Page 20 of The Love Interest

“Great. Come on, I’ll show you to class. You’ve got Mr. Corhedge, and he’s a grumpy little troll. You definitely don’t want to be late on your first day or he’ll make you pay for it for the rest of the year.”

Together, we walk through the double doors and enter a long hallway. Wasn’t she going somewhere? I should ask her where she was—

STOP!It’s Kaylee.Don’t be a freaking idiot! If she remembers where she was going she’ll leave and you’ll lose some time with her.

I press my lips together. Inside, students are bustling around, grabbing books from lockers or heading toward classrooms. A girl with a huge tumble of curly hair and a thin Asian guy are holding hands in front of the boys’ bathroom. They’re staring into each other’s eyes, and they seem so focused on each other that I bet I could scream at them and they wouldn’t even notice. Will I ever have that with Juliet? Will I ever be able to look at her without thinking about the fact that we only met because I’m a Love Interest?

“Do you have your locker yet?” she asks as she stops in front of one and opens it. Inside all the books are sorted alphabetically. A black-and-white picture of a man and a woman, presumably her parents, is stuck on the back of the door. “If you don’t, you’ll need to go to the principal’s office before class. Have you done that yet?”

I’m out of script!

Improvise, man! Use words!

“Is something wrong, Caden?”

“No, I’m fine. It’s all a little overwhelming, that’s all. And no, I haven’t, I only just got here.”

She looks down at her watch. “I know the feeling. Head down the hall and take the first right. The door at the end of that hallway is his office. Sign in and head to class.”

“Will do.”

She bites her bottom lip. “See you around, Caden. I can’t wait to properly catch up.”

“Neither can I.”

She grins, then spins and makes her way down the hall. As she walks, the people around her glance at her. A surge of protectiveness flares in my chest. Is this love? Is this what it feels like?

After being signed in by the principal—a short, balding man with an overly firm handshake—I’m assigned a locker. When I find it, I see it’s right next to Juliet’s. Of course it is.

The next time I run into her is during lunch. She’s sitting at the far end of the courtyard in the shade of the school’s chapel. She’s sitting with her back against the stone wall, next to a thin black girl who could easily be a model.

I walk up to Juliet. “Hey.”

Juliet smiles. Damn, she’s pretty. I got lucky. Who knows, maybe in time I could actually fall for her.

“Hi, Caden.”

“Well, hello,” says the could-be-model girl. “Where have you been hiding my whole life?”

“Natalie!” says Juliet. “He’s not a piece of meat.”

Oh yes I am.

“Not hiding,” I say, fidgeting. “Just on the other side of the country. I’m Caden, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

She ignores me and turns to Juliet. “He’s nottheCaden, is he?”

Juliet looks me in the eye. She squints in the brilliant sunlight. I can feel the warmth on the back of my neck. “The one and only.”

“Now I know why you wouldn’t shut up about him.” Natalie turns to me. “Wait, is he blushing? That’s so adorable I think I’m going to die on the spot!”

Juliet pushes herself up off the wall. “Come on, Caden. Let’s catch up.”

We stop in the corner of the playground and sit down on a long silver bench in the sunlight. She turns to face me.

“Caden, I need you to fill me in. What happened after you left? You never responded to my messages and…” Her voice trails off. “Sorry. I wanted to be friendly. But man, that was so unlike you. Whenever I’d check my in-box I’d hope that there would be a message from you, saying hi. That’s all I wanted. What I got was four years of radio silence and a bunch of shitty feelings. And then you show up at school with no warning? What’s the deal with that?”

I scratch the inside of my palm. “Mom said I was never coming back. She told me it was best to forget about you, so that’s what I tried to do. I know it doesn’t excuse my behavior, and I’m sorry I didn’t reply, but I didn’t handle being away from you that well.”