Page 38 of Falling Like Leaves
“I, um…”
I try to imagine that night. Everyone else will be there. I’m sure Sloane will go with Asher. Cooper will go with Chloe. Jake and Slug will be there.
And I’ll be sitting at home. Alone.
My brain does a quick catalog of my grades, my upcoming tests, my schedule. I have nothing going on that weekend, andteachers have purposefully not put a test near the big dance. I have no reasonnotto go….
“All right, yeah. Let’s do it,” I tell him.
Jake beams and says, “Really? You’ll be my date?”
“Yeah, why not?” I say, grinning at how his face has lit up. Then I pause, considering the possibility that Jake might think we’re heading in a direction I have no interest in going with him. Just in case, I add, “Why do you seem so surprised? We’re just going as friends. People do that all the time, right?”
“Sure. They do.” Jake reaches over and takes one of my fries. “I guess I sort of figured someone would have already asked you.”
“Because I’m so popular here in Bramble Falls?”
He shrugs. “Because you’re hot.”
I laugh. “Well, I’ll let you know if I decide to trade you for some other, more appealing suitor who might ask me in the coming weeks.”
“More appealing than me? Yeah, right,” he scoffs, and I toss a fry at him, which he catches in his mouth.
Attending my first high school homecoming my senior year is not something I had on my bingo card. Especially not in Bramble Falls. And especially not with Jake Keller.
But I have to admit, even if making friends here is pointless, I’m sort of excited.
Jake and I walk around town, sipping harvest spice lattes while he shows me places I’m already familiar with.
Places that hold memories with Cooper.
But I don’t say anything because Jake’s excited to share his small town with me.
We stop by the bookstore, where Cooper and I used to sit in the kids’ fantasy section while he’d read to me—until an employee would tell us to either buy the book or leave.
We visit the candy store, where Cooper once choked on a jawbreaker. It was the one and only time I’ve ever had to save someone’s life, and the one and only time he ever hugged me.
We check out the record store, where Cooper and I bought stacks of ninety-nine-cent used CDs by artists we’d never heard of, then listened to them on his mom’s old stereo, sorting them as either “cool finds” or “trash.”
I push the memories aside and try to be present. Because that summer is long over, and so is whatever Cooper and I had.
I made sure of that.
When the sun begins to set behind the Bramble Falls Public Library and an evening chill sets in, Jake and I part ways.
When I get back, Aunt Naomi’s house is dark from the outside, but as soon as I open the door, three women come running at me.
“Ellis!” Sloane screams, grabbing my arms and jumping up and down.
“Uh, yeah…? What’s happening right now?”
“You have a homecoming date!” Mom squeals like a teenager.
“Oh my god, is that what all this is about?” I ask. “How’d you even find out? I just left him ten minutes ago.”
“It’s a small town, honey. Everyone knows everything within five,” Mom says. “So, tell me all about this boy.”
“He’s eye candy,” Sloane tells her. “And he’s on the football team.”
