Him & Her

Ch.16

Ch16

Elizabeth sat in her room looking out the window at Cole's closed drapes. She sighed and pouted, why did he have them closed all the time? All she wanted to do was look into his room to see if he was there or not. On second thought, it sounded very creepy when she put it that way. She could just go to his house and ring the doorbell to see if he was there, but she didn't know what to say yet. She wanted to apologize to him, tell him that she wanted to put the Brandon issue aside. But she didn't know how to tell him that without sounding like she liked him, and she wasn't sure if she was ready for him to know that she liked him yet. And it wasn't like Cole was going to apologize and admit he was wrong, she knew how stubborn he could be.

So all she could do was sit on the carpeted floor, stare at the wall, and pick out her words carefully, reciting them out loud to make sure they sounded right.

"Hi Cole, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened before, but can we please put it behind us?" she said to the wall.

She imagined him asking why.

"Because... I don't want to fight?" she shook her head, "I don't want you to be mad at me?" she pictured him smiling mischievously and she knew she had just given herself away. She groaned, "You know what? Yes! I do like you, and I miss you a lot! I went out with Brandon to try to forget about you, but it just made me realize how much you really mean to me! I don't want Brandon, or Taylor Lautner, or Logan Lerman for crying out loud! All I want is you!" she took a deep breath, "I know it's only been like a day or two since I last saw you, but I miss your amazing eyes, your smile, I even miss you teasing me! But most of all, I miss the feeling of your hand in mine and your arms around me. And when I'm cold I can't help but remember the feeling of your lips..." she trailed off, just noticing that a tear was making its way down her cheek. She meant every word of what she just said to the air. She wished it was that easy to say what she was feeling. She wished she had recorded her voice and given it to Cole to hear, but she just didn't have the guts.

So instead she wiped the tear away with the back of her palm, stood up, walked to her window, gathered all her bravery, and yelled, "I'm sorry Cole!"

She immediately dropped to her knees and ducked her head. She heard the swoosh as Cole pulled his curtain open. She stayed quiet and still, even though he couldn't possibly see her. Silence passed on for a minute and two, and Elizabeth didn't dare move.

Finally she heard him say, "Liz?"

She didn't answer.

"Liz!"

She closed her mouth tight, afraid of what might come out. She wanted to jump up and just let it all out, tell him everything she was thinking, but she didn't have the strength to do it.

"It's ok." she could barely hear him say it and she strained to hear.

"It's ok." he repeated, she heard him laugh, "You're stubborn."

Elizabeth frowned, but then her heart lifted as she heard him whispering, the wind carrying his voice, "Just another thing I can't help but love about you."

Elizabeth squeezed her eyes shut as she heard him close the curtain again.

"I miss you." she whispered, "I miss you so much."

•••

"So, you're saying you like him?" Henry asked.

Elizabeth and Henry sat on a bench in the town park. It was a warm day with no clouds and the sun shone through the trees, making everything glow.

"Yes." Elizabeth replied, "I think I do."

"You think? Elizabeth you have to be sure." Henry said.