Free See Me by Nicholas Sparks Page A

here?”
    He wasn’t sure whether to be offended or laugh, but she said it in a way that made it impossible to take umbrage.
    “Do I know you?”
    “We’re in class together.”
    “I know. I saw you staring at me. But I still don’t know you.”
    “You’re right,” she said. “We’re strangers. But may I ask you a question?”
    He knew exactly what was coming – the whole hurt-face thing was the tip-off – and he hitched up his backpack.
    “I was in a fight.”
    “Obviously,” she said. “But that’s not what I wanted to ask you. I wanted to know how old you are.”
    He blinked in surprise. “I’m twenty-eight. Why?”
    “That’s perfect,” she said, not answering his question. “Where are you going?”
    “To the library.”
    “Good. Me too. May I join you? I think we should talk.”
    “Why?”
    She smiled, vaguely reminding him of someone else. “If we talk, you can find out.”

CHAPTER 4

    Maria
    “W here are we going again?” Maria asked from the driver’s seat. She’d picked up Serena half an hour earlier on South Front Street, which ran parallel to the Cape Fear River. Serena had been standing at an intersection in an area dotted with older office buildings and occasional clusters of shacks and boathouses at the river’s edge, oblivious to the construction workers across the street who were clearly ogling her. Slowly but surely, the area was being revitalized, like the rest of the waterfront along the river, but for now it was a work in progress. “And why did I have to pick you up?”
    “I’ve already told you. We’re going to a
restaurant
,” Serena answered. “And you picked me up because I don’t plan on driving tonight, since I might have a couple of drinks.” She tossed a lock of hair over her shoulder. “The interview went well, by the way. Charles said he found my answers very
thoughtful
. Thanks for asking.”
    Maria rolled her eyes. “How did you get there?”
    “Steve dropped me off. I think he likes me. He’s meeting me here later.”
    “He has to like you if he’s willing to put up with this traffic.” Though the first half of September had passed, the heat was more reminiscent of early August and the shore was packed. Maria had already circled the block twice searching for a place to park.
    “Who cares? We’re at the beach.”
    “There are better places to eat downtown.”
    “How would you know? Have you even been to Wrightsville Beach since you moved back?”
    “No.”
    “My point exactly. You live in Wilmington. You need to get to the beach every now and then.”
    “I paddleboard, remember? I see the beach a lot more than you do.”
    “I mean someplace with actual people around, not just birds and turtles and the occasional jumping fish. You need to go someplace fun with a great view and a lot of atmosphere.”
    “Crabby Pete’s?”
    “It’s a local institution.”
    “It’s a tourist trap.”
    “So what? I’ve never been there and I want to find out what the big deal is.”
    Maria brought her lips together. “Why am I getting the sense that there’s more to this than you’re saying?”
    “Because you’re a lawyer. You’re suspicious of everything.”
    “Maybe. Or it could simply be that you’ve got something planned.”
    “What makes you say that?”
    “Because it’s Saturday night. We
never
go out on Saturday night. You’ve never
wanted
to go out with me on Saturday night.”
    “That’s why we’re having an early dinner,” Serena answered. “There are a bunch of bands playing in the bars down here this weekend, and Steve and I and a few friends are going to listen to some music before we hit the parties. They don’t get going until ten or eleven anyway, so there’s plenty of time.”
    Maria knew that Serena had something up her sleeve but couldn’t quite put her finger on it. “I hope you don’t expect me to tag along.”
    “Not a chance,” Serena huffed. “You’re way too old for that. It would be like going out