Falling For You (Completed)

Chapter Nineteen

The rest of the day I spent lying around the house. I lounged on the couch, in my room, in the dining room. I sat around waiting for the end of the day to come. I cried a few times, just to allow it all out. I sat with a sniffle on the white couch, hugging my knees to my chest.

There was a knock on the door, and I stood, wiping my hair out of my eyes and dabbing at my nose with the hem of my shirt, having run out of tissues earlier in the day.

I walked up to the door, then pulled it open....

"Cole, what are you doing here?" I asked, turning away to wipe my eyes.

"I came to see my gorgeous girlfriend." He said, holding out a grocery bag and a bouquette of white roses. For the life of me, I don't know why I asked but...

"Why?" I asked with a sniffle. Sadly, he smiled.

"Because she needs me right now. You didn't come to school. So I came here." He said with a smile.

Did he really expect me to be okay? Did he realize that it was the anniversary of my best friend's death? Did he care? I knew that Jonah and Cole hadn't been getting along much. And I was hoping to work past it, but things aren't exactly going the way I want them to.

"You really didn't have to." I said wrapping my arms around my stomach. I didn't know what to do with myself. I felt like a dirty cheap cheater. And he wasn't making this very easy on me.

"But I wanted to." He smiled. Make that a lying, dirty, cheap, cheater.

It was killing me, the guilt. It hurt to look him in the eye and lie to him. It hurt to think about what I did. He was killing me, to a point where I could barely take it. I couldn't handle this heavy heart on top of everything else. It was too much.

"Listen, Cole..." I began. He pushed past me into the apartment.

"I got us some lunch, since I have an hour. I thought I'd cook it up and then we could eat together, you know? I also brought you some ice cream to stock your freezer because I know how much girls like that stuff. I got Ben and Jerry's if that's okay with you...I wasn't sure what you liked exactly so I got a bit of everything..." He trailed off, walking into the kitchen. I followed reluctantly, slumping my shoulders with the weight of a guilty concience.

He chattered happily as I stood by the bar in the kitchen and watched him prepare the food.

How was I going to break this to him? I wondered as he chopped up some green bell pepper.

I didn't know how I should say it. Quick and fast, like a band aid, or slow and steady? I decided that quick and fast would be easier, less time to spend talking. I chewed on my lip as he talked about school and how everyone was worried about me.

"Especially Jonah." He said with a sneer. "He just can't wait for you to come back. I don't know how you can be friends with that guy, Melinda. He's just a pervert. Did you know he went around talking about how pathetic you were today? It was horrible, the way he was talking about you. I wouldn't trust him, Mel." He said as the knife he had slammed onto the cutting board. I jumped and with wide eyes watched him. A feeling fluttered through my chest from that one glimpse of emotion in his eye. Fear. That's what I felt.

His look was so evil, so...I don't know....menacing. It frightened me. What could this boy do to me?

He looked down at his hand tightened around the knife. With a look of shock, his eyes met mine. I watched as he shoved the emotion down. He took a deep breath, smiled then continued to talk. Avoiding the conversation about Jonah.

He could have killed me....I thought.

I looked at the clock. Only twenty more minutes....

"Well, lunch is done. You ready to eat?" He asked. He had a smile plastered on his face, but I learned the difference between a real one and a fake one years ago. Training from my mother.