Escape || Cole Walter

Eleven

••the cole effect••

The first time I let myself get jealous of anyone Cole has relations with, it's the night of the homecoming. Sitting at Monteys, Jackie, Grace, Skylar, and I all have a good time. Jackie and I invited Alex but he turned us down.

The whole time we are sitting there, I am missing one of the older Walter boys. Cole was supposed to show up at the same time as us, but never did. All of my friends go on pretending nothing is wrong, but for some reason, I am really hating the fact that he's not here.

The minute he shows up, I finally take a breath and smile at him as he walks in the door. He smiles back, and starts to head over.

Of course, Erin stops him dead in his tracks, holding onto his arm and leading him towards a more private place by the window. The two of them share a short conversation. One part, where Cole looks over at us, and I pretend not to be staring at them. I am, and the minute the pair began to step out the door, I stand up.

I follow them into the sidewalk, when I call after Cole. The two of them stop and turn around. I walk up to them, right outside the alley behind Monteys. All we can hear is yelling and chanting from the football players in the streets. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"We have plans." Erin says quickly, trying to pull Cole by his arm. He stays put, his blue eyes never leaving mine.

I give him a pleading look, completely ignoring her. "Yeah." He says, obviously in a down mood. Pulling away from Erin, we walk towards the alleyway. "Wanna go wait in your car?" He asks, nodding to her car which sits half a block down. I'm sure parking was hell all day.

"Fine." Erin says sharply, sending me an angry stare.

"What's up New York?" He asks me once we are in almost complete darkness midway down the alley. His tone isn't its normal flirty voice, which has me even more concerned.

"You're just gonna leave with Erin?" I ask him, looking up to his glowing eyes in the dim light. He shrugs. "We had a plan." I say, pushing his chest a little bit with anger.

"And now my stomach is upset."

"So you're going to her house?" I ask, even more perturbed.

"Is there a problem?" He asks me with Cole attitude. I've barely ever gotten any of this attitude from him. It's normally his siblings.

My chest feels like it's slowly caving in on itself. "You're my problem, Cowboy." I say, pushing him again. His warm hands land on my waist, his fake-happy face falling. "The minute those football players started chanting, you were out that door."

"If I'm your problem then why am I in a damn alley way?" I shake my head and look at his chest. "You know everyone seems to be telling me that. I didn't really expect it from you." He says, pulling up my chin, forcing me to look at his now angered face.

My eyebrows furrow and I shake my head. "You know how much I dislike her. You chose her for comfort against the football team over me. And that's fine. But I thought somehow that I mattered to you because for some damn stupid reason, I guess you matter to me." My eyes fly open and I slam my hand against my mouth. I can't believe I just confessed that. Everything came out in a messy jumble, but it made complete sense for us, because we are angry. I have no idea where it even came from.

Cole's hands grip my waist even more. My eyes meet his once again, and they are dark. I can't tell what he's thinking, and I hate it. Before I know it, his cold lips are pushing against mine, and mine against his in a small war. I guess we aren't so angry anymore.

His lips are the only cold thing about him, and it feels amazing. Our kisses are perfectly aligned, both of us knowing exactly what to do and how to move. His hands bury themselves in my hair, slightly tugging at it, making my breath hitch in a way I can tell he likes.

Our breathes become heavy and hot, matching up. I can't believe this is happening. I never expected anything to ever happen between us.

"Cole cole cole." I say, pushing him away from me. "No." I say again, stepping back.

He looks at me with confusion, stepping back too. "What did I do?"

"You have a date waiting in her god damn car." I say, pointing out of the alley. He shrugs stepping closer.

"Elle, I don't-" He starts.

Stepping back, I interrupt him. "I know you don't care, but I fucking do. I know that everyone else is fine being the girl you sneak around, but I cannot and will not be that girl. I am better for myself, and other women."

His eyes search mine for something. Any sign of hope. But right now, I am furious and I don't know when the next time we will be fine is. "You need to go. Erin is waiting."

He sighs, completely discouraged and confused. This is not how I wanted any of this to go down. But considering I had no plan, it makes sense that this is how it did. "Okay New York." Cole's voice is completely interrupted with a distraught tone. Today was already so much for him, and then I had to go and do that. Damn it.

"Have fun Cole." I say, watching as he leaves the alley before I pull myself together and head back inside.