Falling Like Leaves (Bramble Falls, #1)(46)

“Oh, you’re right.” He grins. “Okay, cool. We definitely have to people-watch on Saturday. Everyone’s frustration will be entertaining.”

“You’re heartless,” I joke. But really, my stomach is doing somersaults because we’re making plans to hang out on Saturday.

An hour and a half later, my eyelids are heavy, but there’s still so much to do.

“I’m going to go grab some snacks to keep us awake,” Cooper says.

“Yeah, okay,” I say. “That’s probably a good idea.”

He slides off the bed and leaves the room, and I lay my head on the blanket and rest my eyes.

Just for a second. Just until he gets back.



* * *



An unfamiliar alarm stirs me from my heavy sleep. I groan as I pat the area around me, looking for the source of the wretched sound so I can throw it against the wall.

But my hand lands on something soft. A shirt. A back. A person. My eyes shoot open.

Outside, pale morning sunlight tints the sky a muted orangish-pink, and I’m still in Cooper’s bed.

My mom is going to kill me. Like, actually murder me.

Where the hell is my phone?

“What are you doing?” Cooper rasps.

“I need my phone. I can’t believe I slept here,” I say. “I have to text my mom.”

“Relax, Mitchell,” Cooper says, setting his hand on my arm. I pause to look at him. His eyes are bleary, and he has pillow creases etched into his cheek. And still he steals my breath. “I texted Naomi last night to tell her you’d fallen asleep while working on the scavenger hunt. She said she’d tell your mom. Everything’s good.”

I shake my head as he turns off his alarm. “There’s no way my mom was okay with me sleeping at a boy’s house.”

“I’m not just any boy, you know,” he says with a sleepy crooked grin.

It’s true—Cooper is beloved and trusted by everyone in this little town. Plus, Aunt Naomi is friends with his parents, who— “Oh my god, where are your parents?”

“Probably downstairs,” he says.

My face heats. “I’m going to have to climb out your window.”

Cooper laughs. “They know you stayed.” I groan, and he gestures at the doorway. “It’s okay. I left the door open. That’s the rule.”

“Oh? Do you have a lot of girls spend the night?” I ask, as if I want to know if the answer is yes.

Cooper blushes. “Well, no. You’re the only one.”

I hold back a smile, caused partly by his cute bashfulness and partly by the fact that it makes me strangely happy that I’m the only girl who’s slept in his bed overnight.

“Okay, well, I’d still rather not face them,” I tell him as I reach for my laptop, which is open but asleep. “I have to get going. Maybe I can finish this if I skip first period. I’ll probably miss a pop quiz, and if I’m not there, Jake will definitely fail, but—”

The laptop wakes as I pick it up, preparing to close it and pack it into my bag.

What. The. Hell.

There are twenty more riddles and clues written in the doc. Both lists are complete.

My head whips to Cooper, who’s sitting there watching me. “You stayed up and finished this?” I ask him.

“It didn’t take that long,” he says.

A lie. We weren’t even close to finished. It took us two hours to come up with the ten we had.

“I can’t believe you did this.”

He sits up with his back to me and lifts his arms over his head, stretching and yawning. “It isn’t a big deal.”

But it’s a big deal to me. And even though I shouldn’t, I throw my arms around him, wrapping him in a hug from behind. His body stiffens. “Thank you,” I say. He slowly lowers his arms and pats my hands, which are splayed across his stomach.

“No problem,” he says. “Let’s go make bacon.”

“On a school day?” I ask, letting go of him. “There isn’t time for bacon.”

He stands, and I pack up my stuff. “There’s always time for bacon. You can email that list to Naomi while I cook. Then I’ll drive you by your house so you can change.” When I don’t budge, he sighs. “Ellis, I set the alarm early enough that we would have time to eat. But if you don’t get moving, we won’t have time.”

I don’t ask any more questions. Instead I do what he says because I’m honestly astounded right now. He finished my project and considered breakfast.

Downstairs, Cooper’s parents are sitting together at the kitchen table eating cereal and toast. I can’t even remember the last time my parents sat together for a meal. Or, really, for anything—other than to tell me they were taking time apart.

“Ellis! So good to see you again,” Cooper’s mom says.

My cheeks flush. “You too, Mrs. Barnett.”

“Coop said you were working on the Harvest Hunt?”

“I was.” I glance at Cooper who’s setting a frying pan on the stovetop. “But Cooper finished it for me.”

“I hardly did anything,” he says.

“Come sit,” his mom says. “And please, call me Amanda.”

I sit next to her and take my computer back out of my bag. “Okay.” I open it and try to relax, but my leg won’t stop bouncing. I hate making bad impressions on people, and sleeping in Cooper’s room does not look good. “Sorry about accidentally spending the night.”