Falling Like Leaves (Bramble Falls, #1)(28)

And I mean it. Jake’s the only person who’s gone out of their way from day one to befriend me in Bramble Falls. He deserves better than me using him as an ice pack for my bruised ego since Dad apparently finds me so easily replaceable.

Jake nods. “Okay.”

A grin creeps across my face. “But I texted you today because Sloane couldn’t come.”

Jake barks out a laugh. “Ah, I see. I’m your second-choice friend. Sounds about right.”

“More like my only friend. I love Sloane, but she’s got a whole life here, with her own friends and her own stuff going on.”

“You’ll make more. You just got here.”

We both take bites of our burgers and chew while we people-watch. I don’t bother telling him I’m not great at making friends. Or at least not at keeping them.

“It’d probably help if you got out and did things with people, though,” he says, leaning back in the red vinyl seat and wiping his hands on a napkin.

I shrug. “Maybe. But I’m not here long enough to really worry about it.”

“When do you leave?”

“Sometime before Thanksgiving.”

“That’s plenty of time to make friends and have some fun. You don’t have to stay holed up in your room studying all the time,” he says.

“I leave the house. I’ve been helping with the fall events,” I remind him.

“Yeah, that’s a start. But it’s still work.”

“Okay, and what would you suggest I get out and do here in Bramble Falls?”

Jake ponders the question. “For starters, I’d say come to my parties.”

I roll my eyes. “I think we’ve established that already.”

“Football games.”

I scrunch my face. “That does not sound like fun. I don’t know the first thing about football.”

“I’ll teach you, and then you can come cheer me on.” I continue grimacing at him, and he laughs. “Listen, Taylor learned a thing or two about the sport, and now she loves it. So, don’t knock it till you try it.”

I arch an eyebrow. “Taylor…?”

“Swift. Obviously.”

“Right, obviously. I guess I just didn’t realize you two were on a first-name basis,” I laugh. “I’ll think about it, okay?”

“That’s all I ask.”

“All right. What else?”

“Homecoming’s around the corner. That’s a great place to have fun and hang out with friends.”

“I’ve never gone to homecoming. It’s not really a thing in New York.”

“Tell me you’re joking,” Jake says.

“Nope. Kids usually just party in the penthouse of whoever’s parents are away on business that week.”

“Ellis. You have to go, then. It’s your last high school homecoming.” He bites his lip and casually shrugs a shoulder. “I could take you.”

My eyebrows lift. “Take me… to homecoming?”

He lets out a nervous chuckle and looks at the table. “Yeah, why not?”

“I, um…”

I try to imagine that night. Everyone else will be there. I’m sure Sloane will go with Asher. Cooper will go with Chloe. Jake and Slug will be there.

And I’ll be sitting at home. Alone.

My brain does a quick catalog of my grades, my upcoming tests, my schedule. I have nothing going on that weekend, and teachers have purposefully not put a test near the big dance. I have no reason not to go….

“All right, yeah. Let’s do it,” I tell him.

Jake beams and says, “Really? You’ll be my date?”

“Yeah, why not?” I say, grinning at how his face has lit up. Then I pause, considering the possibility that Jake might think we’re heading in a direction I have no interest in going with him. Just in case, I add, “Why do you seem so surprised? We’re just going as friends. People do that all the time, right?”

“Sure. They do.” Jake reaches over and takes one of my fries. “I guess I sort of figured someone would have already asked you.”

“Because I’m so popular here in Bramble Falls?”

He shrugs. “Because you’re hot.”

I laugh. “Well, I’ll let you know if I decide to trade you for some other, more appealing suitor who might ask me in the coming weeks.”

“More appealing than me? Yeah, right,” he scoffs, and I toss a fry at him, which he catches in his mouth.

Attending my first high school homecoming my senior year is not something I had on my bingo card. Especially not in Bramble Falls. And especially not with Jake Keller.

But I have to admit, even if making friends here is pointless, I’m sort of excited.



* * *



Jake and I walk around town, sipping harvest spice lattes while he shows me places I’m already familiar with.

Places that hold memories with Cooper.

But I don’t say anything because Jake’s excited to share his small town with me.

We stop by the bookstore, where Cooper and I used to sit in the kids’ fantasy section while he’d read to me—until an employee would tell us to either buy the book or leave.

We visit the candy store, where Cooper once choked on a jawbreaker. It was the one and only time I’ve ever had to save someone’s life, and the one and only time he ever hugged me.