At First Hate (Coastal Chronicles)

“What?” Olivia gasped. Then, she leaned into me. “How did you know that?”

“Olivia!” Sarah cried.

Carly grimaced. “Seriously? You could get kicked out of the program.”

“It’s fine!” Olivia said. “I swear…”

Derek shook his head. “Literally, how did you know?”

I shrugged. “Educated guess. I know you.”

“And how do you know each other again?” Olivia asked.

“Derek,” I offered, holding my hand out to let him explain.

He narrowed his eyes at me. “We know each other from high school.”

“Didn’t you go to an all-boys private school?”

“Oh yeah, he’s a Holy Cross boy,” I said like it was an insult. Which… when we’d said it at the public school, it was.

“No one says it like that,” Derek said. “They how we said St. Catherine’s girls.”

“They said it that way about you,” I teased.

Olivia cleared her throat as Derek seethed. “So, how did you meet if you went to different schools?”

“We met at a Halloween party. No, wait, it was a football game first.”

“Marley’s friend dated my friend.”

“Okayyy,” Olivia said, drawing out the word.

Olivia looked wounded by the whole thing, which I hated. I really liked her. Derek hadn’t known Samar when he kissed me. He’d just seen revenge. I didn’t want to hurt Olivia. So, I backed off. Derek would probably sink this one himself. I was honestly surprised that she would do something so reckless as to date a student. Even one as attractive and charismatic as Derek.

The night wound down quickly after that. It was already near bar close. I was glad that I’d stopped drinking when I did so that I could drive home. The rest of the girls were sloshy. Sarah was making out with one of Derek’s friends. Carly was dancing with another. It was my time to bail. I said my good-byes and headed back to the parking lot, getting on the phone with Brin as I walked so I wouldn’t be alone.

“So, how was it?”

“Fun until I ran into Derek.”

Brin gasped. “The guy who kissed you when you were dating Samar?”

“Yep.”

“Oh my God. Did you kiss him again?”

“He’s seeing one of my friends.”

“Bummer. He’s hot.”

I laughed. Oh, Brin. Priorities.

Then, my phone beeped as another call came through. I didn’t recognize the number, but it had a 912 area code, which meant it was someone from Savannah.

“Hey, Brin, I have another call. Let me call you back.”

“Okay. Stay safe. Love you.”

I clicked over and answered, “Hello?”

“Where are you?”

I froze outside of the parking lot to the sound of Derek’s voice in my ear. “Derek?”

“Yes. Where are you?”

“I’m in a parking lot?”

“Where?”

“I don’t go to UNC. I have no idea.” I glanced at the nearest street sign and told him where I was.

“Don’t move. I’ll meet you there.”

“What? Why?” I asked, but he’d already hung up the phone. “And how did you get my number?” I muttered to myself.

Derek had never called me. I hadn’t even known that he had my number. I’d certainly never given it to him. Plus, I had no idea why he was coming to see me. I’d backed off so as not to hurt Olivia. He couldn’t blame me this time.

He appeared under the streetlight. He wore khakis and a Carolina-blue polo with a navy three-quarter zip pulled over top. I huddled in my jacket, shivering from the cold. I should have started the heater in the car while I waited.

“There you are,” he said with half of a smile. He wasn’t pleased.

“What happened?”

“Why do you think something happened?”

I shrugged. “I can read your expression.”

“Olivia broke it off.”

“Ah,” I said softly. “Sorry.”

“Are you?”

“I mean… not really. She could lose her entire life for this. It doesn’t seem like a risk worth taking.”

He huffed. “And you don’t think you had anything to do with this?”

I held my hands up. “Hey, I didn’t tell her anything she didn’t already know.”

“This has to stop.” He slid his hands into his pockets. “We can’t keep doing this.”

“I wouldn’t be doing this, but you did it to me, Derek.”

He ground his teeth together and nodded. “Fine. Look, let’s bet on it.”

I laughed. “Bet on what?”

“This. Us. When UNC beats Duke in basketball this weekend, you’ll stop ruining my relationships.”

“And when Duke wins, you’ll what? Stop ruining mine? As far as I’m concerned, you’ve done a lot worse in all of this.”

“I was actually into Olivia, you know?”

“No, I didn’t know. You acted the way you do with everyone else.”

“And how is that?” he demanded.

“Expendable,” I spat. “You’re not even really mad that it ended. You’re only mad that I had something to do with it.”

“That’s not true.”

“If you were actually upset, you would be following her home to beg her to reconsider, but you’re not.”

He stilled at that comment. As if he’d never had anyone dissect him before. I didn’t know when I’d become the expert on Derek, but I’d had enough time to think about all the girls he had gone through in high school and the way he treated everyone, including me. I’d been determined to be the one girl who didn’t fall for his stupid tricks after that kiss. And he’d treated Olivia the same as all the rest.