Soon the end of April came, along with the day that I both love and dread: my birthday. Thankfully, I had finally managed to get it through my friends' heads that I didn't want balloons that would announce to the whole school how old I now am.
It took a lot of persuasion, but they agreed.
It was on a Monday that my birthday fell, and despite the fact that I was happy I had turned eighteen, the weather depicted something else entirely: rain. Well, I guess it was our rain season now.
Anyway, I made my way into school slightly earlier than normal and went towards my locker without my usual company. Richard had a dentist appointment and would only come to school later.
I raised an eyebrow when I saw Anne and Amy huddled together whispering amongst themselves as they worked on something in my open locker. I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to hide a smile. Anne knew my locker code and they had clearly been betting on the fact that I would only arrive later.
"What are you two doing?"
At the sound of my voice, both girls spun around wide-eyed.
"Lizzy!" they both exclaimed and bashful smiles came to their faces.
"Um, Lizzy, would you mind if ..." Anne trailed off and I nodded, getting the hint.
"I'll be back in a minute," I smiled and walked off down the hall.
There was still a little while before the class would start so the hallway was almost empty, which was strange considering it was raining. But the empty hallways allowed me to spot a figure that made my heart do flips.
Cole and I had definitely grown closer over the course of the last few weeks following the bullying fiasco. I still knew nothing about him, but something between us had shifted. He was ... warmer towards me and I couldn't help but smile every time I saw him. We still kept our exchanges minimal though, just in case another rumour decided to surface.
I looked around before slowly making my way towards him. The only person in the hall was a girl reading a book so I deemed the coast clear. Girls who read books often don't care for gossip ... I hope.
"Hi," I greeted softly as I came to stand in front of him as he leaned against the wall with his hands stuffed in his pockets, posture slouched so that our height difference wasn't too extreme.
"Hey," he mirrored my tone and I felt my heart race as he stared at me.
That gaze of his never failed to make me weak at the knees.
Over the days and weeks, I found my feelings for him had only intensified. But if there was one thing I was good at, it would be hiding my feelings. All introverts are good at that. Especially because he said he would never like me like that all those weeks back.
It still hurts, because my feelings for him are only growing stronger that sometimes I find myself spacing and I can't get him out of my head. My friends have even asked what's wrong with me a couple times because I never space-out.
"Lovely weather we're having," I blurted out after a moment.
Cole's mouth tilted upwards slightly at my words and I felt my cheeks heat up at the sight.
"And how is rain lovely weather, Elizabeth?" he asked with amusement in his voice as his eyes stared at me softly.
"I don't have running practice now," I giggled and immediately pressed my lips together in a thin line.
What the heck? Since when do I giggle? I have the kind of laugh that the whole movie house can hear. I've never giggled in my life!
"Ah," Cole said and nodded his head, resulting in his hair to fall slightly over his eyes.
Before I could think to stop myself, I reached out and stroked the strands away. His hair really was as soft and silky as it looked!
His eyes widened slightly in shock from my bold move and I instantly retracted my hand from his soft hair as a massive blush spread across my cheeks.
"You ... need a haircut," I muttered awkwardly.
Cole's eyes stared at me quietly. He was about to respond when he was interrupted by a call.
"Lizzy!"
We both turned to see Anne and Amy come up to us and Anne wrapped her arm around my shoulders.
"Hey, Cole," she greeted.
Cole's once soft look evaporated immediately as he straightened his posture, giving my cousin and best friend a solid nod. Amy looked down at her feet as Anne squeezed my shoulders.
"Do you mind if we borrow the birthday girl for a moment?" Anne asked with a smile.
I instantly knew what she was doing: she was teasing me. I glared at her to let her know that I knew her little scheme.
Cole looked at me with a slightly raised brow as if to say, 'It's your birthday?'
I blushed and looked down at the floor. I have also become better at reading his expressions.
"Not at all," Cole spoke after a moment and pushed himself off the wall and walked off without another glance.
I turned to glare at Anne, but only after admiring Cole's back and broad shoulders for a moment. My best friend had an accomplished grin on her face, as though to tease me about my expounding feelings for Cole.
My glare intensified; daring her to open her mouth, but I knew she wouldn't. She's excellent at keeping secrets. She was the only person who knew of my feelings for Cole. Not even Amy, my BCF (Best Cousin Forever) knew.
"Come on!" Anne said and tugged me towards my locker.
I shook my head at their giddy expressions as they waited for me to put in my code and opened the door. I smiled when I saw the words 'Happy 18th Birthday!' plastered on the inside of the door, along with two gift bags.
"Aw, thanks guys," I smiled and they wrapped their arms around me in a hug, despite my protests for them to let me go.
I rolled my eyes and relented.
Friends – the people you love, but hate at the same time.
-
The rest of the day went by as any other. Except for the fact that the class decided to sing a very loud and off-key 'Happy Birthday' song, which only succeeded in making me extremely embarrassed from the attention. What made it worse was some random kid came in and joined in the singing while basically serenading me.
At break my group wished me a happy birthday, but I only saw Richard in English after break. He gave me a box of my favourite assortment of chocolates, which is rather expensive, making me feel bad. But I immediately opened it and ate one, causing him to laugh.
Now I was at home, drumming my fingers against the counter of the kitchen cupboards, bored out of my mind.
I wasn't throwing a party for my birthday. Instead, when my parents get home from work, we're going to go out for supper to my favourite restaurant and my sister and her husband will be joining us.
I looked out the window to see the sky overcast, however the rain had let up about an hour ago. Dobey was busy bouncing off the walls from all his pent up energy from being forced to stay indoors due to the weather.
As I walked towards the living-room to watch a movie, Dobey rushed around me and almost succeeded in making me trip. He then ran to the front door and sat there staring at it.
"You want to go for a run?" I asked him and he wagged his docked tail.
I sighed and looked out the window. It didn't look like it was going to rain for a while.
I grabbed a pen and paper, writing down that I had gone for a run with Dobey, should one of my parents come home early and find the house empty. I pulled on a thin long-sleeve shirt to help protect me against the chilly air, but also so that I don't overheat when I run and grabbed Dobey's lead along with my pepper spray.
As soon as I opened the door, Dobey was running circles around me, impatient to get going as I locked the front door.
"Okay, boy, calm down," I said and stuffed the house key into my pocket as we took off at a light jog down the road.
I take Dobey for a run everyday so I've definitely become fitter, but I just really wanted to have a lazy day today. We had been jogging for a good fifteen minutes when it started. One small raindrop landed on my nose and soon more followed before next thing there was a massive downpour.
Dobey and I quickly made our way towards the shelter of a tree which helped, but didn't completely protect us from the harsh rain. I looked at Dobey to see him happily panting with his tongue hanging out his mouth.
I rolled my eyes and wrapped my arms around my already cold form as my clothes stuck to me like glue.
"Stupid dog," I muttered.