Lost, Loved and Broken

Chapter 3 - Save Our Souls

It's the end of the day now, the bell just rung and everyone's scrambling out of their seats and rushing to their lockers to get their stuff and go home. Me? Well, I'm just sitting here, waiting for the stampede of dangerous teen kids to rush past. Dylan seems stuck to his seat too...

"Hey Dylan, you know the bell went, right?" I ask. He looks away from his phone to look at me, his hazel eyes connecting to my brown ones. The entire day, he's stood out from everyone. It's either because, a) everyone's in uniform and he's not, b) all new boys stand out or c) because he's Dylan Andrews and he was born to stand out. 

"I know, but I'd rather just stay here with you," he says. My heart skips a beat and I try and replay what he said to me.  I know, but I'd rather just stay here with you... So he'd rather stay with me than going home? I try to think of something witty to say, but the one time I need Cole for one of his lame but funny come-backs, he's not here.

"Uh..." I reply, not knowing what to say. "Did you know that even though Mercury is closer to the sun, Venus is hotter," I say in confusion, then blush like a tomato. I squeak, pick up all my stuff and leave. Cole is waiting by my locker, playing Candy Crush on his phone. 

"Hey Cole," I say. He doesn't look up at me, but I hear the quirky little tune when you fail a level emit from his phone. 

"You ruined my concentration," he says, tucking his phone into his short's pocket. 

"Me?" I say. "Maybe it's just your lack of Candy Crush skills," I retaliate. 

"Or maybe the bad luck aura that follows you around," he quips back. I chuckle and shake my head, my brown ponytail tumbling across my shoulders. We walk silently towards the front gate, him on his phone and me looking at the old pictures of the school. 

After school, Cole and I walk home and Grandma Tilly looks after us. She's pretty old and agrees with anything we say, even if we told her that her name was Alice and she had magical powers. I think she's got Alzheimer's disease.  I feel so bad for her, most of the time she forgets about Grandpa Rodger, who died last year from leukaemia. She get's mine and Cole's names mixed around and think's that Dad is her son, rather than Mum being her daughter. 

I think maybe I'll go to a cafe later. I text Lola to see if she's free and she says she is. Maybe we can go for a little bit of a shop around by the mall as well.

We're halfway home and Cole is still on his phone. I've steered him clear of ducks, poles and old ladies so far and I'm really hoping that this phone is not the reason my brother dies in a car crash. "Cole!" I snap. He looks away from his phone for a split second, then continues to type. 

I snatch the phone out of his hands and switch it off. "I will not let you die today Cole Anderson. The day you die is either from old age or the day you steal my last cookie," I state, shoving his phone into my pocket. 

Friday 12th August - At home

"Pleeeaaase," whines Cole. 

"No."

"With a cherry on top?"

"I'm allergic to cherries."

"No your not."

"Then I'm allergic to your annoyingness," I reply.

"I want my phone Skye, give it back," he whines. 

"N to the O."

"How about if I tickle you?" he says. My mind is working quite slow today and before I know it I'm on the floor, dying from laughter.

"Stop...it...Cole," I say, in between fits of laughter.

"Only if you give my phone back!" he cries.