Just Smile - ON HOLD

Chapter 3

Heather ran inside the door and sat in front of a heater and watched Cole as he sat his keys on an oak table beside his front door.

"Make yourself comfortable." he said,  his deep voice ringing through the house. 

"Oh trust me, I already am." Heather grinned from her spot on the floor.  "Can we watch a movie?" she asked Cole.

"Yeah sure,  just follow me." Cole said before walking up a set of stairs. 

Heather quickly stood up and ran after him. The soon reached a bedroom, his bedroom.  It was nice but it would have been more nice if everything wasn't black, Heather thought.

She walked over to his bed with black comforter and sat on the end while Cole walked over to his DVD player and put in a movie. 

"What we watching?"Heather asked as Cole turned the TV on and grabbed a remote before sitting beside her. 

"Lights Out." Cole told her.

"No way. I don't do horror movies." Heather said.

"To bad." he replied.

"Can I atleast use the bathroom first." Heather asked.

"Whatever. It's right over there." Cole said while pointing to a door on the far wall.

"Thanks." Heather quickly got up and shut herself in the bathroom. She walked over to the topic and did her business before walking over to the sink.

"What's this." Heather quietly mumbled to herself when she saw a see through cabinet above the sink.  She knew that she shouldn't be plundering but she was very intrigued with the contents inside.

She opened the cabinet to see atleast twenty different types of pill bottles.  She picked up one, "Zyprexa..." she mumbled under her breath. She picked up another pill bottle, "Mirtazapine." she gasped in realization and quickly put the bottles back in the cabinet before shutting it and washing her hands.  All that she knew about those names was that they were both a very strong type of antidepressants.

She stepped out of the bathroom to see that Cole had already started lights out and sat beside him in the bed again. 

"Cole,  are you okay?" Heather asked him.  She knew she sounded like a mom but she didn't care.

"You saw them didn't you?" Cole asked.

"Yes Cole and..."

"Why were you snooping?  You have no right to plunder in my business." Cole snapped.

"I'm sorry Cole I just..."

"You just what?" Cole growled.

"I saw the orange bottle and I was curious." Heather replied honestly.

For the first time all day, cole looked Heather in the eyes and held her gaze. For the first time Heather felt as though she was actually seeing him. 

He had bags under his dull blue eyes.  He was extremely pale and his cheeks were hollow from the lack of food. His eyes held sadness, wager and confusion.  Just as soon as she saw his emotions, he closed them back inside his mental walls.  His expression went blank and he dropped his head so that his gaze left hers.  He let out a shakey breath and turned his attention back to the TV.

Heather lifted her hand and placed it on his shoulder.

Cole quickly stood up and turned his gaze towards the door in his bedroom, "Is your mom home yet?" he quietly asked. 

Heather took a quick glance at her phone, "Yeah." she didn't actually check the time but she needed to get away from here for a little while.  She felt guilty. 

"Then let's go." Cole said before walking out the door. 

Heather followed him downstairs and got in his truck with him. The ride to her house was awfully quiet. As soon as he pulled into her driveway she didn't wait for him to stop and jumped out of his truck, she slammed the door behind her and knocked on the truck's passenger side window.

Cole rolled it down. "What do you want?"

"I want to meet up, tomorrow at Waffle House."

He didn't reply but instead started to back out of the driveway leaving her to stand there,  watching as he drove away.

Heather walked to her ground porch and grabbed her skateboard that was propped against the side of her house's front door.  She placed it down on the ground and hopped on,  kinking her leg on the ground to build speed a few times and riding down the side of the road. 

Suddenly, Heather's phone buzzed.  She quickly hopped off of her skateboard and stopped it before pulling her phone out.

Cole: What time do you want to meet?

Heather: @5p.m.

Cole: Kk see you there

Heather: Love ya

Cole: Don't make this weird.

Heather: Never⊂(￣(ｴ)￣)⊃

Cole: Why???

Heather: Lol

Heather smiled before placing her skateboard back on the ground and riding home.

She sat down on the front porch step and waited for her mom to get home. She had arrived a few minutes later.  Heather ran inside once her mom unlocked the door and grabbed a bag of Doritos.

"I'm going to watch Netflix mom." Heather told Alexis.

"Okay sweetie, have fun." with that Heather went to her room. 

She walked into her joined bathroom to her bedroom and looked in the mirror,  her hair was soaked. That was when she noticed that she was still holding Cole's sweatshirt in her hands.

She lifted the soft piece of black fabric and inhaled gently before sighing at his familiar ocean like scent.

Heather walked back into her bedroom and into her closet, she picked out a pair of white sweatpants and and XXXL black tee-shirt.  She wore a women's small, but she just loved oversized clothing. She stripped off her clothes before putting on some clean undergarments and slipping on her outfit of choice.  Then she plopped down on her bad and opened her giant bag of Doritos. She turned on her TV to watch Riverdale.

Cole walked back into his bedroom and turned off the TV.  What had he been thinking,  letting her go in his bathroom.  She probably would have found out sooner or later but he wasn't prepared for it to happen today.  As long as she didn't know his secrets though,  he was okay,  there was too much inside him and very little of it was good.  He may have liked her but he needed to keep his distance.  He ran his hands through his hair and pulled before grabbing a glass of water that was sitting beside his bed and chucking it at the wall,  the glass shattered before his breathing hitched.

"Cole, you need to stay away. Get out of here." she screamed.

"I'm not leaving you mom, not with him." Cole yelled.

"I love you."

A gunshot echoed through the small building,  his body drapped to the floor.  She had killed his dad...  And he was happy.

She cupped Cole's head in her hands. "I did this for you, run."

So he ran.