Chapter 1
MILA
Mila 15; Jase 19
My eyes keep darting to the clock on the wall. The last couple of minutes feel like forever as I wait for the bell to ring.
I asked Jase to come pick me up after school so we can talk. It’s taken me months to gather the courage to tell Jase I’m in love with him. At first, I thought it would be enough to dream about him, but my feelings kept growing until all I could think about was Jase.
Dreams are no longer enough. I want the real thing with him, and I’m hoping he’ll feel the same way.
Staring out the window at the pouring rain, my thoughts are consumed with all things Jase. I keep reassuring myself I’m doing the right thing.
Jase always hugs you longer than the other girls in our group.
You’re the only one he kisses on the forehead.
You’re the only one he’s always teasing.
It has to mean something, right?
The shrill sound of the bell yanks me out of my thoughts, and I rush to grab my bag. I’m the first one up and out of the classroom.
“Mila,” Jade calls from behind me. “Wait for me.”
Reluctantly, I stop and wait for my cousin to catch up with me.
“Fallon ran to the office quickly. Let’s wait inside for her.”
“You can go ahead. I have other plans.”
Jade, Fallon, and Hana have been my best friends since forever. I didn’t tell them I’m planning on declaring my love for Jase. I’m scared they’d try to talk me out of it.
We’ve all grown up as a tight-knit group of friends, and with Jase being Fallon’s cousin, it might complicate things even more.
“Oh?” Jade frowns at me. “What plans? You didn’t mention this before.”
I shrug and begin to walk backward. “It’s nothing. I’ll catch you later.”
Before Jade can ask more questions, I dart down the hallway and burst through the doors. Using my bag to cover my head from the rain, I quickly make my way to the parking area while my gaze darts from car to car, looking for Jase’s.
When I don’t see his vehicle anywhere, I take cover under a tree. He’s probably just late because of the rain.
I hear screeching laughter, and when I see Jade, Fallon, and Hana run toward Fallon’s car, I duck behind the tree so they won’t see me.
As soon as they drive away, I step forward to have a clear view of the entrance for when Jase pulls in.
The minutes slowly begin to tick away, and with each one, a disappointing feeling sinks heavier into my stomach.
After waiting for thirty minutes, my disappointment begins to change into anger.
How could Jase forget?
Not caring I’ll get wetter than I already am, I begin to walk. Jase lives in the same neighborhood as me, and I decide to stop by his house before going home.
I’m determined to talk with him because I can’t keep weaving dreams around him if nothing will come from them.
To make my crappy day worse, the rain comes down harder, and by the time I reach Jase’s house, I not only look like a drowned cat, but I’m also freezing my butt off.
I walk around the mansion to the chalet Jase moved into when he turned eighteen. He had to beg his parents to let him move out of the main house, but like with everything else in his life, he got what he wanted.
When I step onto the porch, I set my bag aside, and first, try to squeeze the water from my hair.
Maybe I should first go home and get changed.
“No,” I whisper. If I go home now, I’ll chicken out completely. I lift my hand to the door, and I’m just about to knock when I hear a girl giggle from inside.
A frown rumples my forehead as dread begins to spin a web around my heart. Not wanting to make a fool of myself, I inch closer to the window and peek inside. When I see Jase sitting on his couch with a girl straddling him, my heart cracks right down the middle. He grins at her in a way he’s never looked at me before, and then he wraps a hand around the back of her neck and pulls her down into a heated kiss, and it splinters my dreams to shards.
Stupid, Mila!
I grab my bag and run away from the truth I never wanted to see.
Jase just thinks of me as a friend.
Two more girls come dashing around the side of the house, and I freeze. They’re laughing as they try to avoid getting wet, and I recognize them from school. They were in Jase’s senior class.
Before I can search for a place to hide in the perfectly landscaped garden, the door to Jase’s chalet opens. My broken heart begins to thunder in my chest, and my insides tighten with nerves.