Cole & Jamie

April 2006

"Hey, where are you? I thought we were going to meet before class."

"Cole's still not here."

The clock above the tv read eight-fifteen and every minute that ticked by made my heart rate spike. First period would be starting in fifteen minutes, and unless Cole's Dodge Neon suddenly grew wings we would never make it in time. Not that I ever expected him to be early in the first place, it is Cole after all, but he promised he would get me to school on time. "I have a tutoring session after lunch and a prom committee meeting after school. What am I going to do?"

My car has been in the shop for the last week. In the meantime, I've been bumming rides from Trish and Cole. One of them has been much more reliable than the other if only I would have chosen them to drive me to school today.

Trish whistled on the other end. "Don't freak out yet. Maybe he got stuck in traffic or something."

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I tried my best to follow her instructions. "I'm going to kill him."

"No, you won't," she laughed. "You love him too much."

Maybe I do, but he's skating on thin ice. I slumped on the couch. No use in pacing.

She's supposed to be in class but somehow she's on the phone with me.  "Where are you?"

"I'm in my mom's office." Trish's mom was the school nurse which means she not only gets the best gossip about our classmates but the teachers as well. Last month, she overheard that our math teacher, Mrs. Dawn, is having an affair with the head football coach. It was quite the scandal.

"If he's not there by the end of first period then I'll come get you."

"Won't you be late to second period?" I asked flipping through the channels.

"Your point is..."

"Nevermind." Unlike me, Trish has no issue skipping a class or two. And how she gets away with it is something I have yet to figure out.

On the other end of the phone, her mother yelled on the other end of the phone. "Patricia Gayle get your butt to class!"

"Oop, gotta go, text me." The call ended with a sudden click.

My head felt like it was going to explode. This was the last thing I needed. Graduation was a little over two months away, and I still had so much to do. Between student council meetings, prom committee, and tutoring I haven't had a moment to catch my breath all semester. But knowing there was a one-way ticket to New York City with my name on it was the light at the end of the tunnel.

I was thirty minutes into the morning news, when Cole finally pulled into my driveway. The Dodge Neon was more beat up than my TrailBlazer that was currently sitting in a garage without a front bumper. The white paint was chipped in spots and dings decorated all four doors, but it ran, so Cole drove it.

I grabbed my backpack and ran out the door. "Where have you been?" I yelled, stomping down the stairs. "We're late!"

Ignoring my question, Cole replied, "Get in! I brought you breakfast."

I got in the car; the cracked leather biting at the backs of my bare legs. A bag of glazed doughnuts and chocolate milk waited for me on the dashboard. "Thank you, but we're still late."

"We're not going to school."

My hand stalled halfway in the paper bag. What did he just say? "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. We're not going to school today." He backed out of the driveway and began driving in the opposite direction of school. "You're welcome by the way."