Chance Of Rain (14 page)

“Well, I gotta go. My mom will be worried if I’m not home soon.”

It felt like he didn’t want me to go. He looked like he wanted to say something. But he didn’t. He simply nodded that he understood. I waited for him to let go of my door. Eventually he did and sent me off with a little wave.

Through my rearview mirror, I saw that he followed me home. He sat on the street until I went in, and then he drove off.

XVI

90 %

B
ri picked me up for school. I’d texted her the night before and asked her to come early so we could grab a coffee and doughnuts, and I could fill her in on how brunch had gone with my mother.

“You look tired,” Bri commented when I got in her car.

“Mack asked me to work last night.”

“That sucks. You should’ve come to the picnic instead. That’s what Cole and I did. It was so romantic.”

“I did get to see Trent for a little bit.”

“Oh, really? Do tell.”

“Well, first I had Angel walk me to my car.”

“Oh, really?”

“Would you stop that? It was because I was parked far away. I didn’t want to walk alone. Anyway, when we got to my car, Trent was there. He asked me if I wanted to do something. I didn’t know what to do. I mean, I wanted to be with him, but the whole thing with him and my parents and Chase. I just told him no.”

“You told him
no
?”

“Yeah. I just told him I was tired. I told Erica the same thing a little while before that.”

“She asked you to do something
again
?”

“Yeah. Poor girl. She’s gonna end up hating me.”

“Did you tell him that you saw him with Chase or ask why your parents have his digits in their cells?”

“No, I’m sticking to our plan. If he’s lying, I wanna know. So, I’ll have to find out on my own.” I sighed.

“What are you thinking?”

“I gave him plenty of time to mention that he had lunch with Chase, but he never said a word. Not one word.”

Bri was quiet for a while. She knew how hard I’d fallen for Trent.

“Well, it’s like you said before—maybe there’s a good reason for all this. Meanwhile…” She raised her brows and cut her eyes at me. “Do you want to do a little investigating tonight?”

I smiled. “What do you have in mind?”

Bri pulled into Crystal Doughnut. I got a potato, egg, and cheese wrap, and she got a raspberry-filled doughnut. We both ordered a large coffee. We sat at a picnic table outside, where we’d have more privacy.

Bri took a couple of bites, and then she laid out her plan. “First of all, we need to find out where that boy lives.”

“Should I just ask him?”

She looked at me like I was stupid. “Uh…well, he hasn’t told you so far. What makes you think he wants you to know?”

“OK. OK. So how do you want to go about doing this?”

“Let’s keep it simple. We’ll follow him in my mom’s car.”

“I like the way you think, woman,” I said.

“Of course you do.”

The best I could offer Trent today was a tiny half smile. It wasn’t much more than a twitch of my lip. I chose a safe beanbag between Bri and the wall. The bags were arranged in a half circle, and I wanted to keep to myself as much as possible.

Ms. Elliott could have been speaking Mandarin for all I knew. I couldn’t pay attention.

“Kayla, please be a dear and pass out our books. We’ll be reading as a class today.” After we each had a copy in hand, she asked, “Do I have any volunteers to read on behalf of our characters?”

I kept my eyes down. A few moments later, the roles were filled. We were starting our Shakespeare unit. Lacey was overly enthusiastic to play Juliet, and a
guy whose name I didn’t even know read the part of Romeo. There were a couple of other parts assigned, but it didn’t involve me. I was thrilled to be all alone.

I was reading along, and content to do so, until I happened to look up and found Trent staring at me. I pretended not to notice and looked back down. No one else noticed either. They were all busy, including Bri, who was participating as well. She was too much of a ham to let an opportunity like this pass her by.

Trent rolled out of his beanbag and walked over to me on his knees. He didn’t say a word. He simply eased himself onto my beanbag and softly laid his head against my shoulder
—
his sweet, adorable head.

With every second my defenses lowered.

He didn’t bother to open his book; we shared mine. I reached up and brushed his dark, wavy hair from his eyes so he could see better. He nudged his head into my arm so that I’d rub his head some more. He was just like a dog. I giggled at the thought, and he looked at me and smiled.

“There it is,” he whispered.

“What?”

“Your smile. You still like me.”

I bit my bottom lip to try to stop smiling.

He grinned. “Too late. I already saw it.”

Trent walked with me to Spanish as usual. He scooted his chair close to mine and looked at me throughout class. He found reasons to touch me as well.

“Hold still,” he said at one point and gently grazed my cheek with his thumb.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I thought you had something on your face.”

“I hope you had fun last week experimenting and familiarizing yourself with a variety of different mediums.” Mrs. Frost looked around the room. “Jack, please refrain from talking while I’m speaking.” She began to address the class again. “We’re going to start our first unit now. It’s regarding the human form.”

I felt Trent’s gaze. Against my better judgment, I glanced at him; he made a silly face, and I laughed.

“Is something funny, Ms. Novak?” asked Mrs. Frost.

Trent looked at me with surprise and almost laughed too.

“It’s Devoe,” I corrected. “No, ma’am.”

Trent raised his brows, and I blushed.

“Your first assignment will be to find a partner, and each of you will take turns drawing one another.
From the shoulders up
,” she emphasized.

The class chuckled. Trent looked at me with a frown and snapped his fingers like,
Oh, darn!

“Settle down. We’re all big boys and girls. I’ll give you lots of class time, but you may wish to see how your partner feels about getting together after school.” She looked at her watch. “I don’t know where the hour goes. We don’t have a lot of time. Let’s get busy.”

Students began to move about. I pushed my chair out and stood up. Trent grabbed my wrist. “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked with a crooked grin.

“You heard Mrs. Frost. We have to find a partner,” I said, acting obtuse.

He grinned and pulled me back into my seat. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“Oh,” I said, trying my best to be coy.

“
I’m
your partner.”

Don’t attack him! Don’t even smile! Control yourself!

“You do realize this could mean we’ll have to spend a substantial amount of time together outside of class, don’t you?” I pointed to the door with my thumb.

A soft smile touched his lips. “I’m counting on it.”

I got my sketchpad and pencil ready then dug my eraser out of my purse.

“What?” I asked him, when I realized he was staring at me the entire time.

“Relax. I’m just studying your features.”

“Who wants to go first?” I asked.

“You draw me first. I’ll just sit here and keep studying
your
form. When you’re ready for a break, I’ll take my turn.”

“Deal,” I said. I flipped to a blank page then looked up at him. He smiled at me, and I returned it. This was going to be harder than I’d thought. I couldn’t concentrate; I was trying not to laugh.

Suddenly his eyes moved down to my mouth. I didn’t feel like laughing anymore. I was nervous. “What are you doing?” I asked quietly. There was so much commotion around us that I was surprised he’d even heard me.

“I’m looking at the arch of your upper lip and the fullness of your bottom lip.”

Feeling self-conscious about my mouth, I nervously licked my lips.

“Hmm,” he moaned. “Very interesting.” Then he grinned. “But you shouldn’t do that, Ashley. You’re making it hard for me to stay focused.”

“Would you stop it?” I whispered. “I’m the one who’s supposed to be sketching
you
right now.”

He behaved for the remaining few minutes of class.

When the bell rang, he leaned over and put his lips to my ear, sending tingles through me. “I’m taking you home,” he said.

He didn’t have to say it twice. I texted Bri and let her know I didn’t need a ride.

We stopped by our lockers for a minute. “I’m going to run to the restroom. I’ll meet you at the car,” I told him.

I went into a stall and called Bri. “Hey,” I said.

“What’s up?”

“Trent’s coming over to my house to work on an assignment.”

“Sounds…
educational
.”

“I’ll text you when he’s about to leave so we can follow him in your mom’s car…sound good?”

“Roger that. Operation Follow Hottie is a go.”

“Thanks! See ya!”

I ran out of the bathroom and smacked right into Trent’s chest.

It startled me. I knew he didn’t hear me talking to Bri—I was really quiet—but I still felt guilty.

“I thought I’d wait.” He smiled. “You ready?”

My mom texted me, asking me to call her. So I did on the ride home. She said she was going to be a little late tonight.
Perfect!

After hanging up with her, I decided to do a little digging. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

“What’s that?” Trent asked in a curious tone. He looked at me for a second then kept his eyes on the road.

“I was wondering what you thought about Chase when you met him the other day at my house.” He didn’t flinch. “You think he seems like a nice guy, or what?”

“My gut tells me he’s a pretty good guy.”

I waited.
No mention of his having known him previously or even having had lunch with him at the Gnarled Oak
.

“You hungry?” he asked me.

“We have everything I need to make spaghetti.” I smiled at him. “I’ll cook for you.”

He smiled back. “Sounds like a plan.”

We carried our backpacks in and threw them onto the kitchen table. We washed up, and then I rounded up everything I’d need. I filled the largest pot I could find with water and set it on the stove to boil. I threw in a pinch of salt and a drizzle of oil and covered it.