I give him a tight smile before spinning around with stiff shoulders like a wooden doll and making my way back to my table. My heart is still racing throughout my body and I’m not sure my legs are working properly.
When I reach my table, all of my friends watch me with extreme curiosity shining in their eyes.
My head is a jumbled mess as I reach for my fork and stab it into my gourmet chicken dish. But there’s no way I can shove this down my throat, even though I’ve had it many times before and know it’s one of the best things in the world.
“Well?” Addie demands.
My eyes shift to hers. “Well what?”
“Are you going to tell us what that was about or are you going to let us have heart attacks here?” Carly practically shouts.
“Will you keep your voice down?” I yell-hiss at her as my eyes snap to Kylen’s table. It’s quite a distance from my table, but Carly might as well have used a megaphone.
As if he feels my gaze on him, he turns around and meets my eyes. I quickly yank mine away.
“We’re kind of on pins and needles here, too, Raven,” Ryder says with a chuckle. “We guys heard a lot about this mysterious Camp Lover Boy.”
“Agreed,” Caleb says, he too carrying intense intrigue in his eyes. He used to be much more serious only a few months ago because he was hired to be Addie’s bodyguard when she just started attending HBA. Her grandfather, Nathaniel Bradshaw, isone of the richest men in the world, and he had an enemy who wanted Addie dead after killing her parents. Caleb saved her from a horrible fate. Now he lives like a normal teen and is the best boyfriend to Addie.
“I haven’t heard much,” Damian admits as he wraps an arm around Sophie and presses a quick kiss to her cheek. “There’s still a lot of catching up I need to do with you guys.”
“Well, you’re not missing much,” I inform him.
“Liar,” Carly says to me.
“You guys are the ones making a big deal about it. Actually, you guys were always making a big deal about it when I told you itwasn’ta big deal.”
“If it wasn’t a big deal, you wouldn’t keep it such a big secret,” Addie points out.
I frown, trying not to groan.
“What did he say, Raven?” Carly asks. “I’m seconds away from a heart attack.”
“I don’t really remember,” I finally say. “It’s kind of a blur.”
“Was it really that traumatizing?” Sophie asks with big, brown eyes.
“No. We just said hi.”
Addie narrows her eyes at me, studying me closely. “Are you sure you guys just said hi?”
“Stop looking into things that aren’t there, Addie.”
She scowls as she takes a bite from her chicken.
“Were things awkward?” Sophie asks. “You guys haven’t seen each other in so long.”
“Yeah, it wasveryawkward. I felt like ants were crawling over my skin.”
“Darn,” Addie mutters with a resigned look on her face. That fills me up with hope that maybe she’sfinallygetting the message that Kylen and I are history and there will never be a present or future of us again.
Thankfully, my friends decide to drop the topic and talk about the new teen fantasy TV show that aired last night. I love fantasy shows, but I don’t add to the conversation because my head is still stuffed with thoughts of Kylen. I don’t know why I have this pit in my stomach. It’s different from the way I felt when I first saw him in the auditorium. That was mostly dread for how our first interaction would go. But now that we experienced it, I have a different kind of feeling. I don’t know what it is, exactly. Maybe disappointment?
Why, though? It’s not like I thought I would ever see him again.
I internally sigh. Okay, that’s a lie. Of course I’ve imagined what it would be like if he and I met again one day. But I guess a part of me always wondered—and maybe hoped—that he would gather me in his arms and confess his undying love for me. That he regrets what happened at camp and wants to pick up from where we left off. Or maybe start again. But that’s so silly. He’s moved on with his life. As if he ever lies awake at night thinking about me.
“You good, Raven?” Carly asks.
