Page 38 of Falling Like Leaves (Bramble Falls #1)

Cooper jumps up fast . I’m climbing to my feet after him as Slug turns the corner. His eyes bounce between us as Jake’s giant flashlight shines like a spotlight.

“Oh shit,” he mutters.

Even in the dark, I can see Jake’s jaw clenching, his nostrils flaring. He shakes his head, speechless, before grabbing a whistle from his pocket and blowing it, presumably to alert anyone else searching that we’ve been found.

“Let’s go,” he says, looking at his map. Probably just to avoid looking at us.

Cooper takes a step toward him. “Jake—”

“Not now,” Jake says. He shoots me a glare and turns around. My whole chest collapses in on itself.

He shouldn’t have found out this way.

Cooper glances at me before following a few strides behind Jake.

I walk beside Slug. No one says a word as the minutes drag on.

And then: “And to think I was worried when Sloane called and said no one could find Ellis,” Jake says, eventually breaking the silence. “Turns out she was in great hands.”

Cooper lets out an agonizing sigh. “I didn’t—”

“No. You don’t get to talk, Coop. Not tonight,” Jake says.

Beside me, Slug shakes his head, but no one says anything else the rest of the way back.

By the time we all walk out of the corn maze, roughly fifteen people are waiting for us.

Mom flies over and throws her arms around me. “Oh, thank goodness. I was so worried.”

“I’m fine. It’s just a corn maze in Bramble Falls,” I say. “There’s not a whole lot that could have happened to me.”

She lets go. “Um, it’s freezing. Plus, there are coyotes and bobcats around here.”

If Cooper didn’t look so wrecked and Jake weren’t so upset, I’d probably laugh at how similar Mom and I are.

But I can’t think of anything besides my whole life imploding right now.

Sloane runs over. “Now that I know you’re alive, I’m so excited to get to say, ‘Told you so.’?” She laughs, but when I don’t (because I can’t), her smile fades. “Oh no.” She glances at the boys. “Sleeping in my room tonight?”

I nod, and Mom narrows her eyes at us. “Why? What’s going on? What am I missing?”

“Nothing,” Sloane says. “Let’s get home.”

My eyes connect with Cooper’s as his mom finally releases him from a tight hug. Then I turn and follow Mom and Sloane over to Aunt Naomi, and we all walk to the car.

We pull out, and I rest my head against the cold window.

How can everything be so wonderful and so awful at the same time?

The next morning, I make my way to the town square, where I’ve asked Jake to meet me. I’d rather chew off my own hand than have this conversation, but it has to be done eventually. And I’m leaving for New York soon. I don’t want to leave on a sour note.

I realize there’s not much I can do about their friendship, but I don’t want to leave with things messed up between him and Cooper, either.

Jake’s sitting on the steps of the gazebo, scrolling on his phone, wearing jeans and a black jacket over a red-and-black flannel. He doesn’t bother looking up when I sit next to him.

I bite my lip nervously. Because it doesn’t matter how many times I cycled through the things I wanted to say. Now that I’m here, my brain is blank.

“Say what you have to say, Ellis,” Jake says, finally hitting the button on the side of his phone and setting it on the ground beside him.

“I don’t know what to say,” I blurt. “Other than I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for exactly?” He sighs.

“Cooper and I should have told you we liked each other.”

“No. As one of my best friends, Cooper should have told me he was into you. You didn’t owe me anything. You’re just some girl passing through here,” he says, shrugging.

Ouch.

“Maybe. But I still consider us friends,” I say.

He scoffs. “Yeah, well, you did make it clear we were going to homecoming as friends when you agreed to go with me. I guess I was just an idiot for thinking we might become more eventually.”

“I’m sorry. I never meant to lead you on.”

He shakes his head. “That’s the thing. You didn’t.

I thought a lot about it last night, and it’s hard to be mad at you because you didn’t do anything.

You never said you liked me. You never did anything to give me the impression you ever would.

It was just irrational hope, I guess.” He finally turns to me.

“But you didn’t have to say yes to the Pumpkin Prom. ”

“I wanted to say yes,” I tell him. It’s half true. If I couldn’t go with Cooper, I did want to go with Jake—as a friend I have a lot of fun with.

“Ellis, you like someone else. I’m not going to hold you to going with me.”

“I’m not bailing on you again, Jake,” I say. “You’re not an obligation to me.”

“Yeah, I know. But I like y ou. And it’s okay that you don’t like me back, but spending the night at prom with someone who’d rather be there with someone else doesn’t sound all that fun, to be honest.”

I nod. “Okay,” I whisper.

Jake rests his elbows on his knees. “How long have you two…”

“We haven’t,” I say quickly. “I met Cooper when I visited one summer in middle school. We became really close friends and then had a falling out. Then I—”

Jake’s posture stiffens. “Wait. You’re the girl?”

“Huh?”

Jake digs his palms into his eyes. “No fucking way.”

“What’s happening right now?”

“Unbelievable.” Jake shakes his head and looks at me.

“I moved here freshman year. Cooper and I were nothing alike, but he was nice and befriended me, introduced me to everyone. But all he ever talked about was this girl he’d spent the summer with.

It was so annoying,” he laughs. “But then he got all quiet and sad because she stopped texting him. I was so glad when he started dating Chloe because I really thought it’d pull him out of his slump. But it didn’t. Only time did.”

I turn and look at my feet, ashamed that I was such an asshole.

“Why wouldn’t he tell me you were the girl?” Jake asks.

“Because you liked me. He was afraid of upsetting you. Of ruining your friendship.”

“But if he’d told me from the get-go…”

“Things between us were rocky and complicated. He wasn’t trying to keep anything from you. He wanted you to be happy.” I meet Jake’s icy blue eyes. “We never intended to fall for each other.”

“You say that, but there was never any other choice for Cooper.” Jake’s gaze travels to the Caffeinated Cat. “This is really messed up.”

“Yeah.” I pull my scarf tighter. “Do you hate me?”

Jake looks at me, his eyes softening. “No. I’m not even mad at you. I just… wish I’d known I didn’t stand a chance.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“Are we still friends?” I ask. “Or should I be keeping my distance until I go back home? Because I really don’t want to do that, but I will if it’s what you want.”

Jake hangs his head, and every second he doesn’t answer feels like a new shard of glass is wedging its way into my heart. I hate this.

Finally, he sighs. “It’s going to suck seeing you and Cooper together, but no, don’t keep your distance. I’m not going to throw away a friendship because you don’t like me.” He gives me a slight smile. “Even though it makes no sense because I’m a catch.”

I grin, a little weight lifting from my shoulders. “You know, you really are. If Cooper weren’t in the picture—”

“Oh? ’Cause he’s one of my best friends, but I’ll murder him right now.”

I laugh, and Jake smiles at me. “Please don’t.” After a beat of silence, I bump his shoulder with mine. “Thank you for understanding.”

“Yeah,” he says. Because what else is there to say?

“Are you going to talk to him?” I ask.

“Cooper? He’s only called and texted about six hundred times today. I guess I could hit him up.”

“Whenever you’re ready.”

He chews the inside of his cheek and looks out across the lawn.

I nudge him with my elbow. “Have I mentioned I’m sorry?”

“Yes, now please don’t mention it again.”

“Okay.”

We part ways, and as Jake heads toward the Caffeinated Cat, I walk home to wait to hear from Cooper for the first time since last night.

And I cross my fingers that when he calls, it won’t be to say we made another mistake.