#Chapter 57: The Party

Ruby

“What was that about?” Nancy says as she and the seamstress come back in. I hold the book out to her and she takes it while the seamstress starts working on pinning my dress again. I watch in the mirror as Nancy sits on the bed, thumbing through the pages.

“This is so cool!” she says. “I didn’t know that you were into history. Is it an early birthday gift?” She gestures to the wrapping paper on the chair.

“Yeah,” I answer somewhat solemnly. My heart is still fluttering from my interaction and it almost feels as though I can still feel Atwood’s kiss on the top of my head, but then I remember that I’m going to be leaving him tomorrow and it makes my heart ache.

The seamstress finishes her work and takes the dress off of me, leaving the room to finish the alterations on her sewing machine.

I spend the rest of the night sitting with Nancy, reading the book together. Pretty soon, we both fall asleep with the book open on our laps.

I wake up the next morning to Nancy jumping on me and