The Prince and the Bookworm

Chapter 19

The next day Cole and I were sitting in the cafeteria, eating lunch and working on homework. He was busy trying to make me laugh when my phone vibrated, reverberating across the table.

He glanced at my phone before resuming his work. I picked up my phone, my happy spirits sinking as I read it.

Sorry, got the flu. Can't make it 2nite

The text was from Dallas. Mark was coming over for dinner tonight so he could get to know me better, and I wanted Dallas to "coincidentally" be there. I was going to ask Cole, but he wasn't as good as an adult charmer as Dallas was. I must have been staring at my screen a long time, cause Cole spoke.

"Whose that?"

"Oh, uh, nobody. Just a friend." I stammered, putting my phone back down on the table.

"Really?" Cole asked, as though the idea was preposterous. "Who's the new friend?" He asked again, and I couldn't help but want to snap at him to stop being nosy. But whenever I got rude that's when things usually started to go wrong so I refrained.

When I didn't speak Cole's eyes turned cold. "It's Dallas." He said, stating it like a fact, not a question. He scoffed bitterly.

"Cole, come on. I know we've been fighting, but that doesn't mean Dallas and I are never going to be friends."

"He's a jerk, Sadie. You saw that about him the other day."

Funny, that's the same thing he said about you.

"Well you were a jerk too, after I accidentally forgot our library meet up."

"That's different." Cole retorted.

"How?" My voice was gentle, but I couldn't pry a response out of him. When he didn't say anything, I continued. "Look, Dallas is a good friend. Just a friend. And although it is adorable," I paused to tap his nose. "When your jealous, please stop. Your wasting your energy."

"Promise your not secretly cheating on me with the most popular guy in school?" Cole asked, and I smiled, grabbing his hand.

"I promise." I gave him a squeeze before he grinned, returning back to the Cole that I agreed to go out with.

Not the Cole that went crazy every time the name Dallas was spoken.

I didn't like that guy.

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I was on the computer that evening when there was a knock at the door. I looked up from the screen. My mom hit the wall in her bedroom three times, loud enough for me to hear. I groaned. That was her signal for me to either answer the door or phone because she was busy. I set the computer aside, standing to my feet. I didn't know if I should feel slightly nervous.

This was a guy that may be a threat to my dad. I should have felt threatened, but I didn't. I actually kind of liked him. I wanted him to like me too. I opened the door, calling on a smile.

"Hey." I answered, stepping aside so he could come in. He replied a quick greeting before entering. I closed the door, and once I turned back around I saw Mark with a Hershey's bar of chocolate in his hand. He was extending that hand towards me.

At first, I wasn't sure what he was doing. Did he actually get me something? I hesitated before reaching my hand out and accepting it.

"Um, aren't you supposed to be getting my mom chocolate?" I asked, not meaning to sound ungrateful. He chuckled and removed his other hand from behind his back. It revealed a whole box a chocolate with a tiger lily flower tied to it.