See Me

The Notebook
 

Message in a Bottle
 

A Walk to Remember
 

The Rescue
 

A Bend in the Road
 

Nights in Rodanthe
 

The Guardian
 

The Wedding
 

Three Weeks with My Brother
(with Micah Sparks)

True Believer
 

At First Sight
 

Dear John
 

The Choice
 

The Lucky One
 

The Last Song
 

Safe Haven
 

The Best of Me
 

The Longest Ride
 

Table of Contents
Also by Nicholas Sparks
COPYRIGHT
Dedication
Prologue
CHAPTER 1:  Colin
CHAPTER 2:  Maria
CHAPTER 3:  Colin
CHAPTER 4:  Maria
CHAPTER 5:  Colin
CHAPTER 6:  Maria
CHAPTER 7:  Colin
CHAPTER 8:  Maria
CHAPTER 9:  Colin
CHAPTER 10:  Maria
CHAPTER 11:  Colin
CHAPTER 12:  Maria
CHAPTER 13:  Colin
CHAPTER 14:  Maria
CHAPTER 15:  Colin
CHAPTER 16:  Maria
CHAPTER 17:  Colin
CHAPTER 18:  Maria
CHAPTER 19:  Colin
CHAPTER 20:  Maria
CHAPTER 21:  Colin
CHAPTER 22:  Maria
CHAPTER 23:  Colin
CHAPTER 24:  Maria
CHAPTER 25:  Colin
CHAPTER 26:  Maria
CHAPTER 27:  Colin
CHAPTER 28:  Maria
CHAPTER 29:  Colin
CHAPTER 30:  Maria
CHAPTER 31:  Colin
CHAPTER 32:  Maria
CHAPTER 33:  Colin
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
The Choice

For Jeannie Armentrout

He hadn’t been in Wilmington for more than a day before he knew it was the kind of city he’d never settle in for good. It was too touristy, and the whole place seemed as though it had grown willy-nilly, without any planning. While the historic district had the kind of porch-fronted homes he’d anticipated, with columns and detailed wainscoting and sprawling magnolia trees in the yards, those lovely neighborhoods gradually gave way to a commercial area of strip malls, convenience stores, chain restaurants, and car dealerships. Endless traffic snaked through the district, growing even more unbearable in the summers.
 

But the grounds of UNC Wilmington had been a pleasant surprise. Somehow, he’d imagined a campus heavy on the ugly architecture of the sixties and seventies. There were a few of those buildings, especially at the fringes of the university, but the central quads had proved to be an oasis of sorts
–
shaded walkways and manicured lawns, the Georgian columns and brick façades of Hoggard and Kenan Halls gleaming in the late-afternoon sunlight.
 

He admired the commons as well. There was a clock tower there and when he’d first arrived, he’d stared at the image reflected in the pond behind it, time itself mirrored and unreadable at a glance. As long as he had an open textbook in his lap, he could sit and watch the activities, almost invisible to the students who wandered around in their self-absorbed trances.
 

It was warm for late September, students lounging in shorts and tank tops, skin evident everywhere. He wondered if they dressed the same way for class. Like them, he’d come to the campus to learn. He’d visited three times in three days, but there were still too many people around; too many possible memories, and he didn’t want to be remembered. He debated whether to move to another area before finally deciding there was no reason. As far as he could tell, no one cared that he was here.
 

He was close, so very close, but for now it was important to remain patient. He drew a long breath, holding it in before finally releasing it. On the walkways, he saw a pair of students walking to their classes, backpacks slung over their shoulders, but at this time of day, they were outnumbered by those classmates who were getting an early start to the weekend. Here and there, students were clustered in groups of three or four, talking and sipping from water bottles he suspected were filled with alcohol, while a couple of Abercrombie-model lookalikes were tossing a Frisbee back and forth, their girlfriends chatting off to the side. He spotted a young man and woman arguing, the woman’s face flushed. He watched as she pushed at her boyfriend, creating space between them. He smiled at that, respecting her anger and the fact that unlike him, she wasn’t compelled to hide the way she was feeling. Beyond the couple, another group of students played a game of touch football with the carefree abandon of those without real responsibility.
 

He figured that many of the students he saw were planning to go out tonight and tomorrow night. Fraternity houses. Sorority houses. Bars. Clubs. For many of them, the weekend would start tonight, since many classes didn’t even meet on Fridays. He’d been surprised when he’d first learned that; with the cost of a college education so high, he would have thought that students would have been demanding more time in class with their professors, not three-day weekends. Then again, he supposed the schedule suited both the students and the professors. Didn’t everyone want things to be easy these days? To expend the least effort possible? To take shortcuts?
 

Yes, he thought. That’s exactly what students were learning here. They were learning that hard decisions weren’t necessary, that making the right choice was unimportant, especially if it entailed extra work. Why study or try to change the world on a Friday afternoon when you could be out enjoying the sun?
 

Shifting his eyes from left to right, he wondered how many of these students even gave much thought to the lives they were going to lead. Cassie used to, he remembered. She thought about the future all the time. She had plans. She’d mapped out her future by seventeen, but he could remember thinking that there was something tentative about the way she’d talked about it, and he’d had the sense that she didn’t quite believe in herself or the face she showed to the world. Why else would she have made the decisions that she had?
 

He’d tried to help her. He’d done the right thing, followed the law, filed reports with the police, even talked to the assistant district attorney. And up until that point, he’d believed in society’s rules. He’d held the naïve view that good would triumph over evil, that danger could be corralled, that events could be controlled. Rules would keep a person safe from harm. Cassie had believed that, too
–
after all, wasn’t that what kids were taught when they were young? Why else would parents say the things they did? Look both ways before you cross the road. Don’t get into a car with a stranger. Brush your teeth. Eat your vegetables. Put on your seat belt. The list went on and on, rules to protect and save us.
 

But rules could be dangerous, too, he’d learned. Rules were about averages, not specifics, and since people were conditioned since childhood to accept rules, it was easy to follow them blindly. To trust in the system. It was easier not to worry about random possibilities. It meant that people didn’t have to think about potential consequences, and when the sun was shining on Friday afternoons, they could play Frisbee without a care in the world.
 

Experience was the most painful of teachers. For nearly two years, the lessons he’d learned had been all he could think about. They had nearly consumed him, but slowly a clarity had begun to emerge. She had known about the danger. He had warned her what would happen. And in the end, she’d cared only about following the rules, because it was convenient.
 

Checking his watch, he saw it was finally time to go. He closed the textbook and rose from his spot, pausing to see if his movement had caused others to notice him. It hadn’t. He set off then, crossing the commons, textbook beneath his arm. In his pocket was a letter he’d written, and he veered toward the mailbox just outside the science building. He dropped the envelope through the slot and waited; a few minutes later, he spotted Serena emerging from the doors, precisely on time.
 

He already knew much about her. These days, it seemed that every young person had Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and Snapchat, their lives on display for anyone who cared to put the pieces together. What they liked, who their friends were, where they spent their time. He already knew from a Facebook post that she’d be having brunch at her parents’ house with her sister this Sunday, and as he watched her walking ahead of him, her dark brown hair tumbling past her shoulders, he noted again how beautiful she was. There was a natural grace about her, and she drew appreciative smiles from the guys she passed, though lost in conversation, she didn’t seem to notice. She was walking with a short, heavy blonde, a friend from class. They’d been in an education seminar together; he knew she wanted to become an elementary school teacher. Making plans, just like Cassie used to do.
 

He kept his distance, energized by the power he felt in her presence. The power he’d been husbanding for the last two years. She had no idea how close he was or what he could do. She never so much as glanced over her shoulder, but why should she? He was no one to her, just another face in the crowd
…
 

He wondered whether she was telling the blonde about her weekend plans, rattling off places to go or the people she intended to see. For his part, he planned to join the family for brunch on Sunday, though not as a guest. Instead, he would watch them from a nearby house, located in a neighborhood that was solidly middle class. The house had been empty for a month, the owners having lost it to foreclosure, but it was not yet up for sale. Though the locks on the doors were solid, he’d been able to gain entry through a window along the side of the house without much trouble. He already knew that from the master bedroom, he could see onto their back porch and into the kitchen. On Sunday, he’d watch the close-knit family laugh and joke at the table on the porch.
 

He knew something about each of them. Felix Sanchez was the classic immigrant success story; the newspaper article that was proudly laminated and on display at their restaurant chronicled how he’d arrived in the country illegally as a teenager without speaking a word of English and begun working as a dishwasher in a local restaurant. Fifteen years later, after becoming an American citizen, he’d saved enough money to open his own place in a strip mall
–
La Cocina de la Familia
–
serving his wife Carmen’s recipes. While she cooked, he did everything else, especially in the early years of the business. Little by little, their restaurant had expanded, and it was now regarded as one of the best Mexican restaurants in the city. Though there were more than fifteen employees, many were relatives, retaining the restaurant’s family character. Both parents still worked there, and Serena waited tables three times a week, just as her older sister, Maria, once had. Felix was a member of both the Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club, and he and his wife attended the seven a.m. mass at St. Mary’s every Sunday, where he also served as a deacon. Carmen was a bit more of a mystery; he knew only that she was still more comfortable speaking Spanish than English and, like her husband, was proud of the fact that Maria had become the first college graduate in the family.
 

As for Maria
…
 

He hadn’t yet seen her in Wilmington. She’d been out of town for the last few days at a legal conference, but he knew her best of all. In the past, when she’d lived in Charlotte, he’d seen her many times. He’d talked to her. He’d tried to convince her she was wrong. And in the end, she’d made him suffer as no one should ever suffer, and he hated her for what she’d done.
 

When Serena waved good-bye to her friend and headed toward the parking lot, he continued walking straight. There was no reason to follow her, and he was content knowing that he’d see the small but happy family on Sunday. Especially Maria. Maria was arguably even more beautiful than her sister, though frankly, both had been winners in the genetic lottery, with their dark eyes and nearly perfect bone structure. He tried to imagine them sitting close together at the table; despite the seven-year age difference, many people might assume they were twins. And yet they were different. Where Serena was outgoing to a fault, Maria had always been quieter and driven, the more serious and studious of the two. Even so, they were close, best friends as well as sisters. He speculated that perhaps Serena saw traits in her sister that she wanted to emulate, and vice versa. He felt a frisson of excitement at the thought of the weekend, knowing it might be one of the last times the family would all be together with any semblance of normalcy. He wanted to see how they would act before tension began to infect their sweet happy family
…
before the fear took hold. Before their lives were slowly
–
and then furiously
–
brought to ruin.
 

He’d come here, after all, for a purpose, and that purpose had a name.
 

Its name was vengeance.