FATE

48. A Cup Of Coffee

BROOKE

Jonah pulls me into a hug the minute I get close to him. I chuckle, "good morning"

"Hey Brooke, how are you", Louis says as soon as Jonah releases me.

"I'm fine Louis, how are you?", I smile.

"I'm good", he stares blankly at Jonah, "see you later bro"

Jonah nods without a word but his lips are curved into a small smile as he watches Louis walk away.

He turns to me, "how'd you know I was here?"

"You texted me to meet you here this morning"

He looks confused, "what?"

I chuckle lightly, "last night, you texted me", I unlock my phone to show him his seven random messages about how beautiful I am from last night, all ending in "meet me at the bleachers tomorrow morning so we can go to class together"

"Oh", he says flatly, "let's go to class then"

I want to ask what's wrong, if he actually forgot or if the texts were a mistake but before I can speak, he slides his fingers between mine and pulls me towards the school building.

Carmen is the first person I see when we walk into the building, in a red shirt and overalls, taking books out of her locker. As if he can read my mind, Jonah walks towards her.

Carmen looks up and a smile appears on her face, "hey guys"

"Morning Carmen", Jonah says as he takes out his phone.

His hand leaves mine, "hey, I texted you yesterday", I say to her.

"Oh", the smile leaves her face, "sorry, I just had a lot of studying to do"

The almost sad look on her face makes it hard to believe her but then she smiles again, "so how was your date last night?"

"It was great", I glance at Jonah who's standing behind me, holding his phone to his ear, "I'll tell you and Mandy all about it later"

"Well, good morning to you too", Jonah remarks amusingly, his eyes on his feet and his hands in his pockets, "...is your mom there?", he smiles, "I'm sure it's not that bad Hailee..."

Carmen taps me, "does he talk about her? how they're doing?"

"Sometimes", I nod, "he says she's okay though"

I know it's a lie. Hailee's accident affected both she and Jonah more than he lets out.

"But you don't think so?", Carmen asks.

"I don't"

She takes a deep breath, "you're right"

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, of course", she smiles but it doesn't reach her eyes.

The bell rings loudly.

"I have to go to class now", I hear Jonah say, "I'll see you later"

He's next to me in seconds.

"Was that Hailee?', I ask and he nods.

"How is she?", Carmen asks quickly. A slight frown crosses Jonah's face but then his gaze is blank again.

"She's fine", he says, "we should go"

The classroom is mostly full when we enter. It's chilly inside compared to how hot it was outside the school. I notice Jonah glance around the class and his jaw clenches.