Page 20 of The Moment I Knew

“So you keep saying,” he shot back, like it was obvious. “But come on. You’re too… safe. You take it all so seriously. Doesn’t it get tiring?”

“I don’t take it too seriously,” I said, indignantly. “I just care about things. You’d understand if you cared about more than hating everyone.”

He tilted his head, looking almost amused. “One of us needs to take life less seriously, and I’m thinking it’s you.”

I huffed. “And maybe one of us needs to take it more seriously.”

The bathroom door finally flew open and Ainsley stepped out, her hair now swept into a perfect ponytail with a Parkhurst blue ribbon in it and fresh lipstick on her lips. No wonder she was in there for so long—she takes her hair very seriously.

“Sorry, I started with a braid and then I didn’t like it so I—” She stopped talking when her eyes landed on Cole. “Oh.”

For a second, he just stared at me, his chest still rising and falling from our fight. Then his gaze shifted slightly, taking in Ainsley beside me.

“Twins,” he said, more to himself than to us.

Ainsley raised her brows. “Observant.”

“It’s that Northern education.” He lifts a hand and taps his temple. “Keeps me sharp.”

I rolled my eyes. The gym doors burst open down the hall, spilling noise and light into the corridor. A cluster of students poured out, laughing and arguing.

Ainsley took that as her cue. “We should go find seats,” she said, nudging my arm. “Before it gets packed.”

I nodded in agreement, though I didn’t move. My eyes stayed on Cole, almost of their own volition, waiting for him to step away first. He stared right back and for a moment, I thought neither of us were going to move. Not until he finally stuck his hands in pockets and stepped back with a small nod.

“See you around, Princess.” And then just like that, he was gone.

seven

It was a long-standing Novak sibling tradition to go to the local diner, Fifty-Fifty, after any sports event. We didn’t always end up with all four of us here, but we tried to all match up schedules at least once a month for these dinners, and tonight, we were successful.

The neon sign outside buzzed faintly as we pushed through the door into the classic-themed diner. Even though it was a Monday night, the place was packed. Less people than after a soccer or football game, when all the jocks and cheerleaders came here to hang out, but still enough that I wasn’t sure if we’d have to wait a bit for a booth. Luckily, I was proven wrong as we were seated within minutes.

“I’m just saying, volleyball is way more fun to watch than soccer,” Ainsley continued on.

Sebastian balled up a napkin and tossed it at Ainsley. It bounced gently off her cheek, landing on the table in front of her. “That’s absolutely not true. Ask Nora. I bet she’ll agree with me.”

“My friend agree with you over me? I highly doubt it.”

“My girlfriend agreeing with you? I highly doubt it.”

“I have to agree with Ainsley,” I added, dunking a fry in ketchup.

“Of course you do. You’re twins. It’s like an unspoken law,” Sebastian said.

Ainsley and I looked at each other, shrugged simultaneously, and burst into laughter. Lavender just smiled as she took a sip of her milkshake.

It felt good, being here like this. All four of us together, just goofing off, talking trash, laughing. After everything that had happened over the past few months, it felt like maybe we were finally starting to bounce back.

I stole a glance at Sebastian, who was juggling a fry between his fingers like a pro. Then at Lavender, mid-laugh, hair falling into her face. And at Ainsley, smirking with that smug little grin she always got when she won an argument. I wished, just for a second, that things could be exactly like they were before, with Mum and Dad still here together. That the house could be whole again.

The pain in my chest only burned for a second before I drew in a breath, forcing it away. This is why I was secretly visiting dad—to bring us all back together again. The house could be whole again, I knew it. I just needed to remind dad of that too.

As if on cue, my phone buzzed and lit up, flashing with a call on the screen. I immediately snatched it off the table, my heart pounding as if the number across the screen would be incriminating if my siblings saw it. Although I immediately recognized the number as Dad’s, none of them would. Mum had kicked him off the family plan weeks ago, forcing him to get a new number that none of them knew.

It was unusual for him to call me, since he normally preferred to text, so my heart immediately went into overdrive, assuming the worst. What if he’d gotten into a car accident? Or somehow Mum found out I’d been visiting him and he was calling to warn me?

I needed to answer, but to do that, I also had to think fast. It wasn’t like I could tell them who it really was.