Before It Ends • Hessa • Emery Scott

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢 𝚃𝚠𝚘

"Oh, your father is taking Auden to the eye doctor because we are pretty sure he needs glasses." Mom explains and I look at her dumbfounded.

"What? I was gone all night and this happens?" I say aloud and I'm honestly fine with the small frown that forms on her face.

"It happened this morning. He was squinting his eyes while looking at the TV on the couch, and your dad happened to notice." She shrugs her shoulders as if it's not a big fucking deal that Auden might be getting glasses. That's a big change for him and for me! He'll probably look so different.

"Oh..."

Mom suddenly sits down on the other side of the island, looking down at the counter. "So..." here we fucking go. "I plan to go to one of my clients weddings next Friday. Our family is going and I wanted to know if you wanted to invite Cole?"

What? Cole? Why?

"Why?"

"Because he's nice." She gives me a soft smile and it's hard to look at her so I look down. "Now, your father doesn't know I'm telling you this because I don't want him getting all mad about it." She explains and I finally look up. "I promise I'll talk to him about it. But I wanted to know if you actually want to invite him or not." She adds and I'm trying to figure out why I'm so fucking speechless. How does she know I even talk to Cole? I'm pretty sure she doesn't even know I'm his ride to school. Is this because of her walking in on us talking through windows? She should know that just because she's seen me talk to him once doesn't mean I fucking like him!

"I don't date." I reply, crossing my arms and leaning back in my chair as if I don't care. She seems taken back, almost shocked but she quickly recovers.

"Um..." she mumbles, "yeah, I meant as friends."

I nod, softening my posture at the small frown on her face. She was just all smiling, but now... I made her sad. I shouldn't feel bad about it. "I'll think about it."

A small smile forms on her lips, "okay. I'll talk to your father."

I nod, taking one more bite of my French toast before getting up. "Okay. Thanks, mom." I say, flinging my backpack onto my back.

"Have a good day!" She cheers and I nod as I approach the front door.

◉‿◉

I groan as I check the clock. What the fuck is taking Cole so long? I thought he was one of those school freaks. He acts like one.

I roll my eyes as I finally see him shut the front door. I've been waiting for five minutes. Five! "What the fuck took you so long-"

"I have a really good plan, Emery. Shut up." He says, crawling into the car. I shut my mouth, feelings slightly annoyed that I am even listening to him right now. "We're not going to school, because I don't feel like it, and we're going to figure out how to deal with Chris." He explains, "I booked a hotel in Boerum Hill-"

"Woah, Cole. What?" I reach over and place my hand on his shoulder. Why would he book a hotel?

"It's somewhere we can go and think without distractions or the risk of running into Chris." He states simply as if it's no big deal. I can't skip school, mom would literally kill me and I can't deal with that.