Chapter 16
I looked out the window of the plane, down at the fluffy white clouds and spacious blue sky. From what I could see, looking below, everything was the size of a grain of rice. Cars whizzed by in the windy streets as if they were an entire ant colony. As the plane continued to make it's way up, the sight below dwindled down until you could see nothing but the white of clouds. To me, seeing only white was scarier than seeing the houses and cars below. At least you knew what was down there. With all the clouds, I felt like I was in the middle of nowhere.
I closed by eyes and before you know it, we were landed. It seemed like just a few minutes ago, I was still sky-high in the air.
I walked behind the passengers who were getting off the plane. People pushed and shoved one another, putting the term orderly fashion straight out the window. One by one, people opened the compartments above to collect their luggage. After twenty minutes of the commotion, I was off and wheeling in the airport.
I searched desperately for Cole, who was supposed to be picking me up. He told me he'd be waiting as soon as I got out, but so far, I hadn't spotted him. Sighing, I looked for a restroom to straighten up a bit.
Looking into the mirror, I almost collapsed. My hair was sticking out all over the place and managed to escape my messy bun. My eyes had bags under them as if I hadn't slept in weeks, which, in a way, is true. Ever since Katherine and John gave me a plane ticket to see Cole, he's all I've been thinking about. I couldn't even get to sleep because he would always be on my mind.
I gathered my long red hair and braided it into a fishtail, hoping it would be more secure. Dabbing a bit of concealer onto my face, I rubbed it in under the bags. I applied a light shade of pink lipstick before rushing out of the bathroom in search of Cole — again.
After another ten minutes of looking for him in the crowded airport, I was starting to get pissed off. Where are you?! I texted him, hoping he would respond soon.
I turned the corner and spotted a Starbucks. I got in line, figuring I'd need some modivation to keep looking any longer.
"Welcome to Starbucks, may I take your order?" the cashier asked.
"I'll have a vanilla bean creme frappuccino,"
After pressing several buttons on the register, she looked up to me with a warm smile. "That'll be $4.25,"
I dig through my purse for money, but all I seem to find is loose change. After digging around for a little longer, I find three dollars in bills. I give her the three dollars, plus five quarters to complete my total, even.
"Name please?"
"Lorraine McFly,"
Every time I come to Starbucks and they ask for my name, I give a silly one instead of my real one. Why give something real when you can have more fun with something fake?
I wait patiently for my frappuccino when someone bumps into me accidentally. "I'm so sorry, I-" I begin before the stranger looks up and meets my eyes.
"Surprise?" Cole says with a goofy grin. "I was going to surprise you by getting you a frappuccino, but it seems like you've already done that.." He chuckles lightly as the cashier hands me my frappuccino.
"Really? Lorriane McFly?" Cole points to my drink and gives a laugh. Every time he laughs it reminds of me of something light and bubbly.
Taking a long sip, I reply, "Hey, don't hate. Back to the Future is my favorite movie, and even when I was little I had a crush on Marty."
"That's kind of creepy considering you're his mom," He jokes. I playfully nudge him in the arm before grabbing his hand and walking out of the airport.
"How come you were late picking me up?" I question. Maybe it was because he was doing something sweet for me, like surprising me with a frappuccino, but maybe it wasn't. Who knows?
"I, uh..I had a family thing." He says, blowing off the subject.
I cock an eyebrow at his response, but decide to drop it.
We enter his Fiat 500 Ferrari after the valet drives it to us. I muster a laugh as he starts the car.
"You know, I'd never expected a guy like you to own a Fiat," I continued to giggle as Cole looked over and smiled.
"Hey, it might be a little small, but it's great on gas." He points out.
"At least it's not a smart car," I mumble to myself as a smile forms on my face.
"What was that?" Cole asks with a smirk.
"Um, nothing, I was just...admiring the interior," I joke.
Cole doesn't respond, but instead gives me that yeah, right kind of look.
As we drive around the streets of California, I put my window down to soak in the sun. Back in Washington, we never got this kind of weather. It was always dull and rainy, even in the summer time. It was nice to be back home, especially to see Cole.
"Where are we going?" I asked when I realized we weren't taking a familiar route.
Cole looks over at me momentarily before turning back to the road. "It's a surprise," he winks.
I smile to myself as we drive to a surprise destination. I wonder where he's taking me, I think. Right then, we pull into the parking lot.
"You're taking me to Friendly's?" I giggle.
"Yeah, everyone loves Friendly's. How could you not?" He grabs my hand in his as we enter.
"Two, please," Cole says to the waitress. She leads us to a booth that fits the two of us. Handing us menus, Cole says, "We don't need them," and she kindly takes them back.
"What can I get you both today?" She gives us a kind smile. Her medium length brown hair is tied into a pony tail and her name tag reads Cheryl. She appears to be in her mid thirties.
"I'll take the mini-mozzerella sticks and an iced tea, and she'll have.."
"I can order for myself, thanks." I say and he gives me a small smirk.
"Fine then, Ms. Bossy." He crosses his muscular arms against his chest, "Go ahead and order,"
I look up at the waitress and say, "I'll have an order of the loaded waffle fries. No ranch. Oh, and a Coke."
"Alrighty, so that'll be one order of mini-mozzerella sticks, loaded waffle fries, an iced tea, and a Coke.." she scribbles them onto her pad with a black ink pen. "Any dessert?"
I look at Cole and lick my lips. Dessert sounds good right about now. He smiles at me before turning back to the waitress, "We'll wait for now,"
"Alright. Be back in a jiffy." She says cheerfully. Well, as cheerful as a thirty year old working at Friendly's can get.
"Hm, so how was your flight?" Cole takes my hand in his, stroking my skin lightly with his thumb.
"It was okay," I replied, "I don't like planes too much,"
"Aww, is little Kendall afraid of planes?" He teases. Sticking out both arms, he moves them up and down as if he were a plane getting ready for take off. He makes noises of the plane's engine.
I laugh for a long while, clutching my sides from pain. "Cole, s-stop. You're drawing attention,"
He doesn't listen. Instead, he makes louder noises until he recieves dirty looks from the customers.
"I don't care, let them look." He shruggs, a smile planted on his beautiful face.
"Here's your food," The waitress says, sitting our food and drinks in front of us.
"Thank you," I mumble before she walks off.
After a little while longer, Cole stops and stares at me with his milk chocolate eyes baring into me.
I chuckle, "Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?" I dig through my purse in search of my compact mirror before he grabs my hand to stop me.
"No, they're nothing on your face. You're just...you look very beautiful today," He gives me a shy smile and a blush form onto my cheeks. How sweet is he? At his compliment, I don't know what to say. So I say what's best.
"Thank you,"
At that, he smiled before bringing my hand to his lips. He plants a small kiss on my skin, sending shivers and tingles throughout my whole body. I don't bother try to hide the fact that I'm blushing; it's completely obvious now.
"Will you be my girlfriend, like, officially?" He blurts out.
I'm honestly in shock. I mean, I've only really known Cole for a few months, and yeah, we've been fooling around, but at first, I didn't really think anything of it. I especially didn't think he would ask me to be his girlfriend, not in a million years.
But what am I supposed to say? No? After all, he confessed his love to me before I left, and although I've been trying to hide my feelings for him, I can't hide them any longer. I love Cole just as much as he loves me, and I'm not about to turn him down because of the stupid doubts creeping into my mind.
"Yes," I say and he kisses me on the cheek.
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A/N: So what do you guys think? Does Cole sound fishy to you? Do you like him? Who's your favorite characters and how do you feel towards them? What do you think will happen next? Comment below :)