Unplugged | d.s (2) ✔︎

XXVII // Coles Smiley Face

The brown wooden stool sat in her bathroom. I made my way towards it with the box in my hand. I couldn't believe I was finally moving on from some of the mistakes I made when I hung out with Cole and Arthur. Some other mistakes were a bit too hard to run away from. 

"I can't believe you dyed your hair pink without telling me. I remember we use to joke about dying one another's hair Christmas colours for Christmas time," Kelsey grabs the box from my hands and begins unwrapping it. She places the clear gloves on so her hands don't get dye and then pulls the bottles out. 

"That would be something different," I laugh. Kelsey smiles while moving my hair ready to dye. I have no idea why I trusted her with re-dying my hair and trimming it. That is why I called in back up. 

"I was just saying to Nate that I think the whole star wars movies were average, then he went on an hour rant about how Yoda and the rest of the gang are the best people to have ever walked onto our cinematic universe. Sorry, I am late," Katherine had grown up trimming my hair and Kelsey's and had said she would love to do it but Kelsey said she wanted to try. She was shocked I had trusted her but she loved the fact that I did. 

"Nate literally made all of his high school speeches in English about star wars. You got stuck in his loop," I explain. Katherine sighs before jumping on the bathroom countertop and chowing down on her pop tart. 

Kelsey began doing my hair while Katherine gave her tips along the way. Then as she was going we realised cutting my hair first, may have been the best way to go. But what happened had happened and she continued on scrubbing my hair with her hands. 

"So Noah, any life updates while we you kn-"

"I figured we would lead down this path," I laughed as did Kelsey. It was crazy to be here laughing with her as nothing had changed. I didn't forgive her and Daniel completely, far I don't even know if I ever will. But I had to try. 

"Well I know the majority of it was with dumb and dumber," She implies. I wondered every day if she would have done the same thing I did if she caught Corbyn and me together. If she would run and fall down the wrong path. 

"Yeah. I mean one time we were wasted in town and stumbled into a tattoo parlour-"

"What? Do not tell me you got a tattoo. Nate would kill you!" Katherine says in such an older sister attitude. I roll my eyes and stand off the chair. My hair was dripping on a towel around my neck. The only person I had told about this tattoo was Corbyn because he had face timed me that night. 

I lift my old ACDC shirt and show the smiley face that was sitting above my hip. Cole had done it himself, bribed a young tattoo artist for him to draw a smiley face on my hip, originally intended for my boob. 

"Why did you even go back to those two assholes?" Kelsey asked unimpressed by the crooked smiley face on my body. I sat down on the stool again and we remained silent, she waited for a reply, me waiting whether to tell her half the shit that did happen when I was in Cole's grip. 

"I had no one else, if you think about it Kelsey I just hung out you and the boys. After you and Daniel did what you did, I was alone. You don't realise what you have until you lose it," I explained. She seems to understand the point I was trying to get across because she stopped talking and placed the last foil in my hair. 

"What do you think Daniel is going to say about your hair?" She says taking off her gloves. I turned around on the chair, my hair dripping on the tail on my back. 

"As a friend, I think he is going to like it. But then again all the boys should, I mean it is my natural colour," I say. Kelsey nods and jumps up on the counter beside Katherine. 

The silence was chilling, not a single word was coming out either of there mouths and I realised they were waiting for me to explain more about my days with Cole. Kelsey had the same idea of breaking the silence.

"Im-"

"Cole sexually assaulted me," we spoke at the same time. I continued she had stopped. Katherine stops bitting into her pop tart and she and Kelsey froze. Fuck this was probably a shit time to talk about this. 

Kelsey moves first, jumping from the counter and holding her hands in a fist. "He what?! What did he do? How many times did this happen? When did this happen? Fuck, when I next see this kid he's in for one hell of a beating-" 

"Kelsey shut up okay. It happened. I am okay," I explain holding her arms. 

"But how Noah? When? How many times? Why?" Katherine continued the waiting questions on both of their minds. I move away from Kelsey and sigh. 

"The first time was after I called Daniel. Cole was drunk and passed out in the bed. I sat in the chair beside him and fell asleep. Let's just say I woke up to something I didn't want to be woken up by. Then another was a couple of weeks later but more aggressive. He shoved me against a wall and demanded it will be okay. I just stayed frozen looking at the security camera that laid in this hotel games room. But I placed myself in that position, I did. No one else. So it is my fault," I hated talking about it. I fucked up so bad it ruined me. I ruined myself. And I hated to say it but I was scared. I was absolutely terrified, of myself.