by Blair Holden
I’m this close to strangling him; if he opens his mouth one more time I swear to all that is pure and good I’m going to . . .
“Are you two really having this conversation?” Cassandra asks and it looks like she’s holding back a laugh. My cheeks heat up in embarrassment as I realize that we just started arguing in front of his mother.
“Tessie’s a little different, Mom,” he whispers theatrically, “her parents haven’t told her about the time she got dropped accidentally and rolled down two flights of stairs.”
“Oh, I’ll give you brain damage.” I’m about to lunge for him, prison bars or no bars, but once again Cassandra’s subtle coughing makes me realize that I cannot attack him while we’re at a police station. That would be pretty ironic, though, wouldn’t it?
“You two always were so adorable together.” Her eyes twinkle with amusement as she looks between her stepson and me. Cole gives me an annoying smirk and it’s scary how I know immediately what it means. He’s celebrating the fact that we’ve distracted Cassandra and is giving me a virtual high-five. She then shakes her head lightly and turns back to Cole, placing her hands on her hips and giving him her best “bad cop” look. He squirms under her gaze and refuses to meet her eye.
“Well, I’m waiting; would you tell me why you hit that kid?”
Kid? Hank isn’t a kid! He’s a monster that deserves to go back to the gutter he crawled out from.
“Hit would be putting it mildly, Mrs. Stone. Your boy here went to town with his fists. Luckily someone managed to break up the fight or the other one wouldn’t have been able to recover.”
I look up to see the new addition to our little party and find that it’s Detective Greene with a bunch of papers in his hands. Cassandra scans them thoroughly before signing them. While she’s busy Cole gives me a victorious smile and I smile back, feeling warm all over. I haven’t thought about Hank at all since we arrived at the station but it really is wondrous that his injuries still don’t allow him to go home. Frankly I feel really good about that.
“Please call me Cassandra, John, and will this be all? Can I take my delinquent home?”
For someone’s who has just had to bail her son out of jail, she’s surprisingly okay with it. It makes me think that maybe incidents like this happen often. Then again, I feel as though Cassandra needs to play the good cop given how Sheriff Stone has the tendency to go overboard with his parenting.
“You sure can, but try to keep a leash on him for me, will you, or the next time I’m calling up the sheriff. You realize that the only reason he isn’t facing charges is because of whose kid he is and that the other guy flat out refused to press them. I don’t know what you said to the principal either because I haven’t gotten any calls from the school again, but he got very lucky if you ask me.”
I don’t miss the hint of panic on Cole’s face as his father is mentioned and neither does Cassandra, she positively beams at Detective Greene and pats his arm. “I’m sure my husband doesn’t need to be bothered by some childish spat at school. Isn’t he investigating the Carson homicide? He doesn’t need the distraction, John, so we’ll keep this between us, right?”
He seems to be absolutely enchanted by Cassandra and all the poor guy can manage is a hardly noticeable nod. When his deputy comes and unlocks Cole’s cell, the man’s still in a trance. Cole pinches his cheeks. “It was a pleasure to be here, John, maybe I’ll come visit soon.”
This earns him a slap on the back of his head by his stepmother, who to his utter humiliation grabs him by the ear and drags him outside, yelping and all. I follow suit since she’s my ride and scurry behind them as she thanks the various officers. I quickly take my place in the backseat of her Ford but don’t miss the argument she’s having with Cole once all the cops have left. I feel guilty. I feel so incredibly guilty for all of this, but things just got so out of control and I just couldn’t have seen this coming.
Things spiraled out of control after I told Cole about the party incident. The moment school ended Cole tracked down Hank. The one-sided fight that ensued in the parking lot will definitely go down in history as the shortest and bloodiest.
For all his talk and rather intimidating, ape-like appearance, Hank was more like a little kitten when it came to combat. One punch and the waste of space was writhing on the ground begging for mercy. I shiver as I remember the almost-possessed look on Cole’s face as he threw punch after punch until Hank’s face was a bloody mess. He’d stopped not due to my incessant yelling but because the principal had shown up. I suspect he’d only called the cops to make a point and not exactly press charges against Cole. It’s a well-known fact that money and power rule at our school, which is why this whole situation feels like a joke. Cole’s not here because he risks facing a sentence but because the principal had to show some kind of authority to save face.
Which is how we’d ended up at the police station. I’d gotten a ride from Megan and after promising to tell them the full story later on, I forced them to leave. Megan’s parents wouldn’t take too kindly to their daughter spending time in a jail.
The slamming shut of doors snaps me out of my thoughts. Cole’s taken the front seat next to Mrs. Stone and is trying to explain to her why he had to beat Hank to a pulp. I wish he could tell her the truth but he wouldn’t. He doesn’t want to embarrass me or drag me into this. That’s just the kind of guy he’s turning out to be.
“Fine, if you want to keep this a big secret then you’ll have to suffer the consequences. You’re grounded for a month. That means no TV, no Internet, and no Xbox. You will also be taking over all of Jay’s chore nights, which means washing the dishes, taking out the trash, and cleaning the toilets.”
He doesn’t protest.
“Mrs. Stone,” I start, and Cole whirls his head around to give me a wide-eyed stare. I think he’s assuming that I’m going to come clean and tell her about the party. But the last thing I want is for an adult to get involved, especially one as caring and protective as Cassandra.
I ignore his warning looks and continue after taking a deep breath, “Please don’t be so harsh on him, he was only trying to help me.”
She looks at my image in the rearview mirror, her brows furrowing in confusion. “What do you mean, sweetie?”
“Hank, you know, the guy he beat up, he was bullying me and it was getting a little out of hand.” Cole scoffs at my use of the word little but I carry on, tugging at the sleeves of my sweater. “He only hit him because he was picking on me.”
Cassandra gasps looking aghast. “Bullying? Why didn’t you tell me this before? Have you told the principal? How long has this been going on, Tessa?”
The bullying? About four years.
“It’s very recent. What Hank did, it was the first time I’ve ever experienced it,” I say earnestly and I can almost feel Cole rolling his eyes at that one.
“Still, you should’ve told me the second I walked into the station. Never mind now, I’ll talk to your principal first thing in the morning.”
“No, seriously, Mrs. Stone, there’s no need. I’m pretty sure Hank won’t do it again,” I plead, not wanting this to turn into something bigger than it’s already become. Cole’s not getting suspended for the fighting, though, since a very bloody Hank lying on his stretcher had told the principal that he provoked Cole and that it was his fault. But I have a feeling that the Stones would be donating heavily to the school. I’d been there with Travis, I know what money is capable of and in this case, it’s a miracle that Cole isn’t facing suspension or worse, expulsion.
“You don’t know that for sure, maybe all he needs is a little talk with an authority figure and he’ll never pull such a stunt again.”
“With all due respect, I think what Cole did to him was more than enough,” I say quietly and to my utter surprise both mother and son start chuckling at my words, Cassandra even looking at Cole fondly like she’s proud of him.
“Well, this sure changes things, but you’re still being punished, Cole, violence i
s not the answer to these problems. I’ll let you off with two weeks of grounding and you can watch TV for an hour, but that’s it.”
He grins at her, looking pretty smug. “I’ll take it.” In other words, I’ll sneak out of the house when you’re sleeping, Mommy.
Cassandra drops us at her house since she has to rush back to the hospital. I glance at my watch and almost scream when I see that it’s nearly nine, long past the time I needed to be home. The blood drains from my face; I’m going to have to come up with a good explanation.
“You look like Casper, only whiter and blonder.” This is Cole’s brilliant observation as we stand on the front porch. I’m panicking slightly, digging through my satchel to find my phone, which I’d completely forgotten about in all the panic. I unlock the screen only to find that there are no calls or texts from my parents. Should I be happy or depressed about this? Decisions, decisions. There is, however, a text from Beth saying that she called my mom and told her that I was at her house working on a project. I make a mental note to buy her that The Doors T-shirt she’s been eyeing for so long for what she’s done.
Then I turn to Cole.
“Thank you, for what you did today. You shouldn’t have gone to all that trouble, I—I was going to do something about it, I was, but then you know you . . .”
I surprise us both by hugging him. The kind of gratitude I’m feeling can’t be expressed by words. He needs to know what it is that he’s done for me. The fact that he went out of his way to ensure my safety and to get me the justice I needed, I’m absolutely floored.
His smell swarms my senses as my face is buried in his shoulder and his in the crook of my neck. Before I know what I’m doing I take one big whiff of his neck since I’m addicted to his scent. His arms are tight around me and with the way we’re pressed together, the only things providing some distance are his too-thin wife-beater and my light knit sweater. I can feel the furious beating of his heart. It thrills me to know that it could be for me.
I breathe slowly through my nose and very gently and carefully guide my hands over his back until they rest on his shoulder blades, gripping fistfuls of his shirt. I don’t miss the slight shiver that passes through his body at my touch and once again I feel confused. Am I the one doing this to him? I try not overthinking for once, dismissing his reaction to the chill in the air and my freezing hands; yes, that explains it.
We stand there holding on to each other for what seems at the same time like centuries and seconds. Slowly I begin to pull away, untangling our bodies, but that still doesn’t provide enough space. Our faces are centimeters apart and I can feel his minty fresh breath fan my face. Consciously I reach for the hair that’s falling all over my eyes but, lightning fast, Cole’s hand reaches them before mine could. He tucks the stray strands behind my ear and smiles at me warmly. It feels like the best part of my day.
***
To no one’s surprise Cole decides to walk me home even though he’s bruised and battered. Also to no one’s surprise, my darling mother invites him in for dinner the moment she sees us standing on the doorstep. Nerves filled my stomach and were acting up despite things being less chaotic now. I ate as much as I could muster and then excused myself, leaving my mother chatting animatedly to Cole. Desperate for a shower, I let the hot water ease the day’s damage done to my muscles and lather and rinse and scrub thoroughly, wanting to get all the grime off of me. Changing into the sweats hanging behind my bathroom door, I walk into my room feeling extremely tired.
And there he is, rocking back and forth on his heels as he stands outside my door.
“If you’ve come this far Cole, you might as well come in.”
I stifle a yawn and settle down in bed. “Weren’t you leaving?” I roll onto my side facing him. He eyes are cast downward. When he doesn’t answer I call out to him again.
It’s as if he’s gone into shock and the events of the day are catching up with him. I get out of bed, genuinely concerned about him. He’s had his eyes on me all day, making sure I was okay but who was looking out for him?
“What’s going on? Did you want to say something?”
After a few minutes of painful silence, he exhales like it’s painful for him to breathe.
“You shouldn’t feel the need to hide something like that, Tessie. I keep thinking about what would have happened if Annie hadn’t come to me.”
I flinch since I didn’t expect the conversation to head this way.
“Why are we even having this conversation? It’s all in the past right? What’s done is done. I’m never going to see Hank again so let’s just not talk about it.”
My heart’s racing under the scrutiny of his blue-eyed gaze. There’s fire in them and I want to look away but it’s like I’m trapped.
“You never mentioned it to your best friends or your parents. Tessie . . . please let people in. It couldn’t have been easy for you and to have to go through it alone.” He growls, “I can’t imagine the pain you were in. I can’t believe Nicole could sink so low.”
I’m twisting my hands feeling highly uncomfortable, wanting nothing more than to get out of this situation but Cole’s eyes pierce mine with so much intensity that I just want to duck under my blanket and hide before he finds out all my secrets. Knowing that he’s so attuned to my feelings is heartwarming but the more he cares, the more difficult it is for me to define our relationship. Feelings are getting mixed up, the lines are blurring. I can’t just slot him into one category now and I don’t know how to deal with it.
“Please don’t kill Nicole.” I blurt out the first thing I can think of and watch his face scrunch in confusion.
“I know she’s horrible and mean and sometimes you just want to run her over with a tank, but you can’t murder her! You’ll get into so much trouble. I mean I know your father’s the sheriff and mine’s the mayor and maybe they could pull some strings to get you out, but I’ve seen the show! It’ll probably mean some poor guy named Stan will be arrested instead and he’ll get a life sentence. He’ll probably have a wife and kid at home, if you . . .”
It’s a desperate attempt to change the topic and I know Cole sees right through it but he humors me anyway. My rambling’s stopped when Cole slaps a hand over my mouth. He looks at me strangely for a few seconds before he starts laughing so hard that tears spring to his eyes. His hand’s still firmly placed over my mouth but then he crumples on the floor clutching his stomach and laughing his useless backside off. His laughter is infectious and maybe it’s just the kind of day that I’ve had that’s hitting me but I start laughing as well, nearly hysterical. I fall on my bed and laugh till tears stream down my face. His laughter dies as he wipes his eyes and stands up.
“Where do you get that stuff from?” He sounds a little breathless and raspy from all that laughing.
“You don’t have to rub it in, you know.” I’m finding it difficult to catch my own breath.
“Oh come on, Tessie, I was just . . .”
“Being a jerk?”
“Being human. That was some serious gibberish you were spouting there.”
“You could’ve been less mean about it.” I’m pouting but he can’t see.
“Okay, I’m sorry, I promise the next time you get verbal diarrhea I’ll slap you before it gets too bad.”
“How can I ever thank you?” I say dryly and snuggle down into my pillow, making it obvious that I’m done talking to him. I switch off the lamp on my bedside table and we’re shrouded in darkness. I feel his weight settling next to me. “Hey, shortcake,” he whispers into the darkness. I debate for a few seconds whether to reply or not then decide that I want to hear whatever he has to say.
“Yeah?” I murmur just as softly.
“I’m here for you, always. I know it’s hard to believe but anytime you feel like you need a friend, I hope you think of me. And if you need my help getting rid of Nicole’s body, I have my resources.”
I can’t help but laugh.
It’s strange how I al
most had no one to look after me for a long time. I’m not really used to someone having my back. More unnerving is the fact that this person is Cole. Had someone told me this when I was fifteen I would have laughed at them, probably called them delusional and then laughed some more.
“Whatever you want, Stone.”
Then I kick him out and crash immediately.
Chapter Eleven: I Think Cole Is A Sex God
I am not a violent person; in fact, I pride myself on my ability to calmly accept any acts of oppression that Nicole and her minions might feel like bestowing upon me for the day. My Irish grandfather tells me that I’m a disappointment to the family, that I skipped the famous fiery temperament that my maternal side possesses. But sometimes, good lord, sometimes it really does come out and that sometime would be now.
“Shortcake.” Poke.
I ignore him and spoon some spaghetti into my mouth.
“Hey, shortcake.” Poke again.
I swirl my fork in the spaghetti with a bored expression on my face and cup my chin, with my elbow resting on the lunch table. Letting out a long and dramatically exaggerated sigh I turn to Beth, who’s sitting at my side.
“Did you get started on that history assignment? I’ve been trying to jot down some points for my essay but it’s all so confusing.”
I never talk to Beth about homework, mostly because she’s not a big fan of it. She’s the girl who leaves it to the absolute last minute and most of the time it’s a mad dash by the three of us to get her assignments completed on time. Why then, you may wonder, am I talking about an essay which doesn’t even exist? I’ve decided to go down the old-fashioned route and am giving Cole the much-needed silent treatment. He literally had me ambushed by our calculus teacher, Mr. Goodwin, today to get me to tutor him for an upcoming test. I know for a fact that he’s probably smarter than me, so his motives for depriving me of any free time I might possibly have seem questionable.
Beth looks at me uncertainly and then her eyes flick toward Cole, who’s frowning at me. She seems unsure of what to say since there’s no essay, but I am thankful for the day she stepped into my life since she catches on pretty quick.
