R U S S O 18+

R U S S O 12

R U S S O 12

Cole looked up at the sound of a chair being dragged across from him. He was outside getting some fresh air, and by the looks of it, Anastasia was as well.

He wondered what made her sit across from him, but before he could ask, she spoke first.

She smiles as she greets, "Hey, you," placing her hands on the table and interlacing her fingers.

"What's up?" Cole asks, putting his attention on her instead of focusing on the textbook on the table.

"Nothing much," she answered. "I had some time before my next class, and I saw you while walking," she pointed at his book, "were you studying?"

Cole nods, "I was," catching the panic on her face that she interrupted, "but it's okay. I needed to take a break anyway."

She beams and asks, "how has practice been? Has it been easier?" Since bringing it up to Mateo, the cheer team was inside for the majority of the time last week, so she wouldn't know how things had been unless she asked.

"You mean, has Mateo stopped being a dick?" Cole questions, and she smirks.

"Yeah."

Cole nods, "slightly better. I guess you spoke to him?"

She hisses, "sorry, but it slipped out of me while he was tutoring me. I felt bad. I won't do it again. That's y'all business."

"It's alright. That was nice of you," Cole assures.

The wind blew on Anastasia, and the strands from her hair got stuck to her lip gloss.

She removed them gently before asking, "I know I said I'd mind my business," he smirked, "but what was the beef anyway? I thought you guys were friends."

"We weren't, but we were somewhat cool," he answered, "we talked here and there."

"So, how do you guys go from that to aggressive practices?" she wonders.

Cole tilts his head down at her, "are you blind? He likes you."

"He's not bruising you up over me," she says, shaking her head. "Can't be."

He sees that she didn't believe him, "I'm serious. He told me you had a boyfriend and everything."

Her brows shoot up, "what?"

"I knew he was lying, but I could sense that it was a sign he didn't want me to get to know you in that way," Cole says, "for me to leave you alone."

Now it was making sense why Cole went from being flirty with her the first time he met her to pretending he didn't notice her in the cafe.

"And why did you listen to him?" She stares at him, confused.

Cole grins, "because I've been in one fight my whole life. I'm not about to embarrass myself."

They share a smile.

"Well," Anastasia starts to say, "who cares what he thinks? He and I aren't together. You can be my friend."

Cole nods. He thought Anastasia was beautiful, and he conveyed that desire to know more about her through his actions when he first met her. He wished to have been able to pursue her, but not only did he see the way Mateo felt about her, he also noticed the way Anastasia reacted to him.

Cole could give it a try, but he knew for a fact that Anastasia needed to get Mateo out of her system before he even considered it. There was too much chemistry between those two whenever he saw them together; there was no way Cole could be in her life without Mateo in it somehow.