Page 119 of The Kissing Booth
Funny thing was, though, I didn’t really believe him.
We got to Starbucks soon after eight, since there was a little traffic. I could see Noah’s bike parked outside. I made a mental note to call Lee to come pick me up before accepting a ride back from Noah – if he even offered...
‘Just send me a text if you want me to come get you, okay?’ Lee told me softly as we walked up to the door. I nodded and went inside, my eyes raking the room nervously. I saw a hand go up: Noah was at a table toward the back, tucked in by the window.
Lee squeezed my arm. ‘You’ll be fine, Shelly. Besides... he doesn’t deserve you.’
I laughed, but it sounded forced. ‘I’ll talk to you later, Lee.’
He gave me a military salute and I turned to face Noah, walking over with my chin held high.
He looked even more handsome than usual. Maybe it was because I realized how I felt about him, or maybe it was because I was on the verge of being dumped by him. His hair was windswept, and he was wearing dark-wash jeans and a plain white T-shirt, his beaten old leather jacket on top. He actually stood up when I reached him, which surprised me.
I could almost hear Lee saying, ‘Ooh, look who turned Noah into a gentleman!’ with a nudge in the ribs.
‘Hey,’ Noah said, sounding a little flustered and breathless. ‘Uh, sit down.’
So I sat down. We both started speaking at the same moment, then stopped, then started again.
‘You go first,’ we said unanimously. He cracked a half-smile, half-smirk, and I let out a breath of laughter.
Then a waiter bustled up, some guy in his mid-twenties looking like he was on a caffeine buzz to keep him going through another shift. ‘What can I get you guys?’
‘Uh...’ Were we even staying that long? Or was Noah just going to cut me loose and ride off on his two-wheel death-trap?
‘I’ll have a regular coffee,’ he told the guy. Then he pointed a finger at me and said, ‘And she’ll have a half-fat latte with whipped cream on top.’
The guy scribbled on his pad, nodding away, and said, ‘Great. I’ll get those for you right away.’
Once he was gone, all I could say was, ‘How do you know my coffee order?’
‘You had one before. It was a weird order – I guess that’s why I remembered it.’
‘Oh.’ I was shocked – but shocked in a good way. This guy couldn’t be about to break up with me, could he?
I so, so badly wanted to believe Lee had been right; that his brother really was whipped. But...
But.
There was always a ‘but’.
I didn’t say anything, and neither did Noah. We just waited silently until our coffees came, and then he just took a sip and leaned back in his chair, one leg crossed up on his knee, an arm slung over the back of the chair.
I didn’t bother sipping my latte yet; it would only scald my tongue. I wasn’t willing to burn all my taste buds off my tongue, even if there was an awkward silence.
Then, at last, he decided to speak. ‘Look, we need to talk.’
‘Are you breaking up with me?’ I blurted, unable to hold the question in any longer.
He sighed, and my heart dropped away. I felt deflated, seeing the look on his face.
‘Listen, Elle, I want you to hear me out, okay?’
I nodded – what else could I do?
‘I’ve been offered a place at Harvard. On the Computer Science course there.’
‘Harvard... like, Harvard in Massachusetts?’
