Page 31 of Ashes and Lilies
A sense of cold filled me. I’d asked myself that same question but had no answer. I shook my head.
“That’s still a long time to be friends,” she concluded again. “Idoubt that anyone could falsify a relationship for that length of time without there being some truth to it.”
She didn’t understand.
Jiayi continued speaking, “If you aren’t meeting with him, then who are you waiting for?”
I glanced at her, taken back at her unexpected question and sudden topic change. Her chin rested on her glove-covered hand, and she appeared to be genuinely curious.
“I’m—” My face turned hot, and I touched my fingers together. I hoped she wouldn’t think bad of me for moving on so quickly. “—I’m meeting another friend.”
“That’s nice.” She smiled. “You’re shy, so I’m glad you’re making friends.”
“Yes!” I agreed, pressing my hands against my racing heart. “My new friends are amazing. I’m not scared around them, and they seem to care about me. I really want to make sure to make them happy.”
She was still smiling. “That’s good.”
“You should meet them!” Suddenly, I was desperate for her approval. For another girl to think I was cool. “Miles will be here soon.”
“Miles?” she asked, her voice sharp. “Miles who?”
When her grin faded, so did my enthusiasm. “Miles Montrone…” I told her.
An expression, almost like panic, passed through her eyes. But she blinked, and the emotion was gone. “I must have missed the memo,” she said.
Memo? What memo?
“We really need to update the chat,” she muttered—too low for me to hear, but I could read her lips clearly enough. When she spoke next, her voice was normal. “Well, that explains why they were targeting you, at least.”
I was lost again and stared at her.
She sighed. “Heather, Tammy, and Logan are members of Miles Montrone’s fan club. Miles is extremely secretive and aloof—it has increased his appeal around campus. In fact, he rarely talks to people at all.”
“Could there be a different Miles Montrone?” I asked.
I couldn’t imagine this Miles she described. Miles had been so excited about the slumber party, even though we never did have it. He picked on Titus and said… really weird things.
But he did talk.
Jiayi’s mouth dipped. “Dark-haired, tall, muscular, attractive, good at sports, and majoring in pre-law? He has the highest GPA in the senior class and is also the star of our soccer team. There’s been talk of him going professional. He’s here on both an academic and athletic scholarship.”
It sounded like Miles was the same. But I didn’t know he was such a superstar at sports—his last practice had ended in a fistfight—nor that he had good grades. My Miles was all those other things, and the likelihood of there being another Miles Montrone was slim.
I nodded. “He talks to me,” I told her.
“I’m sure he does,” Jiayi said, not sarcastically, as she packed her lunch. “I just remembered that I have class. I’ll see you when you get back.”
With that, she picked up her bag and little lunch box, and I stared after her as she left through one of the secondary entrances.
Was there something I was missing?
“Bonjour, mon coeur,” Miles’s jovial voice sounded behind me as he touched my shoulder. I craned my neck and looked at him as he gazed down at me with a lopsided grin. “You waited for me.”
“Yes.” I pursed my lips. Should I ask him about the fan club—and Jiayi’s weird assessment of his personality?
“Is this okay,” I asked. Not that I cared much—but they were the ones who insisted on keeping me secret. For such a super important dude, Damen sure was ill-prepared to handle incognito work.
And I blamed Damen because he appeared to fancy himself the ‘leader.’
