WHERE WE ARE ; COLE WALTER

028

"WELL, THIS IS AWKWARD," Veronica stated as she finally worked up the courage to break the silence that had settled over her and Cole.

Cole just looked at her, his face void of any emotion, but his brows were scrunched as if he were thinking about what to say to her.

"Okay, okay, I'm really sorry for listening in on what you two said. It wasn't my place to hear all of this," Veronica apologized, because she really did feel bad for eavesdropping.

He sighed and covered his eyes with his hands, "No, no it's alright, I mean we did talk in public and shouted a lot, of course someone would've heard it." He then went on, his hands still over his eyes, "I'm just kind of embarrassed that you heard all of that."

Veronica nodded, she could understand his embarrassment, after all, Cole always acted like a cool and confident person who wasn't affected by anyone. However it seems as if there was actually a soft core beneath the cool act.

"And I'm also sorry for not having realized how bad you were feeling," Veronica continued, looking down at the floor in shame. "I won't say that everything you did is forgivable and okay just because you weren't feeling your best, but I have to admit that maybe I also acted too rashly. I mean we've been best friends since pre-school, no matter what happened, we stayed together and this is just the next challenge that life's throwing our way."

Cole finally took his hands off of his face and tentatively looked over to Veronica who still refused to face him, her cheeks a soft red color as she was embarrassed of speaking those words. What she didn't see because of her refusal to look at him, was the slight smile that made its way onto his face and the way his eyes lit up.

"You really think so?" Cole asked her, not really believing what he had heard just now. "Are you really willing to try again? Even after all those times I've messed up?"

Veronica nodded, "I mean, we'll have to start from zero and I won't trust you as much as I have until everything happened, but we'll get there. Oh and I have two conditions."

The blond nodded his head quickly, willing to accept any condition she put forward.

"Okay, firstly: we will try to become friends again, nothing more. I don't want you to randomly kiss me again, if it comes back to that, it will probably take time and I'll tell you how I feel," she waited until Cole agreed, even if he took his time. "And my second condition is that you'll try. You'll try to do better in school, to help out at home and just in general, don't throw everything away. It hurts me to see you give up."

"Well, then I have a condition of my own," Cole said, a mischievous smirk appearing on his face, but it disappeared as he saw how suspiciously Veronica looked at him, she watched in confusion as Cole broke out into loud laughter. "It's nothing bad, I swear, I could just use some extra help with school and I think you would be the ideal tutor."

Relief washed over Veronica, already having expected the worst. "Okay, then it's a deal?"

The two of them reached out their hands and instead of just shaking them, they both began to perform the secret handshake they had developed back in elementary school and seemingly hadn't forgotten.

"So you two are back to being besties?" Erin asked as she joined Veronica and Cole at a table, interrupting the friendly bickering the two were preoccupied with.

Veronica scooted over and let Erin sit down next to her. "Not really," Cole kicked Veronica's foot just lightly under the table. "Well, kind of. We agreed to try once again but if he messes up again, it's over for good."

Erin nodded, taking a fry from Veronica's plate. "And all the romantic feelings between you two have flown away or what?"

The two fell silent and Cole just looked at the girls, "You told her about us?"

"Only after we broke up, and come on, I needed someone to console me," Veronica justified, "Don't tell me you told no one about us."

"Of course I didn't," Cole responded, his voice sounding hurt by her suggestion of him breaking their promise. "I promised you that I wouldn't tell anyone, so I didn't."

"Okay, okay, before you two start fighting," Erin intervened, not wanting for the two of them to fight so soon after having reconciled. "Have you seen Danny? I wanted to ask him to join us for the concert."

Cole and Veronica exchanged meaningful glances both wiggling their eyebrows, the almost-fight already forgotten. "He's picking up Jackie from an interview but he'll be back for the concert," Veronica responded, having met Danny on his way out of the fair.

"I could give you his number," Cole suggested, "So you can text or call him, I'm sure he'll be happy about it."

While Veronica didn't let anyone see it, she was almost proud of him and how he happily helped Erin to ask his brother out, without anyone forcing him. Perhaps Cole was truly willing to change for the better now.

To say that the concert of this year's country fair was the best Veronica had ever experienced would be an understatement.

Alongside Erin she sang her heart out to every single song, not caring whether they hit the right note or danced graciously. And with Cole and Danny there to enlarge their group they had even more fun, watching how they awkwardly wiggled their arms in an attempt to dance.

However, the fireworks were the highlight of the whole day. The wonderful colors lit up the starry sky as the group of friends stood outside, admiring them and covering their ears at the same time, huge smiles on their faces the whole time.

And as Cole looked over to Veronica, admiring the way the fireworks reflected in her brown eyes, he couldn't help but think that maybe everything would be alright soon enough.

HOPE speaks!

Does anyone else here think that they're not affected by seasonal depression, but the moment the sun comes out, life looks just a bit brighter?

I'm the definition of that kind of person, bc eventho I love the winter, sitting outside in the sun until 8 p.m. in spring/ summer is just a different kind of feeling. (even my Russian teacher told me that I look happier now, whereas in winter she told me that I look depressed)

love you lots<3