Page 13 of Falling Like Leaves (Bramble Falls #1)

“Ellis, I’m so sorry,” Sloane says breathlessly as she jogs to the flagpole after school on Tuesday. “I forgot drama club starts today.” She hands her keys to me. “You can take the car—shit, no you can’t. Girl, we have to get you your license.”

“I don’t need a license in the city. It’s okay. I’ll just do my homework while I wait.”

“Are you sure? I feel bad that you’re stuck at school,” she says.

“I’d be doing the same thing at home. It’s fine.” I really don’t mind, but I was looking forward to kicking off my boots and lying in bed with my work.

“Okay. I’ll meet you in the commons in an hour and a half, then,” she says. She dashes away, and I head back inside.

Inside, a few stragglers stand around talking. Jake, Cooper, and Slug are hanging with some friends at a table, so I head over there.

“Hey, new girl. What are you still doing here?” Jake asks.

I set my backpack on the table. “Do you still call me new girl because you can’t remember my name?”

“Of course not, Ella,” he says. I punch him in the arm, and he laughs. “I’m kidding! Jeez. It’s Ellis from here on out. But seriously, what are you still doing here?”

I sigh. “Sloane has drama club, so I’m stuck here.” Then an idea occurs to me: “Unless you can give me a ride home?”

Jake frowns. “I have football practice in five minutes. But I could skip.”

“Won’t you be benched for your next game if you skip?” Cooper says.

Jake shoots him a glare that clearly says, Shut the hell up, man, then turns to me. “It’ll be fine. I’ll take you.”

“No, I’ll just wait. It’s not a big deal,” I tell him. I appreciate that he’s willing to miss practice to give me a ride, but it’s really not that important.

“Coop could probably take you,” he says with a shrug. He turns to Cooper. “You’re heading out, right?”

“No,” I say quickly. “I’ll just wait for Sloane.

” Things with Cooper are still confusing.

It’s like we’ve left something unresolved and are dancing around it whenever we talk—even though I don’t know what it is.

I never know where we stand, and, honestly, I really don’t feel like getting emotional whiplash today.

“Nope, let’s go, Mitchell,” Cooper says, slinging my backpack over his shoulder with his own. “I’ll drop you off.”

“You really don’t have to.”

“I know.” He makes his way toward the door. I hesitate for a minute before I sigh and head after him, grateful that my ankle is completely healed as I jog to keep up with his long strides.

“Bye, Ellis !” Jake calls from behind me. I wave and follow Cooper through the double doors outside.

In the parking lot, I hop into his rusty burgundy truck, and he puts our backpacks in the small space between us. He pulls out, and we drive the next few minutes in silence.

Until I can’t take it anymore.

“Can I ask you a question?”

He glances at me. “Okay.”

“Why do you act like you don’t know me at school?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says.

“Cooper.”

“What?”

“Come on. It’s just the two of us. No excuses, no distractions.

Tell me why, after we had a good time at the apple cider tea party, you went back to keeping your distance.

Tell me what I did wrong. Why you have a problem with me,” I say, exasperated.

“I get that I should know, okay? I feel bad that I don’t.

But I can’t fix it if you don’t tell me. ”

Cooper’s knuckles turn white for a second, then his grip on the steering wheel relaxes. “Okay.” He sighs. “When you left, I thought we were friends. I was mad when you ghosted me.”

“Ghosted you? What do you mean?” I ask. “If I recall correctly, we just got busy.”

“No, Ellis. You got busy. You stopped calling me back and would text one-word answers. Then one time I didn’t want you to feel bad for completely ignoring me for a week, so I said it was okay because I had been busy that week too.

And then I never heard from you again. As if me saying I was busy that one time meant it was okay for you to just stop talking to me altogether.

I was…” He takes a breath and shakes his head.

“I was hurt , okay? I felt like you’d been waiting for permission to forget about me.

You coming back just surprised me and brought up a lot of old feelings. ”

My heart sinks. “Cooper…”

He shrugs nonchalantly, but we both know it’s an act. “We were just kids.”

“We were… but I’m still sorry.” I swallow. “And even sorrier that I got too busy to realize what I was doing. I didn’t mean to ghost you.”

He glances at me then back at the road ahead. “It’s fine. Really.”

But it doesn’t feel fine. It feels like I severely messed up something special.

And the worst part is that I didn’t even miss him until I saw him again.

I had forgotten about him.

Cooper pulls up to Aunt Naomi’s house and turns to me.

“Look, we share mutual friends, and it seems we’re going to be running into each other a lot on the weekends.

So it’s not like avoiding you is really an option.

” I frown, and he adds, “But, honestly, you kind of make it impossible to stay mad, anyway.” His lips slant into a seemingly sincere smile.

“We’re good, Ellis. Really. Don’t worry about it. ”

I nod, but I can’t look at him. I can’t offer him a smile. I hurt him enough to make him hold a grudge for the last three years. And I don’t blame him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I mumble as I climb out. “Thanks for the ride.”

“No problem.”

I watch his truck pull away, leaving me standing there, full of regret, wishing I could change the past.

I climb the steps to my room on Friday afternoon and find Mom’s painting hanging on the wall.

I collapse onto my bed and study the highlights and shadows she’s added.

It’s remarkable how she brought a made-up landscape to life, like fictional characters in a book, only she managed to do it in a single still image.

She started her job at the art store last week and has been painting in all her spare time. I’ve never seen her so happy. So alive. Maybe Bramble Falls is good for her. Maybe this is exactly the break she needs in order to be happy at home again.

I still don’t see why I have to be here, though.

I roll onto my back and call Dad’s phone, sighing when he doesn’t answer, even though I figured he wouldn’t. Aside from a few texts—mostly him explaining that he’s busy and promising to call me later—I’ve barely talked to him this past week, despite my many calls.

I’m very well acquainted with his voicemail.

But this time I’m not giving up that easily. I dial his extension at Street Media.

“Brad Mitchell’s office,” his assistant answers.

“Hey, Kara. It’s Ellis.”

“Oh! Hi, Ellis! How’s your vacation going?”

What.

Dad seriously told everyone I’m on vacation ? So they’ll think I’m the type of person who just blows off a job to take an extended trip?

“It’s… okay,” I reply through clenched teeth. “Is my dad around? I couldn’t reach him on his cell.”

“He’s not, unfortunately. Is this an emergency? I might be able to reach him….”

“Oh no. No need to do that. Do you know when he’ll be back?”

She clicks around on her computer. “He has his schedule blocked off until four o’clock, but he’s at the club with Mr. Gableman, who, as you know, loves to hear himself talk. Plus, he’s showing his new intern the ropes, so I imagine he might be gone a bit longer.”

The wind is knocked out of me. “His… new intern?”

“Talia, yes. Has he not told you about her?” Kara says. “She’s only been here a week and a half, but she’s fantastic. She’s a sophomore in college. Very driven girl. And a fast learner.”

“I see,” I say, although I barely hear myself through the whooshing in my ears.

“Of course, you’ll always be our favorite, though,” Kara adds.

I squeeze my stinging eyes closed.

“Right. Okay, well, thank you, Kara.”

“Any time. I’ll let him know you called,” she says.

I nod even though she can’t see me, and I hang up.

Dad didn’t waste any time replacing me. After telling me my internship would be waiting for me when I get back.

He found time to hire someone else—someone with more availability because she’s in college, someone fantastic and driven— but he hasn’t found time to call me back.

He hasn’t found time to even ask how I’m doing here.

Which, at the moment, isn’t great.

But I refuse to lie here and cry.

I crawl out of bed and head downstairs. Sloane and Asher are in the living room eating Pop-Tarts with notes scattered in front of them.

I should be doing homework, too. But I need a distraction, and there’s no way I can focus on school right now.

“Hey,” Sloane says, her head tilted. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. You guys want to go get dinner?” I ask.

Asher taps his phone, and the screen lights up. “At three fifty p.m.?”

I bite my lip. “An early dinner.”

“I can only eat dinner today if someone is spoon-feeding me while I highlight,” Sloane says, gesturing at her notes. “I copied these from Asher. I haven’t actually paid attention in class since school started, and we have our first quiz Monday.”

“But it’s Friday,” I say.

“Oh, that’s rich coming from you,” she says with a laugh. “We won’t have enough time to study this weekend with the fall events on both days, so we’re cramming now instead.”

“Sorry,” Asher says. “Mr. Winston is notoriously hard. I don’t want to start off in a hole I have to dig myself out of.”

“It’s okay.” I head over to the door and slip on my black leather boots.

“You’re going alone?” Sloane asks, her eyebrows skyrocketing up her forehead.

I shrug. “Yeah.” I get how shocking it must be for Sloane, a girl with a plethora of friends, but I’m used to being alone. I don’t mind it.

Usually, anyway.

“You don’t have to do that,” she says, clearly rattled by the idea. “I can order takeout. You can hang out with us and do homework.”

I offer her a smile, hoping she doesn’t feel bad, and open the front door. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine. Good luck studying.”

As soon as I’m outside, I unlock my phone and begin scrolling through my contacts, suddenly wishing I had more friends in Bramble Falls. I scroll until I reach SUMMER COOPER . Even his name in my phone is a reminder of what I threw away.

I sigh. I can’t text him, especially now that I know he has pent-up resentment toward me, despite him saying we’re good. Plus, the last time I asked him to get food with me, he shot me down.

A girl can only take so much rejection.

I scroll back up to Jake’s contact. He might not cause the same heat in my stomach that a glance from Cooper does, but he’s been a great friend since I moved here.

Me: I’m hungry.

Pen Thief Jake: lol try eating?

Me: Eat with me.

Pen Thief Jake: yeah? name the time and place

Me: How’s five minutes? The diner?

Pen Thief Jake: oh shit ok might be closer to 15 but ill be there