“What are you doing?” I hissed.
“What do you mean?” he asked innocently, and I was struck by how similar he was to Jaxon. I seriously needed to figure out what was really going on.
“I mean asking me out in front of Simon like that.” I waved my arm in the direction Simon had gone. “Did your brother put you up to it?”
I wouldn’t put it past Jaxon to tell Trent all about my relationship with Simon. For all I knew, Jaxon told Trent to ask me out like that so Simon would get the hint we were only friends. I wanted to kill both of them for screwing around with my life like this.
Trent’s eyes darkened, and I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat. Why did I find that equally sexy and scary? I held my breath, waiting for what Trent would say to my accusation.
“I thought you and Simon were just friends,” Trent said, his voice tight.
“We are, but—”
“But what?”
“But…” I sighed, and my shoulders sagged. “I don’t know. It’s complicated, okay?”
Trent stood. “Then do both of us a favor and un-complicate it.” Then he walked away, effectively ignoring my comment about his brother.
I rested my head on my knees and exhaled all the pent-up frustration building inside of me. I hadn’t meant to make things that complicated between me and Simon. I liked him, but I didn’t like him the same way I liked Trent. Not that I could tell Trent that.
Simon didn’t return, and the bell rang. I headed to my locker and found a Post-it Note stuck to the outside. I approached cautiously, fully expecting it to be something nasty Olivia and her friends had left for me. I snatched it down and read it.
Sorry about lunch.I didn’t mean to upset you. ~ Trent
My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. I spun around, fully expecting to see him lurking in the hallway, but he was nowhere to be seen. I turned back to my locker and was hit with an intense wave of vertigo. I blinked to steady myself, but the moment wouldn’t pass, and memories shoved their way to the forefront of my mind.
Opening my locker to find Post-it Notes stuck inside. Each one sweeter than the next, and one asked me to go out with him. Me feeling utterly giddy with excitement. A deep voice behind me. Spinning around to come face-to-face with another note. Laughing. Then arguing.
My temples throbbed with a stabbing pain. I leaned my head against my locker and closed my eyes, trying to breathe through the onslaught of… whatever this was. What was wrong with me? Why did this keep happening?
“Chloe? Are you all right?” Trent asked.
I straightened at the sound of his voice. Concern filled his face, and all the breath rushed from my body like he’d reached deep into my chest and ripped it out of me.
“I’m fine,” I said, then raced to my class, the note wadded in my hand. He was the very last person I could handle facing right now.
Thankfully, nothing else weird happened the rest of the day, but I was emotionally drained in a way I couldn’t quite explain. Most of the students had already left, and I basked in the silent hallway.
Declan was caught in traffic, which meant I was stuck here until he arrived. So, I took my time gathering my books and heading outside.
I sat on the edge of the marble fountain that graced the front of the school and put my earbuds in. After the concert, I’d downloaded the Asking Alexandria album, and now, the hard, loud melody filled my ears. I had no idea how long I sat there, lost in my music, before my body tensed with knowledge.
Trent.
I yanked my earbuds out, and sure enough, he was sitting next to me. Not close enough for us to touch, but that didn’t really matter. My body was hyper-aware of him. Again.
“We need to talk,” he said.
I raised a brow. “I’m just supposed to talk to you because you said so.” I shook my head. “I don’t think so.” I wrapped my earbuds around my phone and shoved them into my backpack before slinging it over my shoulder and standing. Truth was, I couldn’t handle talking to him right now. I would end up saying things I’d probably regret. “Goodbye, Trent.”
He was on his feet and blocking my path quicker than I could blink. “Please, Chloe. It’s important.” His tone was pleading.
I crossed my arms. It wasn’t like I could really go anywhere, so I stood there and waited for him to speak.
Trent rubbed the back of his neck. “You said something the other day, at Simon’s.”
“God, not this again.” I groaned.
Was he really that obsessed with the idea of kissing me? Or rather, with the idea that maybe I might have wanted him to kiss me?
“No, it’s not about that.” There was a trace of humor in his tone. “You said something else. That you feel like you know me, that you always have déjà vu around me.”
“Yeah…” I tilted my head. That was what he wanted to talk about? He was so weird.
“What things set off the déjà vu?”
“Excuse me?” I took a step back. “Why do you care?”
I really regretted saying anything to him about that. I was going to have to learn to keep my mouth shut and stop revealing things to virtual strangers. First, Jaxon, and then Trent.
“I just do. It’s important. Please?”
I blew out a breath and glanced down the road, praying I’d see Declan’s car, but there was no sign of him. Of course not.
“It’s little stuff. Stupid things, really,” I said and shifted on my feet.
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Like running into you outside of the bathroom and your hands and the way you rubbed your thumb over my knuckles.” Just saying that had my hands tingling with the memory of his touch. “When you asked to drive me home. The Post-it Note on my locker
