The File

The File ~ Chap. 9

Please tell me what you think. Even if you say you hate it, I want to know!

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Tate

God, I had to go on that stupid field trip. I had to jump out that train window. I had to bring Cole into this.

If only I hadn't have done any of those things. But it was too late to do anything about that now. Everything was said and done. The only hope I had was getting to that town in one piece and getting Cole to call his parents to get him. Then I would just keep going on my own.

It took a while, but we finally made it to the nearby town. The place was called Cedar Falls. We were surprised to find out we were now in Iowa-or had been for some time, actually.

Cedar Falls was a quaint little town. When we first arrived, our first task was to find a McDonalds or somewhere easy to get a bite. We got our delicious fast food and ate outside.

The silence between us didn't last very long. Cole had only been apart of my situation for a day and a half, so if I could get him away now, then he'd be fine. I didn't care about what I had heard the men say before. He wasn't a target. He never had been, and never would be.

"Cole," I said before I started on my fries.

"Yeah?" he replied, looking up from his food.

"We should go call your parents when we're done." I had a hard time looking him in the eye.

He looked at me sadly. "No," he said softly.

I looked at him, surprised. "What?"

"You heard me. No. I'm not going to call my parents." He gazed directly into my eyes.

"But-"

"How about we continue this soon-to-be argument when we're done so we don't attract attention?" It was more an order than a question. It baffled me how he became the leader all of a sudden.

"Fine," I said defeatedly.

We finished our food quickly-even though I had found I had suddenly lost my appetite-and when we were done, I grabbed my pack and slung it over my head. I walked ahead of Cole, and soon found myself in front of a phone booth. I had no idea how I found one, but I did.

"I'm not calling," Cole said before I had the chance to speak.

"But they probably are worried sick about you," I protested.

"I don't care."

"Well, that doesn't sound very nice," I commented.

"Does it look like I give a shit?"

My eyebrows rose in surprise. Cole had never seemed like the type of person to swear. I personally had never uttered a single word like that. He sure knew how to throw off a person. But he did have a point in what he said. His expression didn't seem very sympathetic at all. But that wasn't going to stop me from forcing him to pick up that phone.

"Cole," I said patiently. "Take the phone and call." I offered him some quarters, taking the liberty to hand him the phone too.

He pushed the phone back towards me. "Why don't you call your mom?" he asked, giving me a look.

He had to make things difficult.