Sanity || j.d

38

I couldn’t stand facing Cole on Monday. His eyes looked sharper than usual, and he was much more fidgety. Actually, I don’t think that he could look at me rather than vice versa, I was just doing me best to ignore him.

“Sarah.” He called me out after school. Cass and Stef were waiting up for me just ahead of where he stopped me. I turned and faced him, expecting an apology or maybe him yelling at me, but his face looked kind and tired; more so than this morning. “Did you want to come over to my place Thursday night for dinner? Try it again maybe? My mum will be there so you can meet her too.” He looked at me hopefully, catching my hands and clasping them in between both of his.

I didn’t answer straight away. I didn’t know how to explain to him that on Thursday’s my family and I had dinner with my grandparents, and if I did explain that to him then he’d ask if he could directly ask me parents to let me go over to his place for dinner. Instead, I looked down at our hands, mine were encased in his making them look small by comparison, when in truth my hands were about the average size.

“Please, it would mean the world to my mum.” He was practically begging me now.

Nodding, I looked back up at him, smiling. He pulled me into a hug and I hugged him back. “Yeah, I’ll be there.” I promised. I’m sure my grandparents could forgive me for missing one gathering.

Cole was close with his family. I wasn’t close with mine. It only made sense that I made a good impression to his mother for his sake. Not mine or hers.