Some Loves (Some Hearts#2)

by Jolie, Meg

  I smiled briefly. “No, you’re right. I don’t. It’s too quiet. I really miss Tyler.”

  “I’m sure you do,” he said. He reached for his phone. It was resting next to the napkin holder. He glanced at the time and then at me. “I need to get going. I’ve got some things to take care of.”

  I nodded. “Okay, well, it was nice talking to you.”

  Riley slid out of the booth to make room for him.

  “See you two later,” Noah said as he walked away.

  My eyes stayed glued to him until he was out of my sight.

  “That went well. Don’t you think?” Riley asked with a satisfied smirk.

  I blew out a breath. “I’m not sure it went ‘well’ but it did go better than I would’ve expected.”

  Noah had talked to me. We’d had an actual conversation. Riley was right. It was baby steps, but it was a start.

  Chapter TWO

  “Don’t you get tired of eating a salad every day?” Casey asked Riley.

  Riley shrugged as she poked at a tomato. “I get tired of eating here every day.”

  I had to agree but we really didn’t have time to leave campus in between classes. Not when parking was so bad. It could take nearly as long to find a spot again as it could take to run pick up something quick for lunch. And I, for one, was not organized enough to try to pack a lunch.

  “The Caesar wrap isn’t too bad,” I told Riley. “Maybe you should try that.” The girl had to be sick of salad.

  “Maybe tomorrow,” she agreed.

  “The pizza is really good,” Casey informed us as we all sat down at our usual table.

  “I could never eat pizza every day and stay as slim as you,” Riley pouted.

  I doubted that was true. We had lucked out with good metabolisms, thanks to our moms’ side of the family. I’d lost a lot of weight after my brother’s death and I’d yet to gain it back. Riley, on the other hand, was naturally slim.

  We also had the same blond hair and green eyes. We were nearly the same height, with Riley being just a tad taller. Our facial features varied some but we could still easily pass for sisters. My face was narrower, her eyes were wider. She had a dusting of freckles across her nose but they were almost invisible under her make-up. The biggest difference was that her hair was naturally straight and sleek. Mine was wavy, almost curly. On the days I straightened it, we looked more alike than ever.

  “This pizza is good for you. It’s veggie pizza with extra cheese. It’s the ideal meal,” Casey argued.

  I was pretty sure Casey had an ulterior motive about the meal discussion. Riley had a tendency to diet unnecessarily. Especially when she was interested in someone. I knew she felt insecure sometimes—who doesn’t?—but I doubted a pound or three was going to make a difference in whether a guy was interested or not. I’d tried to tell her that but it was no use.

  I was about to bring it up again when Casey interrupted.

  “Well, well, someone looks happy,” Casey said in a song-song voice.

  I looked up from my lunch to see who she was talking about because I knew it couldn’t be either me or Riley.

  Our friend Melanie was headed our way. She wore a huge smile as she pushed her way through the busy lunchtime crowd.

  Casey was Riley’s roommate in the dorms and Melanie was a friend of hers from high school. Their other friend, Beth Ann, was the fifth person in what had become our close little group of friends. We ate lunch together whenever possible, hung out on campus together and often frequented parties together. Though I’d known them since the start of the school year, it was only the last few months that I felt as if I knew Casey, Melanie and Beth Ann well enough to consider them close friends. Unlike Riley, whom I’d grown up with.

  “Guess what!” Melanie squealed as she threw herself into her usual seat at our table. Her big brown eyes were practically glowing with excitement.

  “Who is he?” Casey asked with a laugh.

  “Do you remember that guy that I mentioned from my Chem lab?” Melanie asked.

  Casey nodded and her tone was serious. “Cute Chem Boy.”

  Melanie’s nickname for this guy always made me smile.

  “You mean the cute guy you’ve been working on since the start of the semester?” Riley asked as she sat forward in her seat.

  “That’s the one,” Melanie admitted with a giddy smile.

  Her smile was contagious, she was so obviously excited. She’d been talking about him for so long that it was fun to hear that she’d actually made some progress.

  “You know I’ve been flirting with him all semester,” she went on. “And you know it hasn’t really gotten me anywhere. I mean, he’s really nice, and funny but he doesn’t exactly flirt back. I feel like I’ve been getting totally mixed signals from him. You know? Like he’s always super nice but he’s standoffish too. I just couldn’t figure out how to read him.”

  “Right,” Casey said. “Because he’ll walk you to class but he’s turned you down when you’ve asked if he wants to get together to study.”

  “Yes,” Melanie agreed. “Exactly.”

  “So do you two finally have a study date?” I asked.

  She leaned forward. “Even better. A date, date. Well, kind of a date. You know the beach party this Friday night? I don’t know how I ever managed to get up the nerve to ask him, but I did. At first I didn’t think he was going to agree to go. Finally he just said ‘Sure, why not?’ And I wish he would’ve sounded a little more excited about it, but at least he said ‘yes’, right?”

  Her eyes darted around the table. Melanie was a sweet girl and incredibly shy. I was surprised that she’d finally gathered the courage to ask him. She was looking around the table, obviously needing confirmation.

  “Right,” I agreed.

  “Absolutely,” Casey said.

  “Does Beth Ann know?” Riley asked.

  Melanie shook her head. “No. I just came from Chem. It sucks that Bethy doesn’t have lunch with us. I don’t think she really had to take her Bio class this hour.”

  “She had to if she wanted to have class with Alec,” Riley pointed out.

  “True,” Melanie agreed.

  “So the party, what are you going to wear?” Riley added.

  Melanie let out a happy sigh. “I don’t know. But I want to look stunning. I mean, I know it’s just a party. And there are parties every weekend. But I really want to stand out. This might be my only chance to really get his attention.”

  “You shouldn’t have to work for it,” I said. “If you’ve been talking to him all semester, he should know by now that you’re a great girl.”

  “Exactly,” Casey said. “You have nothing to worry about.”

  “What about you guys? Are you all going?”

  “Of course,” Riley said as she bumped her shoulder into mine. “It’s the first beach party of the year. We’ll be there.”

  “Definitely,” I agreed.

  “I think I might ask Dominic,” Casey said. “What about you two? Are you going to ask anyone?”

  “I’m going with Emory. She can be my date,” Riley decided.

  I shot a glance at her and shook my head. “No, Riley. You don’t need to do that. If there’s someone you want to ask, then ask.”

  A blush spread across her cheeks.

  My eyebrows shot up. I was being honest, but I was also just trying to be polite. I hadn’t really thought that Riley had anyone in mind. Come to think of it, my normally boy crazy cousin had been abnormally disinterested lately.

  Or maybe, I suddenly realized, she had a special interest that had been demanding all of her attention.

  “Are you seeing someone?” I demanded. I perched my elbows on the table and leaned in close. I grinned at her expectantly.

  Casey and Melanie swung their heads her way. They looked as surprised by the possibility as I felt.

  Riley’s blush continued to deepen. She shook her head then reached for her drink. She slowly took a sip of soda before placi
ng it back on the table. “No,” she confirmed when she realized we were all still watching her.

  My lips twitched in a smile. “But you’re interested in someone.” It wasn’t really a question because I could tell by the way she dropped her gaze that she was. If it was anyone other than Riley, I might’ve dropped my inquisition. However, my dear, sweet cousin never seemed to think twice about putting me on the spot. I was so rarely ever able to turn the favor.

  She lifted her gaze to mine. Her lips pinched into a sour expression.

  I bounced my shoulder off of hers a few times. I was right. I was sure of it. “Come on. Who is he?”

  She shook her head rapidly. “It’s no one.”

  “You little liar,” Melanie said with a gleeful smile.

  “You guys!” Casey said with a laugh. “Leave the poor girl alone. Maybe she’s just hit a dry spell and doesn’t want to talk about it.”

  Riley flicked her gaze to Casey. “Yes. That’s it,” she said with a smile.

  I didn’t buy Casey’s theory for a second. I knew my cousin. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t realized it sooner. I tried to think back, wondering who the last guy was that Riley had mentioned to me.

  I groaned when I remembered. Dr. Douglas. That’s the comment that came to mind: That man is…Hmmmm.

  Riley’s little hum usually meant one thing. She was either mentally undressing him or something even more questionable.

  It was always apparent that Riley was eying him up in Ethics. How ironic because if she was interested in a teacher-student relationship, I had a hunch our Ethics professor might not be a guy willing to be perused. That might actually be a good thing because my cousin could be very persistent. If she was lusting after a professor, I only hoped it was one that wouldn’t be interested. No one, as far as I was concerned, needed that kind of complication. College was tough enough.

  “What?” she asked as she tossed Melanie’s cookie wrapper at me.

  I shook my head. I hadn’t realized I’d been giving her a narrow-eyed look. “Nothing,” I said airily. I knew I was wearing a smug smile, but I couldn’t seem to make it disappear. Maybe I didn’t want to.

  Melanie pulled a comically offended face. “Riley, what are you keeping from us? You know we share everything with you.”

  It was kind of fun to finally feel like I was getting under Riley’s skin as opposed to her always edging under mine.

  “Whatever you’re thinking, stop,” she commanded. She swung a finger first at Melanie but then jabbed it my way. I tried not to laugh. “I can almost guarantee that whatever thoughts are bouncing around in your head right now, are wrong.”

  “Okay,” I said with a shrug.

  She scowled at me because she knew better. I wasn’t going to put it out of my head just because she said so. I wasn’t sure I could put it out of my head even if I wanted to. Judging by the pouty and concerned way she was looking at me, I was almost positive I was on to something.

  Melanie clicked her tongue in amusement. “Not buying it, Riley. Someone clearly has a secret crush. Judging by the look on Emory’s face, I think she just figured out who it is.”

  Casey raised an eyebrow at Riley. She wore a questioning smile.

  I got up from the table. I had an assignment I wanted to check over one more time. As much as I was enjoying picking on her, I was pretty sure that Melanie and Casey would keep it up on my behalf. Unlike me, none of these three had class for another hour.

  “Just promise me one thing,” I said as seriously as I could.

  “What?” she asked warily.

  “Be careful. Older men can be trouble.”

  I heard Melanie’s sharp, amused gasp.

  Casey scoffed.

  I glanced over my shoulder and grinned at Riley as I walked away.

  She was staring after me in stony silence.

  I shook my head, hoping I was wrong.

  An Ethics professor?

  I hoped my cousin had more sense than that.

  ***

  I was still thinking about Riley, hoping the girl would use some common sense when it came to her love interest, when I made my to the doors that led outside. I had to stop myself from getting too concerned. It could be that I was way, way off base. She hadn’t admitted to anything. Not really. Yet, I knew there had to be some reason she was keeping quiet. Riley was never shy about her love interests. That’s probably why it ate away at my curiosity even more.

  As I pushed one of the double doors open the muggy air that smacked me in the face was a clear indication that summer was well on its way. I loved this weather. Soon, it would be so hot and muggy it would be miserable. But this time of year, it was perfect.

  I rounded the corner of the building and nearly bumped into Noah.

  “Oh, hi,” I said.

  “Hi,” he parroted as he readjusted the straps of his backpack.

  I glanced around. A few people were on the way to class already but I was about ten minutes early. The mad dash for most people wouldn’t start for at least another five minutes.

  “I’m just heading to class,” I unnecessarily pointed out.

  “Me too,” Noah said.

  We stood there for a moment.

  “I’m headed to Stanton Hall, so I’ll just…,” I motioned in the direction of the three story brick building that loomed in the distance.

  “Yeah, I know. I’m headed that way too,” he admitted haltingly.

  My feet started to move and to my surprise, his did too. Or maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised. We were, after all, headed the same direction.

  “Wait. Did you say you know I’m headed to Stanton?”

  He nodded as his face puckered into a look of indecision.

  “How do you know? You’ve seen me?” Odd, I thought, because I’d never seen him. I abruptly realized that maybe it wasn’t odd at all. “You knew I had class in that building so you’ve been avoiding me.” I didn’t wait for him to affirm my suspicions. “Do you head to class early every day?”

  He glanced at me and for just a second, he looked apologetic. “I do. But I like to read through my notes. It’s a statistics class, and it’s not my favorite. If I get there early it gives me a few minutes to review.”

  Noah was an accounting major. His dad owned the largest accounting firm in the area. For as long as I’d known him, he’d planned on following in his dad’s footsteps. I thought some of my business classes were going to be hard, but I was pretty sure that some of Noah’s accounting classes were even harder.

  The statistics classes were notoriously tough.

  “Right,” I said as I sighed.

  “Okay, fine,” Noah blurted. “Maybe I get there early so we don’t bump into each other. But if I do, it’s only so that we can avoid tense conversations like this one. I thought I was doing us both a favor.”

  I shook my head. “Ignoring me is not doing me any favors.” I focused on the three story brick building that was straight ahead.

  “Em?”

  I glanced at him but quickly pulled my gaze away.

  “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. It’s just that I saw you the first day of classes. You were a ways ahead of me. Seeing you, when it had been a few months since I’d seen you last, it was like a kick in the gut. I wasn’t ready to talk to you to then. I do get to class early so I can look over my notes. My Stats class totally sucks.”

  I let out a small laugh. I wanted to lighten the mood. Noah and I had enough strain between us. I didn’t want to add to it. Not if I could help it.

  “I get it,” I assured him. It hurt to know that he’d been going out of his way to avoid me. Yet I wasn’t really surprised and I didn’t really blame him. “So now?”

  This time he let out a laugh but he didn’t sound amused either. “I’m still going to go to class early. I’m kind of in the habit.”

  “That’s not what I was asking. Are you still going to go out of your way to avoid me?”

  “Other than going to this class early?�
� he shook his head. “No. These last few months I’ve kind of gotten used to seeing you around. To be honest, it was kind of nice seeing you at Clarice’s yesterday. I mean, I’ve seen you around but…”

  I nodded. “Clarice’s was a nice ice-breaker.”

  “Exactly,” he agreed.

  We’d been walking around for so many months trying to stay out of each other’s way that it had just become natural. Even if I didn’t like it. It had started to feel like a habit and I, for one, was happy to break it.

  “I enjoyed talking to you yesterday,” I admitted. “I would really like it if we could at least be friends.”

  He bit the inside of his cheek for a second. “Sure, why not?”

  We reached the door of Stanton and Noah held it open for me. Once inside the hallway, he veered to the left, to the staircase.

  “Going up,” he told me as he motioned toward it. “I guess I’ll see you around.”

  “Yeah, see you,” I said.

  He turned and walked away. I stood there watching him and luckily, he never looked back. I missed him and talking to him the past two days had made me miss him even more. Noah and I used to talk for hours.

  I wanted that back.

  I hoped that at least a small part of him did too.

  If only I could figure out a way to make him realize it.

  Chapter THREE

  “How is school going?” Adelaide wondered.

  “It’s going surprisingly well,” I said.

  I’d been at her house for nearly an hour. Noah’s confession from a few days ago had left me feeling concerned. Tonight, however, Adelaide seemed like her lively self. I hoped that they’d been able to adjust her medication.

  “I don’t know why you would think it’s surprising,” she scoffed. “I’m sure you’re working hard.”

  She was right. I was working hard. I’d learned from my mistakes. When my dad had walked out on our family my junior year of high school, followed by my brother’s death a year later, I’d let my grades slip. I hadn’t been very adept at coping with what had happened. My grades had slipped so much in the course of that year and a half that I did not make it into the college of my choice.