Chapter 1 — The Boy I Couldn't Stand
The first time I met Noah Bennett, he stole my parking spot.
The second time, he spilled coffee all over my shirt.
By the third time, I was seriously considering whether the universe had a personal problem with me.
Unfortunately, the universe had a terrible sense of humor.
Because Noah Bennett was about to become the biggest problem of my entire summer.
It started on a Monday morning.
I was already late, my phone was at twelve percent, and my car had decided to make a noise that suggested it would rather die than take me to university.
So when I finally pulled into the campus parking lot and spotted an empty space near the entrance, I almost cried with relief.
I turned on my signal.
A black car appeared from nowhere and slid directly into the spot.
I slammed on my brakes.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
The driver's door opened.
A guy stepped out, wearing a black T-shirt, faded jeans, and the kind of careless smile that immediately made me dislike him.
He glanced at my car.
Then at me.
Then he had the audacity to wave.
I rolled down my window.
“Are you serious?”
He leaned slightly toward me.
“About what?”
“The parking spot.”
He looked behind him as if expecting to find another person.
“Oh. You wanted it?”
I stared at him.
“No, I was signaling because I enjoy decorating the parking lot with my car.”
His smile widened.
“That's actually pretty creative.”
“Move your car.”
“Can't. Already parked.”
“Then unpark it.”
He laughed.
Actually laughed.
Like I was entertaining him.
“Look, I got here first.”
“You literally drove past me.”
“And yet, here I am.”
I took a slow breath.
My therapist would have been proud.
My therapist would also have been disappointed by what happened next.
I got out of the car.
The guy looked me up and down, then stepped aside to let me slam the door.
“Good morning to you too,” he said.
“Go to hell.”
“Is that where you're headed? Because I could use directions.”
I hated him.
I hated his smile, his stupid hair, and the fact that he seemed completely unbothered by the fact that I was about two seconds away from losing my mind.
Most of all, I hated that he was attractive.
Not that it mattered.
Attractiveness was not a personality.
And his personality was apparently a parking violation.
I grabbed my bag from the passenger seat.
“What's your name?” he asked.
I turned back.
“Why?”
“So I know who to apologize to when I inevitably regret meeting you.”
“You won't have to worry about that.”
“Lena.”
I froze.
He looked at the name printed on the notebook sticking out of my bag.
“Oh,” he said. “That's your name.”
I pulled the notebook against my chest.
“Stop reading my stuff.”
“I read one word.”
“Congratulations. You can read.”
His smile returned.
“Noah.”
“What?”
“My name. Since we're apparently going to be enemies.”
“Good to know.”
I walked away before he could say anything else.
I made it exactly twelve steps before he called after me.
“Hey, Lena!”
I kept walking.
“You forgot something!”
I turned around.
He was holding up my car keys.
I looked down at my empty hand.
For one horrible second, I considered pretending they weren't mine.
Then I walked back.
Noah held them out.
Our fingers brushed when I took them.
It meant absolutely nothing.
Obviously.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
“Anytime.”
“Don't make me regret saying that.”
“Wouldn't dream of it.”
I turned and marched toward the university building.
Behind me, I heard him laugh again.
I decided, right then, that I would never speak to Noah Bennett voluntarily.
That decision lasted until eleven thirty-seven that morning.
Because when I walked into my literature seminar, carrying a fresh coffee and the last remaining pieces of my patience, the professor stood beside the whiteboard and announced that we would be working in pairs for the entire summer term.
I didn't mind group projects.
I didn't even mind strangers.
What I minded was the professor reading two names from her list and watching my entire day collapse in real time.
“Lena Hart and Noah Bennett.”
Silence.
Then a familiar voice behind me whispered:
“Well, this should be fun.”
I closed my eyes.
Please, I thought.
Please let this be a dream.
“Miss Hart?” the professor asked. “Is there a problem?”
I opened my eyes.
Noah was sitting in the back row, looking at me with that same infuriating smile.
“Yes,” I said.
The professor raised an eyebrow.
“What problem?”
I looked directly at Noah.
“He's my problem.”
The room erupted in laughter.
Noah leaned back in his chair.
And for the first time that morning, his smile disappeared.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
Something changed in his expression, something so quick and unexpected that I almost wondered whether I'd imagined it.
Then he looked away.
The professor continued explaining the assignment, but I barely heard a word.
Because Noah Bennett, the boy I had decided to hate, was now my partner for the next three months.
And as I would eventually discover, some people enter your life like a storm.
They ruin your plans.
They turn everything upside down.
And just when you think you've survived them, you realize they've changed the way you see the world.
I just didn't know yet that Noah Bennett would be the hardest person I'd ever have to let go of.
