I counted to forty-seven that day. Same number as the ceiling tiles in the café.
Right now I'm at thirty-two and my heart still feels like it's trying to escape my chest.
"Okay, so." Jolie's voice comes from the doorway, and I startle so hard my locker door swings shut with a metallic clang that echoes in the small space. "We need to talk about what just happened."
"I’d rather not.” Like, seriously. Because the way Jolie is looking at me right now says that she’s about to say something uncomfortably insightful, and I’m just...I’m just not ready for it.
"He was counting, too, Thea! Counting.”
I badly want to say it’s a coincidence. But...the thing is, once you know in your mind and you believe with all your heart that God is real...
There’s no such thing as coincidence.
But even so.
“It doesn’t have to mean what you think it should mean,” I say instead. “Maybe it’s just a wake-up call for me to be more...careful. Because he knew I was counting, and obviously, he has every reason to see it as pathetic and—”
“He doesn’t think that.”
Jolie sounds so sure that it has my heart doing something foolish.
“I saw his smile, Thea. And I know you did, too. It wasn’t a smile that says he was laughing at you.”
I’m torn between wanting to cover my ears and begging for her to say more.
Please give me more reasons to hope that he can still be a part of my life.
“You know how Damian sometimes looks at Sarah when he’s teasing her?”
My heart is racing faster than ever now.
“That’s what his smile reminds me of.” Jolie shiftsWuthering Heightsto her other arm. "Thea, I've been watching people for years—you know this. It's literally what I study. And that man is interested."
"He's a customer."
"He's a man who's been coming to this café every single day just to sit in a booth and eat breakfast and watch you work."
"You can’t be sure of that.”
“I am, though. And I’m right about this, you’ll see.”
I fight against the urge to clutch my chest. Every word from Jolie is like an answered prayer, and I just don’t know how to handle it. “You, um...” I check the clock behind her.Oh, good.“You should go or you’ll be late for class.”
Jolie laughs. “I know when you’re trying to get rid of me.”
I pretend not to hear that as I usher her out of the locker room. “Go.”
She rolls her eyes at me, and I pretend not to see this, too. But my friend still ends up having the last word when my phone buzzes, and her text message pops up on the screen.
Corner guy is in the parking lot. :)
Time...crawls after that. Every second is a battle not to look out the window or step out of the cafe just to see if Jolie was right, and he was still out there.
When I finally reach the end of the shift, I barely manage to resist the urge to run out.
Play it cool, Thea!
A cold breeze stings my cheeks as soon as I step out. It's the kind of cold that makes
