Summer

Chapter 8

I turn my head to the side, slightly unready to find what I see.

"Sophia, you there?" Howard calls out when I don't respond.

"Uh, Howard, let me call you right back," I finally say before hanging up. My eyes squint at the pain-in-my-ass standing in front of me. "What do you want?"

"Now, that's no way to greet someone," Noah says as he hovers over my table, gripping the edges with his hands. I can't help but roll my eyes. "Okay, fine," he surrenders once he notices that I'm not in the mood for meaningless banter right now. "So, my friend Justin — that one over there," he nods at the table across the room, "is throwing a massive party at his house tonight and wanted me to invite you."

When my eyes find Justin, he's not even looking my way. Instead, he's scrolling through his phone.

"He has two legs. Is there a reason why he can't come over here and invite me himself?"

Noah chuckles and looks over at Justin before bringing his eyes back to me. "Trust me, I tried telling him that I'm the wrong guy for the mission, but he insisted. He's convinced that I have some sort of weird luck with the ladies."

"I wouldn't call it luck exactly." Noah's nostrils flare, and I'm happy to see that I'm starting to get under his skin. "Anyways," I continue, "it's too bad. You can tell your friend Justin that I can't make it."

"You see, I would, but he's not going to be happy to hear that."

"Well, fortunately for me, that's not my problem." I stack my books vertically against the table, ready to get out of here.

"I'm asking you nicely," he says, which is funny because he's not asking nicely at all. And he's still hovering. "Please come. Think of it as your way of thanking me."

"Thanking you?" I scoff. "For what?"

"For finding your precious journal," he throws a cocky yet adorable smile at me. I swear this kid thinks he deserves a gold medal just for existing.

"See, that's where you're wrong. I don't owe you anything." I look down from his enticing eyes to shut my laptop screen, placing it in its case. I stand up from my chair, but he blocks me in.

"Fine, you don't. But I'm telling you, you'd be missing out big time."

"On what exactly?" I bat my eyelashes, not flirtatiously, but more in an 'enlighten me, please' kind-of way.

"Well, you look like a fun girl behind, you know...all this," he says as he circles his hand in front of my body. "Now's your chance to let loose; show the world what you're made of. That you're not some boring loser who's social life consists of — wait, remind me again, what does it actually consist of?"

"I take it motivational speeches aren't exactly your specialty?"

"On the contrary, but that's besides the point," he says. "If it helps, you can bring Cassie."

"You know Cassie?" I cross my arms in front of my stomach and ask in a surprised tone.

"I know she's your cousin." I cock one eyebrow, and he goes on to explain further. "It's a small town. Everyone knows everything about everybody." I keep my arms crossed because I don't know what else to do. "So, what do you say? Can I tell my boy you'll be there?"

"On one condition," I tell him, and his eyes glisten.

"What's that?"

I want to get him good; I just don't know what I want from him yet, so I squint my eyes and smirk. "Let me get back to you on that."

He gives me another cocky grin before taking off, and something tells me that he didn't take our little pact as a threat whatsoever.