When I glanced back at Kit, she was already motioning for me to sit down with him. As I took my seat, I could see Kit and Caroline staring in our direction, watching Conrad and me like a couple of hawks. “Fine, but just for a minute though.”

“The truth is I moved because I have some family business to attend to. My uncle recently passed away, and he left me his house here. Because he was the last living family member I had, I decided to come and live in his house.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear about your uncle.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t really know him all that well,” he replied. “I only met him a couple of times.”

“What about your parents?”

“They died a long time ago,” he answered, looking away.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” I dropped my gaze, biting my lip slightly. He was trying to be friendly, and all I could do was bring up a past he probably didn’t want to talk about.

“Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault.”

“I know, but it was rude of me to pry. It must be hard to be alone,” I added.

“I’m not alone. You're sitting with me, after all.”

“Have we met before?” The words rolled out of my mouth before I could stop them.

“Why would you ask me that?”

Before I could say anything, I heard the ding of the order bell. Conrad’s food was ready.

“Excuse me, I’ll be right back.” As I picked up the plate, Mickey winked at me. What in the world was going on? It seemed like everyone wanted me to get to know this boy better. I set the food in front of Conrad and resumed my seat.

“Do I look familiar to you?” he asked.

“Why would you ask me that?” I repeated his question from earlier. We stared at one another, locked in a theoretical stalemate. Conrad and I had both asked questions the other evaded answering. “So how come you don’t take notes in class or anything?”

“That really bothers you, doesn’t it?” he asked with a surprised look on his face.

“I just don’t see how you can act like school isn’t a big deal. I don’t know. I guess I just take my studies seriously and want to do well.”

“When I lived in Los Angeles I was homeschooled. I had a private tutor, and I’ve already studied pretty much everything the teachers were going over in class today. Believe me when I say my education was a top priority before I moved here.”

“Oh, okay.” It was official; I was a jerk. I’d made an assumption about him and it turned out to be completely wrong. Luckily, Conrad didn’t seem to mind. We sat in silence for a few minutes while he ate his food. I knew I should’ve returned to work, but some inexplicable force almost seemed to be pulling the two of us together all day. What was the point in trying to fight it now?