Cole
I completely went with my gut—and Jayden’s advice—on what to do with Grace and why I felt so crappy when I couldn’t see her. I didn’t know if it would work and I wasn’t even sure if I was doing the right thing, but I went ahead and did it.
And I was glad I had.
I was driving her back home, one hand on the wheel and the other holding hers in my lap. I had never felt more content in my life than with her small, delicate fingers entwined with mine. I wasn’t sure how she was taking everything because she was quiet and just staring out the window. But that wasn’t unusual.
And she was letting me hold her hand. I figured that was a good sign.
“So your parents let you go out on an adventure this late at night?” I asked her, almost desperate for conversation.
“They aren’t home,” she responded in that timid voice of hers.
I frowned. She was home alone? That didn’t sit well with me. “Where did they go?”
“To visit family.”
“Why didn’t you go with them?”
“I haven’t been feeling well.”
My mind immediately jumped to the worst conclusion. “Is it—?”
“No,” she replied firmly, before I could finish the sentence. “It’s not that, Cole.”
“Oh.” Well now I felt awkward. I smoothed by thumb over the back of her hand. Her skin was so freaking soft. “Will you be okay?”
“Yes,” she replied shortly.
I sighed, pulling to a stop in front of her house. “Grace, why do I get the feeling you’re not okay with this?”
She extracted her hand from mine. “It’s not that, Cole. I just . . . How do I know this is real?”
I sat back against the seat, shifting to face her. “Come on, Grace. After everything I said? I can’t give you anything substantial but I can give you a promise and ask you to trust me.”
Her big blue eyes bore into mine. “I want to believe you,” she whispered.
“Then why don’t you?”
She shook her head, hand moving to the handle of the door. “I should go.”
I unbuckled my seatbelt. “I’ll walk you in.”
She didn’t say anything. I jumped out and hurried around to catch up with her. I realized she had left my jacket in the car. Okay. So this was going to be harder than I thought.
I reached out for her hand but she conveniently decided to cross her arms just as my fingers were about to touch hers. I frowned, but didn’t comment. We made it to her porch too fast. I reached out and smoothed her hair back. “Call me if you need anything,” I told her.
Her eyes were kind of glazed over.
“Grace?” I urged. She snapped out of it and stared back at me.
“Sorry,” she muttered. She turned toward the door. My chest felt tight. In a last attempt I grabbed her arm to stop her from leaving.
“What’s the matter with you?” I asked her.
“Just let me go, Cole.”
“Grace . . .”
In a shocking move she yanked her arm out of my grasp. “I need to think about this,” she said tightly. “Please, just go home.”
YOU ARE READING
Ten Things
Teen Fiction(TH#5)"And maybe in the end, in spite of all we said, all we did, all we met, we are only thoughts that evaporate into the effervescent whirlwind of time." Cole Winters is a perfect example of high school done right; star quarterback, good-looking...
