Page 61 of Science Project

But even if it had been a mistake, maybe, one day, she’d mean it.

CHAPTER

THIRTY-THREE

NICOLE

Headlights shone on me from behind. I anxiously sat on the rocks with some food for us beside me and stared at the sea, hoping that Akio wouldn’t think I looked too bad after Dad’s stupid little makeover today. Every time he brought me to Lucianna, I felt more and more like a bimbo.

But I didn’t want Akio to think any differently of me.

I wanted him to like me for me. Not because of how I looked.

When the car door opened, I pushed some tears off my cheeks and clutched Hannah’s necklace. Still, I couldn’t believe that Dad had given it back to me. Based on how he’d treated me in the past, it should’ve been gone forever.

“If I knew you had picked us up something to eat, I would’ve—Nicole, what’s wrong?”

After shoving away a few more tears, I wrapped my arms around my torso and burst out into cries. “I’m sorry.”

He sat down beside me and pulled me into his arms. “Did someone hurt you?”

“No.” A lie that I’d always tell to protect him. “I’m just thinking about my sister.” I clutched the necklace harder. “I miss her.”

“Is that her necklace?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“You haven’t worn it in a long time.”

“My dad took it away from me,” I whispered.

But how had Akio known that I’d even had it to begin with? He had said it like he had seen me wear the necklace a million times now, yet it hadn’t been around my neck in weeks, before we started hanging out.

After completely wiping my tears away, I smiled at him and handed him a McDonald’s bag with burger and fries—the only place that had been open this late at night. “Here. I didn’t ask you to come so you could watch me cry.”

“It’s okay, Nicole,” he said. “I don’t mind.”

My smile trembled for a moment. Who wanted to watch someone cry?

Only Hannah had done that for me.

Akio stared into my eyes for a few moments, and then his gaze drifted up to my bangs, then down to my nose and even lower to my lips, which were plumper than plump. I shifted uncomfortably beside him, hoping that he liked how I looked.

That was one of the reasons I had invited him out. Not only did I want to spend time with someone who wasn’t trying to face-fuck me every moment, but I wanted him to tell me that … this didn’t look as bad as I thought it did.

“I like your bangs,” he commented.

Warmth spread through my chest. “You do?”

He nodded. “Are you wearing lipstick?”

“No, I …” I paused, thinking that this was a horrible idea to tell him. What would he think of me? I wasn’t naturally pretty, and as soon as he found that out, then he’d think less of me. Maybe he wouldn’t like me as much as he did. That was assuming if he did. “I got lip fillers today.”

“Oh.”

I kept my gaze on my food. “What do you think of them?”

“Did you get some in your nose too?”

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