Page 55 of Made of Steel (Made of Steel 1)

He shrugged his shoulders innocently.

I shook my head as I walked away from him.

"He's really cute," Joan said as I entered the kitchen.

I took off my apron and pulled my hoodie on over my head. "He's okay."

She laughed. "If you say so."

Why was everyone questioning me tonight? "Goodnight, Joan."

"See you tomorrow, Sadie. Have fun." She winked at me.

I walked out of the kitchen and saw that Miles' table was empty. I exhaled slowly. It should have made me feel relieved, but I felt slightly disappointed. He was probably antagonizing me because he was popular and gorgeous and I was invisible.

When I stepped outside, I froze. He was waiting for me. I had hoped and prayed that he had been waiting for me this whole time. "You waited."

He smiled out of the corner of his mouth. "You ready to go?"

"No...I'm...someone's coming to walk me home already."

Miles glanced around at the empty sidewalk, emphasizing his point. "Then I'll just wait with you."

"You don't have to."

"I want to."

Why did he keep saying that? I folded my arms across my chest. I didn't want to stand here with him and pretend like he hadn't hurt me. And honestly, I didn't need him or Eli to walk me home. I was going to learn how t

o defend myself. In the meantime, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that the vigilante was out there watching me. I looked over my shoulder. It felt like he was watching me right now.

I turned back to Miles. "Are you going to the observatory tonight?" It was a stupid question. The telescope was sticking out of his backpack again. Obviously he was going.

"Yeah. Do you want to check it out?"

Did he just ask me out? I swallowed hard. I wanted to see it, but it would be better if I went alone. "Maybe a different time."

"Right. When you're not waiting for someone." He smiled.

I am waiting for someone. "Why are you so obsessed with the stars anyway?"

His smile seemed to fade as he thought over the question. "They remind me of being a kid. When I look at them, I feel closer to the people I left back home."

They didn't remind him of me? Every time I looked at the stars I pictured him beside me. I don't think I'd ever stop picturing him with me. "What about that girl? I think you said her name was Summer? Do they remind you of her?" I was acting desperate. But he didn't know that. He didn't know that I was her.

He lowered his eyebrows slowly. "Yeah, actually. When we were little we used to stare at the sky for hours together in my tree house."

"I guess you haven't seen her recently?"

"No. Not in years." He looked like his mind was far away. Remembering a time when we made sense.

Nine years. Had it really been that long? We had written to each other all the time, but I hadn't seen him since I went into the foster care system. I was holding a torch for someone who couldn't possibly be the same as I remembered him. For some reason I found myself stepping closer to him. "What happened with you and her? If you don't mind me asking."

He shrugged his shoulders. "She moved away. And eventually she stopped writing me back."

Liar. I put my hands into the front pocket of my hoodie and dug my fingernails into my palms. I stopped writing him when he hadn't written me back in years. I stopped because he had already forgotten about me. "Are you sure you didn't stop writing her back?"

He laughed. "Yeah, I'm positive about that. Sometimes I still write to her even though she hasn't written me back in five years. It's stupid, but I can't seem to stop. I don't even know if I have her right address anymore."

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