Fearless?

Fearless? - Chapter Twenty-One

‘We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... we must do that which we think we cannot,’

- Eleanor Roosevelt

Chapter Twenty-one

A few weeks had passed since Azelie had told Cole about her parents, and nothing had been the same between them since. Her confession should have solidified their friendship, practically setting it in stone, but in fact, it had done the complete opposite.

Cole didn’t know how to act around Azelie anymore. He wanted to ask questions about it, he wanted to know as much as she would allow about her past, but he didn’t know when to ask. He had always known that there was something dark in her past, but he had genuinely never considered the idea of her being an orphan. He had maybe thought that they had gone through a bad divorce, that Azelie might have been pushed out of their lives and therefore moved in with her uncle, but in fact, she had been through the same as him, while he had witnessed his mother taking her own life, she had seen both of her parents die, only to walk away from the entire thing with minor injuries. He had never been around somebody who felt something bigger than his loss, and it confused him. He didn’t know if he should show her pity, or if he should continue as if she had never told him. As a result, the Cole who just said what was on his mind had disappeared, and instead, Cole had begun to analyze every word he said to Azelie before he said it.

Azelie also didn’t know how to act around him anymore. She had never told anybody about her parents in the past that hadn’t known already about them. Not a single soul. And even then, the only person she had actually had to tell was her therapist, and that was after sitting in her office in silence for weeks, not uttering a single word while the doctor pressed her for information. She just didn’t know what to do, she felt paralyzed. They never fought anymore, not even over the chemistry  project as Azelie didn’t know what to do around Cole and he didn’t know what to say to her.

The friendship that should have been set in stone was circling the drain, a few more weeks not knowing how to act around one other and they would have been like strangers to each other, but then of course, the pushy, pink-haired, best friend decided to get involved.

“Did you two bump uglies or something?” Kelly questioned, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had fallen on the lunch table, looking between Cole and Azelie.

“What?” Azelie and Cole asked at the same time, Kelly’s euphemism lost completely on the two. Kelly just rolled her eyes at her friends, wondering how they couldn’t understand what she was saying.

"DID YOU PUT YOUR PENIS IN HER VAG-” She began to shout very loudly so that Azelie and Cole would find it impossible not to understand her.

“KELLY!” Azelie screamed, her face turning bright red.

“Shut the hell up!” Cole added, leaning over the table and placing his hand over Kelly’s mouth to stop her finishing her sentence. Alex just sat there, watching the entire scene with a smirk playing on his lips. Suddenly, Cole felt something wet on his hand, and heimmediately removed his hand from Kelly’s lips, to find saliva all across his palm.

"Holy crap! Kelly, did you just lick my hand!” He cried, rubbing his hand on his top, trying to get all the Kelly germs off.

“Did you guys sleep together? Because seriously, I would like to be crazy auntie Kelly who hands out protection to your kids one day but one day isn’t tomorrow!” Kelly babbled, ignoring Cole’s question.