Chapter 2

We didn't head back either.

There were many coincidences in this world.

Just as we were about to leave, we saw Riley and a few of her college friends.

Jace didn't introduce me, and their eyes just slid right over me without caring much. Two people turned into a whole group.

Before I knew it, Jace and Riley ended up walking at the very front, talking in low voices.

Without asking me, they decided we would all go on a road trip together for the second half of Highway 1.

As they talked, their arms brushed against each other every now and then.

I trailed behind, and Jace didn't look back even once.

When Riley got into the passenger seat and the car was about to start, Jace finally realized someone was missing.

He rolled down the window.

"Why are you walking so slow?

"Move to the back seat. Riley gets carsick easily, so let her sit in the front."

They both acted completely natural, like years of habits had already fused into their instincts.

The car filled with Riley's perfume, a neutral scent that happened to be Jace's absolute favorite.

I rolled down the back window, letting the wind blow the fragrance away.

Riley looked at me through the rearview mirror and smiled.

"Did you guys go whale watching?"

She didn't even wait for an answer before turning her head to look at Jace with a smile.

"Do you remember? Both times we came, we got super lucky and ran into pods of whales."

Jace said he remembered.

"Of course I do. I told you to bundle up, but you wouldn't listen, and your face ended up turning white from the cold."

They chatted about the changes along the route and their current lives.

I couldn't find a way to jump in, so I just looked out the window, letting that corner of the back seat grow dark alongside the fading twilight.

Dinner was booked at an open-air restaurant.

When I got out of the car, the bracelet that Jace and I had bought together at a street fair snapped, sending its beads scattering across the pavement.

I squatted to pick them up.

"Jace."

I called his name three times.

He didn't hear me. He and Riley were standing shoulder to shoulder, lowering their heads as he listened to her talk.

By the time I arrived, only the corner seat at the very end of the long table was left for me.

Jace and the others sat together, and the restaurant waiter, assuming they were a couple celebrating an anniversary, brought over a molten chocolate cake.

There were lots of congratulatory remarks, and even the neighboring table joined in with a few cheers.

No one denied it; they just smiled and said thank you.

I felt like an awkwardly pasted-on corner of the picture.

"Jace, aren't we supposed to be the ones celebrating our anniversary?

"Or did you guys get back together?"

The air grew quiet as if blaming me for ruining the mood.

Jace pushed that plate of cake in my direction.

"I told Riley we're here for our two-year anniversary.

"So, she went out of her way to ask the restaurant for this just now.

"Riley meant well, and so did the waiter. It was just a mistake."

His tone was completely flat.

"Tell me, is there any reason you have to rudely interrupt people and correct them like this? Making the whole situation awkward like you always do?

"If anything, you're the one jumping to conclusions."

My eyes stung, but I stubbornly refused to look away.

Riley tapped Jace lightly on the arm.

"Alright, alright. Your girlfriend just cares about you too much and she's being a bit sensitive."

Her eyes curved into crescents.

"I just remembered why you look so familiar.

"Jace, you even told me you guys met through work. Did you forget? She's the junior who confessed to you at our high school graduation."

I was a grade below Jace.

When he graduated, I thought that would be the last time I ever saw him.

Without stopping, I ran straight to the school.

Just like everyone else, I tucked a letter filled with teenage daydreams right into his desk.

However, bad luck struck.

While I was dropping it off, Riley and Jace saw me.

Riley smiled brightly.

"Sorry, junior."

She shook the hand she was holding with Jace.

"He's already my boyfriend."

My face flushed hot, and as I bolted past the door, I heard Riley tearing open my letter and reading out a few lines.

"This is so cheesy.

"Jace, should I throw it away?"

Jace kept his hands in his pockets, his voice carried away by the wind from behind, sounding completely nonchalant.

"Do whatever you want."

That letter landed in the trash can.

It was why Jace never knew that the very first time I fell for him was back in my freshman year when I bombed an exam, hid away to cry, and bumped right into him.

While complaining about how noisy I was being, he still ended up tutoring me through the entire test sheet.

"You're so smart, what are you crying for?"

Even after he’d walked away, I could still smell the sun-warmed fabric of his shirt, a scent I could never forget.

My thoughts snapped back to the present.

Jace, standing right in front of me, said, "Is that so? I don't remember."