The Secret History of Us by Jessi Kirby

Author:Jessi Kirby
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2017-06-03T04:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

THROUGHOUT THE REST of our dinner, I get to hear Matt’s version of us, which is sweet and funny. He answers all my questions but doesn’t overwhelm me with stories I don’t know to ask about. He pokes fun at himself, but is kind about me. By the time we finish, I can see what drew me to him, even if I don’t entirely feel it yet. Sparks are probably too much to expect at this point, anyway.

We step out onto the boardwalk, the crowd thinning in the warm evening light, and Matt looks at me. “Where to next? Dessert? It’s still early.”

This jogs something in my mind. “What time is it?”

He checks his phone. “Quarter to six.”

“Can we stop by the camera shop real quick? I dropped some film off earlier, and she said it’d be finished by closing.”

“Sure,” Matt says. He looks amused. “Actual film? You have a camera that uses actual film?”

“Yes,” I say, and I stop walking. Matt didn’t know about me taking pictures either. It makes me nervous, about what I’d been taking pictures of. “It’s . . . actually, you know what? We don’t need to go right now. They close at six, and I can come back tomorrow.”

He gives me a funny look. “It’s no problem. It’s right around the corner.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll just come back.”

“But we’re here right now. Come on. We can make it.” He reaches for my hand with that smile, and those dimples, and against my better judgment, I take his hand, and in a few moments he’s opening the door to the shop.

The bells jingle.

“Sorry, we’re closing,” a voice calls from behind the printing machine.

“Okay,” I answer, taking it as an excuse to turn right back around and come back tomorrow, by myself.

Matt stops me. “We just have some pictures to pick up, that’s all.”

I hear a sigh from behind the machine, and then a girl comes out. “Of course. It’s no problem at all, why would it matter that we’re closing, it’s just a—Liv?”

She says my name at the same time I realize it’s her.

“Jules?”

“Hey,” Matt says. “I didn’t know you worked here.”

She doesn’t answer him, and she doesn’t take her eyes off me. I search them for the familiarity that I remember, half expecting her to come around the counter and hug me like Chloe did, but she doesn’t.

“Wow. I’m glad you’re okay,” she says finally. “That video was—that was pretty crazy.”

I feel Matt tense at this.

“Yeah, we’re okay,” I say, trying not to be shocked at how different she looks—even from this year’s yearbook photos. Her hair is a cut short and dyed a shocking shade of red, and there’s a tiny stud in her nose. “How . . . how are you?”

I sound awkward, stiff, I know it. But I can’t help it. I’m starting to freak out. I wasn’t expecting to see her here, and I still don’t know what happened with us, and she doesn’t know I don’t know, and I

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.