I couldn’t seem to tear my eyes away as I watched the two of them snuggling before the camera crew and the crowd of kids. Angus was doing most of the talking, while Laurie kept sneaking loving glances at Cole.
“Any chance you feel like bailing on school?” I asked.
“I can’t, I have a Spanish quiz first up,” Hayley replied. “Sorry, Mads.”
I waved her comment away with one hand. “I’m only joking.” I wasn’t, but she didn’t need to know that.
“Hey, Madi.” I turned to find Jake getting out of the car next to us. I had been so absorbed by the spectacle in front of the school, I hadn’t even heard the car pull up.
“Hey, Jake,” I replied, my gaze drifting back toward Cole. I couldn’t seem to tear my eyes away.
“You got a minute?” Jake asked.
I glanced at Hayley. She looked at me as if she was checking whether or not I wanted her to stay, so I gave her a small shake of my head. I could handle Jake myself. She nodded and started toward the school.
“Sure,” I said, turning back to look at Jake. “What’s up?”
“I just wanted to see how you were doing.” He shifted his backpack on his shoulder and tilted his head like he was concerned. “I heard about your locker yesterday.”
“Like you care,” I replied, with a shake of my head. This was the first time he’d spoken to me since we’d broken up. He wasn’t exactly my favorite person anymore and, after the rumors he’d spread, it was pretty clear I wasn’t his either.
“How can you say that?” he replied. “I know we’re broken up, but that doesn’t mean I stopped caring about you.”
“Yeah, well, you sure have a way of showing it,” I muttered.
“What does that mean?” he asked.
“Just that, if you cared about me, you wouldn’t be spreading rumors about how I wouldn’t put out for you,” I replied.
He frowned and glanced around like he was worried we’d be overheard. “I didn’t spread those rumors,” he said. “I would never disrespect you like that.”
“So it was the tooth fairy telling the whole school I was frigid? Damn, I should’ve guessed.”
He lifted an eyebrow and shook his head. “Look, I don’t know how that rumor spread, but I would never tell anyone that was the reason for us breaking up. I really care about you.”
“Well, who was it then?” I asked.
“I have no idea,” he replied. “But I’ve been telling everyone it’s not true. I’ve been saying we broke up because we’d just grown apart.”
As I looked into his eyes, I found myself believing him. Jake never liked to outright lie, and when he did, he wasn’t very good at it. I could tell he was being honest. He could be a bit of an idiot sometimes, but he wasn’t mean-spirited.
“Okay, fine, I believe you,” I said.
Jake smiled at me like he’d really needed to hear me say the words. “You always were the best. I’ve missed you, Mads.”
I nodded. I wasn’t quite ready to admit I’d missed him too. Jake and I hadn’t been a great couple, but it was like there was a massive void in my life without him in it.
“Do you think we could try to be friends?” he asked. There was so much hope in his eyes, and it seemed like he really wanted to try. It felt far too soon for any sort of friendship for me though.
“I’m not sure I’m quite there yet,” I replied. “But I think we could be eventually.”
“I can wait for eventually,” he said.
I turned back to look at the school and was relieved to find that the TV crew was now packing down and Cole and Laurie were nowhere to be seen. The crowd had also dispersed and I could see the school’s front doors, which had been obstructed by excited students when I first arrived.
I let out a breath. “Well, it looks like you’ve already started on being a good friend. You’ve stalled us enough that I won’t need to fight my way into school,” I said, nodding toward the empty parking lot.
“How about I do another good friend duty and walk you to your locker?” he asked.
I swallowed. I’d avoided my locker all of yesterday. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to face it again so soon. I couldn’t stay away from it for the rest of the year though. I took in one big deep breath.
“Sure, let’s go.”
It was with some reluctance I walked into school at Jake’s side. I was amazed at how much distance had grown between us after such a short time. I felt different since we’d broken up, but he also felt different to me too. I found I was glad for his presence though. At least I wouldn’t have to face my locker alone.
My pace slowed as we neared my locker and I found myself wanting to squint my eyes shut and continue right past it. I resisted the temptation though, knowing that I couldn’t go another day without any of my books.
I shuddered to a stop as my locker came fully into view, and my hands lifted to my mouth as I gasped. The locker was clean. Shock raced through me, and I stayed cemented to the spot as I took in the shiny surface that was now free of any graffiti.
“Who?” I whispered. “How?”
I shook my head, still trying to believe that the insulting names were really gone. They’d been cleaned off so thoroughly it was like they’d never been there at all. Relieved tears welled in my eyes and I started smiling as I walked toward the locker.
“I heard Cole stayed late after school and cleaned it,” Jake said, from where he stood beside me.
“What?” I glanced at Jake, not sure I had heard him correctly.
“He must really like you,” he added. It looked like it nearly killed him to say aloud, and there was a frown on his face, as if his own words had upset him. Maybe he wasn’t quite as over our breakup as he thought?
I was too busy thinking about my locker though to focus on that. My heart was doing a strange flutter as I looked back at it.
“He really cleaned it?” I murmured.
“Apparently.”
I touched the cold metal, still not quite able to believe the horrible words were gone.
“Well, I should get to class. I’ll see you around,” Jake said.
“See you, Jake,” I replied, my gaze still focused on my locker.
Having it clean didn’t take the hurt away, but it made me feel like I could begin to move past it.
I gathered my books and walked to class, relieved that a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. As I walked into my English class, I caught sight of Cole and grinned. I no longer cared about seeing him canoodling with Laurie for the cameras. I didn’t even care that there had been a heap of “#Laurole” posters dotting the corridors. It was a silly couple name anyway. All I seemed to care about was the fact that Cole had done something so kind, without even taking the credit for it; that he was as good on the inside as I’d been beginning to suspect.
“Hey,” I said in greeting, as I sat in my usual seat diagonally in front of him.
“Matthews,” he replied.
I swiveled in my chair so I was facing him. I opened my mouth to speak, but before I got a chance, the teacher entered the room and called for everyone to be silent. I begrudgingly turned to face the front of the room.
Instead of listening to Mr. Smith, I tore a piece of paper out of my notebook and started to write.
“I heard what you did with my locker. You don’t know how much it means to me! Thank you!!!!!!!"
I folded the piece of paper and waited for Mr. Randall to start writing on the whiteboard before I passed it back to Cole. As he took the paper, our fingers brushed for the briefest of seconds, making my skin tingle. I was so surprised by the sensation I almost dropped the note.
I glanced over my shoulder at him as he read my words and my heart fluttered when he smiled. He glanced up at me, the small smile transforming into a beaming grin when he caught my eye. His whole face was lit up as he dipped his head back down and focused on the page and wrote a response.
Mr. Randall started speaking again, and I begrudgingly turned awa
y from Cole and faced the front of the room. He was explaining our next assignment, but I really wasn’t listening. All I could focus on was what message Cole was about to send me.
Seconds after Mr. Randall turned to start scribbling on the whiteboard, a small ball of paper landed on my desk. I smiled and began to unravel it. Once it was pressed flat, I realized Cole had torn it in the shape of half a heart. The edges were uneven and the paper scrunched, but I far preferred it to the ones I’d received in the selection ceremonies. I glanced over my shoulder at him. “A piece of your heart?” I mouthed at him.
He grinned but shook his head and nodded at the heart, indicating for me to flip it over. I did as he asked and found a message was written on the other side.
“I’d do anything to put that smile back on your face.”
It was such a simple sentence, but it was the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to me. I read it over several times, and each time my heart swelled a little bigger. I looked at Cole and smiled, hoping he could see how much his words meant to me.
He was already watching me, and I found myself trapped in his stare as our eyes met. The look we exchanged was intense, and a torrent of feelings seemed to rise up within me. Feelings I never thought I’d have for him, but ones I found I could no longer deny.
The realization hit me like a slap across the face. I liked Cole Kingston. I turned from him quickly, suddenly worried that my feelings were clearly etched across my features and he would realize my dirty little secret.
I didn’t just want one of the pieces of his heart—I wanted them all.
18
Cole
Something seemed to shift between Madi and me that week. I thought we had a moment after she read my note in English class and turned to stare into my eyes. Electricity had practically sparked between us, and I had wanted nothing more than to close the distance between us and kiss her. From the way she’d been looking at me, it was clear she wanted the same thing too.
At least, that’s what I’d thought at the time.
But then her eyes had briefly widened, and she’d turned away from me. She’d been avoiding me ever since, and I wasn’t sure what I’d done wrong. By the time lunch arrived on Thursday, I was starting to get worried.
“The way you keep staring at Madi is starting to get creepy,” Tanner said, as he sat down next to me at our table. She was sitting with Teagan again today, and I was beginning to think we’d lost her to the drama table forever.
I slowly drew my eyes away from her and gave my friend a shove. Tanner barely moved though. The guy was built like a house.
“I’m not staring.” I tried to make myself sound convincing, but I was concerned I’d made myself too obvious.
Tanner laughed. “You definitely were. You’ve been doing it all week.”
“Maybe I’m looking at Teagan,” I replied, trying to hide my embarrassment. Madi was often wedged between Teagan and Hayley, so it wasn’t impossible that I could have been looking at one of the other two.
“Or Evan,” Tanner added.
“You know I’m not looking at him,” I replied.
“Do I?” Tanner asked. “He’s still in the competition.”
“Yeah, because I like him a whole lot more than some of the other chicks who have been in it.”
Tanner lifted an eyebrow at me.
“Not like that,” I growled.
Tanner grinned. “I’m just messing with you about Evan. I’m serious about you being a creeper though. You’ve really got to pull back on that.”
My shoulders slouched as I sat back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest. “Madi's been avoiding me all week,” I finally admitted.
“Do you think she’s upset about you picking Laurie for your date?” Tanner asked.
“She told me it was fine,” I shrugged. “In fact, she didn’t really seem to care at all.” I’d tried to explain that she was the one I wanted on the date with me, but she wasn't bothered about not being selected. She actually seemed happy I’d picked Laurie. Things went so well during the group date at the ice rink; I couldn’t understand why Madi didn’t want a repeat of it.
“You sure?” Tanner asked.
I shrugged again. It’s not like I could read Madi's mind, but she’d made her feelings pretty clear. “Madi seemed fine earlier this week. She was really happy when she found out I fixed her locker, and we were passing cute notes and everything. Then she suddenly started ignoring me.”
“Are you sure your note wasn’t sleazy rather than cute? You know girls don’t like that crap.”
I didn’t answer. There was no way I was going into the details of what my note to Madi said. My words had been from the heart and, though Tanner was my best friend, there was no way I was revealing them to him.
“It wasn’t sleazy,” I replied. I huffed out a breath and glanced toward Madi’s table once more. My gaze had barely landed on her when I felt a firm smack against the back of my head.
“Repeat after me: I am not a creeper,” Tanner said.
“I am not a creeper.”
Tanner grinned. “Great, now act like it.”
I shifted on my chair so I was firmly faced away from Madi. “Better?”
“Much,” Tanner said.
“Any news on who vandalized Madi’s locker?” I asked.
“Do you remember how to talk about anything other than that girl?” he laughed.
“Sure, let’s talk about you and Stacy instead,” I said, with an evil grin. I knew that Tanner and Stacy were currently in the off portion of their on-again, off-again relationship, and I knew how much he hated talking about her when they were “off."
“No news on the vandal,” Tanner said, flashing me a look of annoyance. He was too easy sometimes.
“How does no one know?” I asked.
Before he replied, Tanner took a bite of his burger, almost devouring it in one mouthful. I thought I was an animal when it came to stuffing myself with food, but Tanner was a beast.
“It happened before anyone got to school and no one’s been bragging about it. I guess they saw how upset everyone else at school was and didn’t want to be the bad guy.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. Madi got along with everyone, so anyone trying to bully her was definitely going to come across as the bad guy in the situation. Not that Madi would believe the fact that most of the people around her had her back. Judging by all the votes she was receiving from True Love audiences, even people outside the school loved Madi. I didn’t understand why she failed to see how great everyone thought she was.
“I’ll still keep my feelers out though,” Tanner added.
“Thanks, man.” I hoped Tanner would come up with something soon. Even though the words had been removed from Madi’s locker, it still left an angry pit in my stomach whenever I thought about it. I wasn’t going to feel better until I’d found out who’d done it and brought them to justice.
“You ready for your date tonight?” Tanner asked.
“Don’t remind me,” I muttered. I looked over at Laurie who was flirting outrageously with Skip today. The poor guy looked like he didn’t know what had hit him. He was one of the quieter guys on the football team, and I never saw him going out of his way to talk to girls. He clearly didn’t know what to do with all of Laurie’s attention. I almost felt sorry for him.
Tanner chuckled. “What are you guys doing?”
“Well, I was going to try and convince Angus that he should let me take her to the movies. I thought it would be great because then I wouldn’t have to speak to her, but then I remembered that Laurie struggles to keep her hands to herself in broad daylight—I can only imagine the horrors I’d experience in a darkened theatre.”
“Yeah,” Tanner laughed. “Good call. So, what then?”
“No idea. Angus pretty much decides all of that stuff,” I said, before taking a bite of my own burger. Our cafeteria was known for its lousy cooking, but the food today wasn’t so bad.
“You trust him to plan
your date?” Tanner asked.
“More like I don’t really have a choice, and in Laurie’s case, I’d rather him plan it than me. He’s the whole reason behind the Laurie date anyway.”
“Yeah, that was pretty cruel of him to force your hand like that,” Tanner replied.
“It’s fine,” I said. “Besides, Madi wanted out this week, it’s not like I could have taken her on a date. She never would have forgiven me.”
“And it’s probably a good thing too, seeing how she’s not talking to you now.”
“That would have been awkward,” I agreed.
The end of lunch bell rang, and I stuffed the remnants of my burger in my mouth as I stood to go to class.
“Well, good luck tonight,” Tanner said, as we walked toward the doors. “I have a feeling you’re going to need it.”
I had the same feeling too.
I started to seriously doubt Angus’ ability to run the True Love operation when I arrived for my date with Laurie on Thursday night. I wasn’t sure what I’d done to make him hate me so much, but I quickly realized the date wasn’t just going to be awkward — it was going to be mortifying.
“I am not getting in that,” I said, pointing at the horse-drawn carriage.
“Come on Coley, it’ll be fun,” Laurie said.
I groaned. “Please don’t call me that.”
“Geez, you’re such a grouch,” she said, before looking over at Angus. “Angus, tell him he needs to be nice to me. We’re supposed to be on a date.”
Angus didn’t say anything, but he gave me a look that told me he agreed with Laurie.
“Sorry, Laurie,” I said with a sigh. “I’m just upset about the horse. I’ll be nice, but please don’t call me that ridiculous name.”
“Anything for you, babe,” she purred, linking her arm with mine.
Letting out another heavy sigh, I walked Laurie toward the carriage. I helped her up the steps, but before I could follow, Angus pulled me aside.
“You need to make more of an effort to look like you’re into her,” he said, keeping his voice low.
The Wrong Bachelor Page 17