Page 21 of The Charade
He peeked up from his writing. "I'm just updating my planner." He drew a line through something on the page after writingLunch with Ava off campusin blocky handwriting.
I frowned. "Don't people usually put things in their planner so they can remember them?"
Mack had hinted about Carter's love for keeping to a set schedule, but did he actually document every single thing he did throughout the day?
"That's one use." He shut the silky, faux leather cover, his long fingers wrapping the black elastic around the edge to hold it closed. "But I'd writtenlunch in the great hallin that spot, and since I'm going with you off campus instead, I needed to correct it. I like to make sure my planner is accurate."
I nodded slowly, not used to someone being so meticulous about their schedule. I mean, Elyse was really into bullet journaling too, and the way she made her daily to-do lists was borderline obsessive. But even she didn't take her planning to this extreme.
Carter slipped his bullet journal into his bag, along with his textbook and iPad.
"Ready to head out?" He slung his backpack over a shoulder.
"Sure." I hugged my books to my chest, and then we left the math classroom that I'd been inside for way too long.
It was sunny when we walked out the front iron doors of the school, the weather still warm this early in September.
I loved when summer came to the New England area since the afternoon rain showers were my favorite. But I also enjoyed that we had all four seasons and looked forward to autumn and the vibrant leaves that gave new color to the overall green appearance of the lush geography.
"My truck is this way." Carter gestured to the right when we made it to the parking lot at the east side of the school.
"This is the student parking lot?" I asked Carter as we walked past a Lamborghini, followed by an Audi, and then a Range Rover.
He gave a sideways glance to the expensive vehicles I was eyeing. "The faculty parking lot is on the other side of the school."
"So all of these vehicles belong to kids who go here?" I tried to clarify.
He nodded, unfazed at the fact that the contents of this parking lot alone were worth a couple million dollars. "That's Nash's car." He pointed to a lime-green BMW Convertible. "This one is Cambrielle's." He patted the hood of a shiny red car with a Mercedes symbol on it. "And this is mine." He pulled a key fob from the pocket of his slacks and pressed a button to unlock a black Ford F-150 Raptor.
"Wow." I blinked, not believing that kids my age drove these kinds of cars. In Ridgewater, the Carmichael twins and Chance Clemont had driven super fancy cars like this. But most of the student parking lot had been full of hand-me-down cars that made sense for newly licensed teens to drive.
Carter climbed into the driver’s side, so I got in and settled onto the passenger seat.
I didn't know what exactly I'd expected once I was in his vehicle. With what I knew about him so far, I didn't expect it to be littered with takeout wrappers, or stinky gym clothes like the stereotypical teen boy, but I also hadn't expected to be greeted with the most delicious-smelling cologne I'd ever breathed in my entire life.
I'd been sitting by the guy all throughout the past hour, but how had I not known that he smelled like this?
Dang.
I drew in a deep breath, trying to be discreet about it so Carter's ego wouldn't know that I thought he smelled like heaven.
"Sorry about the smell," Carter said, apparently noticing me sniffing the air despite my best effort to hide it. "My cologne bottle broke in my gym bag yesterday and soaked the backseat. I hope it's not too strong."
"It's fine." I schooled my face into a neutral expression, hoping that he wouldn't pick up on just how obsessed I could become with it. "I don't mind."
I mean, what teenage girl didn't want to suffocate from a scent that could be put in a bottle with the label advertising it as "Hot Guy Ambrosia?"
"Well, I guess that's good because I have a feeling the smell may stick around for a few days since the guy who details our vehicles is on vacation until next week."
"You have a guy who details your family's vehicles for a living?" I asked, my eyes going wide.
Carter lifted a broad shoulder, like it was completely normal. "We have a lot of cars. It takes a lot of time."
When he saw what was probably an astonished look on my face, he just chuckled and said, "I'm guessing from what you said to Sofia about your mom's success being recent, you didn't grow up with a trust fund like most people at our school?"
Would admitting that I was different from everyone else be a bad thing?
"I still don't have a trust fund," I said, deciding to just be honest about how new my mom's money was since it was probably obvious, anyway. "And yeah, if our mom wanted her car cleaned, when we were growing up, Elyse and I had to use the hose and a sponge to do it ourselves."
