My Personal Stalker

Chapter 24: Surprises

I rushed into Mrs. Gregory's former classroom, stopping right in front of Joe's table. With raised eyebrows he looked me over from head to toe. "I see you're feeling better."

"I need your help."

Judging from his annoyed expression, Joe wasn't exactly thrilled to help me. "Wow, I've never heard that before."

"Please," I begged him, smiling as innocently as possible. "It's important."

Joe seemed to debate it in his mind for quite a while but eventually he agreed. "I'm just glad you're asking me for help instead of drowning your worries in tequila."

"Perfect, meet me at my place at five!" Before he could object, I walked over to my seat and placed everything I needed on the table.

I scribbled something on my notepad when suddenly, a voice ripped me out of my thoughts. "Glad to see things haven't changed while I was gone... except for the teacher of course." For minutes, I just stared at him in disbelief. He looked around the classroom and smiled. "So, where is your little friend? What was his name again... Noah?"

My jaw clenched at his words. "Why are you asking? Has your body healed too quickly?" I couldn't keep the words from flowing out of my mouth.

He slammed his fist onto my table. "Careful, sweety. This time there's no one here to protect you."

Swiftly, Joe stood up from his chair but I motioned for him to stay back. "Things have changed and I have changed while you were gone, Colin. Don't think you can pull something like that again."

His features relaxed again. "Oh, I'm not planning to. Just tell me when you find Noah. I still have some unsettled differences with him."

I felt my own body stiffening. "Why would I be looking for him?"

"Don't take me for an idiot! I know that he helped you with Mrs. Gregory and then he just disappeared. Of course, you're looking for him."

"You know what? Just leave us alone. There's still so much information I could use against you, you don't want to get on my bad side."

"Alright, I will stay back... for now." Finally, he stopped speaking and took his seat.

-

It was exactly five o'clock when Joe knocked on the door. "You know that we have a working doorbell, right?" I asked while letting him in.

His eyes narrowed. "Do you really want to get on my nerves when I'm just here to help you?"

I suppressed any other sarcastic comments. Instead I just asked, "So you're in a bad mood?"

Joe let himself fall onto the couch. "Why wouldn't I be? Obviously, something bad happened between you and Colin which you won't tell me anything about, instead I'm here to help you with God knows what."

"Fine, I'll tell you if you help me first." It was almost impossible to talk to someone about what had happened and I didn't want Joe to see me as some pitiful girl. But I would tell him if it meant that I could help Cole.

"Alright, so why am I here?"

"It's about Cole. I kind of screwed things up with him. That's why I've decided to help him with Stacey."

"No, Chloe, you can't get involved in that. We're talking about serious charges against him."

"But he's innocent. Aren't you always determined to help everyone in need? We could help him." My eyes were pleading him to agree.

"Stop looking at me like that." I didn't... "And what do want to do?"

"You know how Stacey has a thing for football players... first Noah, then Cole. And you're a football player too..."

Joe shook his head. "I already hate where this is going."

"You just have to flirt with her until she thinks that you're going to... you know? And I will handle the rest."

"I swear to you, this plan is not going to work... but fine, if there is a chance to get Cole out of this mess, I'm in."

I squealed and wrapped my arms around his neck. "Thank you so much. You're not going to regret this."

Joe patted me on the back for a while before pushing me off of him. "Alright, now it's your turn. What happened between you and Colin?"

It was impossible to lie. Joe would have noticed it before I even started talking. My gaze shifted around the room. I hadn't told anyone about what happened and I didn't plan on doing so now. "It's just a small fight we had when I was still together with Mark. Nothing important."

"Chloe, your hands are shaking. I know that there's more." He shifted closer and covered my hands with his own. "You know that you can talk to me about anything." I nodded but avoided his eye.

All of a sudden, the doorbell rang. Thank God. I pulled my hands away from Joe and strolled over to the door as quickly as possible.

"Surprise!"

Joe's POV:

My head jerked around at the sound of her beautiful voice. As much as I wanted to know the truth about Chloe and Colin, seeing her again was worth the wait.

"I can't believe you're here!" Chloe yelped and crashed into the small figure in front of her. Tangled with each other they almost lost balance.

"And the best part is I'm staying for good. My Mom took a new job here."

Finally, they let go of each other. Chloe smiled at me before stepping to the side. "Speaking of surprises... come in."

My heart skipped a beat at the sight of her. Her long blonde hair fell into waves, framing her petite face. Her pink lips were formed into a smile while her blue eyes scanned the room around me.

When she finally noticed me sitting on the couch, her eyes widened. "Joe, hey... I-I didn't know you were... Oh, I'm sorry if I interrupted..." Aileen stammered. Within seconds her whole expression had changed. Her lips were now pressed into a thin line, her head lowered and her body tensed.

I hated seeing her like that but I couldn't form any words in my mouth either. All I could do, was to stare at her in disbelief, begging her to understand.

"Oh, no. Joe and I are just friends." Chloe chuckled before the situation could get out of hand. Aileen sighed silently, it was almost impossible to notice. "Actually," Chloe pulled her friend closer to the couch. "Joe told me what happened and I'm totally on board."

"What?" Aileen nostrils flared. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen.

"Your relationship... I would love to see the two of you together again." Chloe said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Still, neither one of us dared to say anything. "Okay, I get it. You probably need some time alone. So just call me when you're done." Chloe smirked and left her own house before we could object.

—

Author's Note:
Hey loves, I've been waiting to write this chapter for so long and now you can finally read it.

What do you guys think about Colin's return? Are things going to change? What will he do if Noah ever comes back?
Do you like Chloe's plan to help Cole? Will it work or will Joe regret helping her?
And what do you think about Joe's and Aileen's reunion? Will they get back together?

If you like this story so far please vote, comment, add it to a reading list or share it with your friends. It would mean a lot to me ♥️