Six

 

 

ith two days left of term, we still had practice even if there weren’t games on the weekend. I hurried to coaching, entirely intent on focussing.

“What happened to you?” I called as I saw Matt hobble towards me.

He was grinning from ear to ear, but the cast on his leg looked huge compared to the rest of him.

“You swing on those things like a ninja!” I smiled, pointing to the crutches.

“Thanks Aura, I broke my leg before. This one’s not too bad though.” He’d obviously been spending a lot of time with Ben to be calling me Aura. I smiled at it, though wasn’t sure what he’d done to break his leg.

“I… Oh, okay. Um, how did this one happen?”

“Accident at home.” His grin faltered a little, so I didn’t press.

“Ah, bummer. So, can’t practise then?”

He shook his head. “Nope, but I wanted to say hi. Plus, I thought you might like to sign my cast.”

“I sure would, Matty. You got a pen?”

He pulled a packet from his bag. “Cole bought these for me so everyone could write in all different colours.”

“I bet he did. That’s great.”

“What colour do you want?”

“You choose for me.”

He pulled out the blue and passed it to me. “Here.”

“Great choice!”

“Cole said it was your favourite.” He smiled.

I smiled back, not quite sure what to say to that or why Cole had had reason to tell Matt I liked blue stuff.

I knelt down and looked for an empty spot before writing Get better soon, we need our star winger. Aura :) xo

He beamed when he saw it.

“Hey, listen, is Cole picking you up?”

Matt shook his head. “No, Cole had something to do.”

“Ah. Okay then.”

“My grandma’s here, though, I’d best get going,” he said, waving to the very posh looking older woman who smiled at me politely. I’d seen her a few times, but only from a distance.

I waved and smiled back. “Okay, bud. Well, hope you’re feeling better soon, okay?”

He nodded and swung off.

I got through practice with more things on my mind than just the fast-approaching dance – although that was still pretty exciting – and hurried home. I texted Cole, asking him to meet me at the big willow. It was the first text we’d exchanged since the evening we’d hung out and I wasn’t sure if he’d reply or even bother showing up.

I didn’t bother changing, just shovelled my dinner into my mouth, and then leapt out the back door, much to my family’s astonishment. The wind was cold, especially now the sun was down, and I regretted not putting more on – I wore my normal uniform of tights, knee-length skirt, shirt, and jumper – and leaving my blazer inside.

I paced when I got to the tree, trying to keep warm, wondering if Cole was coming and how long I should bother waiting. Should I wait to freeze to death? Maybe losing a few fingers to frostbite was enough?

I was just about to leave when I heard footsteps along the bark chips. I turned and saw him ducking under a branch. I had no idea where he’d been coming from. He had a cigarette in his mouth and his hands in his coat pockets.

“You summoned, Hannibal?”

A combination of tiredness, coldness, and spending the last hour imagining how Matt had broken his leg in increasingly disastrous situations had made me irritable and short. “What the hell happened to Matt?” I pulled my arms around me as my teeth clattered together.

“He broke his leg, it happens.” Cole shrugged.

“He said it was an accident at home? What happened?”

“Why does it matter to you?”

“I have a duty of care for him. I care what happens to him.”

“So, that’s all this is? Checking up on the status of your soccer player?” he asked, frowning.

“What? No! Matt’s a great kid and I even consider you a friend…sometimes. If something’s going on, I want to be there for you- Both of you. I just… I just…” I couldn’t continue as my teeth were chattering too much. I shook my head and rubbed my hands up my arms trying to warm myself up.

“Aura, how long have you been out here?” He put out his cigarette and walked over to me, taking his coat off.

He threw it over my shoulders and pulled me to him. I leant into him, all thoughts on warming up. He had an unzipped hoody on and I threaded my hands under it and around his waist in search of warmth. He shivered and chuckled but just rubbed his hands up and down my back.

“Seriously, though, how long have you been out here?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. An hour maybe?”

I felt him shaking his head. “Next time, either tell me a time or ask me where I am.” He sounded exasperated. I thought I felt him kiss my hair, but I wasn’t entirely sure.

“There’ll be a next time, will there?” I laughed and looked at him.

The bruise was still noticeable, but it was less stark than Sunday. In the light of the lamp, I saw his brown eyes sparkle and a smile play at his lips… His very nice lips. I looked down and lay my head on his collarbone again before I did something I’d regret.

“All you have to do is designate a time,” he said, softly.

“What about that time you stood me up?” I asked without thinking.

“Stood you up? Was it a date or something?” he scoffed.

“I just mean when we said we’d meet up and you didn’t show, nor did you give me any explanation, then or later. You just…went back to…” This time I didn’t really quite know what I was saying. I pushed away from him. “You had a bruise after that weekend too; does that have anything to do with this one? With Matty’s leg?”

I knew I should have stopped before I started; the way his face shut down confirmed it for me. I sighed before he even had a chance to open his mouth.

“You know what?” I held up a hand. “I’ll save you the trouble. It’s none of my business, I’m sorry I pried. Just…tell Matt if he needs anything…”

“He has me.”

I nodded, resigned. “Sure. Well…if his protector ever needs anything…”

I started to pull his coat off me but he shook his head and made a negative noise.

“Wear it home. Keep warm.”

Before I could thank him, he stalked off and I wanted to scream in frustration.

My phone rang and I saw Jaime’s name on the screen. I slipped my arms into Cole’s coat, his scent enveloping me – not as much of a cigarette smell as I’d have thought, but some deodorant I didn’t know the name of but appealed to me greatly.

I answered the phone.

“How are things?” he asked.

“Fine, thank you.” I found myself smiling. “What’s up?”

“I just wanted to say hi.”

I laughed, “hi.”

“Hi. Also, I was wondering if you had plans on Saturday night?”

I pretended to think about it. “Um, well, I was going to go to a dance with this guy I know. I might be able to blow it off, though… I’m sure he won’t mind.”

I heard him laugh. “Good, he’s no good for you anyway. Come out with me instead.”

“I don’t know. What can you offer me that he can’t?”

‘Grape vines!”

Yay…

Glad he couldn’t see my look of disgust, I said, “well, I’m in!”

“Great, pick you up on Saturday? I’ll be the guy in the limo.”

“I’ll be the girl in the blue dress,” I replied.

“It’s a date.”

“It is.”

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Bye, Jaime.”

“Oh, Rory?”

“Yeah?”

“You know you’re really great? I like you a lot.”

“I like you too, Jaime. Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I shut of the call, feeling both pleased that he liked me and oddly riled about the fact he still didn’t get my dislike of grape vines.

I sighed, snuggling deeper into Cole’s coat. I wondered why Jaime didn’t smell that good. To that thought, why none of the other guys I knew smelled that good. It was a scent that made me feel happy and seemed to make something click in me, like I found some missing piece.

No, that was stupid.

I was just really pleased to be warming up; there was no magical power to Cole’s smell. Although, it was certainly helping to warm me up. I sat down on a nearby bench, enjoying the night, bundled up in Cole’s coat.

My serenity was shattered when I heard a woman call, “excuse me, young lady!”

I turned and saw Matt and Cole’s grandma. I stood and met her along the path.

“Oh, you’re… Aura… Rory-something. Matt’s football coach.” She had a very posh English accent.

I smiled and stuck out my hand. “Aurora Daniels, yes.”

“Aurora, lovely name.” She smiled, losing some of her sternness. “Phyllis Avery Jones.”

That was a mouthful.

“Lovely to meet you…?”

“Please, call me Phyllis.”

“Phyllis.” I nodded.

She frowned. “Is that Cole’s coat?”

I looked down and nodded. “Yes, he leant it to me. I was going to bring it to him after I put on a new one, but I got distracted.”

“You know where he is, then?”

I shook my head. “Sorry, no. I assumed he’d gone home?”

“No, he hasn’t been home. And, now, without his coat.” She made a very unladylike noise. “Sorry, Aurora, it’s no fault of yours. Cole is nothing if not a gentleman. When he’s not gallivanting about with his degeneracy.” She pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment. “Lord knows I love that boy, but he has had his fair share of problems.” She sighed. “Well, if you see him or hear from him, will you let us know? I believe Ben has our number.”

I was entirely unsure about what to say to any of that so I just nodded.

“Thank you, dear.” She patted my shoulder. “Good night.”

“Good night, Phyllis,” I called as she walked off.

When she was gone, I pulled my phone back out and went straight to calling Cole. I can’t say I expected him to answer, so when he didn’t, I turned around, trying to remember which way he’d slunk off. I pushed through the branches, hoping he was still in the park somewhere.

I searched the park from top to bottom, trying Cole’s number every few minutes. I couldn’t have told you why it was so important to find him. Maybe there was something in Phyllis’ voice or face that made me want to put her at ease? Maybe I cared more than I wanted to admit? Maybe I was just a good person?

I laughed at that last thought.

Whatever the reason, I trudged back towards my house about an hour and a half later. I heard the door open and looked up to see Ben hurry down the stairs.

“Missus Jones came passed. Anything?”

I shook my head. “I’ve called him about twenty times and searched the park. He’s not there, or he’s a master Hide and Seek player.”

“Damn, I’ll call Missus Jones back and let her know.”

I nodded. “Thanks, I’m going to bed.”

“Try him one more time?”

I nodded and trudged up to my room, trying Cole’s number once more. Then, deciding there was no harm in it, I sent him a text.

Me: Let me know you get home okay, people are worried.

I woke the next morning to find I’d got a reply at about four.

Cole: I didn’t ask you to.

I sighed, thinking, no, he didn’t have to ask me, and got ready for school.

 

¢

 

Saturday gave me the first sleep in I’d had in weeks. Mum, Dad and Ben let me sleep, thankfully, and I didn’t emerge downstairs until after twelve.

“And, here comes sleeping beauty!” Dad smiled. “Morning, sweetie.”

“Well, she needs all the help she can get,” Ben snorted.

“Morning,” I replied, kissing Dad’s cheek and glaring at Ben. “Rude.”

“You’re cutting it a bit fine, aren’t you?” Mum asked.

“Our hair appointment isn’t until one, though why it had to be so early, I don’t know.”

“In my day, we did our own hair for these things.” Mum pushed a plate of eggs and toast, and a cup of coffee towards me.

“Thanks.” I grabbed my fork. “Well, in your day, you didn’t have Cassidy.”

“Or power, or running water…” Dad said mockingly.

Mum and I both stuck our tongues out at him.

“So, what about your day then, Dad? You didn’t even have the wheel.”

“Oh!” Dad laughed. “So funny, girl!”

I smiled. “I know.”

“Aura?” Ben called from the sink.

“Yes, brother mine?” I replied, taking the section of paper Dad passed me, and smiling.

“Someone’s here to see you.”

“The doorbell hasn’t…” I stopped, knowing exactly who he’d seen out our back window. “Maybe he’s here for you?” I replied.

“I…don’t think so…” Ben said slowly.

“Just go see him, Aura. Phyllis was very worried about him the other day. If he’ll talk to you, that might be good?” Mum nudged me.

I sighed, “all right.” I got up and headed for the back door.

“You’re…not getting changed?” Dad asked.

I shrugged. “Why? I’m not trying to impress anyone. Besides, I am a lady of leisure today, no one’s rushing me!”

I shoved my feet into my boots, pulled open the door, and bounded down the steps. I wouldn’t be out long enough to warrant a coat, but I did wonder if short-shorts and a thin jumper had been an appropriate choice when I saw the look on his face.

“What?” I snapped before he had the chance to say anything jerky.

He opened his mouth then looked behind me. I turned and saw Mum, Dad and Ben duck out of the window. They’d make terrible spies.

“Ignore them, they wouldn’t know what we were saying if we had subtitles.”

He smiled slightly, but still seemed at a loss for words.

“Come on, I have things to do today so I look respectable enough to take a thousand photos, of which one might be passable for any kind of display,” I said, hugging myself.

“Um…right… I was going to ask if you wanted to go for a walk, but…” He indicated my lack of appropriate outerwear.

I wanted to yell at him in exasperation, but I remembered what Phyllis and Mum had said. “What’s up Cole?” I smiled, hoping I looked inviting and not just cold.

“I, uh… I’d offer you my coat, but if I keep doing that I’d run out.” He flashed me a very sexy grin.

“Oh, yeah sorry…” I didn’t want to tell him I hadn’t wanted to give it back to him because I liked the smell of it… Because that’s weird stalker behaviour and so not me. “I’ll get it now?”

“No, don’t worry. Look,” he glanced behind me again, but kept talking, “I know it’s none of my business but… You and Jaime…?”

I frowned, not expecting this turn of conversation at all.

“Me and Jaime…what?”

“Things are going well? You’re dating?” he asked as though it didn’t faze him at all, and I wasn’t sure if I was bothered by that or not.

“We’re fine thank you. He’s a great guy who cares about me and who likes me,” I said, only it came out a little harsher than I intended.

“Well, good.” Cole shifted then he broke out in his indifferent smirk. “You two have fun together tonight.”

“We will.”

“Oh, I bet you will. Jaime will certainly be having plenty of fun, I’m sure. Though, whether it will be more fun than I have with Kelly…” He shrugged. “That remains to be seen.” He winked salaciously.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Well, we all know the expectations after the Winter Dance, Hannibal. I may be new, but Kelly was kind enough to…explain them to me. In detail.” His tone suggested exactly what they’d been discussing.

“You two, I’m sure, can get up to whatever you want. It doesn’t mean the rest…of us…are…” I finished, feeling incredibly lame.

Cole chuckled. “Really?”

I frowned, feeling something crumble inside me a little. Jaime wouldn’t expect anything that night, nor did it matter to me what Cole and Kelly did…or were already doing…

Ew…

“Really. We’re going to Declan’s after party and we’re all going to have a lovely night,” I answered.

“That I’m sure of.” He winked. “I’ll see you tonight, then.”

“More’s the pity.”

I turned and stalked back inside, ignoring the family to go and get dressed and pack my dress and everything up – after our hair, we were going to Cassidy’s to get ready and be picked up.

“Take lots of pictures!” Mum called as I hurried out to meet the others, who were all there when I arrived only ten minutes late.

“Ugh, where have you been?” Cassidy asked as though she hadn’t seen me in three years, or something.

“I got held up.”

“Well, come on, come on. We don’t have much time.”

“Much time? Cass, the boys aren’t getting to yours until seven,” Beat answered, smiling at me.

“Hush up, hush up. Beauty takes time!” Cassidy responded, waving her hand at us and turning to the hairdressers. “Laura, we’re all ready now!”

Beat and I exchanged a knowing smile.

Cassidy’s parents were ridiculously rich, like so rich they were forking out whatever it cost for Cassidy to have our hair done for the dance, and they probably wouldn’t even notice. Cassidy could be a brat, but she rarely acted like a rich snot. Rarely. Except for serious occasions like dances.

I laughed as I let myself be led away to a mirror between Beat and Rachel.

The guy doing my hair didn’t even bother with asking me what I wanted and, to be honest, I didn’t really care. He conferred with Cassidy and, after years of going through similar things, I not only trusted her judgement, but also knew it wasn’t worth arguing about. I’d come out looking great, that’s all I needed to know.

He gave me some sexy golden highlights to accentuate my lush caramel hair – his words, not mine. Then we all sat in curlers for what felt like forever, drinking coffee and chatting.

We all left with fantastic up dos that I knew would be a pain to get out after, but at least they should last through the after party. I’d lost count at twenty-three bobby pins; if I didn’t remember to take them out, I knew I’d wake up feeling like I’d slept on twigs – I’d played this game before.

Cassidy’s dad had a car pick us up to take us to her house where we had some afternoon tea and talked some more. Cassidy forced us to add more hair spray to our coifs every now and then, and I would have been surprised to find out the stuff hadn’t coated my lungs. At around six, we started putting on our make-up and getting dressed.

“Rory, I really wish you’d picked a nicer pair of shoes,” Rachel moaned.

“There’s nothing wrong with comfort, and no one will see them under this skirt anyway.”

“She has a point,” Cassidy answered. “I don’t approve, but they are very her and no one will see them unless she hikes up her skirt and starts playing soccer with the disco ball.”

“Don’t tempt her!” Beat laughed along with the others.

I smiled, stepping into my dress and pulling the zipper up the side.

“Cass…?”

“Yes?”

“Did you have anything done to my dress?”

“You’ve had it, when would I possibly have had time?”

“Note, she doesn’t say she wouldn’t have.” Beat smiled.

“What’s wrong with it?” Rachel asked as she changed her earrings.

“It just seems lower at the back than I remember.” I tried to get a better view of the way the material nestled across my lower back.

“Looks great, Rory, stop fussing.” Cassidy smiled. “Jaime won’t know what hit him.”

I smiled back at her. “As long as he doesn’t try to seduce me with more grape vines.” I made a face and they laughed.

“I don’t know how he doesn’t get it by now,” Beat said. “We’ve all mentioned it at least twice.”

“Really?”

I was surprised that a) my friends had said anything and b) that he hadn’t seemed to get the hint. Meanwhile, Cole was off telling Matt my favourite anything was blue after a conversation I’d assumed he’d forgotten.

“Ugh, did you see that picture of Kelly Preston’s dress?” Cassidy asked, holding out her phone.

Rachel laughed, “she looks like a flamingo.”

“What does it say about me that I picked pink as well?”

“Yes, but you don’t look like a flamingo,” I pointed out.

Cassidy smiled. “True, I don’t. I look smoking hot!” She looked back at the picture and frowned. “Who’s her date? I don’t see him in the pictures.”

“Rory’s Cole,” Beat answered.

I exclaimed, “he’s not my Cole! I’m with Jaime.”

“So, you are dating?” Cassidy asked.

While Beat smiled and said, “methinks you doth protest too much.”

And Rachel frowned. “I don’t see him in any of these.”

“Maybe he stood her up?” I muttered. “He’s good at that.”

I saw the others exchange a glance behind me in the mirror.

“All right, all right!” I laughed and told Cassidy and Rachel what I’d told Beat weeks ago.

“He sounds so tortured,” Cassidy breathed as though that made him the sexiest guy alive. “Rough around the edges, but soft in the centre.”

“You make him sound like a Ferrero Rocher,” Beat laughed.

“Oh, I like those!” I said, turning my mind away from an inappropriate image of Cole and Ferrero Rochers.

“It sounds like it.” Cassidy winked, laughing.

I threw a tissue at her that I’d used to clean up my mascara. “Shut up.”

Cassidy sighed. “I suppose it’s all well and good to fantasise about, but he’s totally not right for you, Rory.”

I blinked, not expecting that from Cassidy. “What do you mean? You’re all over these so-called tortured souls!”

She shrugged. “But, I know I’m not going to fall in love with them.”

I could see what she meant, and knew it came from a good place. But, agreeing with her meant I thought I could fall in love with Cole. So, I laughed it off.

“I’m not going to fall in love with Cole!”

Even Beat raised an impeccable eyebrow at me. “You’re not the type of girl to just mess around with a guy unless you see something long-term in him, unless you think you could fall in love with him. Even if it doesn’t work out, every guy you’ve ever been into has always been steady, reliable, maybe a bit of a jerk sometimes – ‘cos I mean, really, teenage boys. But, they’re all good guys, really.”

“And Cole isn’t?” I asked.

Cassidy shrugged. “I don’t know, by the sounds of it – smoking, drinking, getting into fights, standing you up – maybe he’s not?” She didn’t say it condescendingly. To her, it was a legitimate question.

I was saved further commentary when the doorbell rang. The boys were here; we were going to have a good night and I was going to put Cole from my mind – again – because, really, they were right. As much as Cole and I had in common, it seemed he had a lot stacked against him and he seemed happy to wallow in it all.