The Liar (ON HOLD)

Chapter 12

Cole

When Cole walked into his classroom, he immediately noticed that he was late. 

"Mr. Brookstone, care to explain why you're late?" The teacher asked as Cole walked into the room. 

"I'm sorry sir. I got caught up. It won't happen again." Cole apologized. 

Cole began to move to his seat when his eyes met with Kai's who was sitting across from his seat. Kai had a blank expression, but his eyes showed pain and sorrow. And after a second Cole realized that Kai was allowing him to see this. Cole nodded at Kai with a smile and went to his seat. When he sat down, he saw Kai look down and rest against his desk. Cole couldn't imagine what the guy might be going through, but from the moment they first made eye contact Cole knew he wanted to be friends with Kai.

Class passed smoothly and soon it was over. Cole quickly packed up his stuff in order to catch Kai before he went to his next class. 

"Kai!" Cole called as he ran out of the classroom after Kai. 

Kai stopped and turned around with a quizzical expression.

Cole pulled out Kai's sketchbook and handed it to Kai, "You forgot this. Next time don't go running off on your friends yeah?" Cole stated with a smile.

Kai looked down at the book, "Thanks, I guess. Why are you here? Don't you have to go to class?" Kai replied. 

"Yeah, I do, but I wanted to give that to you. Oh yeah, do you want to hang with us tomorrow at the lake?" Cole asked. 

Kai tilted his head as a smile tried to break its way through his face. "Why are you being so nice?" Kai asked. 

Cole shrugged, "Good question. So will you come?" Cole answered.

"I don't know if I can. Mrs. Shina might get upset..." Kai began.

"Alright sounds good. Come to my house at eleven tomorrow morning and I'll take you. You do know where my house is right?" Cole asked. Kai nodded blankly as if he had no clue what just happened. "Alright see you tomorrow!" Cole stated as he turned around and walked towards class. 

Cole laughed. He really didn't give Kai much of a choice. Cole glanced back to see Kai still standing in place with a confused expression, but a light smile was on his face. Cole stared for a second and smiled. His smile was really cute, he wished Kai would smile more. Then Cole shook his head.

"What am I thinking?" Cole thought as he kept walking. 

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Cole started to walk home when he decided to go check up on Jay. Jay had texted him that morning, but Cole still worried. The boy didn't seem to be doing well, though Cole tried to think positive. After a long distance of walking Cole arrived at the junk yard. Ed and Edna were outside, shuffling through garbage. 

Hey Mr. and Mrs. Walker! Is it ok if I see Jay?" Cole shouted from the gate. 

Ed turned to Cole and smiled. "Oh, hey Cole! Go ahead and see him, but I suggest you keep the visit short. Jay's quite worn out." Ed replied. 

Cole nodded, "Alright sir." Cole answered. Cole walked up to the trailer and walked in. Quietly making his way to Jay's room, Cole opened his door. Jay was laying underneath a pile of blankets with tissues and clothes strewn all over the floor. Cole managed a small laugh.

"Well, I take it someone isn't doing too well." Cole noted.

Jay shot up, but quickly regretted it as he held a hand to his forehead and slowly lied back down. "Hey Cole, what are you doing here?" 

Cole walked over and put a hand on Jay's head. "Oh my god Jay, you're a living microwave!" Cole exclaimed. Cole quickly left the room and ran to grab a wet towel from the kitchen. Running back to Jay's room, Cole put the towel on Jay's forehead. 

Jay sighed and leaned back. "I hate being sick." Jay pouted. 

Cole laughed, "You can enlighten me and the others all you want once you recover." Cole stated, "For now I want you to get some rest. It won't do any good fussing, idiot." Cole added. 

Jay managed a small laugh, "Yeah you're right." He answered

"Nya was worried about you." Cole said after a minute.

Jay's face lit up, "She was?" He asked. 

Cole smiled, "Definitely. She was all like, 'Will Jay be okay? Will he recover?'" Cole replied as he tried to imitate Nya's voice.

Jay chuckled, "I'll be fine." Jay said, then his face fell and he sighed, "I hope." He added.

"Hey, don't think like that. You're going to be fine. And then you can ask Nya out afterwards." Cole stated with a grin. Cole was trying to be positive, but it wasn't easy. Jay's fever hadn't broken, and it seemed his condition just kept getting worse. The doctors apparently had no idea what was wrong with him. "I better go now, but I'll come visit soon okay?" Cole said. 

Jay nodded and smiled, "Thanks for coming Cole. See you later." Jay replied.

Cole walked out of the room and gently shut the door behind him. He walked out of the trailer and stopped short when he saw Nya standing outside with a worried expression. 

"Is he-" Nya began, then she stopped.

"He's fine Nya. You can go see him if you want, he's just resting." Cole answered with a small smile.

Nya smiled gratefully and walked past him into the trailer. 

Cole said his goodbyes to Ed and Edna and quickly made his way back home. Cole trudged along the rode without paying attention to his surroundings. Everything seemed so sad and lonely. Then Cole spotted Kai out of the corner of his eye. He slowly followed him as Kai glanced around and slowly slipped around. He did it so quietly and quickly that Cole would've never seen him if he hadn't been paying attention. Cole would even say he was ninja-like. Cole saw Kai turn a corner and quickly followed. Kai walked up to a small house and sighed as he walked in. Cole knew he probably should respect Kai's privacy, but he crept up to the house and glanced through the window. There was a small room with stuff everywhere. The door to the room opened and Kai threw his backpack onto the floor and plopped onto the bed. Someone stormed in, Mrs. Shina Cole guessed. 

"And what were you doing out there huh? You useless trash. I should never have adopted you. You're just a waste of space!" The woman screamed at Kai. Cole stared and clenched his fists. 

Kai stood up and turned to her. "I'm sorry Mrs. Shina, I told you that I was at school. I was sent to detention again, so I was late." Kai explained. Cole shook his head in confusion as he saw how calm Kai was. 

The woman walked up to Kai and slapped him across the face. "Maybe I should just take you out of school! You are sent to detention every day." Mrs. Shina yelled. 

Kai winced but said nothing. 

"That's it. No dinner for a week." Mrs. Shina spat as she turned around and marched out of the room and slamming the door behind her. 

Kai looked out after her and then stared at the floor. Cole saw Kai clench his fists and slap himself. Kai quickly turned to his bed and fell onto it. Cole looked away with frustration. 

"No wonder you have so many issues Kai." Cole muttered as he walked away. He quickly headed back towards his house.

TwT. god this book is killing me.