Page 37 of Hidden

"It's not insane, it's an in, there's a difference." She tears a piece of her croissant off. "You completely wasted it, and they sleep with girls at college, and they look like the models." Juno says, making us all laugh.

"I didn't waste anything, and like you just said, they sleep with model looking girls, and I’m far from a model.” I point to myself.

"You look amazing, and he's stupid if he thinks you don’t.” Cara adds her opinion.

"She's doing the face," Maya says.

"What face?" I question.

"The thinking face… are you thinking about him?” Maya looks around to make sure no one is listening to the conversation, the last thing I need is the college spreading things about me.

"I don't have a face."

"You do have a face," Cara says, without looking up from her coffee.

"Go talk to him," Juno says. "Next time you see him, just go up and…"

"Absolutely not." I’ve never been the girl to just go talk to a guy. I mean, I’ve always wanted to try but always too scared. Maybe that is why I like my camera, everything happens behind a lens, no one is there to judge you. It’s more of a behind closed doors thing.

"Why?"

"Because he told me to watch where I was going and walked away to his brothers’ table. That is not an invitation, that is a stay out of my way comment,” I continue but stop when Maya talks again.

"Some men are just bad at invitations," Maya says wisely.

"Some men are also just not interested," Bree says, equally wise. "He's not interested," Juno says, pointing at Bree. "Cold rude is different from uninterested rude." I don’t even know what that means.

"Can we please stop ranking the types of rude."

"She has a point though," Maya says to Bree. "If he wasn't interested, he would have just said sorry and moved on."

"He didn't say sorry," I say. "I said sorry. He said, ‘Watch where you're going.’"

There’s another brief silence between us all. I know I’m right and they are crazy.

"Okay that is a little cold," Maya admits.

"Thank you."

"But also kind of…"

"Don't say hot."

"I wasn't going to say hot." She was so going to say hot. "I was going to say, interesting."

The door opens, and Juno glances over, then her expression changes. The smile spreads on her lips, and for some crazy reason I already know who's walked through the door.

Mason Crawford comes in as if he owns the general concept of a room. Behind him, half a step back, with his hands in his jacket pockets, and his eyes doing a slow sweep of the space the way they always seem to, is Miles. I know this because I’ve been watching him whatever chance I get.

Something in my chest just stops, then starts again at a slightly different pace.

"Oh," Juno says, very quietly, directly at me.

"Don't," I say, at the same volume.

They go to the counter. Miles doesn't look at our table, not even once. He orders something, says something to Mason that makes Mason laugh, and stands there looking like he's thinking about seventeen things that have nothing to do with anyone in this room.

"Sadie." Juno's voice is gentle and deeply amused. "You cannot get into that man's bed by staring at him from across a coffee shop."