Chapter 1
On yearbook photo day during senior year, I instinctively took my usual place beside Luke Ward.
A classmate spotted us and immediately started teasing.
"Come on, everyone, make room! Let the lovebirds stand together!"
I'd heard jokes like that more times than I could count, but they still made my cheeks burn.
I had a secret crush on Luke, and every time someone called us a couple, I couldn't help getting my hopes up.
Luke didn't say anything.
But just as the photographer snapped the picture and everyone shouted, "Cheese!" I heard a low, irritated voice beside me.
"God, this is so annoying. Can't she just stay away from me?"
My smile froze.
I knew that voice. It was Luke's.
I'd been born with congenital low vision, but my hearing had always been sharp. I couldn't have mistaken him for someone else.
After the picture, Luke turned and headed straight back to the classroom without waiting for me.
I stood there for a long moment before finally making my way inside.
On my way past the dream school wall outside our classroom, I stopped and reached for my index card.
I'd written Ashford University on it, the same school Luke had once said he wanted to attend.
I pulled it off the wall and slipped it into my bag.
When I returned to my seat, Luke was chatting with the classmate beside him.
As soon as he noticed me, he spoke to me as casually as he always did.
"Where are your glasses?"
I rubbed my eyes, which were still dry and irritated from the bright sunlight.
"Lost them," I murmured.
He sighed and reached over to pull the curtains shut.
"I'll drive you home tonight."
For a moment, I almost convinced myself I'd imagined what he'd said during the photo.
Maybe he hadn't meant it.
Maybe things between us were still the same.
After school, someone called Luke away. Before leaving, he told me to wait in the classroom.
So I waited.
And waited.
Two hours passed.
I wanted to call him, but my phone had run out of battery and shut off.
It wasn't until a teacher happened to walk past the classroom that anyone noticed I was still there.
"Wren? Why haven't you gone home yet?"
She knew about my vision problems and immediately offered to take me home.
I turned her down.
I didn't want Luke coming back and finding me gone.
When she noticed my dead phone, she offered to call him for me.
Twenty minutes later, Luke appeared in the doorway, breathing hard.
"I texted you. I told you to go ahead without me."
"I didn't see it."
I held up my phone awkwardly. "My battery died."
He studied me for a moment, his expression difficult to read. But in the end, he said nothing.
"Come on."
He barely spoke during the walk home. Most of the time, he was busy replying to messages on his phone.
That's when I noticed the sweet, almost cloying perfume lingering on his clothes.
He hadn't smelled like that earlier. Where had he been?
When we reached the entrance to my apartment complex, someone suddenly called his name.
A few people were standing nearby. I couldn't make out their faces, but I caught the same sweet fragrance coming from their direction.
Luke quickened his pace while I stayed where I was.
"What are you guys doing here?"
"We're going to that dessert place nearby. Come with us when you're done."
I recognized the gentle voice immediately.
I'd heard it countless times over the school intercom.
Piper Nash, the prettiest girl in our senior class.
"Sure. Give me a minute. I'll walk her inside first."
"Seriously? We're already at the apartment entrance. Does she really need you to walk her all the way in?"
One of his friends sounded annoyed.
Another quickly explained, "Wren has vision problems. She can't see well at night."
The first guy scoffed.
"She looks fine during the day. How do we know she's not exaggerating?"
"Today's Piper's birthday, and now we're all stuck waiting around. Is she doing this on purpose or something? Talk about killing the mood."
I stood there awkwardly, twisting the hem of my shirt between my fingers.
When Luke finally walked back toward me, I lowered my voice. "Go have fun. I can get home by myself."
He hesitated. "Are you sure you can manage?"
"I'll be fine."
I turned and walked into the complex.
Behind me, I heard his friends start teasing him again.
"Hey, Luke! Why didn't you take your little wife all the way home?"
"She's a friend. Quit saying stupid stuff!"
My steps faltered.
In all these years, that was the first time Luke had ever snapped at someone for calling us a couple.
Inside the complex, the streetlights were bright enough to help me make out the general layout, but not much more.
I moved forward carefully, trying to follow the familiar path. My eyes began to sting, and I blinked hard against the tears.
He used to let those jokes slide without bothering to deny them.
Now he'd gone out of his way to correct someone.
Why? Because of Piper?
I didn't get far before my leg hit something. I lost my balance and fell hard onto the pavement.
Pain shot through my palms.
For a moment, I just sat there, stunned.
Luke hadn't always been like this.
When our families lived across the hall from each other, he'd held my hand every morning and walked me to school. He'd even asked our teacher to make us assigned seats together.
Whenever other kids made fun of my eyesight, he'd always stepped in front of me and told them to back off.
When had that changed? When had I become such a nuisance to him?
"Wren!"
Footsteps rushed toward me from behind.
Luke grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet.
"Is this what you meant when you said you could manage on your own?"
His voice was sharp, but he immediately checked my hands and knees for injuries.
Then he took my hand and walked me the rest of the way home.
As I followed him, the tightness in my chest slowly eased.
Maybe I'd been overthinking things.
Maybe Luke still cared about me after all.
