14

"So, we just need to find the toaster and the flowers, right?" I said, pulling up Sierra's link again as we left The Roasted Bean.

"Yeah, let's go to Plant Sciences first. Then we can swing by Chemistry for the toaster. Wait. Have you already seen it?"

I nudged her with my shoulder. "Everly. You know me better than that. Would I look for it without you?"

"No, of course not. Let me run something by you."

"What's up?"

"Do you remember Caleb?" she asked, glancing at me as we walked.

"Emerson's boyfriend? Vaguely." I'd only met him once, but he'd given me a weird vibe. He didn't seem like a good fit for Emerson or the rest of the Rawlings family.

"Emerson's fiancé," she corrected me.

"Fiancé? They haven't been dating that long, have they?"

Everly shook her head as we approached the Plant Sciences building. "No, just since like April or May. He proposed to her last week. It wasn't very romantic though. He just gave her a ring box and said ‘here.'"

I made a face. "That's such a lame proposal."

"She wasn't happy about it, but she wants to marry him." She squatted to take a picture of the mini sunflowers with her phone.

"How do you feel about it?"

Her face darkened as she stood. "He's really dismissive of a lot of things that she likes. And, I think he's really controlling."

"What makes you say that?" We started walking toward the Chemistry building.

"We were talking the other day and she made this off-handed comment. ‘He always tunes me out when I talk about opening up my bakery, but it's the end of the world if I don't cater to him on video game night.' I asked her about it, and she brushed it off. I've watched him when they're together, though. Any time she starts talking about something she's interested in, like the bakery, he either ignores her or changes the subject. And then, he gets irritated if she doesn't include him in the conversation. She loves him, and she just refuses to see what everyone else does."

"I'm sure she'll figure it out," I tried to reassure her.

"I know she will." Everly gave me a small smile. "I just hope it's sooner rather than later."

We finally approached the Chemistry building. "We're finally here," Everly forced more cheer into her voice. "Let's go find that toaster!"