Page 18 of Oblivion

I tense. “They all knew?” I ask.

“Of course. Our parents have always known we were inevitable. Both of our moms came with me to pick out yourring. My mom wanted you to have my grandma’s ring, but yours wanted you to have one that belonged to your great-aunt. I didn’t want to pick one over the other, so I thought it’d be for the best to pick something new, and then we can pass both of the family rings down to our daughters when we have them.”

“Daughters,” I croak.

“Of course. Four children, just like we talked about. Two boys and two girls.”

“Four,” I squeak. “I don’t remember us ever talking about four kids.”

His laugh is soft and melodic. “Goodness, can you imagine how perfect we’ll look outside the White House. Me and you and our impeccable family. I can’t wait. Obviously, we’ll have to wait to start a family until you’ve graduated, but perhaps we should look into freezing some of your eggs so we can guarantee we get our heirs before we have our princesses,” he says, opening my door and gently helping me into his car.

“Yeah, that’s something to think about,” I say, shellshocked, not agreeing but not outright dismissing the idea either, even though I have absolutely no intention of having my eggs frozen so he can pick which gender our kids will be.

As he closes my door, I press my knees together and place my hands in my lap, staring down at the knee-length skirt I’m wearing. I know I should be excited and brimming with ideas for our wedding, but all my mind can focus on is that I’m glad I hadn’t gotten changed into my California clothes yet.

In my carry-on is a pair of high-waisted denim shorts, a cute shirt, and chunky sandals. The outfit would be perfect for school, but I’d be completely out of place wearing that here. Much like the dusky pink pencil skirt that’s fitted but not too tight, white ballet-style wrap sweater, white wool coat, and nude pumps I’m currently wearing would look ridiculous if I wore them around campus.

There’s nothing wrong with either outfit, but yet again, it shows the divide between my two worlds. Since I moved away for school, I’ve enjoyed the freedom to experiment with my clothes, and this summer, I’ve missed my closet back at school almost as much as I missed my friends, even though I would never and could never wear those clothes here.

Circling to the trunk, Drew lifts my case inside, then climbs into the driver’s seat and calmly reverses out of the spot, following every single traffic law as he smoothly takes us home.

Both Drew and my family live in Hampson Rounds, a fairly large town not far from Spring Valley. It’s expensive and exclusive and small enough that even though not everyone knows everyone, they all still know my family, the Hartleys, and Drew’s family, the Merricks.

When he drives past the security checkpoint for the gated community where our houses are located, I look around me, wondering if this is what my future will look like. I know that Drew has plans that are bigger than this town, but all of those plans start with him taking over as mayor when his dad steps down.

“Where do you want to live?” I ask him, turning to look at him.

“Well, obviously, until we get married, it wouldn’t be appropriate for us to live together, so I’ve spoken to your parents, and we’ve agreed that you’ll move into an off-campus house with my cousin, Eloise. My aunt and uncle bought her a house to live in while she’s at Harvard Medical School, and she has a second bedroom that you can stay in. There’s also a pretty guest suite, so your mom and mine can trade off visiting you on the weekends. My apartment is not too far away, so we’ll still have plenty of time to spend together when we’re not studying.”

For a moment, I’m stunned. Since I came home at the start of summer, I’ve treated Drew as my friend. Sure, we’ve spent timetogether, and he was my rock when my dad was sick, but we haven’t kissed or fucked or behaved like a teenage couple.

Obviously, our families thought we were back together, and Drew just proposed, so clearly, he thought—or hoped—we were back together too. Am I the only one who didn’t know? I love Drew. I’ve always loved him. He’s been a part of my life forever, and us getting married, having a family, and him going into politics has always been the plan. It makes sense. I had a year to try something new. I loved it, but even before my dad got sick, I knew California wasn’t reallymyworld.

So, this is right. This is good. Marrying Drew. Going to Harvard. Dressing like this. This is good. I jumped off this path, but now I’m right back on it, and that’s good.

“I think I’d rather live in the dorms. At least that will give me a chance to meet people. As a transfer, I’ll be pretty isolated if I live off campus,” I say, turning to look at Drew, his austere features just as attractive in profile as they are face on.

His brow furrows and his lips turn down into a frown. “Goodness, you’d hate the dorms, Samantha. There are far too many parties and far too much depravity for you. Living with Eloise will be much more suitable. Also, as you hadn’t declared a major at Kingsacre, I took the liberty of informing Harvard that you’ll be pursuing an English literature degree. You’ve always loved to read.”

Blinking, I frown. English literature? I have always enjoyed reading, but I’m not sure that alien porn and daddy dom romances are comparable to the classics and contentious modern literature. “I was actually planning to declare as an economics major,” I tell him.

His laugh is full of condescending amusement. “Sweetheart, let’s not over-reach. I promise that English literature will be much more your speed. You’ve missed almost a full semester while your dad has been sick, and I’m on track to graduate early.Majoring in English literature shouldn’t be too taxing for you, and with a little help, you should be able to graduate at the same time as me. The faster we finish school, the faster we can get married.”

“Wait? I thought you wanted to get married straight away?” I say, twisting in my seat to look at him. He’s the one who said he couldn’t wait. The moment he slid the ring on my finger, he literally said the words, “Let’s not wait any longer. The sooner we get married the better.”

“Samantha, I’m sorry. You’d just agreed to marry me. I was excited. But you know that teen marriages don’t trend well with voters. It makes more sense for us to wait until we’ve both finished school. Then we can have a beautiful wedding before I officially run for mayor and take over from my dad.”

Before I have a chance to reply, Drew slows his car to a stop outside my parents’ house. Drew’s dad’s car is parked beside my dad’s BMW in the driveway, and it dawns on me that they all really did know about Drew’s plan to propose to me at the airport.

I guess I’d assumed that him rushing to the airport and getting down on one knee in the departure lounge was a spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment thing. But it wasn’t. He told our families he planned to propose. He went ring shopping with our moms. He had this whole thing planned. So why not ask me before I left? Why make a grand gesture at the airport?

A thousand questions swirl through my head as Drew climbs out, circles the car, and opens my door. When cool air hits me, I tip my head up and look at him standing in the doorway, his hand held out to me. Exhaling, I place my hand in his and let him gently tug me out of my seat. The moment I’m standing beside him, he wraps his arm around my waist and guides me to the front door and into the house.

The moment we step inside, our parents rush toward us, surrounding us with offers of congratulations and well wishes while they all discuss mine and Drew’s future like I’m not even in the room. If this were California me, I’d be incensed about having my future planned out without including me, but oddly in this moment, I’m not angry. A surreal familiar numbness has settled over me, and I know this feeling. Just like in high school, I’ve become the second member of the couple that is Drew and Samantha. I’m Drew’s fiancée. I’m transferring to Harvard. I’m moving in with Drew’s cousin. I’m majoring in English literature. I’m graduating early, then getting married, and then I’m having four babies. And even though I haven’t been a part of any of those life-altering decisions, that’s okay…right? Because this is real life. This isn’t a fantasy that includes crazy boys and insane wealth and a totally different version of me.

I run on autopilot as my mom sends me upstairs to change before our parents take us out to dinner to celebrate. I smile and laugh and nod while my mom and Drew’s mom talk about the houses that are currently on the market in our gated community and how convenient the closeness will be once I’m pregnant.

When Drew drives me home after dinner, he kisses me sweetly, smiling at me like I’m his absolute world, and for the first time since I got into his car at the airport, I breathe and remember why I said yes when he asked me to marry him.

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