Happier

Chapter 5

To Cole 📷🍔: Thanks again for today, had so much fun! xx L

From Cole 📷🍔: Ur very welcome. Ur photos were really good btw 

To Cole 📷🍔: Thanks! That means a lot. :) 

From Cole 📷🍔: Let's do it again soon! :)

To Cole 📷🍔: Sure thing! 

After texting each other all night, Lacey and Cole see each other again in the hallways in school. He's at his locker when she passes him. They give each other a smile, nothing more. Lacey's still not sure whether she wants to get rid of her status as queen bee, but she's certain she wants to spend a lot more time with Cole. 
He watches her as she makes her way towards her boyfriend on the other side of the hallway and kisses him on the lips. A sigh leaves his body. She's never going to give Archie Andrews up. Whether that's good or bad, he doesn't know yet. All he knows is that he wants to spend more time with her. Just when the thought leaves his mind, his phone buzzes in his pocket. He takes it and reads the text he'd just received. 
From Lacey 😊💎: Tonight after school. Meet me at the diner :) x
A smile appears on Cole's face and when he turns around to look at Lacey and Archie, the blondie gives him a smile as well, but tries to keep it subtle so her boyfriend doesn't notice. 
To Lacey 😊💎: Awesome! See you then x

"You're sure  you're okay?" Archie asks for the third time that morning while they head to their biology class together. Lacey rolls her eyes at her boyfriend. 
"Yes, I'm okay," she replies to him. The two of them sit down behind Violet and Melanie, "And no, I'm not mad at you," she tells the girls too. They both smile, Archie does too. 
"Where were you yesterday though? After you ran away?" Melanie wants to know. 
"At home. With Stacey. We needed that sister time for a while," she lies. Lacey has always been a great liar. Especially with those little white lies. Only her mother knew whenever she was lying, so Lacey would never lie to her anymore. It was no use anyway. 
"What did you do?" Violet asks with a smile on her face and a quick glance to Archie. 
"We listened to some music, sang a little," she replies, taking her books from her bag. She'd taken her camera with her this time for after school with Cole, but she had to be careful. No one could know the captain of the Roosevelt Roses was into photography. 
"Called it," Violet says, giving Archie a knowing look. All four of them giggle until the teacher walks into the room and silences everyone to start her class. 

At 3pm sharp, Cole arrives at the diner with no Lacey in sight yet, so he decides to go in and take a booth. He waits for five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. He gets a bit nervous. What if she doesn't show up? He's been stood up before, it's no fun. Before his mind can race some more, he gets a text.  
From Lacey 😊💎: So sorry, I got held up. On my way now! 
Cole sighs in relief, then calls a waiter to his table to order two milkshakes. One chocolate and one banana. Just like yesterday. While he waits for Lacey to arrive, he scrolls through their conversation they had last night. 

Yesterday 9:25pm
From Lacey 😊💎: Violet just called me to talk me out of quitting cheerleading... 

Yesterday 9:26pm
To Lacey 😊💎: What did you tell her?

Yesterday 9:28pm
From Lacey 😊💎: That I didn't know yet. Like I kinda want to, but I also don't, you know? 

Yesterday 9:29pm
To Lacey 😊💎: Does it make you happy? 

The bell at the door of the diner rings and it makes Cole look up, hoping it's Lacey. When it is, he puts his phone away and gives her a smile. 
"Can I sit?" she asks with the most beautiful smile he's ever seen. 
"Of course," he says and watches her as she sits down, "ordered you a milkshake," his eyes are hopeful, but it goes away slightly when she smiles and sips from the milkshake. 
"Banana, my favourite," she tells him like he doesn't know. 
"So, did you talk to coach Rivers yet?" he asks and sips from his milkshake as well. Lacey shakes her head as she plays around with the straw in her milkshake. "Why not?" he asks. 
"Because," she starts, but then shuts her mouth. She doesn't really know what to tell him. "Cole, I'm the captain of the Roosevelt Roses. Do you have any idea how hard I worked to get there? I can't just give that up," she explains and Cole listens. He really listens. Whenever she goes to Archie with a problem, he doesn't really listen. It annoys her so much. 
"Yeah, okay. But Lacey, you said it doesn't make you happy anymore. Do you really want to continue doing something that doens't make you happy just because you worked hard for it?" He looks at her with a piercing look. The blue in his eyes makes her shiver a little. 
"I guess you're right," she sighs, "But I just want to finish this week with the game Saturday. After that, I'll stop," Cole's face lights up as he smiles and it makes Lacey smile too. 
"Are you ready, Lacey," he starts and drums his fingers onto the table, "for our photoshoot with nature?" he stopt drumming and watches her as she reaches into her bag. 
"Yep," she then says, holding up the camera. "It was my mother's," she tells him with a proud smile. Cole smiles too and the two of them take off after paying for the milkshakes. 
"Where do you want to go?" he asks as they walk outside the diner. 
"The beach! I bet we can take the most beautiful pictures ever," she answers dreamily and without a doubt. Cole chuckles at the adorableness of Lacey's antics. 
"It's miles away though," he reminds her, the smile still not leaving his face. His cheeks are aching a little, but he doesn't care. All he cares about is that she came and he didn't get stood up and that they're together now. 
"I have a car, Cole. And besides, you don't have a curfew or anything, do you?" Cole's smile fades away at that last remark. He should probably tell her, but he won't. Instead, he just smiles again and answers: "No, of course not." The two of them get into Lacey's car and drive off to the beach. Lacey plugs in her phone for some music, seeing they'd be on the road for a good half an hour, and presses shuffle on the playlist she filled with happy songs. Glee's version of 'Stereo Hearts' comes on and Cole lets out a groan.
"You don't like this song?" Lacey asks as she drives away from the diner.
"If I was just another dusty record on a shelf, would you blow me off and play me like everybody else," he starts rapping along to the music perfectly. He clearly doesn't hate this song. "If I ask you to scratch my back, could you manage that? Like it read well, check it Trouty, I can handle that," he looks at Lacey for a second while continueing to rap along. "Come on, sing with me!" he encourages, turning up the volume a little.
"If I could only find a note to make you understand. I'd sing it softly in your ear and grab you by the hand," she sings Mercedes' part. Cole gives her a surprised look.
"You can sing?" he questions, almost shocked.
"Like a nightingale," she answers with a smile.
The next half an hour is filled with sing-alongs and a little bit of chatter every now and then until they arrive at the beach. Both of them get out of the car, cameras in hand, and a gush of wind that blows through their hair. They walk for a while. In silence, enjoying the sound of the waves, the squeaking of the seagulls and the wind in their hair.
"How was school today?" he asks her to break the silence.
"Bearable," she answers with a deep sigh, "The only question I heard today was 'how are you holding up?' and 'Are you okay?'. Some teachers even told me I didn't need to catch up onto the work I missed last week," she explains to him. For some reason, she always speaks her mind when she's around him, it's weird. But she likes it.
"What did you tell them?" Cole asks, knowing there would be a snarky remark.
"I said "just because my mother died, doesn't mean you can pity me, okay?" She just nodded and went on with her class," she giggles a little, thinking about that moment. Cole laughs too. A silence falls over the two. When the boy halts, she does too. They stare at the water for a moment until Lacey snaps a picture of the sight.
"It's more beautiful during sunset or sunrise," she pouts and shows Cole the picture.
"Maybe if you go more like this," he tells her, grabbing her camera over her hands and pushing her down a little. A tingle goes through to his toes. They snap the picture and Cole lets go. He doesn't want to, but he doesn't want to make things awkward between them.
"That's a lot better!" Lacey exclaims excitedly and shows Cole the picture on the little screen.
"Told you," he says cockily. The blondie rolls her eyes in amusement and tries again by herself. Cole watches her. Now he can't deny it anymore, he has a huge crush on this girl.
"Let's move on a little, I know a really cute spot," her voice makes him snap away from his pink cloud. He simply nods and follows behind. His eyes just can't look anywhere else but her. He hates it, but also kind of loves it. Without thinking twice about it, he grabs his camera and holds it in front of his face.    
"Lacey?" he shouts, making her turn around. He waits one second, then snaps the picture.  

"Let me see that!" she squeeks and rushes over to Cole who shows her the picture he'd just taken. She tilts her head to the side a little, inspecting every detail of the photo. "Not bad," she then  comments, "Can you send me that?" Cole chuckles and nods. 
"Sure thing," he continues snapping pictures, like a paparazzi behind a celebrity. They don't turn out as great as the first one, but they have a laugh and a lot of fun. These pictures might come in handy when it's Lacey's birthday and Cole can annoy her with these photos on her Facebook. 
"When's your birthday?" he blurts out as he looks through the pictures he just took. 
"March third,"she replies without thinking it's weird to ask that question, "when is yours?" 
"August fourth," he tells her and they smile. They just smile. 
"Here's the spot!" Lacey breaks their moment with her excitement. Cole looks to where she's pointing, a bunch of stones that lead up to the water. Kinda cute. "This is where I used to play with Stacey when we came to the beach with our family," she explains as she walks closer to the stones. Her eyes close. Cole watches. She takes in a deep breath. He smiles. Everything about her was gorgeous. Her face, her eyes, her smile, her personality. He can't help but take another picture and it makes her smile when she hears the familiar click. 
"Do you mind if I smoke?" he asks and she shakes her head, so he takes out a cigarette and lights it. After his first drag, he takes a leap and hops onto the stones to sit down on one. Lacey smiles and holds her camera up to take some pictures of him. With the wind in his hair, the cigarette in his hand and the content smile on his face, he looks very attractive.
"This is a good one," she tells him and shows him the last picture she took. 

"That does look good," he comments sweetly, "Can you send me that one too?" Lacey nods her head whilst going through all the pictures she's taken so far. 
"It's starting to get dark, maybe we should head home," Cole tells her while he hops off the stones and lands in front of the blondie. 
"Let's stay a little longer. Until the sun is set," the boy in front of her chuckles, but then nods. They walk a little bit further and onto the sand where they sit down and enjoy the sun setting. The sky turns a bright pink and even a bit of orange. Lacey takes her camera and takes a picture. She then turns to Cole and takes a picture of him as he watches the sunset. Just looking at his face makes her smile. With a content sigh, she drops her camera in her lap and enjoys the sunset for a little while more. 

When the sun is set, the two get up from the sand, wipe their butts and then walk back to the car. They talk about school and photography. With Cole, Lacey can talk about anything and everything. She just loves it. 
The car ride home is a lot more quiet then the ride there. They listen to some relaxing music and continue their conversation until Lacey drops him off at his house. 
"Thanks for the ride and for tonight in general, Lacey," Cole tells her before he gets out. 
"It's alright. I'll text you later," she tells him. He nods and with that, he opens the door and gets out. In her head, Lacey prays that she sees him again tomorrow. Maybe they could go out and take some more photos or maybe they could just hang out at the diner. Either way, she wants to spend more time with him. Because with him, she is happier.