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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 away 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.”