Choice

Part two: Liam

As I was walking to my locker, Cole followed. "Why are you following me?" I asked when turning away from my locker. Cole's face turned slightly red. "Oh sorry, I just thought that since we ride the same bus I could walk with you." He looked almost nervous about upsetting me. I smiled and said "alright."

On the bus ride home, Cole sat next to me and we exchanged numbers so we could work on the project. We met up at his house to work on it. And we managed to finish a week long project in a couple of hours. We didn't have to meet up anymore, but we lied and said we still had a lot of work to do all week. I felt an urge to hangout with him. He used to be someone I wanted to run away from, but now I'm making up excuses to be with him whenever. He made me feel good, and I never thought anything of it.
"So, you've been talking a lot about plan after high school. What are you going to do?" Cole asked on the last day of spring break. I hesitated a bit, I've never told anyone about my plans before, nor did I think anyone would ever care. "Oh, well, it's a long story." He raised an eyebrow, "Well, I'm listening." He was determined, I could tell. I sighed, and told him the truth. "Well, I'm actually getting married." Cole's eyes widened. "Damn, I didn't know yuh were engaged. When did you meet the lucky lady?" He asked. "We've known each other since we were kids." "Wow, that's a real achievement there Liam!" Cole said with a voice crack. I nodded, but looked away. Cole looked at me. "What's that look for? You got cold feet?" I laughed at that. "Even if I did, I couldn't back out of this. It's an arranged marriage." Cole was stunned. "Wait, why are you being forced to marry her? Sorry if I'm being nosy, but this isn't the medieval times anymore." I sighed and cleared my throat. "Okay, so basically there was this big company in the 1800's ran by two men. They both were single and had no kids, but one of them was about 50. And that man offered his business partner the entire company once he died. However, that man later married, and decided to give the entire company to his new son instead. This pissed the other guy off, and he went on a rampage. He killed the man and his wife, and since the kid was only 3, he got the company and all the wealth. A few years later, the boy grew up and wanted revenge. He killed the man and his wife. However, the man's son begged for forgiveness. So they both made up a contract that was gonna give both families peace and unity by combining both families. The trick was that the boy wasn't going to make it easy, and our family would have to find theirs. We used to have a deadline by 1950, but it was changed to 2000. So when I was born, it was around the same time my fiancé was. So they picked me." Cole just started at me with shock and disbelief. I rubbed the back of my head with my hand as I waited for a response. "Well, I wasn't entirely expecting that." I laughed nervously, almost out of embarrassment. "So, what happens when you don't marry her?" I looked down, "I guess they'd probably kill me." Cole looked more concerned. "Liam, can't you call the cops or something?" "We've tried, they're rich. They can buy their way out of anything." I said. "Have they ever done anything to your family aside from that one incident?" I nodded, softly. "They broke into my great-grandma's house in the 50's. Which my dad witnessed, and that's what made him more serious about me marrying Kate." "I'm so sorry, that must have been had on your dad." Cole said while trying to make eye contact with me. "My great-grandma was a good person, but I don't think she ever got the love she deserved from the rest of the family. Even from my dad." "What do you mean?" Cole asked while moving closer to me. "She had a lot of secrets. The only person I think she was ever close with was me. She told me everything." My voice started cracking a bit. I looked up at Cole, finally. He gave me a reassuring nod. "She was the only best friend I had growing up, but not only was her death challenging, but the secret she left me to keep." "What did she say?" Cole asked, almost nervously. I looked at him in the eyes. "I've never said this to anyone, so you have to stay quiet. Understand?" I asked him, almost scolding him. He nodded and straightened his back. "No one in the family is supposed to know, but she had a certain...love interest she kept private." I said, I was almost afraid to tell him this. I swore on my heart to my only friend in the world I'd keep this secret. But Cole put his hand on my shoulder, saying that it was okay. "Who was it?" Cole asked calmly. "It was another woman." Cole seemed unfazed, which confused me. He saw the confusion in my face. "Is that all?" He asked after a long period of silence. "Are you serious? What do you mean that's it?" Cole shrugged. "I know this is more of a controversial topic, but love is love, in my opinion." I was caught by surprise. "Same, but I was just surprised that you said that. My family would have freaked." "Do you have strict parents too?" Cole relaxed a bit and propped his feet onto his night stand. I chuckled a bit. "Strict is an understatement. I didn't know what a TV was until I was 10!" "Seriously?" Cole asked smiling but with his eyes slightly wide. "Uh huh, I also have to go to an all boys school up until middle school. Dude that place was hell." "Man that sounds fun." Cole said sarcastically. "Yeah sure. What about you rich boy? I've been in your house all week, what's your life like?" I said in a taunting voice. "Well if your so curious, my parents own a big business, and they want me to be the next boss in the company. So my entire life made just to do what they want." Cole's tone changed, he sounded more sad. "I just wish I could back out of this. I'd rather be on my own." I nodded in agreement to him. "Same, to be honest, I don't want to get married, or have any children. But I have to." "I mean, we could both back out of this." Cole suggested. "I'm sorry, but I'd rather not risk anything happening to my family, despite the dumb logic of it all." Cole nodded sadly. "Alright, it's almost 5, you should probably be heading home now." I started to gather my stuff, and was about to head for the door. When all of a sudden, I felt Cole's hand on my shoulder again. And he pulled me in for a hug. For the record, I don't like it when people touch me, at all. I used to push people away if they even tried to. But this time, I let him hug me, and I hugged him back. I enjoyed it. I felt...safe in a way. Cole immediately pushed away. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done that..it was weird. I'm sorry." He said in a panic. "No, no it's fine!" I said quickly. "I actually really appreciated that." I said more slower. Cole's face relaxed, and we hugged again.

Once I got home, I couldn't get him off my mind. I was up all night just thinking about him. Out of the entire year, I never noticed how much of a goofball he was. I really enjoyed having him around. Eventually, I whispered his name, which seemed to come out without hesitation. Then, the realization hit me like a wack to the gut. I liked him. No no no, I can't like him. I have to get married soon, and two guys being together is completely out of the question. We're just really good friends, that's it. At least, I think it is.