The Boy I Never Talked To

Chapter One

The Boy I Never Talk To

There are three things you should know about me.

One: I overthink everything.

Two: I keep a pastel-pink diary covered in ribbons, stickers, and tiny hearts, which would be adorable if it didn't contain enough embarrassing secrets to ruin my life.

And three—

I have been hopelessly in love with Theo Hayes for eleven months, three weeks, and approximately four days.

He doesn't know.

Which is probably for the best.

"Sophie."

I keep my eyes on my sketchbook.

"Sophie."

I dip my pencil into the corner of the page and pretend I'm deeply invested in the tiny flower I'm drawing.

"Sophie Bennett."

"What?"

Mia leans across the café table.

"You're staring at him."

"I'm not."

"You are."

"I'm drawing."

"You're drawing a flower upside down."

I look down.

The flower is, in fact, upside down.

I slowly turn the sketchbook around.

"Art is subjective."

Mia snorts.

"You've been staring at Theo for at least thirty seconds."

"I was looking past him."

"At what?"

I glance toward the window.

There is a brick wall.

"A brick wall."

Mia follows my gaze.

Then she looks back at me.

"You have a crush on the most obvious boy on campus, and somehow you're still terrible at lying."

"I don't have a crush."

"You wrote his name in your diary."

My pencil stops moving.

"I did not."

"You did."

"Once."

"Seven times."

I stare at her.

"You counted?"

"I'm your best friend. It's my job."

"That's not a job."

"It should be."

I close my sketchbook.

Mia smiles triumphantly.

I hate that smile.

Mostly because it means she knows she's right.

The thing is, I didn't mean to fall for Theo Hayes.

Nobody plans to fall for someone.

It just happens in tiny, inconvenient pieces.

For me, it started last September.

I'd been walking through the Arts Building when I saw a freshman sitting on the floor, surrounded by papers she'd dropped.