Page 38 of Choosing You

I hear fast walking in the hallway.

“Sorry I’m late.” I look up to see Garret standing there.

CHAPTERELEVEN

“Son, please sit down,”Mr. Kensington says. “We were just about to begin.”

Garret sits directly across from me not making eye contact. He’s all dressed up in a suit and tie and freshly shaven.

I try to act normal as my mind races to figure this out. Garret is a Kensington? As in the people who are paying for my college? As in the people who know my whole life story? A story I was hoping to hide from Garret and everyone else at Moorhurst?

“Jade, this is my son, Garret,” Mr. Kensington says. “He’s also a freshman at Moorhurst. Garret, this is Jade.”

“Hi, Garret,” I say staring right at him.

“Hi.” Garret glances at me for a second, then looks down at the table.

His dad clears his throat. “You could be more friendly, Garret. I’m sure you’ll be seeing Jade at school. We’re counting on you to introduce her to some people. Make her feel welcome.”

He’s made me feel welcome, all right. Pretending to be my friend. Trying to be more than that. Why was he doing that? Was he spying on me for his parents? Making sure their money wasn’t being wasted? Making sure I wasn’t an addict like my mom? They wouldn’t want to waste their precious money on someone like that, now would they?

“Have you two already met?” Mrs. Kensington asks. “You’ve been on campus a few days now. I suppose it’s possible you ran into each other.”

Garret keeps his head down, but his eyes turn up slightly, meeting mine across the table. “No, we haven’t met.”

His tone is telling me to go along with the story. I’m not sure if I should or if I want to. I have no idea why he insists on hiding the fact that we know each other. You’d think his parents would be happy about it. I guess he’s just a pathological liar. He’s lying to his parents and he’s been lying to me since we met. I can’t believe I was starting to trust this guy!

I should’ve seen this coming. I knew a guy like him would never be interested in someone like me and yet I let myself believe it was possible. Damn, he’s good. I really believed he wanted to be friends. I actually thought he was just being nice, taking me out, going running with me. But the whole time he had some ulterior motive.

The more I think about it, the angrier I get. My left leg starts tapping uncontrollably under the table. When I get angry I have to do something physical to get rid of it. And now I’m stuck here, sitting in this uncomfortable chair, unable to move for the next two hours.

Mr. Kensington starts talking to his wife. I’m not even listening and Garret doesn’t seem to be either. I feel his foot bump my leg under the table. He holds it there and stares at me, urging me to stop the incessant tapping. My leg stills and I tuck it under my chair.

The servers start bringing in the food. During dinner, Garret’s dad asks him questions about his class schedule and Garret answers with a short sentence or two. Then his dad starts asking me about school and growing up in Des Moines and how I like Connecticut. They’re all topics I can easily talk about so the dinner isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, the dinner would have been fine if it weren’t for the surprise visit from Garret.

At 9:30, we finish dessert and the driver comes into the dining room. “Are you ready for me to take her home now, sir?”

Mr. Kensington stands up from the table. “Yes. We promised her she’d be home by 10.”

Everyone else gets up as well. “It was truly a pleasure meeting you, Jade.” Mr. Kensington shakes my hand. His wife joins him and does the same. “Let us know if you need anything. Garret can give you our phone number.”

Garret stands there, saying nothing.

“Thank you. And thanks for dinner.” I go over to where the driver is standing.

“I can take her back,” Garret says.

I freeze, hoping his parents will tell him not to bother.

“That’s a wonderful idea,” his dad says. “That way you can get to know each other. I didn’t even think of that. Thank you, Garret, for offering.”

“It’s no problem. Right this way, Jade.” He walks past me, not even looking my direction. I reluctantly follow him out to the car. I get in and slam the door shut, turning my back to him.

Garret speeds off not saying a word. He continues to drive for 15 minutes in total silence, then pulls off the road into the parking lot of a scenic overlook. It isn’t scenic at night so nobody’s there. I’m not sure what’s scenic about it during the day either. There’s just a bunch of trees in front of us.

“Jade, I’m sorry about what just happened back there. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. And I’m sorry that—”

“Take me home, Garret. I’m doing all I can not to explode right now and I would really like it if you just took me home.”

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