Only, Always, and Forever You

10 - Interrupted

Amara's POV:

The rest of the afternoon goes pretty smoothly, and I'm lucky to get to know the others better. Ella and I have especially gotten closer over the short amount of time.

Ella is tall and skinny with blue eyes. She's gorgeous. The stereotypical blonde. Although she's pretty enough to be the Regina George of our school, I doubt that girl has a mean bone in her body. She's kind and funny, and she makes me feel like I fit in, which I really appreciate.

She's captain of the girls' volleyball team at our school, and she tells me that she's even committed to UCLA for the sport. That got me thinking about my own college options, but I don't have the time to worry about that right now.

I even get to know Luke a little bit, and I learn that he and Cole are practically brothers. I mean, they've been best friends since they left the womb. Makes sense since he is the only one Cole seems to hang out with outside of school.

Luke is tall and built like an athlete, which also checks out since he has played varsity soccer since his freshman year at our school. He has fluffy, dirty blonde hair and grey eyes. He's conventionally attractive, I'll give him that, but he's not really my type...

Him and Ella seem to have hit it off immediately, though...

We've been working on the project since we finished the game, and it's probably been about 4 straight hours of work.

"I'm getting hungry, we should order food," Luke whines.

He knows he can get away with whining to Cole, but something in me tells me that anyone else wouldn't. Since it's only Luke, Cole just rolls his eyes.

"Fine, you guys cool with pizza?" Cole sighs.

I know he is asking everyone, but he looks at me the entire time and I can't help but feel like he only cares if I say yes. I'm not really hungry, but I know Luke is and probably Ella, too, so I nod my head politely.

Cole takes his phone out of his pocket and leaves the room to make the call to the pizza place, leaving Luke, Ella, and I in the room.

"So, Amara," Ella starts, trying to act cool, "Are you seeing anyone right now? Any lucky guys?"

I quickly shake my head and hold back a chuckle, "Oh, no, absolutely no one." Unfortunately.

I blame it on all the romance novels I read, but I've always been a hopeless romantic. So, it sucks to not have the same type of love that my favorite characters do. But let's be real, that type of love probably doesn't even exist...

Ella and Luke look at each other knowingly, and I can't help but feel like they know something I don't. Are they judging me? Do they think that I'm even more of a loser now? Are they not surprised no one loves me? I'm not.

"What about you two? How long have you been dating?" I ask, convinced that something must be going on between them considering how touchy-feely they've been today.

They both laugh out loud. A little too loud. And then they adamantly shake their heads and spit out a jumble of explanations and excuses. Bullshit. If something isn't already happening, then it's bound to happen eventually.

We are interrupted when Cole walks back into the room, sliding his phone back into his pocket.

"What's up with those two?" he asks me, noting the two blushing people sitting awkwardly in front of us.

"Apparently nothing," I sigh with a smile, using a teasing tone.

I look back at Ella and Luke, but I can feel Cole's eyes on me as he sits down next to me on the couch. I start to blush when I realize how close to me he is sitting, and I can't help the smile that slowly twists my lips.

Cole reaches out a hand a tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear, which must have fallen. I look over to him, and hold his eyes in my gaze. They look soft for a moment as he looks back into mine.

His hand lingers on my jaw after he fixes my hair, and I feel my face getting pinker by the second. His hand leaves a trail of warmth down my neck before he removes it, leaving my skin cold at the loss of his touch.

He quickly clears his throat while looking away from me, making me a little sad. I don't know why, though.

A minute later, a distant doorbell rings and Luke eagerly shoots up from the couch.

"I'll get it!" He shouts before running out.

"I'll go with him to make sure he doesn't eat it all!" Ella assures us before running out after Luke.

After a second of silence, I hear a little chuckle from beside me.

"They're totally screwing," he snickers, a grin forming on his face.

"Oh, totally," I wholeheartedly agree, "I asked them about them being together or whatever earlier, and they got all flustered."

He lets out a genuine laugh at my comment, holding his stomach from laughter. I start to giggle; his laugh is contagious. I wish I heard it more often.

When I finish giggling I feel his eyes on me again. I look over at him to see that he is no longer laughing but instead watching me, his eyes soft again.

I find myself studying his face, noting every small freckle and each minor detail. My eyes meet his before I glance down at his lips, which look soft and kissable.

He must notice me staring because he ever so slightly starts to lean in towards me, and my body heats up as he gets closer. Our lips are mere inches apart, and I can feel his warm breath fan my face. I breath in and smell him, a warm woody scent, which I'm starting to adore.

Just as our lips are about to close in, I hear laughter getting closer from down the hallway, and I immediately pull away from him, leaving him frozen where he is in confusion.

He must only hear their laughter now, and I almost giggle at the annoyed sigh he lets out as Luke and Ella return to the room. Luke holds the box of pizza and walks towards the glass table to set it down.

The second it hits the table, he immediately dives in and attacks the cheese pizza. The man must have been really hungry because he practically inhales his first piece and is already moving onto his second.

Ella and I each take out a small piece and eat too, and Cole follows not too long after. It's quiet for a few minutes as the four of us enjoy the food.

I use the silence to think for a minute, and it finally registers:

Cole was going to kiss me.

No, he was probably just trying to mess with me, right? I mean, a kiss probably doesn't mean much to him anyway, so it wouldn't have really mattered. For him, at least...

The silence is suddenly broken by a phone call, and Cole quickly stands up and walks out of the room, holding his phone to his ear. It must have been his phone ringing.

The rest of us carry on eating, but Cole soon comes back into the room, looking tense.

"You guys have to leave. My dad is coming home soon," he says bluntly.

I'm suddenly sad that today is coming to an end. I wish we could hang out like this more often.

I make sure to get Ella's phone number before she leaves; her and I have already made plans to hangout after school next week.

After Luke and Ella are gone, Cole leads me back out to his car so he can drive me home. I notice how tense he still is, and I want to ask him if he's okay, but I don't want to push him. He'll open up if he wants to.