Page 29 of The Moment I Knew

“Yes?” he said flatly, like I’d interrupted something incredibly important.

I leaned down slightly so he could see me better, smiling sweetly. “How’s it going, stalker?”

He looked back at me, almost seeming bored. “Better now that I get to see that scowl on your face and know that I’m the reason your entire day was ruined.”

“Someone thinks mighty highly of himself. My day was already ruined before you got here.”

The sadness on Ainsley’s face when I declined her plans passed through my memory again, but I pushed it down for now. It was easier to direct all my negative feelings at Cole than to mull them over right now.

He snapped his fingers in mock disappointment. “Darn. I’ll have to try again bright and early tomorrow morning. Start your day off on a terrible foot.”

“What are you even doing here? You don’t go here.” My eyes widened. “Or is it that you’re here to enroll?”

He barked a laugh. “Yeah, like I’d ever go to school here.”

I found myself bristling at it, suddenly defensive of Parkhurst. “It’s a good school.”

“No, Princess, I’m not here to enroll in your precious school.”

“So you’re just… hanging out in random school parking lots after school now?”

“Who said I was just hanging out?”

“Well, I don’t see you getting out of the car.”

“That would be hard to do with you leaning against my door like that.”

“Oh, sorry, am I preventing you from grand plans?” I tapped my fingers against the windowsill. “Let me guess… you’re here to vandalize the school statue.”

“Right, because I care enough about your school to break in and do that,” he said flatly.

“Okay,” I said, dragging the word out as I thought over possible other reasons. “Are you here for a secret fight club?”

“It wouldn’t be very secret if I answered that question, now would it?”

I studied his unblinking face, wondering just how much of his answer was a joke. Not that I thought there was an actual fight club running out of Parkhurst or that he would be stupid enough to show up for it while students and teachers were still here if there was, but still, the rumors of the fight at his old school couldn’t have been born out of nothing. How bad of a fight had it been? For some reason, I couldn’t imagine the boy in front of me beating someone up so badly that he got expelled, but it wasn’t like I really knew him.

I shrugged. “Well, until you give me a different reason, I’m just going to assume you followed me.”

His jaw tightened, and for a moment I thought he might actually tell me to get lost again. Instead, he glanced past me toward the school entrance, like he was checking the time without a watch.

“Katie volunteers here,” he said finally.

“Katie,” I repeated trying to remember where I’d heard the name before. “You mean, your cousin Katie? The one who snuck her boyfriend into the flat to makeout?”

His mouth twitched, just barely. “That would be her.”

“Wow. And here I thought you were sitting in a dark parking lot for me.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” He leaned forward to look out the windshield searchingly, like he was willing her to come back out. “She left something here yesterday and needed me to bring her to pick it up.”

Before I could respond, the front doors behind me opened again, spilling light across the pavement. Footsteps followed, quick and energetic. I straightened and turned back to look.

The blonde barista from the coffee shop was walking toward us, her coat unzipped, hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. She slowed when she noticed me, confusion flashing across her face. “Oh,” she said. She glanced at Cole quickly then back at me. “Hi.”

“Get in,” Cole said gruffly.

“Well that’s very forward,” I said, turning back to him. “I barely know you.”