I'm Fine

Chapter 1

"Imogen? Hey, you there?"

I look around in a fuzzy haze and squint at an indistinguishable face in front of me. My eyes adjust and I see a familiar face of young features looking right at me.

"Cole? Cole!" I reply, swinging my arms around his neck, and pulling him closer. When I let go, his face is clear and smiling at me. Wide, innocent and childish speckled brown eyes, a silly smile and a button nose. He brings a hand up in front of me and we hold hands and he leans his small head on my shoulder.

"Imogen?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't blame you," he said. There was a deep sigh and he suddenly dissaspeared. I was lying on the ground and my heart was pumping, my eyes spouting tears and my head burning with a fiery rage.

"I'm sorry!" I spluttered, water pouring down my cheeks and making wet spots on the dirt. I hit the dusty ground with my fist and scream in agony. My head started spinning and the colours around me started to fade. "Cole," I whispered, shivering and then closing my eyes to the comfort of the darkness.

~

"Imogen. Sweetheart, are you okay?"

"Annette? Annette?" I say, sitting up. I rub my eyes and take a good look at my surroundings. My head throbbs and my eyes burn, my hands feel cold on my arms and I take in fast short breaths.

"It's okay sweetie, I'm here," replies Annette, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. She smiles at me and I stare right at her, not looking away. Her hazel eyes are glossed with worry and her breaths slow.

"Annette. It...I..." I faltered, but Annette just pulled me into a hug. I was engulfed in a wave of emotion and I started sobbing uncontrolably. Cole was gone and I could do nothing about it.

"I know hun, I know," she says, rubbing my back. It takes a while for me to console myself but I eventually stop crying and just sit on my bed while Annette holds my hand and tells me that I'll be fine. I listen to her talk and try so hard to be calm, but every part of my dream sticks to my mind. Cole's eyes, his sad smile, his words, the memories. I just can't believe that...he's...I'm...I don't even know anymore.

"Come down for breakfast. Pancakes or waffles? You know what, why don't we go to Harby's Diner for their super special breakfast deal?" asks Annette, and I try to smile. Harby's Diner is my favourite.

"Okay, but I should get ready first."

"No problem. Just come down when you're ready," she replies. She stands up and slowly walks out the door. "Call me if you need anything. Your parents won't be home until 3:00, so we can spend some time out anyway."

"Thank you Annette." Annette doesn't reply. She walks out the doorway and I can see her small smile before she disappears behind the wall.

~

Annette drove me to Harby's Diner and we got a table for two in the corner of the restaurant. I ordered a sunny side up and some french toast, and Annette ordered scrambled eggs and toast. We waited for the food to arrive and I scroll through notifications on my phone.

Imogen! Don't forget. 11:00 sharp. Don't miss it. :)
Harly (Quinn) Jones
9:14am

Forget what? Oh...

"Annette?"

Annette looks up from her phone and says, "Yes?"

I take a deep breath. "Harly wants me to...go on a date?" I say. Annette doesn't respond for a second and stares blankly at me. Her eyes ignite with a scary flash of light and her face melts into a giddy grin.

"A date?" she says, squeling with excitement.

"Yeah," I say, "it's a blind_"

"A DATE!?" she practically yells. The few people in Harby's Diner enjoying their breakfast meals turn to look at Annette gawping at me. I smile sheepishly and hiss at Annette.

"Yes, a date. I don't need the whole word to know though."

"Sorry. It's just...you don't know how proud I am," says Annette. She clasps my hand and looks straight into my eyes. A shiver goes down my spine. Who knew Annette would be this excited? She's acting more like an older sister than a thirty-something year old woman, who is also my aunt.

A waiter brings the food over and we dig in. Annette winks at the waiter before he leaves and he blushes furiously. I hold in a laugh. In her thirties and she still make people blush like that. Annette is beautiful, so I can see why. She has long black curls, like my sister Lee, a mature but young face like Mum's, a dazzling smile, and twinkling brown eyes like mine. It's a wonder she isn't married yet though. Maybe then I'd have another uncle.

"So, how much do you know about this guy?" Annette asks.

"Not much. I know he's 16 and his name is Derek or something."

"Hmm. Derrreeeekkkk," she says, warping his name into some sort of alien language. I snort.

"What are you doing?" I demand, laughing.

"Inspecting his name," she replies, taking another forkfull of scrambled eggs.

"Okay Annette. You do that."

~

We spend the next half hour at Harby's Diner, then Annette tells me that we're going shopping. So we spend some time going through a bunch of shops at the mall and making a lot of managers and employees angry. Annette took at least ten dresses for me in almost every shop and makes me try on every single one. Since we actually didn't end up buying anything, we headed home and Annette picked out an old floral yellow knee-length dress and a black belt. She fished out some long-forgotten white flats out of the garage storage and tells me I'm ready to go.

It's only half past ten, but Annette insists that we head there early. Me and Annette sit alone at the cafe that Harly had reccomended. She says that they have the best coffee and hot chocolate. Harly shows up ten minutes later and plonks herself down next to me. She tries to splurge information at me but all I got in the end was that he transferred last to our school last Friday, when I was sick in bed.

The little jingle bell at the door rings and Harly stops mid sentence to look up at the person who walked through the door. Tan skin, black hair and a hollywood smile. My smile drops instantly and my heart thumps as he looks stright into my eyes.

"Imgoen?" he asks, surprised. I gulp.

"Damian."