Friends Forever, huh?

Chapter 10 | im not usually forgetful...

"Be patient!" Cole mutters and I can imagine him rolling his eyes even though I'm blindfolded. He acts secretive, as if I don't know it's my birthday. I'm almost completely positive he's planning a cliche surprise party. Still, he's adorably enthusiastic.

"The grand reveal in..three...two...one!" He removes the blindfold from my eyes, directing his jazz hands toward the table.

Sitting on the table is a Twinkie with a single unlit candle sticking out of it, "Happy birthday!" I try to suppress my laughter, but he just sounds so proud of himself.

"You," I double over in a fit of giggles, "bought a Twinkie?"

"A whole box actually," Cole responds, sounding quite proud of himself.

I suppress a smile, putting the picture down. Cole had insisted on taking a picture of the 'birthday girl' and I had insisted that he not. The result was me covering my face while he snapped it, the lone candle burning on my Twinkie in the background.

It's officially been two weeks since Cole's spoken to me. Which, yes, I know I told him to stay away from me, but I didn't mean it. He had to have known that I didn't mean it. I suppose that's the danger in saying one thing but meaning another: you're expecting the other person to read in-between the lines when they might honestly be content with taking you literally. He didn't immediately stop avoiding me, though. He only started avoiding me when I asked about our friendship...or lack thereof.

"I can't be your friend."

Shelby even tells me he's been acting strange, avoiding her questions about why he moved. "He's secretive," she says with a sigh, "he acts like he has something to hide."

It's odd being friends with Shelby again. We're so used to saving our best comebacks for arguments that we could likely join a debate team. We still argue a lot but we're on the same side now. All the same, old habits die hard.

It's nine o'clock on Sunday night when I hear someone knock on the door to my bedroom. Huh, it's not like my mother to knock. Usually she just walks in. Besides, she's usually asleep by now in preparation for tomorrow's early morning.

"Come in, mom."

The door slides open to reveal Cole standing there, his hands shoved awkwardly into his pockets. Oh. Not mom.

I hear a yawn and my mom shuffles down the hallway, hastily wishing me goodnight. Cole presses himself against the doorway, looking like the epitome of awkward as he avoids running into her. "Goodnight to you too, Cole," she says with a smile.

"Goodnight," he returns with a smile that doesn't reach his eyes.

I can't take the awkward silence any longer and revert to my favorite kind of speech: sarcasm. "Wait.." I cock my head, feigning confusion, "are you sure you're not at the wrong home? No one you talk to lives here."

"Not now, Ash." Cole sounds mildly frustrated when he speaks--but more than that, he sounds weary. Still, I want answers on why he's been ignoring me for the last two weeks.

"Why are you here?"

"Well, we have an English project due tomorrow at nine." He raises an eyebrow, looking as if he's just remembered this information as I have. Shoot. I completely forgot! Since when do I forget important things like that?

I groan and fall back against my bed. Today was one of those rare moments that I woke up early--7:30 to be exact--and ever since I crawled out of bed, I've been ready to get back into it. Now, I have to delay my much anticipated bedtime. Maybe if I close my eyes it will all go away. This is all a dream....this is all a dream....

I open an eye cautiously, only to see Cole leaning over me, waving a hand over my face. I sigh, resigned to my fate. Late bedtime it is...

"Let's do this."

Ten minutes later my large copy of Romeo and Juliet is sitting on the table and I'm turning my computer on. Of course it decides to update now. Perfect.

"So we have a five page paper to write, a slideshow to create and I have to get you to tell me why exactly you've been ignoring me for the last two weeks," I plot out our evening.

"Ashley," Cole's sharp voice tells me that my jab at him ignoring me has been noticed. Well, good. That was the point, "Stop."

"You stop! Cole, you used to be my best friend. Now you insult me, argue with me and pretend like I don't exist."

"I screw everything up, okay?" He says suddenly, avoiding my eyes, "you're a lot better off if you're not friends with me." He lifts his brown eyes up to meet mine and I notice the sea of emotions churning in them. Fear, anger, sorrow. What's caused those?

My voice gentler now, I walk closer to him, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to--"

Then without warning, he wraps his arms around me, nearly suffocating me in his hug. I don't stop him though, I know what it's like to hug someone with the realization that when you let go, everything could change. I return his hug, wrapping my arms around him as I wonder about his bizarre behavior.

"Do you know hard it is to go to school every day and pretend I don't care about you?" Cole says eventually, still holding on to me.

"Why ignore me then?"

"I screw everything up," he repeats, "and I'm not taking the chance of friendship with you knowing that I'm just going to ruin it."

"You won't--" I begin, but I'm cut off as he shakes his head.

"You don't understand. It's for the best, Ashley. I'm not going to let you get hurt."

I don't bother to argue back, pulling away from his arms, "Fine, I don't understand. Let's get this dumb project finished."

He gives me a look of lingering sadness but nods, turning toward Shakespeare's 'greatest work.'

Two hours later, we've completed our slideshow in silence. Now all that's left is that deplorable five page paper. It's already 11:30.

I groan and steal a glance at Cole, "food break."

He cracks a smile, too tired to bother with hiding it. I creep down to the kitchen, trying to be as quiet as possible. Opening a cabinet, I find the jackpot: Twinkies, pretzels...and an apple for good measure. I'm very health conscious.

I open the door to my bedroom and notice Cole sitting in the corner rifling through a collection of pictures. He doesn't notice the food in my hands as he lifts up the ripped picture of the two of us, "Angry at me, huh Ash?"

***

Idea for the picture scene by Author274  and don't worry I am actually going to elaborate on that scene. I wanted to end this chapter with the beginning of it and then start the next chapter with it.

Its 7:46 AM my time and I've been up since like 5:45 since there was this huge thunderstorm and I wanted to watch it. Also, I've been writing for about an hour so yay here's the finished product. Since it's so early in the day, I'm hoping to get another full chapter--maybe a chapter and a half done, so be on the lookout for that.

Smile and eat Twinkies! (But not a lot because they're apparently bad for your health)

-J