PERFECT PLACES

Cole (10)

Cole didn't know where to go once he left Sarah's room for the second time. He would go in a few hours and try again. But until then, he was directionless. He wasn't about to go do course work: he was days or even weeks away from being back to his normal self again. Exams were coming up soon, but it didn't matter. He was not functioning correctly. His thoughts were all jumbled. There was nowhere to go and no one to see until he saw her again. No other aspect of his life mattered until he made peace with her.

He headed toward the cafeteria. He didn't even make the conscious decision to walk that way. His body just seemed to point itself in that direction when it had to choose a way to move. He didn't feel hungry, but he felt weak.

Once in line in the cafeteria, his vision started to become slightly blurry. The lights above him burned onto his eyelids. The voices around him were piercing and painful. His head had been hurting all day and he guessed all of these other sensations were side effects of that. It might have been from not eating, but he knew that he had hurt himself last night and it was almost certainly a concussion. He couldn't remember what precautions you're supposed to take if you have a concussion. Probably stay home and rest. Maybe he would go lie down for a bit after this. He had some ibuprofen in his bathroom kit in his room. He wouldn't be able to fall asleep, but maybe he could be in the quiet room and try to get rid of his headache.

Once he grabbed a slice of pizza and some lemonade, he walked to find a spot to sit. He wished there was a quiet corner somewhere, where he could sit alone and escape from the noise, but the place was almost completely packed.

He sat down a few seats away from two girls at a large table. It was the only choice he had.

"Cole! What's up man?"

He looked over to them as he picked up his pizza. His eyesight was still a bit blurry, but he could tell that he recognized one of them.

"...Oh.... hey there Sam. Didn't even notice you there! I'm kind of out of it today."

"Come over a few seats!"

Cole moved over to the seat beside her. He was now able to see the other girl. He guessed that she was the one that Jonathan had been eyeing at the party. He remembered that Sam had texted him the day before to say her friend was coming with her.

"We haven't seen you since that big party a few months ago. You were FUCKED up that night dude. Do you even remember any of that night?"

"...Uh ya I do. Well no, actually, I remember pre-ing with the boys and taking shots on the kitchen counter, but that's about it."

"Yeah by the time we found you, you were slouched over on the fucking porch. You were so dead! Jonathan was totally nursing you back to health."

"Yeah, I don't doubt that he was. I appreciate it if I was that fucked obviously, but I really don't remember. I haven't seen him since the party, I should probably thank him."

"Oh don't worry, he's had more important things to think about. Like all of his dates with Jess!"

"Oh yeah, you guys are dating? That's super cool, Cole is a good guy. What have you guys been up to together?"

"Actually Sam, this is awkward, and it's a bit weird to say this while you're here Cole, but Jonathan and I broke up a few weeks ago. It was mutual and we have no hard feelings, he was such a sweet guy"

"Oh my gosh girl, really? That's so sad! I'm sorry I brought it up. At least you two are on good terms!"

Shit. Cole felt horrible all of a sudden, because he knew that Jonathan didn't have many other friends around. Cole hadn't known that he and Jess had been dating or that they had broken up until now, but it didn't matter. He remembered in tenth grade that Jonathan had told him that he had been seeing a therapist for the past few years. Cole didn't know how stable he was now. But that panic attack hadn't been a good sign. Cole felt bad that he hadn't seen his friend since the party. He was probably pretty fucked up and lonely right now.

"What about you Cole, how are you and Sarah? I still haven't met her, I hope I get to soon!"

"Oh yeah, she's good. She had a good trip. I was gonna have dinner with her but she's feeling a bit under the weather so it's a good thing I found you guys."

"Oh no. Tell her I hope she feels better!"

"I will."

Cole ate his slice of pizza rather quickly, letting the two girls do most of the talking. He was starving. And talking made his head hurt. He mostly replied with grunts and moans. He wasn't trying to be rude. He just felt like he needed to lie down and leave this noisy, exhausting place.

"Anyway, it was awesome to see you both, but I have to go. I have a lot of homework to do, pretty fucked for a test on Tuesday. I'll see y'all later."

"Okay then, bye!" said Sam, a bit shocked.

"Bye Cole!"

He picked up his tray. He gulped down the lemonade on the way to the tray pile and dropped his tray quickly to head to the door. He was heading to his room, to go lie down. He quickly found the exit. But then his body changed his mind again and he started hurrying toward the Smith residence.