Julys and Goodbyes

chapter three

Girlfriend?
My jaw nearly dropped to the pavement beneath me as the word left Nora's smiling lips. Cole had a girlfriend?
I didn't realize that I was standing in silence until Cole waved a hand in front of my face. "Libby?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I zoned out!" I sputtered. "It's great to meet you, Nora!"
A forced smile spread stiffly across my face as I reached a trembling hand out to shake Nora's. I noticed her perfectly manicured pink nails.
Pulling myself together, I took a breath and turned to Cole.
"Wow. So the dumbass managed to find a girlfriend, I see?" I faked a small laugh, my mind still whirling with shock.
Cole just shrugged and smiled, throwing an arm around Nora's shoulders. She leaned into his arm and closed her eyes, grinning.
I wanted to puke at the sight.
I turned away quickly, kicking a pebble around the driveway.
"Well uh, I still haven't finished unpacking, so I better um.. go finish that up. I'll see you guys for dinner tonight." My voice came out awkward, and I jogged away to avoid any further conversation with the surprise guest. I breezed past Brianna and Finn on the way, hoping that they wouldn't try to stop me or follow me inside.
To my relief, I made it into the Pink Pearl alone. As soon as I got up to my room, I flopped back onto my bed and stared at the notorious rickety ceiling fan. My whole body felt numb and my heart sunken.
Cole, the boy that I was finally ready to confess my feelings to, now had a girlfriend. And if that wasn't worse enough, he decided to bring her along on the Montgomery and Hanson family summer trip.
"Of course this kind of shit would happen to me." I muttered to myself, extending an arm to grab my phone. I opened contacts, and called the only person that I could break the news to. Sadie.
The phone rang three times, and she picked up.
"Hey Libs! What's up, did y'all make it to the Pink Pearl?"
"Hey, and yeah, we did. But Sadie, I need to talk to you. You aren't going to believe this."
"Hmm alright, spill. But I only have a few minutes, we're about to head down to the lake to swim."
I signed. "Okay, so you know how I was planning on telling Cole everything?"
Sadie giggled. "Ooh yes, how could I forget? Is he there yet? Don't tell me you're still too nervous." I could picture her winking on the other end of the phone.
"Um.. not exactly. Sadie... I just went over to see him and guess what? He has a new girlfriend that he brought with him." I almost choked on the word "girlfriend."
"No fucking way," Sadie gasped. "Are you serious?"
"Yep, dead serious." I huffed back into the phone. "Her name is Nora and she looks like a horse sporting too much pink."
Sadie scoffed. "God, I'm honestly really surprised. Has Cole ever even mentioned a girl before? I'm so sorry, Libs."
"Yeah, it's not exactly something I was expecting either. And I think it just turned my entire summer around..." My voice fell.
"Libs, you can't let a boy and his tagalong bimbo ruin your whole trip. I know it's a shitty feeling, but you could honestly spend this time on yourself, instead. You know?"
"Yeah, I know, but it's hard when I've been thinking about him nearly every day since last summer. Plus, you're not here this time."
She sighed softly. "Yeah, I'm not, but that doesn't mean that you can't call me anytime. Hold on Libby, Chase and the others are about to beat down my door. I've gotta go, but call me again later, okay? I need to hear more about this Nora character."
"Yeah, I can just talk to you later. Bye Sadie!"
"Alright sounds good, bye Libs."
Once she hung up, I tossed my phone to my side and stared back up at the twitching fan. How was I supposed to just focus on myself this summer with Cole and Nora right in front of my face? I was already dreading dinner with the Hansons, since I saw the sinking sun out of my window and knew that it would be time soon.
"So this is what heartbreak feels like," I whispered dramatically, turning over to hide my face in my pillow. "Ugh."
About fifteen minutes later, the dreaded words came along with a quick knock on my bedroom door. "Libby, start getting ready for dinner. We're going to Oceanfront with the Hansons," my mom's voice called.
"Yeah, I'm coming," I shouted back. I sunk back down against my pillow and turned up the volume on Spotify. How was I going to get through tonight, much less the next two months?