Don't Kiss Your Enemy (Rockford High #4)

by Victorine E. Lieske

  He jogged up the stairs to his bedroom, tossed his backpack on the floor and sat down at his desk to turn on his computer. Why not?

  My sister is filming her Vlog.

  How did Cole not know Amanda’s sister had a Vlog? He wasn’t even sure he knew she had a sister. Maybe, vaguely he had known at one time, but he’d forgotten. He was instantly curious about it. Your sister has a Vlog? What’s it called?

  Stephanie’s Tirades About the Movie Industry. Oh, you mean the title she calls it? Stephanie’s Corner.

  Cole typed the name into his computer, and quite a few websites came up. He added Vlog to the search and a girl that looked like a blonde Amanda came up on his screen.

  Lol. I take it she reviews movies?

  Yep. If you can call it that. She loves going to the movies, but hates every one of them. It’s a very strange dichotomy. I stopped trying to figure her out long ago.

  I’ll watch a few of her episodes. Are you on any of them?

  Oh, heavens no. A thousand times no. The camera doesn’t love me.

  Cole shifted in his chair and looked at Amanda’s sister on the screen. It totally could be Amanda in a blonde wig. What was she talking about?

  Um, I’m pretty sure your sister is an exact clone of you, with lighter hair.

  Hahahahahahaha. So not right. You must need glasses.

  This was the second time he’d seen Amanda act self-conscious over the last couple of days. It was odd to him. She was always so self-assured. Maybe under all that bravado, she was just as unsure of herself as the rest of the teenage population.

  I see you just fine. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her almond-shaped eyes that hid a smile when she was amused, or the way her auburn hair looked so silky-soft, he wanted to touch it. Or how he loved how fiercely loyal she was to her friends. But he held back. He already sounded super-stalkerish just saying he had a crush on her. He didn’t want to freak her out even more.

  It took Amanda a few seconds to respond.

  But not in a creepy way, right? Like, you’re not looking at me right now, are you?

  No. Geesh. I’m watching your sister’s live Vlog. And by the way, you’re right. She hates the movies. She’s totally trashing Brandon Travers and everything he did in The Paper Pirate right now.

  Don’t tell me what she says!! I’m going to go see that tonight and I don’t want any spoilers!!!

  I wouldn’t dream of spoiling it for you. I probably should shut off her Vlog because I am going to see it, too.

  Amanda sent a wide-eyed emoji. There’s only one theater in Rockford. It will kind of be like we’re watching the movie together.

  Cole let out a laugh. She had no idea how right she was.

  Hey, yeah. You’re right. We should chat afterwards. Tell each other how we liked it.

  Good idea. I’ll text you when I get home.

  He smiled. Maybe real-life Amanda didn’t like him right now, but phone Amanda liked him just fine. And if that’s what it took to get her to see he wasn’t a terrible guy, he was okay with that.

  Deal.

  Chapter 8

  Amanda stood in line with Destiny, the guys behind them. Everyone and their dog was at the theater to see The Paper Pirate. It was a good thing they got there early. They stepped up to the counter and purchased tickets and a large bucket of popcorn. When the guy handed Amanda the bucket, Cole grabbed it before she could reach for it. “I’ll do the butter.”

  “Rude, much?” she called after him.

  He just shrugged at her and gave her a cocky grin. “I like to do the butter.”

  She turned to Destiny. “What was that about?”

  “I don’t know. But just forget it. He’s just eager to get his hands on the popcorn. Guys are always hungry.”

  Yeah. Maybe. Whatever. Cole was your typical type A personality. He liked to be the one in charge. That’s probably what would make him successful one day. He’d be in charge of a multi-billion-dollar company, and she’d be…

  The uneasy feeling came back. She wasn’t sure what she’d end up doing. What if she failed at putting together a successful non-profit organization? What if she got stuck flipping hamburgers the rest of her life?

  They filed into the theater and Destiny grabbed the first seat, making everyone else have to practically climb over her legs. Amanda sat next to her. “What’s up?”

  “What?”

  “Why didn’t you go down the row?”

  “I drank a bottle of water before we left. I’m sure I’m going to have to pee within the first half of the movie.” Destiny pointed to the door. “I didn’t want to have to climb over everyone to get out.”

  “Oh. Okay.”

  Eli sat down on the far end, forcing Cole to sit beside Amanda. Oh, right. Like that wasn’t obvious. Real nice, guys. She rolled her eyes.

  The previews started up. She reached for the popcorn and her fingers touched Cole’s. A zing of electricity shot over her skin and she pulled her hand back. Destiny and Eli thought they were so clever.

  He leaned closer to her and whispered. “Sorry. Here, have some.” He held the popcorn bucket closer to her.

  “Thanks.” She grabbed a handful and popped one in her mouth. The buttery flavor was delicious. And the salt was perfect, too. Not too much, but still enough that it enhanced the flavors. But the last thing she wanted to do was compliment him on it. Not after he’d grabbed it away from her like a Nazi. No matter how good it was, she wasn’t going to admit it to him.

  Cole shifted. “I get kind of OCD when it comes to putting on the butter and salt. I kind of have this system to putting it on. Sorry if I offended you.”

  “No, I like it when guys manhandle my bucket of popcorn away from me. It’s endearing.” She hoped the sarcasm came through her whisper.

  “Yeah, I know I have a problem. I’m sorry. Next time you can do the popcorn.”

  “What makes you think there’s going to be a next time?”

  “After tasting my popcorn, you’ll be craving to eat it again next week.” He gave her a smug grin.

  He was probably right, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. She huffed. “Don’t talk. We’re watching a movie.”

  “It’s just the previews. Everyone talks during the previews.”

  “So not true,” Amanda hissed at him. “Shh.”

  Cole pointed to the screen. “It’s a movie about a girl and her mop. What can be interesting about that?”

  Amanda held back a giggle. “She’s cleaning the floor and dancing. She wants to be a famous singer someday.”

  “Then why are they showing us twenty minutes of her and her mop?”

  He was right. She was still dancing with the mop. It didn’t look like a very good movie. Or, rather, someone was a little self-absorbed when they put together the trailer. “Hush. I want to listen.”

  Cole was silent for a moment while the girl with the mop got rejected a thousand times. “She’s not even that good. I’d reject her, too.”

  Amanda elbowed him. “I think this is a true story. And you’re totally slinging mud all over it.”

  “I just want the pirates to come on.”

  “The Paper Pirate is not about actual—”

  “Hush,” Cole said, giving her a pointed look. “I’m trying to listen.”

  “Oh, my gosh. You are such a dork.”

  An older lady behind her leaned forward and shushed them really loud.

  Cole slid down in his chair and hid his face. Amanda pinched her lips together and tried not to laugh, but couldn’t help it. Cole’s shoulders shook and she realized he was having a laughing fit as well.

  “What’s so funny?” Destiny asked.

  “Nothing,” Amanda managed to choke out.

  Cole gained his composure and sat up again. As the movie started, he leaned over and whispered, “Shh,” which made her giggle all over again.

  Twice during the movie, she caught Cole stretching and she thought he was going to do that stupid move where the g
uy subtly puts his arm around the girl. But that was a dumb thought because he didn’t do that, and she didn’t want him to, anyway, right? She totally wasn’t into him in that way. Even though watching the movie with him wasn’t horrible.

  She kind of liked poking him when something funny came on the screen. He had a wheeze to his laugh, which made her think of some dog cartoon. She enjoyed it when he laughed.

  When the movie ended, they all filed out into the mall. Destiny got a weird look on her face. “Hey, Cole, do you mind taking Amanda home? Eli wants to spend a little time with me. Would that be okay?” As she talked, she walked backwards toward the door, as if she was going to turn and take off any second.

  “Sure,” Cole said.

  Destiny grinned. “Thanks! You don’t mind, do you, Amanda?” But she didn’t wait for an answer. She bolted out the door.

  Amanda rolled her eyes. “Could they be more obvious?”

  Cole chuckled. “They were trying pretty hard.”

  “Hopefully you don’t mind. I should have suspected something when Destiny insisted she pick me up.”

  “It’s no big deal.” He placed his hand on the small of her back.

  It might have annoyed her any other time, but tonight, for some reason, it felt good. Like a warm blanket wrapped around on a cold evening. She liked the feeling.

  They walked to his car in the parking lot. He started the engine and turned out of the parking lot.

  “What did you think of the movie?” He glanced at her as he drove.

  “The book is always better, but I think they did a good job with what they had to work with. I’m glad they didn’t add a ton of CGI stuff in. That always looks so fake.”

  He nodded. “I agree.”

  He turned down Main Street and Amanda groaned. “Don’t take Main this time of night. Traffic is always so backed up. It will take forever.”

  Cole didn’t say anything as he slowed for the cars ahead of him. They inched along as cars tried to back out of the street parking spaces into the heavy traffic. After a few minutes, they were right in front of the opera house.

  Amanda narrowed her eyes at him. “Did you take this way so you could show me how needed a parking garage is here?”

  He looked at her, his eyes pleading. “You have to admit there’s a problem downtown on busy nights. Everyone parks on the street, making it impossible for cars to get through.”

  Amanda couldn’t believe he’d turned down Main Street, knowing it would take forever to get through, just as an object lesson. She turned from him, unable to speak, her throat closing up. What a jerk move.

  “Mandy,” he said softly. He put his hand on hers.

  Her body reacted to his warm touch as waves of electricity coursed through her. Stupid body. It didn’t know what a meanie Cole was being. How insensitive. If he only knew what that building meant to her. But she didn’t want to tell him. Not while he was being this way. She pulled her hand away from him. “Just take me home,” she whispered.

  It took ten more minutes of sitting in traffic before he was able to turn off Main Street and head toward her house. When she got home, she went to her room and climbed into bed. She didn’t want to think about Cole anymore. There was only one person she wanted to talk to. She pulled out her phone and texted her anonymous texter.

  Chapter 9

  Cole stretched out on his bed, his phone in his hand. Part of the evening had gone well. He’d managed to screw things up in the beginning with the popcorn bucket. Stupid of him. He was just used to doing the popcorn because his father was low-salt, low-fat and never put anything extra on it. It then tasted like Styrofoam and he couldn’t sit through a movie with that tasteless garbage.

  He’d gotten in the habit of grabbing the bucket and doing it himself. Only, he didn’t think when he did that to Amanda. And then he couldn’t give it back to her. She would have thought he was insane. So he tried to play it off as just his thing. Which was idiotic.

  But after a while, she seemed to settle down about that. They’d gotten shushed by that old lady, which made them both crack up. It was a shared laugh. It bonded them. At least he’d thought it had.

  But then he had to turn down Main Street. He hadn’t done it on purpose, but it did prove his point nicely. He should have apologized right then, told her he hadn’t meant to, but instead, he thought maybe she would agree that a parking structure was needed. That didn’t work.

  How did he manage to mess that up? Eli had set it up perfectly. But for some reason, he always managed to make Amanda mad at him. He stared at his phone, wondering if it was too late to text her as the anonymous guy.

  Before he could type anything in, a text from her came through. You awake?

  It was stupid how happy seeing those words made him. Yes.

  Good. I was hoping you would be. Did you go to the movie tonight?

  Yes.

  It was good, right? Tell me you loved it. Because if you hated it, I don’t know if we can still be friends.

  Cole chuckled and typed in a reply. I loved it.

  YAY!!!! I knew you were a soul mate.

  He let those words wash over him for a second. They felt good. Another text came through.

  I only have a few minutes to chat before my bedtime.

  You have a bedtime? He sent her a funny face emoji after that comment, the one with the tongue hanging out.

  Self-imposed. I’m running a race tomorrow. I can’t stay up all night.

  I heard about that race. It’s to help the animal shelter, right?

  Yes! I’ve participated in the last two years. It’s a great cause.

  I agree. Do you have a pet?

  Two hamsters. I’ve wanted a dog for forever, but my sister is allergic. She inserted a frown.

  Cole felt her pain. He’d begged his father when he was in fifth grade to get him a dog. It was all he wanted for Christmas. No matter how much he begged, his father refused. At least you have a good excuse why you can’t have a dog. I can’t have a dog because my parental unit doesn’t want the mess. That’s lame, right?

  Totally lame.

  What kind of dog would you get, if you could get one?

  I would get a Papillon or a Maltese.

  You like the small dogs? They’re cute, but I want something more substantial, like a Great Dane or a Doberman. His neighbor growing up had a Doberman. He’d pet the dog through the fence. He even figured out how to play catch with him by throwing sticks over the fence. He played with that dog more than his friends, probably.

  My friend had a St. Bernard. Nicest dog I’ve ever met. You should totally get a dog when you move out on your own. Only a year and a half away from that, right?

  Except I’ll be in a college dorm then. Probably can’t have a dog until after I graduate.

  You’re right. That stinks. What college are you going to?

  Cole didn’t think he’d ever mentioned to Amanda what college he was going to apply to. It was probably safe to tell her the truth. Stanford. What about you?

  I don’t know. Is that terrible? I’m a junior. I should know what college I’m going to apply for, right?

  At the dance, Amanda had expressed some fear of the future. He hadn’t thought much about it, but maybe her fear wasn’t so much about what will happen, but fear of the unknown.

  It’s not terrible. You have time to look at the choices and make a decision. And you can apply for more than one college. Me? I can’t really do that.

  Why not?

  Cole wasn’t sure why he’d said that. Maybe because he was a bit frustrated with his own future. Maybe because he wasn’t allowed to talk about it with his father. And maybe because sometimes he felt trapped and had no one who understood. He probably should make a joke of it and move on, but something kept him from doing that.

  My life is planned out for me. I have to go to Stanford because that’s where my father went. He would fall over dead if I defied his wishes.

  He’s controlling?

  That’s a
n understatement.

  I’m sorry. That must feel horrible.

  I’m not allowed to feel horrible.

  Cole sent the last text, then decided their discussion was getting way too deep, and decided to lighten the mood.

  Wow, sorry. That was a real downer. I didn’t mean to depress you.

  Her answer came back fast.

  Don’t worry. You didn’t depress me. You have a controlling parent. While mine isn’t that way, I can understand how that might make you feel. Don’t think you can’t be real with me. I want you to be real.

  Cole wasn’t sure what to say to that, so he just typed, Okay.

  Does your father control other aspects of your life, too?

  Pretty much every aspect.

  Even what you’ll study in college?

  Cole shifted. He wasn’t sure if talking about this was a great idea anymore. He was starting to feel uncomfortable. But he’d started it. He couldn’t exactly abandon the conversation.

  Especially what I’ll study in college.

  So, your father has your entire life planned out the way he wants it?

  Yes.

  And what would you want to be if you could erase everyone else and follow your dreams?

  Cole had never told another living soul what he was passionate about, and he wasn’t sure he could tell Amanda, even if he wanted to. Because he was not that person. He was his father’s son. The billionaire-to-be. That’s who everyone saw. And that’s who he had to be.

  He took in a breath and let it out slowly. Before he could think of a response, she texted again.

  Hey, are you still there?

  Yeah, I’m here.

  Then tell me. What do you want to be when you grow up? She ended it with a silly face emoji.

  He decided that honesty was the best policy.

  I don’t know if I can tell you. It’s kind of stupid.

  I won’t make fun of you. I swear.

  No, really. It’s stupid.

  She sent him a GIF of a girl blowing hair out of her eyes. Come on, it can’t be that bad.

  Yes, it is. Not bad, just unrealistic.

  A rock star?