my better half | c.w. ✓

Chapter 15

Cole stayed inside to say goodbye to my parents. He shook my dad's hand, and of course my mom immediately pulled him in for a hug. I tried not to roll my eyes - it was just her personality.

Then he came out the front door, closing it behind him. He reached down and picked up something off the front porch I hadn't noticed before: a picnic basket.

"Wait. Are we going on a picnic?" I asked as we starting walking down the sidewalk, Cole leading the way.

He shrugged. "You'll just have to wait and find out."

"Wow, Cole, I didn't take you for the mysterious type."

"What can I say, it's all part of my image."

"The weirdo jock who sucks at talking to girls?"

He pretended to be offended. "Hurtful," he said, drawing the word out.

I laughed and shook my head. "Was that supposed to be an impression of Woody from The Suite Life on Deck?"

"What?"

"Nevermind."

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Ten minutes later, we had walked about five blocks from my house to a local park, which had a trail leading to an open field behind it. The sun was just beginning to set, making the setting look like something out of a painting.

Cole led me over to a spot near the middle of the field, where there was a large red blanket spread out, along with a stand-up flashlight for when it got dark. We sat down on the blanket, and Cole put the picnic basket between us.

I opened it, my eyes widening as I saw all the food that was inside: a large plastic container filled with fruit, a box of chocolate-covered strawberries, and the best part - a huge container filled with chicken nuggets.

"I know it's not the fanciest food, but I remembered you'd said chicken nuggets were your favorite food, and chocolate-covered strawberries were your second. And that you hate salad."

I just stared at him, a smile growing on my face. I had mentioned that once, but it must have been almost a month ago. I couldn't believe he actually remembered that.

"Wow," I breathed. "I can't believe you went to all this trouble for me."

He shrugged, trying to play it off, but I could see the blush creeping onto his cheeks. "It's no big deal. My aunt owns a diner, so she made most of the food. I would've done it myself but I'm a terrible cook."

I laughed. "Well, tell her I said thank you. This is amazing."

"I will. I'm glad you like it," Cole said as he started taking some of the food out and setting it down on the blanket. "Dig in."

I picked up one of the chicken nuggets and took a bite. "So."

"So," he repeated. "How was your day?"

"Good. Just busy. My biology teacher decided to give us a surprise test, and I'm pretty sure the dance team coach was trying to kill us in practice today, so that was fun. How was yours?"

He laughed. "Well, I was going to complain about my pop quiz in english, but I think you win here."

We were silent for a few minutes. Then Cole spoke again. "So I was thinking."

"Yeah?" I replied. "That sounds dangerous."

He rolled his eyes. "I was thinking that we don't really know each other that well. I mean, yeah, we know some stuff, but not the really deep, super important stuff. Like your favorite color."