15 Minutes: A YA Time Travel Thriller (Rewind Series) by Jill Cooper Page A

clothes that aren’t
mine, kissing a boyfriend I have no right to, and the expression on my face
makes me gag.
    Bliss.
Love.
    “Whoa,
what’s the matter?” Donovan asks.
    I
push myself away, my hands running my hair back. “I can’t do this.”
    “This?
This what, Lara?”
    I
point between us. “This. Us.”
    His
features widen. “Don’t make jokes.”
    “It’s
not a joke. I can’t … look at us,” I hiss. “Just look!”
    He
steps forward. “You are not making any sense. What I see are two people in
love, having a good time—”
    “Two
rich, good-looking people, right? You have the fancy car. I have the designer
bag, the Gucci bag.” I throw it down on the floor in a fit. “None of this is
me. None of this is supposed to be mine. Don’t you get it?”
    Donovan
lets out a long breath. “I get it, okay? I do.”
    “How?”
I ask the impossible.
    “It’s
about your dad, right? The life you would’ve had if things hadn’t gotten so out
of control.”
    “Yes.”
I can’t believe how well he knows me. “I’m not supposed to be in these rich
clothes. I’m supposed to be struggling to survive. Meanwhile, all my old
friends …” I bite my lip. “I left them. I betrayed myself.”
    Donovan
shrugs. “Like if they were the ones that traded up, they wouldn’t have done the
same thing.”
    My
eyes widen, my heart burns with anger, and my lip snarls. “Traded up? That’s no
way to talk about someone’s father.”
    “Look,”
he says, anger creeping into his voice, “You were a kid. What were you supposed
to do? Say no to the toys and clothes Jax wanted to
buy you? Were you supposed to sit in the corner by yourself and not make friends?
Stop being so hard on yourself, Lara.”
    I
squeeze my eyes shut and swallow hard. It can’t be that easy. Maybe once, but
knowing how much love I had with Rick once, I couldn’t turn my back on it.
    “If
I wasn’t a Montgomery, if I didn’t have the fancy clothes, would you still want
me?” My voice strains.
    But
Donovan never breaks eye contact. “Of course I would.”
    He
says it with such confidence I have no room for doubt, but it’s not true.
Before I changed the past, he never even looked at me, but he believes it and
that’s saying something.
    Donovan
takes me by the arm. “A bunch of us are going out for burgers and fries. You
should come with us. Relax. Calm down.”
    “I
made plans to meet someone I knew a long time ago. Catch up. Tomorrow, I’m all
yours.”
    Donovan
twitches beside me. “So that’s what this is about? Reconnecting with an old
friend?”
    I
shrug. “Maybe.”
    He
takes both of my hands in his and kisses them. “If that’s all it is, go and
have fun, but don’t tell me you’re giving up on us. I couldn’t stand it.”
    Glancing
away, I sigh. “Don …” Before now I have never called him that. Parts of me all
over are softening to him. Boy, are they ever.
    He
brushes a strand of hair from my face. His hand is soft as it strokes my cheek.
My eyes close briefly. “Tell me you’re still my girl, Lara.”
    I
take only a moment to answer, and my heart stills in the moment. “I’m still
your girl.”
    Do
I mean the words? I can’t be sure.
    Donovan
kisses me, his arms tightening across my frame. I can barely catch my breath
against the whirlwind passion that engulfs us. This time he is the one to pull
away, and I tighten my arms around his waist, refusing to let him go.
    “I’m
sorry,” I finally whisper against his cheek. “I was afraid, and I’m sorry.”
    He
smiles. “We’re all allowed to get scared some times. Even you, Montgomery.”
Donovan winks at me.
    I
start toward the front of the school, ready to meet Rick.
    I
have no idea what I’m doing.
    My
heart feels torn in two.

 
    ****

 
    I
walk to the Charles River and find my way to the footbridge. The river is
swarming with sailboats, but the bridge is quiet for a Tuesday afternoon, with
only a few joggers using it to cross the busy street. Below it