Page 19 of The Moment I Knew

He smirked in response, though it didn’t quite land. His jaw was tight, restless, like he wanted to be anywhere but here. He pushed off the wall and stepped toward me, hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket. Up close, I could see the faint shadow under his eyes, the tension still coiled in his shoulders like he hadn’t fully come down from the confrontation in the office.

“What are you doing here?” he asked me. His voice was sharp, direct, demanding.

My spine straightened on instinct. “I’m allowed to be here.”

“Didn’t say you weren’t.”

“There’s a game,” I said. “Girls’ volleyball.”

He glanced past me, toward the gym, then back to me. “I thought Parkhurst kids were too good to come watch a game at Northern.”

“It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make for my sister.”

He huffed a laugh, but before he could say anything, I blurted out, “Were you… in trouble?”

Cole’s mouth curved into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “Does it matter?”

In the grand scheme of things, it really didn’t matter. And I wasn’t sure why I needed to know so badly, but the question was already out and I couldn’t take it back.

I shrugged. “I was just curious.”

“Dangerous thing,” he said. “Curiosity.”

I bristled. “I’m allowed to ask a question.”

“Sure,” he said. “And I’m allowed not to answer.”

We stared at each other for a beat, the air between us charged in a way I didn’t quite understand.

I frowned at him, then glanced at the office door. “Are you… okay?”

He flinched, almost imperceptibly. “I’m fine,” he said. He dragged a hand through his hair and looked at the door behind him. When he turned back around, he shook his head. “They just love the sound of their own voices.”

“You don’t seem fine,” I said.

He laughed, sharp and humorless. “Wow. You’ve talked to me for a total of, what, five minutes? And you’ve already got me figured out.”

“That’s not what I—” I stopped myself. “It just sounded intense.”

“Welcome to public education,” he shrugged.

“You know, you could’ve just waited it out. Nodded, said sorry. They love that.”

Another laugh, this one even sharper. “Aren’t you just the perfect little student?” He took a few more steps, nearly closing the distance between us. I tilted my chin up, not willing to back down from him. He narrowed his eyes. “I didn’t ask for your advice, Princess.”

“I’m just trying to help.”

“Didn’t ask for that either,” he said, and started walking past me toward the exit.

“Sometimes it’s easier not to fight everything,” I said, crossing my arms.

He paused. Turned back slowly. Then studied me, eyes dark and curious, like he’d just walked into a room and found someone trying to see the floor through their own eyes. “Yeah,” he said finally. “You seem like the expert on that.”

I tilted my head. “Excuse me?”

“You,” he said. “All… perfect little everything. You follow the rules. You plan your life out like a syllabus.”

“You don’t know my life,” I said, crossing my arms tighter.