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

by Victorine E. Lieske

  Amanda gave him a sympathetic look. “What does your mom say about that?”

  A stab of pain pricked his chest. “She’s dead.”

  Amanda’s gaze softened. “I’m sorry.”

  “Not your fault.” He lifted his hand as if to wave away the comment.

  “I know. I meant, I sympathize. I lost a parent, too.” She uncapped the marker and started drawing on the white board.

  “I don’t think that’s for you to draw on.”

  “Who cares? It wipes off.” She drew a flower. Then added a smiley face to it.

  “The hospital people might care.”

  She gave him a dirty look, then capped the marker and placed it on the rack. “Fine.”

  “You’d better wipe it off.” He was only teasing her. He kind of enjoyed the way the vein on her neck stood out when she got annoyed at him.

  She ignored his last comment. “You really feeling fine? Because I should probably go.” She folded her arms over the number sticker on her shirt.

  “Which parent did you lose?” He hadn’t meant to blurt it out like that, but he was curious, so he let it stand.

  Amanda walked to the window. “My father.”

  “What happened?” Why was he asking her these questions? He could tell she was uncomfortable by the way she stood there, stiff.

  She pulled the blinds until she could see out the window. After a moment she turned toward him. “A car accident. What about your mom? How did she die?”

  He smoothed out the sheet that covered him. He always hated that question. He didn’t want to talk about it. “Same way.”

  Amanda took a step closer. “I was five. How old were you?”

  “Eight.”

  She looked down at her hands. “The pain never really goes away. They say time heals all wounds, but not this one.”

  He agreed. The hole in his chest had not healed; it just had gotten a bit smaller. “I remember the way she laughed. Isn’t it funny how small things stick in your mind? I can hear it if I concentrate.”

  Amanda walked to him and sat on the edge of his bed. “I don’t remember much about my father. Is that terrible?”

  He put his hand on hers. He understood her guilt. The way you almost blame yourself for the memories that silently slip away and are too far gone to grasp anymore. There were memories of his mother that had faded away like that. “No.”

  “My mom says he was the most handsome man in Rockford.” She gave him a small smile. “I can’t even picture his face anymore. Not in three dimensions. I have photos, but they don’t look like my memories, if that makes sense.”

  He let his thumb graze the side of her hand. “Makes perfect sense.”

  The door opened and his father came into the room. Amanda slipped away to the other side of the room. “Cole. How are you feeling?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Another asthma attack, huh? And you didn’t have your inhaler?”

  Cole stared at his father, a look of disbelief on his face. “Dad, I haven’t had an inhaler since sixth grade.”

  His father frowned and took a step back. “Why not?”

  “Because the doctor said I hadn’t had an attack in over three years. Remember?”

  He obviously didn’t. His face registered surprise.

  The doctor came into the room then, and his father stepped by his side. The doctor flipped through his chart. “Looks like your son responded well to the albuterol. I think you can go home now.” He handed a piece of paper to his father. “This prescription will get him an inhaler. He should keep it on him at all times, in case of another attack.”

  His father gave Cole a pointed look. “Yes. Of course.”

  Cole glanced around for Amanda, but she must have left because she was no longer in the room. He silently cursed his father for his poor timing.

  Chapter 12

  Amanda slipped out of the hospital and walked to her car, her hands shaking. She had never seen anyone have an asthma attack before. So scary. He couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to not be able to take in a breath. She would have freaked out, but he was pretty calm about it.

  She didn’t want to get in the way, so she’d left him with his father. It had been weird that he hadn’t come straight to the hospital. What was Cole’s home life like? Sounded like his father was always at work.

  Her mother had always tried to make time for Amanda and her sister. It was difficult being a single mom, but she balanced her work and her children. Amanda never resented the time her mother spent at work because she always made sure they would do things over the weekend.

  She pulled up to her house and cut the engine. Her sister must be home since her car was in the driveway. Amanda entered the house and walked to her bedroom. As she neared her room, she heard her inside, talking.

  Amanda peeked in the crack in the door. Stephanie was on her computer, her headphones on. She was taping another Vlog. Dang, she wanted to go into her room. It wasn’t fair that Stephanie taped in their bedroom.

  She peeked around. Maybe she could sneak in, if she was careful not to make noise. Amanda crept in, making sure she didn’t get caught on camera in the background. Her sister shot her a glare but kept taping.

  “I’m not going to apologize for my last episode. Brandon Travers single-handedly destroyed the movie. And I’m not going to believe that Brandon Travers himself is leaving comments on this blog. That’s absurd. He’s a movie star. He has no time to argue with me on a barely-known Vlog. So, whoever is leaving comments saying you’re Brandon Travers, stop it. Because you’re not.”

  She clicked her mouse and took off her headphones. “Way to interrupt my broadcast,” she said, flinging the nearest thing at Amanda. Luckily, it was a pillow.

  “I was very careful not to interrupt, thank you.” Amanda flopped down on her bed. “Getting bad feedback from your last Vlog?”

  Stephanie made a face. “All I did was say that Brandon Travers totally destroyed the part of Xander, and people are going nuts. Well, not ‘people’ exactly. Just a few. And one really annoying commenter who is using Brandon’s name. It’s stupid.”

  “How do you know it’s not really Brandon Travers?” Amanda was joking, but it could be. It wasn’t completely out of the realm of possibility.

  “Brandon Travers? Chatting with some two-bit Vlogger? I don’t even have three thousand subscribers yet. How would he even have found my Vlog?”

  Amanda shrugged. “Did you tag him in your video?”

  “Sure, but a billion people probably tag him. He’s famous.”

  “Just sayin’. Maybe you should ask him to prove he’s Brandon Travers.”

  Stephanie huffed. “I’m not going to waste my time.” She stood and grabbed her notebook and pen and headed out the door.

  Amanda settled against her pillow. She wanted to check on Cole. Was that stupid? After yesterday, she thought she’d never speak to him again. But today she felt differently. She wanted to talk. She texted him.

  You okay?

  His response came back fast.

  I’m fine. Only a little hurt. You left without saying goodbye.

  Why would you need to say goodbye? We see each other every day at school.

  I wanted to see if you were free tonight.

  She wrinkled her nose. Oh, no. It was getting weird now. She made a joke out of it.

  Free? What are you doing? Asking me out?

  Would it be terrible if I was?

  She paused. She felt extremely guilty that he’d had an asthma attack while she was trying to run away from him. She hadn’t been very nice to him. But she didn’t want to go on a date with him. The whole movie thing ended in disaster. She didn’t want a repeat.

  Let’s pretend you didn’t just ask me out.

  The dots appeared, then disappeared, like he was typing then erasing.

  Okay. I’m not asking you out. But I have no plans for tonight. And we could do something together, unless you still hate me.


  She sighed.

  I don’t hate you.

  So, not a date. Just two people who get hungry at the same time who happen to eat together?

  She couldn’t help it. She laughed. Cole did have a way of making her smile. She sent him a smile emoji. All right. But I’m driving. I’ll be at your house at six.

  Deal.

  Chapter 13

  Cole waited in the chair by the window. He was full of nervous energy, like he needed to go lift weights or something.

  Her car pulled up and he jumped out of his chair. Despite the tension they’d had this morning at the fun run, he was looking forward to spending the evening with Amanda.

  He climbed into her car, and she turned to him. “How are you feeling?” she asked.

  “I’m fine. The doctor said my attack was brought on by the exercise. I just have to keep my inhaler with me now.”

  “And maybe not sign up for any more fun runs.”

  “That, too.” He grinned at her. “I’m sure tonight will be asthma attack-free. Unless you have some night sprinting planned.”

  “Absolutely not.” She turned onto Second Street to get downtown, then stopped in front of Grind it Up. “Is this okay? I like their sandwiches.”

  “This is fine.” He climbed out of her car. It felt a little strange that she was driving, but it wasn’t horrible. He could do this.

  He and Amanda walked into the coffee shop together. The place was busy, with most of the tables full of couples and groups of people eating. He glanced at the menu while they waited in line.

  “How did you find out you had asthma as a kid?”

  Cole shifted his weight. It wasn’t a pleasant memory. “My dad wanted me to get some exercise, so he made me sign up for baseball as a kid. I had an attack during one of our games.”

  “Did he take you to the hospital?”

  “Dad wasn’t there.”

  “So, he made you join a team, but didn’t go to the games?”

  Cole nodded. “But he wasn’t a terrible father. I know that’s what you’re thinking. He worked a lot, but he didn’t abuse me. He hired nannies to take care of me. I had everything I ever wanted.”

  “Except a father,” she said under her breath.

  Yeah. He didn’t want to get into it with her, though. “Tell me about your mom. Where does she work?”

  “She sells insurance. Says that’s as boring as heck, but she gets paid good money, so she keeps doing it.”

  “Hey, if it pays the bills, it’s not a bad thing, right?”

  “Yeah.” Amanda said it like she’d rather eat mud than sell insurance.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She looked up at him. “Nothing. It’s just…my mom hates her job. I don’t want to be like that when I’m older. Stuck in a going-nowhere job that I hate. That’s one of my biggest fears.”

  He knew she feared the future, and so this totally made sense. Another piece of the puzzle now in place. “Amanda,” he said softly. “I can’t imagine you ever stuck doing anything you don’t want to do.”

  She blinked, as if his words affected her. “Why do you say that?”

  “Because. You’re obstinate.”

  “Hey.” She whacked his arm.

  He chuckled. “Let me finish. You’re stubborn, but you put that towards the things that really matter to you. You have convictions. You care about people. And when you get your mind set on something, you never waver. Not even for a second. Does that sound like someone who will be stuck in an office job her whole life?”

  She let out a breath and stared at the menu on the wall. “You make me sound much better than I really am.”

  “Just telling the truth.”

  “Well, you’re lucky. You know what you’re going to do after high school.”

  He sure did. Cole had his entire life planned for him. But he couldn’t say that because that would totally give him away as her secret texter, so he just sighed. “Yeah.”

  The line moved and they came up to the counter. They ordered their sandwiches and found a spot to sit. Amanda looked wistfully out the window. “Looks like it might rain.”

  “Yeah, the clouds are sure dark.”

  “Why did you really come on the run this morning?” Amanda turned and stared at him, her brown eyes intent.

  Why did she think? What did she want him to say? To admit that he liked her? That he wanted to be around her? He shrugged. “It was something different. That’s all.”

  She looked away from him and picked up her sandwich. Fail. Again. He was going to fail with Amanda from now until eternity.

  He wanted to get rid of the tension between them. Wanted things to be more like Thursday when she was in his arms, dancing. “I’m sorry about last night…getting caught on Main Street.”

  “How long have you known?”

  The question didn’t make sense to Cole. “Known what?” He took a large bite of his sandwich.

  “That your father was going to knock down the opera house?”

  Her question shot a pang of guilt through him. He chewed and stared down at his plate. He’d known about the parking garage plan for six months. His father bought the opera house shortly after the plans were finalized. He swallowed. “A while.”

  “So, when I talked about saving the opera house at lunch, you knew your father was the one knocking it down.”

  He didn’t want to admit it, but yes, that’s pretty much what happened. “Yeah.”

  “And you didn’t tell me.”

  “How could I? You would have gone off on me. Like you did at the dance.”

  “I would have appreciated your honesty.”

  “Even though I don’t agree with you?” Cole gave her a flat look. “I highly doubt that.”

  She closed her eyes. “Look. I can be passionate about some things. I get it. But you have to admit, tearing down the opera house is destroying a piece of history.”

  This was an argument he knew he couldn’t win. There was no solution to it. His father would never budge. And he couldn’t side against him, even if he did think the opera house was worth saving, which he didn’t. He rubbed his temples. “We’ll have to agree to disagree.”

  Amanda slowly nodded. She didn’t look like she wanted to agree to disagree. She looked determined to get him to see her side of things. He hated this. Even if she managed to convince him it was best to save the opera house, no matter what, his father would never let him have a different opinion. It was his way or the highway.

  They ate in silence, the painful tension growing between them. Why could he never seem to get rid of the distance? Why did he always say the wrong thing, or do the wrong thing? Maybe he and Amanda were not meant to be together.

  They finished their food. He was about to tell her he was sorry, that two people who were both hungry at the same time probably shouldn’t have eaten together. That he was wrong and would be forever. But Amanda spoke before him.

  “Come with me.”

  He must have had a strange look on his face because she said, “Stop looking at me like that.” She grabbed his hand. Her touch sent a shiver through him. “Can you stop being your father’s son for just a few minutes? Do you think you can do that?”

  He was so tempted to tell her yes. That he would be whatever she wanted him to be. That he would walk around the world barefoot for her if it meant she would not hate him anymore. But he was who he was. “I don’t know what good it will do,” he finally said.

  “Please? For me?” Amanda stared at him with her large, brown eyes, and for a split second, all the tension was gone and the coffee shop melted away, and it was just Amanda and him. And he knew he would do anything to make her happy.

  “Okay.”

  She squeezed his hand, and all of his senses came alive. “Then come with me. I want to show you something.”

  He stood. He would follow her anywhere. They left the coffee shop. He started toward her car, but she stopped him. “No. That way.” She pointed down the street, toward the
opera house.

  He nodded, knowing what was going to happen. She wanted to try to convince him. That was fine. He wasn’t going to object to her anymore.

  They walked down the street. Amanda shoved her hands in her coat pockets. “It’s chilly.”

  “It’s November.”

  She breathed in deeply. “I love the fall, don’t you?”

  “Yeah. I’ve always loved the smell of crisp leaves.”

  “Me, too. It’s a promise.”

  He wrinkled his nose. “A promise?”

  She lowered her lashes, looking embarrassed. “It’s stupid.”

  “No, tell me.”

  She let out a small laugh. “When I was a kid, Christmas was the best thing in the world. All kids think Christmas is the bomb, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Well, when it started to get colder and the trees changed, to me that was a promise that Christmas was coming. A promise that I would get the best holidays in a row.”

  He chuckled. “You’re right. The best holidays are packed into the last couple of months of the year.”

  “Right? Halloween kicks it off. Then Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. Of course, Christmas is the best one.”

  “Of course.”

  Amanda slowed her steps as they neared the opera house. He expected her to point out the great architecture or start to talk about the history of the building. Instead, she kept walking, turning the corner and heading down the side street.

  “Where are we going?”

  “You’ll see.”

  They walked down the sidewalk to the end of the building. Then Amanda slipped into the shadows behind the opera house. Cole followed her into the darkness. “Uh, Mandy?” he asked when he didn’t see her anymore.

  “Come up.” She leaned over the railing. She had climbed up the back steps.

  He started to feel uneasy. “What are you doing?”

  “Just come up here.”

  He started up the steps. But before he got to her, she’d disappeared. He stood on the landing by the locked door and peered into the dark. “Mandy?” he hissed.