WHAT IF! cole walter

CHAPTER THIRTEEN, a rebel for the day

"Wait, you almost had sex with Cole?" Areli gasps. The next day at lunch Hollyn confessed to her friends from art club about what happened when she went camping with Cole. "Girl, when I suggested that you have sex with him to help cheer him up I didn't think you would actually go through with it."

Hollyn's face burns at that and she kicks Areli's shin under the table. "We just almost kissed! I never said anything about that." She hissed.

"But, you wanted to." Areli retorts, ignoring the small pain she felt when Hollyn kicked her shin and grins at noticing Hollyn's face was bright red. "See? You're not denying it either."

"Leave her alone, Ari." Elliot speaks up, frowning at her. "Don't tease her about it. She's embarrassed enough as it is."

"I'm just saying, this is great! You're finally making progress." Areli points out, her lips curving up. "I'm so proud of you."

"Proud of me? For what?" Hollyn scoffs, rolling her eyes. "There's nothing to be proud of. Nothing happened. It was just a heat of the moment thing. It was just a mistake." 

"You don't actually believe that, do you?" Areli asked, frowning at her. 

"I have to or else I'll drive myself crazy." Hollyn mumbles, looking down. She picks at her food, feeling her heart ache. "Look, can we just drop it? I'm over it."

"Are you really though?" Elsie asked, arching a brow at her. She could tell that Hollyn's words didn't quite match her demeanor. Hollyn's avoidance of eye contact and her fidgeting gave away her true feelings.

"I am." Hollyn insisted as she nodded.

Her friends stare at her, not believing her for a second. "You've always been a horrible liar." Lachlan muses, a knowing smirk on his face. "Come on, Holl. You can't hide anything from us."

"Lachy's right. Just be honest with yourself. You're not over it, and that's okay." Lillian assures her from her place sitting beside Hollyn's right side. She smiles at her and nudges her gently with her shoulder. "Just admit it."

"Fine, I'm not over it." Hollyn sighs in defeat, knowing she couldn't lie to her friends. "But, it doesn't matter. He's with Erin and he has no intention of breaking up with her anytime soon."

"Plus he's with any other random girl he chooses to sleep with." Kira chimes in, grimacing at the looks her friends gave her as Hollyn stayed quiet, picking at her food. "What? I'm just saying." She defends, holding her hands up. "It's true."

"Kira's right. That's another thing that pisses me off. I hate that he's constantly sleeping with random girls." Hollyn agrees with a frown. "I know he and Erin has an odd deal going on, but he can do so much better than her or any other girl  he sleeps with. I don't get it. Why is he wasting his time and energy on meaningless hook-ups?"

"He's a boy. Boys are dumb." Lillian shrugs. "They can't help themselves. They're ruled by their hormones. It's disgusting."

"Preach it." Elsie agreed, raising her hand for a high five. Lillian laughed and raised her hand to high five her. 

Lachlan and Elliot shares a look. "Okay, speaking as the only two guys in this group, not all of us are ruled by our hormones." Elliot states, sounding offended. "Some of us can control ourselves. And not all of us are dumb. We're just...Oblivious sometimes." He added with a shrug.

"Yeah, that's true." Lachlan nodded in agreement.

"Whatever. You guys are still a pain." Lillian rolls her eyes. "Hollyn, what are you gonna do?" She asked, turning her attention back to Hollyn.

"Keep doing what we've been doing. Pretending nothing happened. Cole's still with Erin, and I'm still single." Hollyn shrugs. "That's how it is. That's how it'll always be." She sighs, pushing her tray away. She suddenly wasn't hungry anymore. "I'm gonna go study in the library before class starts. I'll see you guys later." She mumbled, getting up from her seat. She grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder before grabbing her tray and disposing of it. She waved her friends goodbye and headed out, disappearing into the crowded hallway.