Chapter 8

8

DAPHNE

K eeping my promise to my mom, I dutifully showed up at the school for the planning committee meeting in the morning. When I arrived, a few of the teachers were still gathered in the staff room meeting about homecoming, and I listened in, not wanting to interrupt but curious about whether there was something I could do to help with that as well.

One moment, I was leaning against the wall outside the teachers' lounge, listening to the plans for the parade, and the next, my entire body started tingling with awareness. Before I even saw him, I knew that the tingles meant Sterling had arrived. It was his presence making me feel like I'd stepped on an invisible live wire.

I couldn't explain it. It was just this sudden sense that he was here. I stiffened, risking a quick look over my shoulder to see that I had been right.

The electricity flowing through my veins was, in fact, as a result of the presence of Sterling North. He was striding down the hall toward me, dressed as impeccably as he had been before in tailored slacks and a fitted blue button-down shirt.

To my surprise, he'd paired the outfit with a pair of sneakers today instead of his fancy, shiny shoes, so he looked a little more casual than before, but it was still clear that he no longer lived around here. There was a newfound—to me—sense of sophistication about him, especially now that his black hair was neatly styled instead of slightly tousled after a flight.

Those deep brown eyes scanned the halls like he was searching for a threat of sorts and his footsteps were even and sure. With those strong, regal features set in yet another stony expression, I waited until he saw me in the hopes of finally catching a glimpse of that smile again, but nope.

The only thing I caught a glimpse of when those eyes finally fell upon mine was a tiny frown, but then he gave his head a shake and strode right past me without even saying hi. I blinked rapidly a few times, wondering what I'd ever done to him. A few other people who still lived in town and who had been in the student government in their year arrived, and I shook it off.

Filing into the lounge after them, I smiled at some of the teachers I knew and took a seat at the far end of the long table. I was here to help if I could, but this was their party. If they could pull themselves together to handle it alone, that would be great too.

Sterling said hello to some of our old teachers, much more polite to them than he had been to me. He shook hands with his old classmates and seamlessly eased back into his former role as class president.

"Welcome, everyone," he said, his voice ringing with an authority I'd never heard from him before. "This meeting of the reunion planning committee for Allisburg High will now begin."

Jeez. So formal. People responded to it, though. Even the teachers around the table sat up a little straighter.

Sterling cleared his throat, his gaze never fully meeting mine even though he was making eye contact with every person around the table.

"I'm sorry this is the first meeting I'm attending in person, but let's get right to it," he said. "Eric has been keeping me up to speed and I'd like to commend everyone on their efforts so far. I've seen a lot of familiar faces around town and I know it's because of your hard work getting them here."

A few people nodded and smiled at him, but their faces fell when he pushed on. "I'm a little concerned that it seems we don't have a plan for what we want to do for the actual event yet. Am I understanding that correctly?"

Darla Haynes put up her hand. She and I had been in the math club together for a while and I knew how intimidated she'd always been by the golden boys of her year, so I was proud of her for speaking up. Sterling seemed confused by her raising her hand, but he nodded at her anyway.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Well, I, uh, we were talking about, uh," she stammered. "Before, I mean, we thought it might be nice to have a field day so people can bring their families as well."

Judging by the way he dismissed her from his gaze without saying anything and simply shrugging at the idea, I could tell he didn't really care. Darla's shoulders caved and her eyes hit the table, and exasperation ripped through me.

Still, this wasn't my reunion, so I sat back, happy when one of the others finally spoke up. "What do you think we should do, then? A lot of our people have kids now, Sterling. We need to consider them as well."

"What will they do with the kids when the family part is over?" another guy piped up. "Were you thinking we should arrange babysitters?"

"What about the food?" a teacher asked. "The caterers in town are getting booked up fast with events surrounding homecoming, and the fall festival also coming up. Just something to keep in mind."

While they peppered him with questions, I saw the agitation starting to creep up on him. I'd watched this guy do his homework under my mom's watchful eye at our dining-room table for years.

Not in a creepy, stalker kind of way, of course.

She'd sat me down to do my homework with them, but I'd never had much trouble at school, so I'd often found myself staring at him while I killed a bit of time. So sue me. I had a crush on the guy. Any girl would've stared.

Either way, I saw the slight, defensive hunch of his shoulders. The straightening of his spine. The furrow of his brow and the lightning racing behind his eyes.

Finally, when I saw him starting to grind his teeth, I decided to jump in. "Hey, guys. For those of you who don't remember me, I'm Mrs. LaSalle's daughter and Eric's sister. I offered to help out this year because I know how busy you all are."

One by one, everyone's heads turned to me and I smiled, fibbing, but for a good cause. "So Eric, Jake, and Sterling have been talking about this online, and their plan is actually to incorporate a lot of your ideas. What they're thinking is that we'll start with a field day, then a barbecue lunch, and then the next evening will be the official reunion celebration here, at the high school."

Sterling stared at me while I hammered out my impromptu plan and I caught his eye. He didn't smile at me, but I could've sworn I saw gratitude in his gaze as it held my own. Butterflies erupted in my stomach, but I only gave him a curt nod before I kept going.

"Children will be welcome for all the events except the celebration here. For those who have kids but no family or friends in town to take care of them, I'll coordinate with the seniors of this year to find us some qualified babysitters for them to choose from. Sound good?"

"Excellent," Darla said, her hand racing across the notepad she was holding as she took notes. "If you don't mind, I'll coordinate with the seniors. Thanks for offering, but I volunteer at the library. I know a couple girls who might be able to help us out and who will definitely be able to point us in the right direction if we need more."

"Great," I said. "As for caterers, anyone have any ideas?"

Thankfully, one of the guys took it from there and the group came together pretty nicely after that. I breathed out a sigh of relief, listening carefully for areas where I could be of help but glad that they seemed to become more organized as the minutes ticked by.

Sterling seemed to have used the time I'd bought him to get his head in the game, and he stepped up after that. Quickly and efficiently delegating tasks, he ended the meeting sooner than I'd expected it to be done and got up.

Some of the others hung around to make small talk, but he simply nodded his goodbyes and hurried out of the room. I'd just turned to talk to one of my favorite teachers, but instead, I waved at her and took off after him, hurrying to catch up.

His long strides ate up the hallway and I almost had to run before I finally reached him. "Hey, Sterling. Would you wait for just a minute?"

Slamming to a stop, he turned to look at me, mild surprise flickering in his eyes before he sighed. "I've got somewhere to be. What's going on?"

For just a second, my tongue was glued to the roof of my mouth. This was the first time in ten years that he was looking right into my eyes with less than two feet between us, and I felt like the floor had dropped out from under me.

Rendered speechless by the twinkling depths of those brown pools, I just stared at him until I noticed a slight crease appearing between his brows. "Daphne?"

"I. Yes." I cleared my throat, closing my eyes for a beat to recover and then flashing him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. I zoned out for a minute. What were we talking about?"

"You asked me to wait?" he said, his voice so rough and yet smooth at the same time that just having this simple conversation with him made me wonder what he was like in bed.

Jeez, Daph. Get a grip!

"Oh, right." I tried for a wider, more relaxed smile. "Right. Yes. My mom is looking for chaperones for the homecoming dance. Do you think you might want to help?"

"No," he said crisply. His phone started buzzing in his pocket and he pulled it out, glancing at the screen before bringing his gaze back to mine. "I have to take this. I'm sure you'll find lots of people willing to volunteer."

Without another word, he slid his thumb across the screen and answered the call, turning on his heels and walking away from me. My jaw slackened as I watched him go, a sharp breath escaping my lungs just a second before my head started shaking.

Wow . I'd given him a pass the other day because of the flight and stuff, and then I'd even felt guilty because I hadn't considered that it was his first time home since his mother's death. Now, however, I knew better.

The Sterling North I'd had a crush on way back when, the guy people had nicknamed our North Star in Allisburg, was officially gone. Whoever the asshole was who had taken his place, I didn't know him, and right then, I was very sure I didn't want to.