Escape || Cole Walter

Seventeen

•••thanksgiving•••

The chilly air flies into Colorado almost overnight. It seems like yesterday I was getting ready to go skinny dipping and now bodies of water are freezing over.

Time has been flying with the holidays coming up. My mind is subconsciously becoming more skewed, trying to avoid everything the holidays have to come with. After thanksgiving we have semester finals which I am completely freaking out for.

I've never been this nervous about grades, but I've also never lacked this kind of motivation for school before.

Right now, I feel like I need to continue to my studies elsewhere. Because of this, my bones feel like they are absolutely shaking with nervousness as I walk downstairs.

I am wearing a pair of sweatpants with a large matching sweater to keep my body warm. Almost half of the house is still getting ready for school. But Katherine is in the kitchen making a grocery list for Thanksgiving. Every year the Walter's do this thing where each kid cooks something for the big dinner. It's a really sweet idea, but some of the kids dishes make me nervous.

"See Isaac, maybe you should be dressing like her." George points over to me as I enter the kitchen. I look down at my outfit and smile.

"But sometimes you have to sacrifice comfort for style." He argues, gesturing at his leather jacket.

"That's true, this is for dance." I say, sitting down at the island.

Katherine turns around quickly, her eyes landing on mine. "Elle?" She asks, making sure she heard me right.

I smile, looking over at my sister who stands in the doorway. "I was thinking I could go to the studio with my free class period this morning."

Katherine lets out a small screech, her previously crossed arms opening to embrace me in a big warm hug. "I am so proud of you." She whispers into my ear. "I will have Cole give you a ride since he has that open study period too."

My stomach falls with anticipation from the name. It has been like this ever since I read that note. I've been waiting for him to act on what he wrote, to show that he does care, but with Cole you never know what you're gonna get. I guess he has his own shit too. "Sounds good thank you." We both meet eyes one last time before she looks over at Jackie.

"Is there any special dish you two want to make though? Any Howard family traditions? I can pick up the ingredients." She asks the two of us, tightening her cardigan around her waist again.

I look over at Jackie and shrug. I can let her make the decision on this one. "I will pass if that's okay." She answers, walking upstairs after a small reply from George.

"She's filling her whole Thanksgiving break with things." I whisper at Katherine and George, trying to avoid the ears of the rest of the kids. "I think she's using activities to try distracting herself."

Katherine looks at George with a worried look, instantly reading into the situation.

It's practically what I am doing. We both feel like we are going to explode if we sit still. So instead, we are distracting our mind with the excuse to better ourselves.

"You're going to a dance class?" Alex asks from the small circle table in the corner. I turn around to him and nod with a smile. "That's exciting." He congratulates.

"Thanks Alex." I smile at him and turn back to his parents. "I'm gonna go wake up Cole." I say, bridging the silence that sits between the three of us.

"Good luck." George laughs, drinking his coffee.

I knock on his door first, and then I do it again, louder before barging into his room. I've only been in here one other time, but now that I am in here and he is asleep I am getting a better idea of how him and Danny function. Cole's got a small pile of clothes next to his desk. On his desk there is three books and a bunch of random other things like fidgets and pens. A peewee football trophy sits on his the desk. It almost surprises me that there isn't any other trophies or medals.