But even so.
Noah was…something else.
I looked away from the couple in the booth—and my eyes landed on a tall figure moving through the crowds toward us. Piercing blue eyes, his dark hair cut short, a simple gray shirt and jeans that didn’t have a single loose thread for a change.
“You made it!” Rachel enthused, hugging Noah hello while Lee and I exchanged a baffled look.
“I made it,” he confirmed, cracking a smile and gesturing at himself. He smiled so much easier now. It was nice to see. He caught my eye, just for a second, then hugged Lee. “All right, buddy? Long time no see. And, hey, now I can say it properly, face to face: congrats on the engagement.”
“Uh, y-yeah, thanks.”
“Come on,” Rachel said, tugging on Lee’s arm. “You can buy me some cotton candy.”
“But—”
She hissed something at Lee and he shut up. I cast him a brief, somewhat desperate look before they disappeared around the corner.
Leaving me and Noah alone together for the first time in years.
“Been a long time, Shelly.”
I laughed. “Oh, please. I thought I dropped that nickname ages ago. I, um…I didn’t know you were back in town.”
“Thought I’d surprise you guys.”
“Are you just back to see your parents?”
His head wobbled. “Actually, uh…it’s kind of for work. My company is opening a new branch in the city and they’re looking for a new manager. I’ve been hoping for a promotion, so…” He shrugged, lifting his hands, palms out. “Looks like I’m moving back.”
“Wow. Wow. A promotion. Manager! That’s…”
He was moving back.
And he was looking at me like…
Like he did that day at the kissing booth.
“That’s great, Noah. I’m really pleased for you. Congratulations.”
“And to you,” he said. “Lee told me you started at a new company a couple weeks ago. Better money, better job…He said you’re actually designing games now.”
“Yeah! It’s amazing. It’s a pretty small company, but they’ve got some serious investment behind them, and I get so much more creative freedom in this role, and I’m going to start babbling about how much I love the coffee machine in the office if you don’t stop me,” I said with a laugh. I loved the place I was working now—and since it all still felt like kind of a novelty to me, I kept falling into the trap of gushing about how great it was to anybody who’d listen.
Noah smiled at me. Soft and slow, just hinting at the dimple in his cheek, his eyes crinkling around the corners.
That smile sent my heart racing.
How did he still manage to have this effect on me? After all this time?
I was being ridiculous. It was just seeing the kissing booth again, sending all those memories flooding back. I was nostalgic, and as far as Noah was concerned, I was just some girl he dated once, back to being his kid brother’s best friend.
But the way he was looking at me…
I used to know Noah so well. And he hadn’t changed so much in these last few years that I didn’t know that look.
“Maybe we could go grab dinner after this, if you’re free. You can tell me all about that coffee machine.”
After seven years, after two breakups, after moving on with our lives and forging our own paths, here we were. Right back at the Spring Carnival, standing by the kissing booth.
My heart fluttered, and I smiled back at him.
“I’d like that.”
A faint blush colored Noah’s cheeks, and I could see him fighting not to smile too much wider. He settled on smirking at me instead.
“Then it’s a date.”
Acknowledgments
Whoa. Well, I guess…we’re here. Five books and three movies, ten years from where it all started. To think back to being fifteen, in the middle of exams at school, working away on Elle’s story at night and secretly uploading it to Wattpad, to…this, is a wild journey.
So firstly: thanks to you, for being a part of it.
There’s a lot of people to thank for this book—for the whole TKB series—but I’ll do my best.
A massive thank-you to everyone at the Darley Anderson Agency. Clare, for being such a rock star of an agent; Sheila, for all your work behind the scenes with the movie adaptations; Kristina, Georgia, and Mary in the Rights team. I couldn’t have asked for a better team championing my books.
And speaking of everyone behind the scenes—thanks to Naomi, Sara, and Shreeta for all your help in editing this, and the rest of the team at Penguin Random House, as well as Kelsey, Beverly, Colleen, and the rest of the team in the States. And thanks to everyone at Wattpad, for giving me a platform to share Elle’s story all the way back in 2011.
Next up: the gang behind the movie! I’ve always known how Elle and Noah’s story would end. I remember discussing it with Vince Marcello, our wonderful scriptwriter and director, back when we were just talking about his vision for the first film. It was a unique sort of challenge to write the novelization of the movie based on my books, but it was made all the more exciting (and easy!) by Vince capturing my characters so well. So thank you to Vince for taking such good care of Elle, Lee, and Noah, and to the team at Komixx and Netflix for creating such incredible movies of my books—and to the cast for bringing everyone to life so beautifully.
My family are obviously on the list to thank, so they’re up next. Thanks to Mum and Dad, who had no idea how big this was going to be when I casually mentioned I was uploading a book online in the middle of my GCSE exams—for indulging all my FaceTime calls to share whatever weird and wonderful book news I had…or coming out to Cape Town to watch it come to life with me (thanks, Dad!). Thanks to Kat, for keeping me grounded and being such a brilliant sister. Thanks to Auntie Sally and Uncle Jason for the laughs—and Ruby for the cuddles. Thanks always to Gransha, for being my absolute biggest fan.
My friends most definitely need a massive thank-you, too. I wrote this book in under five weeks, late 2019, and you guys couldn’t have been more supportive. Thanks to Amy and Katie for coming along to fun nights out in London during that time, and helping keep me afloat. Thanks, Haz, for always being happy for his lab buddy’s successes, and Emily and Jack, too. To Lauren and Jen, to Hannah and Ellie, for keeping me smiling and keeping me sane; and as always, to Aimee, who’s known me since I was the awkward, introverted teenager writing in secret and always has a great story of her own to share.