that expensive," she muttered. "Not like I'm showing up in Gucci shirts."

"Yeah, I hope not," I muttered. "You really think they'll be coming back unscathed in the laundry system?"

"No," Audrey deadpanned. "Which is why I'm not showing up in Gucci shirts. I'm probably just getting some from like, Zara or something. I think I'm going to get a cuter blouse though, since I won't wash those a lot."

"Yeah, sounds smart. It's what I'm doing, except I don't actually need to buy the blouse, you know. Because my mum's fashion sense when she was younger was excellent."

Audrey let out a loud snort. "Yeah sure, Honoria. Sure."

"Do you have a point?" I asked with utmost politeness.

"No," sounded her voice from across the phone. "I just like vexing you, that's all."

"Vexing?" I laughed. "You've been reading Jane Austen? Or watching Bridgerton?"

"A tiny bit of both," she admitted. "It's a nice combination, you know."

"Yeah," I snorted. "Sure."

"Anything interesting going on in the life of Honoria Song?" she asked, clearly fishing for gossip. And well, I couldn't precisely go, I have a boyfriend. Even if I asked her to keep it a secret, she would tell Gwen and Louisa. And I wasn't sure about having so many people know. I didn't think Theo had told anyone yet either, and we both rather wanted to keep it for now until at least September.

Just to avoid the embarrassment, if we announced it and then broke up before school even started.

It wasn't impossible. And if it did happen, we could just pretend it had never occurred at all, and the summer was nothing more than a fever dream.

It sounded like a smart idea.

At least on my part. I wasn't sure if he'd really agree with it, I hadn't precisely mentioned it to him. It seemed very embarrassing to admit that I already had an exit plan ready just in case this all went wrong. It suggested that I had a complete and utter lack of trust in this relationship—which wasn't exactly wrong, but at the same time...

Part of me did want this to go well.

Just a part of me.

And I've already invested far too much time in this friendship and relationship to waste it all. I didn't like to do things for nothing, I always liked to earn something back in return.

Though, what precisely was the end of my game here, I wasn't certain.

And it was difficult to start a game when you didn't know what you were even playing for.