Page 36 of Power Play

“You aren’t going to fail.”

“You can’t know that.”

“I know you have a four-point-oh, your senior collection is half finished before classes even start, and you have enough discipline to turn anxiety into a competitive sport.”

“That isn’t reassuring.”

“It wasn’t meant to be.”

Charm sighed and rubbed her thumb over the edge of her gold necklace. “I hate that you make sense when you’re being annoying.”

“I’m good at both.”

“You’re excellent at one.”

“Still came.”

“You ordered my coffee.”

“That all it takes?”

“Vanilla foam has saved worse men.”

I smiled and leaned over the book again. “Tell me why Wollstonecraft matters to fashion.”

Charm blinked. “Fashion?”

“That’s your language. Use it.”

“She wasn’t writing about clothes.”

“She was writing about performance and presentation. What women are trained to look like and what that appearance is designed to communicate.” I turned the book slightly toward her. “Sounds like fashion to me.”

Her attention sharpened immediately.

“Clothing can create obedience before a woman says anything.”

“Explain.”

“A corset changes posture, movement, breathing, the amount of space a woman can occupy.” She sat forward, forgetting the careful arrangement of her body as her hands began moving with her words. “Even when the garment is beautiful, it controls her. It creates the silhouette society wants and makes discomfort look elegant.”

I stopped pretending to look at the book.

Charm caught me watching.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because that’s your paper.”

“That was barely an observation.”

“It was yours.”

She looked down again. “Klein would ask why it matters.”

“Then answer her.”

Her brows drew together while she stared at the paragraph.