Cole

"What do you mean it’s due tomorrow?” I asked my best friend Mayla.

“Mrs. Sello said it was due on the 16th. Today is the 15th so, I’m guessing that tomorrow will be the 16th. Well, to put it in laments terms, it’s due tomorrow.” Mayla said with a wide grin on her face.

I just glared at her. Our friendship was based on sarcasm so I wasn’t pissed about her attitude. I was pissed because I was looking at a void of color canvas with only my crudely drawn sketch of a wolf’s head covering its blankness.

I slumped back in my chair trying to recall Mrs. Sello ever saying such a thing but I came up empty. The project was for my advanced intermediate art class, and Mrs. Sello expected a lot of me and graded me hard. I wasn’t by far the best artist in the class but for some reason Mrs. Sello always pushed me hard and always wanted me to go the extra mile. I understand that all teachers want their students to do their best but I just couldn’t do that for every single project she assigns. It just wasn’t possible.
Mayla looked at me “What are you going to do?”

“Crawl in a hole and die!”

Mayla just laughed, not taking me serious. But right now that actually sounded like a fantastic idea.

“Well, I can tell you one thing for sure; you won’t be seeing me in class tomorrow. I can’t take work off tonight, so I guess I’ll just go to the art studio and work on it during school hours.” I shrugged my shoulders.

I looked at my watch and noticed I was going to be late for my waitressing job if I didn’t get a move on. I said my good byes to Mayla and go into my old run down Chevy. I was thankful that the project was due tomorrow because that meant that the art studio would be empty.

At my school we had two places to meet for advanced intermediate art, one was the small cramped class room, where we would learn about technique and other famous artists. The second was an actual art studio that my school rented out. The art studio was only a block away from the school, so on studio days, instead of going to the classroom; we would walk down the block (rain or shine) to the studio and actually paint or draw. Those days are my favorite but god forbid you couldn’t remember if we had a studio day or a class room day.

I walked into the quite studio early the next morning. No one was there; I had the studio all to myself. My smile couldn’t have been any bigger. I walked to the back easel, my easel, with my canvas in one hand and all my supplies in the other. I turned on the radio, blasting the music until I thought my ears would bleed, just the way I liked it.
I looked around the studio, it was different with no one here but me. The big windows lit the studio up so bright there was no need for artificial light. The studio floor was covered in dried paints of all different colors and sizes. I loved this studio; I loved it more than any other place in the world, other than my swing in the park. Sense I was a senior and in this cretin art class, I had keys to the studio. It was opened to me whenever I wanted it. And I will admit that I abuse that ability to my full extent.

I squeezed out gray, white, black, and brown paint onto my pallet and started mixing and blending the colors until I had different shades and tones of all of them. I took my brush and started to make my wolf come to life.

Ryder

can’t believe I’m back…I never thought I’d be looking at this god forsaken town again. Driving down he main street I looked around at the unchanged buildings and shops. Not a thing has changed in the two years I’ve been gone. I wonder if the people I left behind have changed or if they are like the town and stayed the same.

I pulled into my old schools parking lot and looked around for a spot. I finally found one all the way in the back of the lot next to an old Chevy. I sighed as I looked down at my new class schedule.

I haven’t been here for so long; the high school looks foreign to me. Actually everything looks foreign. I’m about to say ‘fuck this’ when I feel my phone vibrate. I bang my head back again the head rest.
“What?” I growl into the phone. The last person I wanted to talk to was my big brother.

“Ryder, I know you’re pissed off but I’ve already talked to the principal and you have no choice. You’re going to finish out your senior year at Valley. Now get to class!”

I loved my brother, don’t get me wrong. But sometimes Kyle forgot that he wasn’t my dad.

“Fuck off.”

“Yea, fuck you too. Now get to class. We can talk about how much you love me when I get home from work.”

I slammed my phone shut and threw it against the dashboard. The back and the battery broke off the phone on impact and I cursed myself as I put the pieces back together. I grabbed my backpack from the trunk and reexamined my class schedule again.
I’m a senior, coming back to Valley High School in the middle of the second semester. I went to Valley until the end of my sophomore year. I knew some of my old friends were excited to see me but there was one person I really didn’t want to see.

It was the beginning of 8th period. I knew I was late for school and my class but getting registered took almost all day. Even though I wasn’t really new to the school, I knew the lay out pretty well, I could use my ‘new’ status as an excuse for being late for class.

My 8th period class was advanced intermediate art, I looked at the schedule again. I remembered that that class was sometimes in an off campus studio. From the schedule it looked like it was a class room day but I really didn’t want to deal with teachers and students so I took off down the road to the studio. I could pretend later that I got lost of confused.

It was the middle of February, in Chicago, which meant sub below temperatures and even colder winds. I pulled my jacket tighter around me, wishing I was back in California where it was warm!

I finally got to the studio doors and pushed them apart. The warmth of the studio rushed to me and felt great against my chilled skin. God, I hate the cold. I hate that I’m here! I hated everything about this town, this city; all it ever did for me was cause me bad memories.

As I got farther into the studio I heard loud music coming from the inside of the art room. Shit, I thought the schedule said that today was a classroom day. Well, I might as well get this over with. I pushed opened the doors, hard, but when I looked up, there was no one there. What the hell?

I looked around some more, to make sure I wasn’t going crazy. There defiantly was music blasting but I couldn’t see anyone in the room. The music was so loud I couldn’t even hear myself think. First thing I was going to do was find the radio and shut that shit off. I thought about yelling over the music but I doubted whoever was here, would hear me. I wondered farther into the studio looking for the radio and whoever was here.

I decided that it might be worth yelling “Hello? Anyone here?”It was no use, I may have a deep voice but I was no match for the radio.

As I got farther into the studio I noticed there was dried up paint all over the floors. “What no janitors?” I thought to myself. I suddenly stopped dead in my tracks when I noticed a girl holding a paint brush and standing in front of an easel. The canvass in front of her had a painted wolfs head on it, that wasn’t half bad. The girl wasn’t painting though, she was dancing! I had to keep myself from laughing. The girl was in her own little world and I really wasn’t sure if I should disturb her. She moved her wide hips to the steady beat of the radio. Her feet in sync with her hips, she moved with such grace and beauty. She twirled in two circles, but on the third rotation she lifted her head up and noticed me. The girl screamed louder than the music and dropped her brush. Paint flew in all directions. My blood ran cold when I realized who I was looking at. The one person I was hoping to avoid seeing again. It also didn’t help that she was the one person I missed seeing the most.

She looked amazing; her hair was longer than before. She had an old sweater on that she got for her birthday 3 years ago, jeans ripped at the knees and beat up old converse high tops. As much as I was glad to see her I wanted to run out of the studio and get as far away from here as possible. The problem was my legs felt like they were glued to the floor. I just stood there, staring at her, my eyes wide.

She recovered first, like always, and walked over to the radio and shut it off. Silence filled the huge studio and I was suddenly fearful of the absence of sound.
“Ryder? Is, is that you?” She asked stunned.

“Hey Cole, yea…umm, how are you?” I was so nervous. I was hoping to avoid her but of course, with my luck, she would be the first person I would see from my past. I fucking hate Kyle and my Uncle.

“Why are you back?” It was always like her to cut straight to the point. She always said she hated the ‘fluff’ (as she called it).

“I moved back. For, for good.” I couldn’t stand the look on her face as I said that. She looked horrified.


Cole

I should have just gone to Mrs. Sello’s room today and taken the stupid zero. But no! I had to come to the studio and try to finish my stupid project, so that graduation was at least a possibility.

I can’t believe Ryder is standing here, looking at me. I can’t believe it, I just won’t! I refuse to! This is just a nightmare. I’m going to wake up and none of this would have ever happened. I shut my eyes, tight, wishing myself to wake up.

“That’s a great painting. You really got good.” He said, ignoring my eye closed look.

“Ryder?” I asked again. I know I’m making a complete fool out of myself and making myself look utterly stupid but it was so hard to believe. All the feelings that I’ve tried to forget are rushing back and taking me by the throat and squeezing!

“It’s really me, Cole. I’m for real. Not some ghost or your imagination.” He said with humor in his tone. He started walking closer to me and I automatically took a step back. It wasn’t on purpose, it ws just a reaction. Ryder’s face fell.

“This was a mistake; I’m going to kill Kyle.” Ryder’s face turned from sorrow to fury.
I wasn’t afraid of him, I was just nervous, I guess. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. I never thought I’d be looking at Ryder Silvati’s face again.


“So you’re in this art class?” He asked trying to calm himself down. But I could still tell he was frustrated. His jaw was clenched tight.

“Um, yea. My teacher made me take it.” I said slowly. I turned away from his gorgeous face to look at my Wolf painting.

“Well, I’m in this class too. So you can show me the ropes?” He asked. Obviously trying to lighten the tension between us.

“Oh, umm..sure. it’s really not that hard…I mean its just painting an-“ I didn’t get to finish because Ryder took me into a bear hug. I went rigid.
His arms around me felt so right, I felt safe. I haven’t felt safe in two years. Ryder smelled differently then I remembered; he smelled like a combination of the sea and forest. I hadn’t realized how much I missed him until this moment. My body went from rigid to relaxed. But I still didn’t hug him back. “God, Cole, I’ve missed you!”

I let him run his hand threw my hair. “I really did miss you.” Ryder finally noticed I wasn’t hugging him back.


Ryder

“I’m sorry!” I said as I pushed Cole out of the lock I had around her body. God, what was I doing? I’m doing exactly what I was afraid I was going to do. I can’t fall back in love with Cole. I need to just walk away. I need to just get back in my car and drive my happy ass back to California. Of course Kyle would hunt me down and kill me with his own two hands. I can’t stand this though. I can’t stand having Cole looking at me with those nervous eyes. I can remember when I was the only person that made her eyes smile. But gone were those days.

***

It was the summer just before freshman year was supposed to start. My mom was bringing me and my friends to the lake. We were all excited because it was our last day out at the beach before school started again and we wanted to make the most of it.
It was getting to the end of the day and the beach had mostly cleared out. But my mom had said we could stay the whole day. So of course we were milking it. Me and my two best friends, Eric and John, were out in the deep end, where they had a raised lift so we could jump into the water. We were having contests; seeing who could jump the highest, biggest splash, most flips. We were just about to swim in and tell ym mom we had had enough when we saw three girls swimming out to the lift we were on.

“Dude, look!” Eric said and pointed to them.

“So what? They’re just girls. Afraid they’re
going to bite?” John asked and started making chopping noises with his teeth.

“No, it was just an observation!” Eric snapped.
“I think someone’s nervous!”

“Knock it off, guys!” I barked.

The three girls claimed onto the lift and smiled.

“Hey.” The blonde girl said.

“Hey.” The three of us repeated.

All three of the girls were drop dead gorgeous. But the girl that caught my attention was the one wearing an oversized t-shirt over her bikini. Even thought I couldn’t see the color of her eyes, I was lost in them. I knew at that moment I had to call her mine. All I wanted to do was take her in my arms.

“What are you pretty little things doing all the way out here?” John asked, addressing all of them.
“We came to jump off the lift. What are you guys doing out here? Get stuck?” the blonde girl asked. Her hair was cut short and she looked to be the most outgoing of the three.

“You girls are going to jump off the lift? Eric asked. He was shocked and I will admit, I was too. The lift was about 5 feet above the water. And anytime I had ever been on the lift I had never seen a girl jump off.

“You boys have a problem with that?” The blonde asked, raising an eye brow.

John went to say something, probably something stupid so I cut him off before he had the chance.

“Nope!” I said rubbing my hands
together. “We were just about to have a compaction. You guys wanna join?”

“I don’t know, Mayla…” the girl in the blue one piece said to the blonde.

“Relax, Anne. You can judge if you don’t want to join.” The Mayla girl said. Anne looked realifed.

“So, Mayla and Anne.” John said pointing to each girl as he said their names. “Now who are you?” He asked pointing to the girl I hoped would be mine someday.

“Cole, who are you?” She said quietly.
I could see John was into her and I was intently jealous. “Cole? Ummm, ok then. Well, I’m John and that’s Eric and Ryder.

I caught Coles eyes and smiled.

“So are we going to get on with this contest or what?” Mayla sounded impatient.

“Let’s get to it!” Eric said standing up.
We were impressed with Mayla and Cole. We did sort of a Simon Says game. Anything we did the girls would copy and vis-ver-sa. Some of the dives the girls did, John, Eric and I couldn’t do. The girls were 10 times more flexable then we were. In the end, we had fun though. Anne loosed up some and she started diving too, which took notice by Eric.

When we all decided we were ready to go in we had a race to the shore. Cole beat all of us by at least 30 seconds, Mayla wasn’t far behind her. John and I came in behind them. Anne didn’t want to race so Eric stayed back with her, slowly catching up to us.

“Damn!” John panted. “Where the hell did you learn to swim like that?”

The girls smiled at each other. “We’re on the swim and diving team.” Mayla giggled out. Then they both started to laugh.

“NO shit!” John spited. He was a little pissed he had lost to not one, but two girls.

“Boys!” I heard my mom yell. “Come on, we should get some food for you!”

“Coming!” I yelled back

“What school you guys go to?” Eric asked while helping Anne out of the water.

“We’ll be freshman at Valley.” Cole stated.

“Same!” Eric was excited.

“Boys!” My mom called again.

“Guess we’ll see you there.” Cole said and started walking away, Mayla and Anne following suit.

“I hope we see them! They’re fine as hell!” John said as we started to walk towards my mom.

“Me too.” I agreed as I looked back to see Cole looking at me. I smiled.

***
I snapped back into reality and saw Cole cleaning her paints up; getting ready to leave.

“Don leave, I’ll leave.”

“I gotta go.” Was all she said, she was out the door before I could even say bye.


Cole
School was out by the time I walked through my front door. I can’t believe Ryder is back in town! The first thing I did was call Mayla.

“Finish your project?” She asked instead of saying hello.

“I would have, except…” I really didn’t know how to put this so I just blurted it out. “Ryder is back.”
“Ryder? Your Ryder?”

“Yep, He’s back from California.”
I heard the phone drop and then Mayla scrambling to pick it up again.

“Sorry. Did I just hear what I think I just heard! You said Ryder was back? Right?” I could just imagine Mayla’s face right now.

“Yes, Mayla! Ryder!”

“But, how do you know? It could just be a rumor or something!”

“He came to the studio, I think he is in our class.”
“WHAT!!!”

I stayed silent. What else was there for me to say to her?
“What? Wait, what did you say to each other…did you guys even talk?”

I slummed down on my bed. “We talked…kind of.”
“OH…MY…GOD…”

“I think I’m going to drop art..”

“No, don’t you dare. You can’t run away from him. If he is back…for good…he will be going to the same school as us, Cole.”

“But it’s Ryder…Mala, I can’t believe he’s back. When I saw himi was in shock. He looked so different but he also looked like the same old Ryder I used to know. He looks so much older…and well… tan! Maybe a little taller…and…”

“Cole! Your rambling! Focus! What are you going to do?” Mayla sounded a little worried.

“I really don’t know. I mean I haven’t even talked to him in years.”

Ryder left on a not so pleasant note. And I wasn’t sure if we were going to pick up where we left off or if we would be strangers. I’m not sure if I could handle sitting through class with Ryder right there, so close, but we were strangers. Why did he have to come back?

“Cole? Hello, you still there?” Mayla asked.

“Oh, umm, sorry. I kind of drifted off.”

“Are you going to tell your dad that Ryder is back?”

“Hell no! are you crazy?” I couldn’t imagine what my dad would do if he found out that Ryder was back in town, for good.

“Ok, ok, chill out! It was just a question!”

“Sorry…” I heard my dad come in through the front door and my heart skipped. “Shit, Mayla, I have to go.”
“Text me later.”

“Will do.” I slammed my phone shut and threw it on my bed.

“Cole!” my dad bellowed from the living room.

“Coming!” I ran as fast as I could to meet him in the living room.

“What were you doing?” he looked pissed already.

“Umm…well, I…I was talking to Mayla…”

“Yea, sure, what are we having for dinner?” he asked pushing past me.

“S-Salom and chips…?” I didn’t mean for it to be a question. But it came out like one, I was hoping he wasn’t going to catch it.

“Was that a question or a statement?”

“St-stament.”

“Fine, get started. Make extras too.”

“Why?” I was confused.

“David is coming by.”

My blood ran cold. David was my dads best friend. David also liked to try and get a little too friendly with me. I always dreaded him coming over. As I started to make the dinner I thought about my brother. I missed him so much. He left the house four years ago and hasn’t come back. Sometimes, every few months, he sends me some money to my work address. But other than that, I don’t hear from him. It was nights like what tonight was going to be like that I missed him the most.

“Hey, little lady. What you cooking?” I jumped at the sound of his voice and his hands on my waist. I turned to see David standing right there.

“Salmon a-and chi-ips.”

Yum!” David said licking his lips, getting a little too close to my mouth. I pushed him away gently, trying not to cause a scene.

Dinner went off without a hitch, which I was thanking my lucky stars for. But just as I thought tonight was going to be just fine, it took a turn for the ugly.


Ryder
“Dude, I can’t believe your back!” John
said.

“Yeah, we didn’t think we’d ever see you again! How come you came back?” Eric mumbled threw a chocolate chip cookie.

I took a deep breath, taking in my surroundings before I answered their question. Actually there really wasn’t anything too interesting about my re-arrival at Valley. My uncle worked more than a human being should and of course without his supervision I got into some trouble. What normal teenage boy wouldn’t? He finally got tired of me and sent my packing to live with my brother. I knew it wouldn’t be a good idea for me to see Cole again and todays encounter with her had proved me right. But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t actually happy to be here. As much as I wanted to get out of this fucking town two years ago, I had really missed it.

“I just, you know, got into some trouble. The usual.” As I kept my eyes averted.

The guys and I had decided to go to an old coffee house that we frequented before I left. Actually, all of Valley came here and all the workers were students so it was always a great place to meet up with people.

“Meet any hot girls?” John asked. Eric laughed and I rolled my eyes. Johns mind had been on girls even when we were little kids.

“Of course, it was California! Girls there walk around in bikinis. It was great until the novelty wore off.”

“Novelty? Are you fucking with me? There is no such thing as novelty when it comes to girls in bikinis!” Johns eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head.

“Ok, man.” I started “So what have you guy been up to scenes I dropped off the face of the earth?”

“Anne and I are looking at some collages where we could go together.” Eric’s eyes lit up as he talked about Anne, like they always had. That was one thing I was glad to see that hadn’t changed.

“Wow, how long have you guys been together?” I wasn’t really surprised they were still together, the two of them were a perfect match.

“Almost four years now!” Eric’s smile got bigger.

“Congrates, man.” I smiled. I was happy for them, only a little jelous.

“I cant believe you and her have been together that long! You have to at least do it with another girl when you get to collage!” John looked annoyed.

“Don’t start again!” Eric moaned.

“Has this been a constant battle?” I asked the both of them, with only a hint of amusement.
At the same time Eric said yes, John said no. I busted out laughing.

“John, what about you?” I asked after I recovered from laughing.

“Well, I did see Mayla for awhile but that’s done with now.”

“What? She too much of a woman for you?” I teased. From what I remember of Mayla, as much as I loved the girl, she was strong willed and even stronger spoke.

“Hell no!” John snapped.

“Uh huh…”

“Speak of the devil.” Eric tilted his head up towards the door.

“That’s Mayla?” I was shocked. She was a completely different person. Gone was the strong looking sexy blonde. In her place was a girl with back length, raven black hair with at least five different color streaks running threw it. She had metal stuck out of almost every thing you could stick medal threw on her face. Her eyes were smeared with heavy black makeup and her clothes matched her black theme. Wow, what the fuck happened to the blonde prep I left behind? I thought

“Guys have you seen or heard from Cole?” She asked as she rushed over to our table. As she got closer I noticed her eyes were watery and her makeup was starting to run down her cheeks. She looked worried. Eric and John both checked their phones.

“Nope.” John stated coolly.

“I have a text from Anne asking the same thing but I haven’t heard anything from her.” Eric looked a little worried.

“What’s going on? Is Cole ok?” I asked, nervous for the answer.

“Ryder? OH. MY. GOD!” Mayla screamed and gave me a hug. Well she look different but she still had the same preppy attitude.

“Wow, you look so grown up!” she said as she let me go.

“And you, you- um, you look different…´ I stammered. I had no clue what to say.

“Shut up!” She said slapping me slightly.

“Mayla, what going on? What happened with Cole?” I asked trying to bring Mayla back to the now.

“Um, I’m not sure.”

“Liar!” I could always tell when Mayla and Cole were covering for each other. Like she was doing right now.

“Ryder , you know as much as I would like to tell you, I cant…I’m just looking for her ok?” She was trying to get me to drop it, but I was stubborn.

“May…” I said using my nickname for her. Calling her May always got me what I wanted.

“I just, I know she’s not ok. Ok? I don’t know what happened but I know something is wrong.”

“How?”

“We have a code. She sent me a text using the code for the worst situation. So I came out looking for her.”

All four of us, including Anne, knew Cole and Mayla had a rough home life. So it didn’t surpise me or the guys that they had a code.

“Do you need help looking for her?” Eric asked.

“I don’t think so. I’ll just text you all later when I know she is ok.”

Mayla turned to leave. I grabbed my coat “Wait, I’m coming with you.” And I was out the door with May into the cold night air.

“Where do you think she is?” I asked Mayla

“I have no clue! I’ve looked everywhere.”

I thought about it for a moment. “I think I have an idea.” I grabbed Mayla by the coat and pulled her in the direction of the park.


***
It was 11:30 at night and I had just finished my paper for Mr. Stickles English class. I changed into basketball shorts and turned off my light. Just as I laid down and got comfortable my phone
vibrated. “Fuck!” I sneered. I hated it, whenever I was just about to sleep, someone always called or texted me. I tried to ignore it but curiosity over took me and I reached for my phone. I clicked the message “Ryder meet me at the swings.” It was from Cole.

I looked at my clock again; 11:45. I looked at my phone again and checked to make sure it was from Cole. It was.

I jumped out of bed, grabbed my gym shoes and I was out the door. Walking to the swings, I thought about Cole. I loved her so much. I’d do anything for her. As soon as high school had started almost two summers ago Cole and I had been attached at the hip. She tried to play hard to get at first but I knew she liked me. Ever sense freshman year I have been able to call Cole mine. But walking to the swings, I was worried. Despite me being in shorts and gym shoes I was sweating in the warm night air. Sophomore year had just started and things couldn’t have been better between me and Cole. But I knew something was wrong, I could feel it.

I walked up to the park, I could see Cole, her back was to me as she slowly swayed back and forth. I whistled a low whistle to get her attention. She turned and smiled. I walked up and hugged her from behind, forcing the swing to still.

“Sweet heart, what are you doing out here this late, by yourself?” I asked gently.

“Do you think the moon get lonely?” Her voice was lower than a whisper.

“What do you mean?” I was a little confused. I wasn’t expecting that as a response to my question.

“Well the moon, it’s all by itself. The sun comes out and people are buzzing around under it. But the moon, the moon comes out and people go inside and leave it all alone.”

I looked down at the top of her head. Even though I couldn’t fully see her face, I knew she was sad about something.

“I don’t think the moon is lonely.” I said squeezing her shoulders.

“How so?” She was curious, always curious.

“Well look at it.” I pointed to the full moon. “Look, the moon has all the stars surrounding it. All the stars keep the moon company.” I paused for a moment. “ And well, you do too…” I could feel Coles smile.

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“Making me feel better.” She twisted and hugged me around the waist. I pulled her chin up with my two fingers to lean down and kiss her. When I got a look at her face I caught sight of a small black and blue mark down the side of her cheek.

***


Cole
I always loved sitting on the swing at night, looking at the stars surround the moon. It always calmed me down. Sometimes if home was getting too much for me to bare I would sneak off to the swings and just rock back and forth for hours at a time.

As I swayed my body I heard a low whistle. My heart skipped three beats, Ryder. I would know that whistle anywhere. I turned and not to my surprise I saw Ryder coming down the path with Mayla at his side. I smiled despite myself, no matter what I have tried to tell myself over the years, I really did miss him.

“Cole! Thank God! Why haven’t you answered my calls? I’ve been worried sick. You cant do that to me! At least when I call or text you using the code I answer you back.” Mayla was pissed but she was realieved to see me. I got off the swing and met up with them half way.

I would have answered her but…I pulled my phone out of my jacket pocket to show them. It was in pieces.

“Well I would have if I could have.” I said handing her the broken phone.

“Wow!” Mayla said her eyes wide as she examined the once fully functional phone.
I caught sight of Ryder out of the corner of my eye. He was staring at me. His eyes intense. I couldn’t face him so I focused on Mayla.

“Sorry. I figured I’d just go over to your house tomorrow. So I wasn’t too worried about you worrying about me.” I tried to smile.

Mayla rolled her eyes. “When you text me what you text me, I worry!”

“Sorry…”

“No, its fine, I was just worried.” Mayla looked at her phone. I knew it must be late. Mayla’s expression conformed my thought.

“OH. MY. GOD! My mom is going to kill me! I told her I’d be home an hour ago! I gotta go!” Mayla turned to leave but stopped mid turn . “You going to be ok? You need a place to stay?” She looked concerned. I hated when she looked like that.

“Don’t worry! I’m ok.” I smiled weakly. But I wasn’t even fooling myself, let alone Mayla.

“You got a place to sleep or are you going to go home? You can always sneak into my place.”
I looked at my best friend. Her mom was divorced, living in a two bedroom apartment with four kids. And to top it off she was drunk half the time. Her mom never really appreciated me staying over, and I really didn’t want to cause a fight, especially if she had had one or two too many tonight.

So I lied “I’m all good. I’ma just go home!”
I could tell she didn’t really believe me but she was in a hurry and wasn’t going to push it.

“Ok. Well, call me- I mean, I’ll see you later.” She gave me a tight hug and I winced. Mayla didn’t notice but Ryder, the queit observer did.

“Bye.” Me and Ryder said to Mayla’s back.
I turned away from Ryder, trying to avoid his eyes. I say on the swing again and just looked up. Ryder sat down on the adjacent swing, copying my actions. We sat like that for a good 15 minutes. I thought about the events in the last month or so.

I couldn’t believe it had been a month. The dinner with my dad and David had been the worst yet. And almost every night after, it felt like the nightmare had just kept going. I had managed to avoid my dad and his partner in crime every so often; sleeping in the park or at a shelter. I even snuck into Mayla’s house a few times, but her mom caught me, so that ended. But last night I went home and my dad just lost it.

“Do you really have a place to stay or were you lying?” Ryder knew I had lied. He always knew if I was lying.

I had also managed to avoid Ryder for the past month. This was the first time I had talked to him sense the day at the studio. Both Mayla and I had dropped art, so this was her first time seeing him. I knew I was going to hear about him all day tomorrow.

I snapped myself out of my thought. “Don’t worry about it, Ryder.” I said a little more meanly than I meant.

“I will if I want.” He said forcefully.

I took a deep breath and so did he. Again we sat in silence.
“Cole…” he started, grabbing the swing to make me face him.

“Yes?”

“Do you have a place to sleep tonight?” Fear and concern filled his eyes. The look on his face almost brought tears to my eyes.

I didn’t answer, I just looked away from the face I had missed so much and looked back at the moon. Ryder sighed but he did let go of my swing. He got up, and for a moment I thought he was going to leave. But like always, Ryder did the opposite of what I expected him to do. He stood behind me and gently put both of his strong hands on my shoulders. Barley touching me. I rested back so I was leaning into his body. The sky was cloudy, there was hardly a star in the sky.

Ryder’s voice made me jump when he suddenly spoke. “The moon look lonely tonight.”

I instantly remembered that conversation and smiled.

“No, the moon has you and me to keep it company.”

“Well, yea. But when we freeze to death then the moon will have nobody.”

I laughed. I had hardly even noticed the cold.

“Come on.” Ryder said tugging on my leather jacket.
“Come on, where?” I asked trying to resist his pull.
“Somewhere warm, where you can sleep.”

I rolled my eyes. “Ryder, Ryder stop.”

He did and turned to look at me. He wasn’t too much taller than me, he had grown over the years, though. “I don’t want to hear it, Cole. You are coming with me, at least for tonight let me help you. Please.” He looked like I was physically causing him pain. I hated to hurt him but I wasn’t sure me going with him, to wherever he was going to take me was such a good idea.

“I don’t know…” I stated but one look from Ryder, I was done. So I let him take the lead.

Ryder
Kyle and I had worked something out. We stopped fighting as much as we had been and settle into a steady, uneasy routine. Kyle was five years older than me and worked for the local hospital. He was in training to be an ER Surgeon. I thought he was crazy but he lived for the adrenalin rush. He was only 23 so he was still in school but he worked at the hospital as an on call volunteer. That was as much as I knew. Kyle and I really weren’t that close anymore. I knew he hardly got paid good enough for the work that he did and that he was hardly ever home. So bringing Cole to his apartment was a safe bet.
I knew Cole wasn’t excited about me taking her to Kyles. But I wasn’t going to let her go home or freeze to death sitting outside all night.

“Ryder, you don’t have to take care of me anymore!” Cole exclaimed.

As we claimed the 1st floor stairs. I took a deep breath before I said anything. But I couldn’t think of anything good enough to say so I kept quiet. I fucking hated it when she stumped me like that.
I opened up the door and yelled in before I walked in. “Kyle? You home?” there was no answer.

I motioned for Cole to follow me in and she rolled her eyes. She was really starting to test my patients.

Kyle’s apartment was small. The kitchen, dinning room, and living room were all connected and open. He had one bedroom and an office room. But when I moved in we converted the office space into a bedroom for me. But the room was so small, it felt like I was in a jail cell.

As Cole and I walked in I noticed a note on the table in Kyle’s chicken scratch handwriting the note said: be gone all night. Hopefully home before lunch tomorrow. –Kyle

“Well Kyle won’t be home at all so we won’t
I need to explain this to him.” I said to Cole. She looked happy about that.

I still hadn’t asked her about what happened. I wasn’t sure if it was even appropriate to ask her. I hated this! I fucking hated that we acted like complete strangers when we knew so much about each other.
“Cole…” I started but I didn’t know what to say. “Cole…I…” I tried again and again, nothing. I ran my hand threw my hair in frustration.

“It’s ok, Ryder, this is awkward for me too.” She said as she sat on the arm rest of the couch.

“Cole, I don’t want this to be awkward. I don’t want to be strangers. I hate it so much.” I had to calm down. I was getting to emotional and upset. I took a couple deep breaths and tried again. “Cole, I’ve missed you more than I missed Kyle. I’ve missed…” I started but realized I had said that statement to many times. “Cole…there hasn’t been a day go by that I haven’t thought of you. That I haven’t wondered what you were doing, if you were seeing someone, what painting you were working on next, what you and May were up to on a summer night! You’ve been in my thoughts ever sense I met you on that life. I don’t want to be strangers anymore.”


Cole
Listening to Ryder talk made my heart clench and my blood run hot threw my veins. Ryder seem desperate in his words, almost like he thought I wouldn’t understand him. I did understand. I felt the same way but I didn’t want him to know that. As much as I wanted to run into Ryder’s arms, as much as I wanted to tell him I missed him and that I never stopped loving him, that I never had another guy. My thoughts were always on him, always. But I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t let him in again. I would protect Ryder this time around, instead of him protecting me. Even if it killed me to do so, I would.

“This was a mistake.” I said going for the door. Ryder was faster and blocked me.

“Don’t you run away from me, Cole.” He was getting mad again.

“I’m not running away, Ryder!” I said trying to match his angry tone.

“Don’t play me for stupid. Just because I haven’t talked to you in two fucking years doesn’t mean I forgot about you. That doesn’t mean I don’t remember how you operate.”

“Just cause you knew me so well back then doesn’t mean you know me now!” I fired back at him.
Ryder slammed his hand down on the counter, hard. I just jumped back about a foot and tripped over my own feet. I landed on my butt with terror in my eyes. I knew Ryder would never ever hurt me but her startled me.

Ryder’s face fell. He went from seeing red to guilt and sadness in seconds.

“Cole I…” He started but I jumped when he spoke. I was shaking and could feel my eyes filling with water.

Ryder bent down slowly in front of me. I was trying to calm myself down but it wasn’t working, which was making me even more upset. The fights with my dad these past weeks and then having all these confusing feelings about Ryder, I was on over load.

Ryder reached out his hand, slowly and touched my shoe then he slowly raised his hand up my jean covered leg. He rested his hand on my knee and scooted over to me. My feet were at his side and his feet were at mine.

“It’s ok. I’m sorry, sweet heart.” Ryder calmly said.

It had been so long sense I had heard him call me sweet heart, I just lost it…more. All my emotions rushed out of me. I started to cry, I put my hands on my face to try and hide it, but there was never hiding anything from Ryder. He moved his leg so that it crossed over my legs and he pulled me into his protective impress, holding me like he was my own personal cocoon, my protector. His body was so warm and familiar, I felt at home. He put his hand on my side and tightened his hold. I yelped and pulled back.
He looked at me, his brow knitting together. “I didn’t think I squeezed you that tight? You ok?”
Shooting pain was radiating threw my body. My side felt like it was on fire.

“Cole are you ok?” Ryder asked me again. I just nodded my head; I didn’t trust my voice to speak.

“Follow me.” Ryder said helping me up, careful not to touch my left side.

I followed him into a small bathroom. You could tell that two young guys lived here. The bathroom was a mess but the pain in my side kept me from picking up any of the dirty towels.

“Sorry about the mess.” Ryder said a little embarrassed. “Here, sit over there.” He motioned for me to sit down on the side of the bath tub. I did.
Ryder kneeled down in front of me “Take off your shirt.”

I looked at him like he was crazy.

“Don’t be shy, Cole, nothing I haven’t seen before.”

“Why do I have to take off my shirt?”
Ryder sighed “Do you always have to make everything so difficult?” Ryder ran his hand threw his hair. “I want to make sure your ribs aren’t broken. So please, can you take off your shirt so I can see if your ok?”

“I don’t mean to always be difficult.” I said in a huff.

I was trying to stall. I really didn’t want to be shirtless in front of Ryder, especially today. Of course I’d pick today to not wear a bra. I have smallish breasts so I don’t always have to wear a bra, plus I hadn’t done laundry in awhile so I didn’t have any clean to wear even if I wanted to.

“But most of the time you do!” Ryder said raising an eyebrow

“That’s not ture!”

“Strop stalling! Take your shirt off!”
In a way it was funny how he was telling me to take my shirt off but I knew if I laughed he’d probably want to shave my head to check for an injury there too.

“I’m not stalling!” Ryder just glared at me. “I’m not wearing a bra…” I finally admitted hoping to get him to back off. Didn’t work.

“So?” he asked and chuckled slightly.
“Ryder!”

“Cole, stop fussing! It’s not like I’m going to grope you. I just want to make sure your ok is all. Either I check or I’ll have Kyle do it when he gets home. Your choice...”

It was my turn to glare at him this time.
“Relax ok?”

“Fine! But I’m going to find a way to get you back for this!”

“Get me back? I’m just trying to help you out!” Ryder said almost mocking me.


Ryder
The thought of seeing Cole half naked did excite me a little. That was uncontroable, Cole was gorgeous! It was a fact. But my attention was on something more serious then ogling Cole’s gorgeous body. Cole grudently took her shirt off with her back to me. She winced a little but put up a brave face. She held the shirt, covering her chest and turned so that I was able to see her left side.

From just under her arm pit to touching her jeans, her skin was black. Not blue or purple or green but black.

“What the fuck did he do?” I asked through clenched teeth.

“I thought you were just going to check my ribs, Ryder?”

“Cole, don’t play games!” I ran a light finger over her side as I examined her side carefully.

“They’re not broken, maybe fractured though.” I said still angry. I couldn’t believe he had done this to Cole! She was the greatest person I knew and her dad treated her so horrible. I thought I would either kill him or cry my eyes out.

“Ok, good. Can I put my shirt back on?”
“Yeah…But you should go to see a doctor about them.” I really thought she should but getting her to the doctor was harder to do then rocket science.
“I’ll be fine.”

She turned her back to me again to put her shirt back on. As she did I caught sight of bruises marking her skin along her back. I couldn’t help feel the knot in my throat harden.

I was so mad. I can’t believe her dad treats her like less of a dog. I truly hoped her dad would burn in hell. I also had some words to share with Coles brother, Robin. He just up and left Cole in that house to fend for herself.

“Thank you.” Cole said to me out of the blue. We had changed from the bathroom to the living room. I had let Cole borrow an old pair of shorts. I had to admit she looked amazing in them. Her wearing my clothes seemed to sit right with me. We decided sense we didn’t have school tomorrow that we’d watch some movies and just have some down time. I was itching to ask her about what happened with her dad, why she had gotten beat like that but I didn’t know how to approach the subject, let alone if she would even tell me. I could tell that she knew I wanted to ask bus she wasn’t going to make it easy for me. She didn’t want to talk about it so that meant she was going to be difficult about the subject.


Cole
I could feel Ryder’s anxiety, he wanted to ask about the bruises. I knew he did. Actually I was surprised he’d lasted this long. We’d watched two movies already and it had to be at least one in the morning.
I really didn’t want to talk about my dad. I haven’t talked about it sense Ryder left town. He was the only person I talked to about my dad, Mayla knew or had an idea about what was going on in my house behind closed doors but we never talked about it like I had done with Ryder. I just wasn’t sure if talking about it with him was still an ok thing to do or if we should really just move on.

“Cole, your killing me here.” Ryder groaned.
I laughed. “How so?”
"You know what happened.” He said dryly.

“You don’t have to know, it’s not your obligation anymore to worry about me. I’m all grown up now.” I expected him to get mad at me about that statement but he didn’t.

“It was never and obligation, Cole. It was always a choice. Actually it wasn’t a choice either. I fell in love with you the very first time I laid eyes on you. And I haven’t stopped loving you sense. So me caring and asking what’s going on is not an obligation. It’s who I am. Please, sweet heart, just talk to me. Pretended everything is back to how it used to be, before I left.”

I was surprised at his calmness. I had no idea what to say. I hated telling Ryder about my dad and me, I hated the look he got on his face. Almost like he was feeling my pain along with me. I didn’t want him to feel sorry for me. I hated getting pitied. But Ryder wasn’t asking out of pity, he was asking out of love.

“You sure?” I asked before I started.

“Stop stalling, sweet heart.” I guess I got my answer.

I looked at the T.V. avoiding Ryder’s soft eyes and started. “ Well, it began when I had made dinner for my dad and his friend David about a month ago.” At the mention of David, Ryder flinched. He knew about David’s intentions wit h me. “So dinner went off without a hitch. I was cleaning dinner up when David said ‘So I hear Ryder Silvati is back in town.’ I shrugged my shoulders and took some of the plates away. But my dad got enraged and knocked me to the floor. And asked, ‘That bastard is back in town?’ I said I wasn’t sure, he called me a liar and kicked me in the side. That’s how the ribs started to blacken. He kept asking and asking ‘Are you going to try and run away with again? Are you going to leave me like your fucking brother and mom? Listen bitch, if you think you can leave me you have another thing coming. Do you understand me?’ he kept yelling that at me and kicking me. He kicked me so many times I thought I was going to break in half.” I stopped for a second, I needed a break.

Ryder’s eyes were watery when he said. “But Cole, your bruises look new.”

“This started a month ago and almost every night I come home my dad asked me if I talked to you or if I saw you. And he’d just keep beating me…”

“So this is my fault?” Ryder had tears falling down his face.

“What? No! How is this your fault?” I was shocked that Ryder would even say that. My dad was the one doing this to me, not Ryder.

“It is, Cole. Don’t try and cover. If I never would have tried to get you to turn away with me, if we never would-would have ma-made love. Then your dad wouldn’t have done this to you. I’m so sorry, sweet heat.” Ryder leaned over and hugged me.
“Ryder, it’s not your fault. Ok? If it wasn’t you then it would have been anything else my dad could think of to beat me.

“Stop Cole, I know it is. It was always about me. Ryder looked so hurt.

“No, no, no, it’s not! We were young and stupid and we weren’t thinking about consequences. You regret it? You regret loving me?” I wasn’t sure how to react to Ryder’s words, did he really regret making love to me? Did he regret ever meeting me?

“I don’t regret any of that! Don’t ever, ever think that I would regret anything we ever did. I just regret not being able to be there to protect you from that mother fucker!”

Ryder was still hugging me. I twisted up so that I could see his face. I reached up and touched his jaw line with the tips of my fingers. I could feel some stubble on his smooth looking face.

Ryder
As Cole touched my face all my anger and guilt disappeared. All the hate I had for her fucking father was put to the back of my mind.

“Please don’t be mad anymore.” Cole said sweetly

“I can never be mad when you are so close to me.” I said and smiled.

“What a line!”

“Shut up and kiss me, sweet heart.” I said pulling her face to mine.


***
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” I asked Cole.

Her face was pale and she looked worried and scared. Cole just nodded her head.

“Sweet heart, we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

“No, I do-I do want to, I’m, I’m, I’m ne-nervous.”

Whenever Cole got nervous she always tripped over her words, sp she never really had to tell me she was nervous.

“Cole, your shaking.”

“Am not! I’m-I’m just cold.”

I laughed. “Liar.”

We were laying in Coles bed. Her dad was out on a business trip and he was going to be gone for 3 days so Cole and I discussed that this would be the perfect time to lose our virginities to each other. We were sophomores and we had been going out for over a year. We figured it was a good time. I absolutely loved Cole, with all my heart and I knew she loved me too. But her shaking like she was, I was starting to have doubts about his little plan of ours.
I rolled over on my side roaming my hand over her bare stomach. “Shhh, relax, my sweet heart.” I kissed her neck and moved to her lips.

We kissed for another few minutes before we finally broke away from one another.

Cole said “Ok. I-I think I’m ready…”

“You sure?” I was trying to be brace for Cole, but I was just as nervous as her. I knew the first time for girls always hurt, I wished it didn’t. I didn’t want to hurt Cole. I didn’t want her to think I wanted to hurt her like her dad. I wanted to show her that I was a good guy.

“I don’t want to hurt you…”

“It’s ok, Ryder. I know it’s going to hurt, I won’t hold it against you.” She smiled lightly.
I felt a little bit better after she said that, but I was still nervous.

I put the condom on and she guided me inside her. I tried to go slow but she was so tight, I didn’t know if I was doing it right. I looked at her face as I finally pushed myself all the way inside her. She took a sharp intake of breath and bit her bottom lip. I didn’t want her to hurt herself, I dint want her to cause herself more pain. So I kissed her, I forced her mouth open and my tongue in her mouth. I wanted her to give me her pain. I wish she could transfer all her pain to me instead, I wanted to take it all.
I kept thursting slowly into her, making sure she was ok. After a little while she began to respond without the feeling of pain.

“I love you.” Cole said into my ear.

“I love you too, sweet heart.”

***

“Wake up!”

I heard someone forcefully telling me to wake up but I was too tired to care. I wanted to go back to my dream of the first time Cole and I made love. But whoever it was, was persistent.

“What?” I growled.

I opened my eyes to see Kyle standing in front of me. I lifted my head up and noticed I was in the living room and the back of my neck was stiff! What the hell? I thought

“What the fuck happened last night?” Kyle whispered at me.

“What do you mean?” I went to go get up but there was something on my lap. I looked down; Cole was laying across the couch with her head on my lap. I was in the sitting position. No wonder my neck is stiff, I thought. I also saw the T.V. was still on.

“What time is it?” I asked Kyle rubbing my palms over my eyes.

“Two in the afternoon! Why the fuck is she here? What’s going on?”

Kyle was beyond pissed. He never hated Cole, actually he used to love having her around. Kyle graduated with Cole’s brother. But when her father found out about Cole and I and our plan to run away together, he went into a rage. He was furious. That night, he attacked Cole right in front of me, he beat her worse than ever before. Then he went after me. But the worst part was he called the cops, saying I was the one who beat up Cole and he had tried to stop me. He told them I was trying to kill her and that I was going to try and kill him too so he had to beat the living hell out of me in order to defend himself, which was total bull! The cops didn’t truly believe him. Cole’s dad was a big man and could have easily stopped me from doing anything. I told the cops the truth but it was still hard for them to believe that Coles dad, the well respected business man, would ever beat his daughter. Rumors were flying after everything was out. No one pressed charges against Coles dad but even though they didn’t really believe his arguments, it was easier to pin everything on me. So my parents, then alive, decided to ship me to California to live with my uncle. They didn’t want me to be around Cole, they wanted me to “Start over.”, their words, not mine.

A year after they shipped me out to California they died in a car accident. A year after that Kyle and my uncle decided it would best if I came to live with Kyle again. No one asked what I wanted to move back, just like no one asked if I wanted to move away. Everything was just decided for me.

Kyle never really blamed Cole foe what happened with me, like my parents did. He understood why I was always getting into trouble out in California and I was always pissed off, he said I was ‘acting out’. He got that she couldn’t help what her dad did. But he also understood that with Cole around me, her father wasn’t too far behind.

“I can’t believe you brought her here! Are you insane? Are you asking to get killed?”

“Shut up!” I whispered harshly as I gently moved Cole’s head from my lap so I could go yell at my brother without waking her up.

We walked inside his room and shut the door. “I had no choice!” I said before he could even get a word out.

“Bullshit! We agreed, when you moved back you would stay away from her!” he ran his hand threw his hair. Kyle was frustrated.

“What was I supposed to do? I have been here a month and this is the first time I have actually really talked to her! Do you know how hard that was for me! Besides I wasn’t about to let her go back to her dad!” I spat.

“Ryder, she lives with her dad! He still has control in her life! You can’t protect her from that. He is her dad!”

“Kyle you don’t understand! He fractured her ribs when he found out I was back and his kept beating her sense! You really think I should just let her go back home to him?” I wasn’t sure if he really thought that Cole should go or if he was just pissed at me.

“Her dad did what?” Kyle’s face showed his shock. “How do you know?”

“She showed me her side. And in turn I saw the rest of her back. He side is all black! Just black! It’s like he just kept hitting the same spot!” I was desperate for him to understand me. “He did all of that, just because I was back. Just because of me!”
“Ryder, what her father does to her is not your fault. You can’t protect her all the time.”

“I know I can’t but I want, I want to! I want to with everything I have! I left her, just like her brother did. I didn’t call, or write. Nothing! Just like her brother and her mom. She was alone with her fucking dad! ALONE! God knows what else he’s done to her! Kyle, when she showed me her ribs, I saw all the other bruises. Bruises that are from all different times, he’s been hitting her regularly…”

“Are you sure? That’s pretty serious to saw about someone.”

I groaned. “Kyle, why would I lie about this? Hasn’t the past showed you anything about him? He beat the hell out of me too and tried to get me sent to jail just to cover his own temper!” I stopped and took a breath. Kyle went to say something but I held up my hand. “I love that girl out there.” I pointed to the closed door. “There are no other girls, just Cole, only Cole. Don’t you get it?” I was practically begging him with my words.

He took a deep breath, holding my eyes with his. “I get it Ryder, but what do you want me to do? I have nothing to offer you or her.”

I thought a moment. “ I have an idea…”


Cole
I woke up to muffled arguing. I rolled over and yelped. Damn, I keep forgetting about my side. That’s going to take some time for me to remember.

“Hey, sweet heart.” Ryder said.

“What time is it? And who was arguing?” I was a little confused and groggy with sleep.

I was also scared, I never went home, and my dad is going to kill me when I get home.

“It’s around 3…” Ryder answered.

“What?” I flew off the couch but again, forgot about my side and I doubled over in pain.

“Are you ok?” I jumped at the sound of another male voice. Ryder caught me and steadied me. I looked and saw who the voice belonged to. Kyle was looking at me with concern and conviction. He looked just like Ryder; sometimes it surprised me how much the two of them looked alike.

“I’m fine.” I gritted.

“Ryder told me what happened…”

I glared at Ryder. “I trusted you.”

“Relax, sweet heart.” Ryder said putting his arm over my shoulder.

“Don’t worry, this is not my story to tell. I wont say anything if you don’t want me to. Your 18 so legally I’m not required to report it. Morally though…I would like to with your permission of course.” I could tell he was choosing his words carefully.

“Thanks, but no thanks.” I told him. I cant believe Ryder. How could he do this to me? My head was spinning, I didn’t know if I should be happy or mad. I hated how Kyle was looking at me, like I was some poor helpless creature.

I pushed past Kyle, grabbing my coat and shoes. I didn’t even care I was in shorts or that I didn’t have a place to go. I was leaving here no matter what. I got about as far as the door.

“I have a plan, Cole. A plan where you could be free from your dad.”

I stopped dead in my tracks.

“You want to leave right?” Ryder asked. I nodded

“Ok.” Ryder smiled.

That night Ryder and Kyle went with me to my house, my dad was home. Kyle had called a friend that was a cop to let him know the situation. “Just in case.” Kyle said. My dad was big, angry, evil man but he wasn’t stupid.

I wasn’t sure if I should just walk in, so I chose to knock. My dad answered.

His face turned into a snarl when he saw me.“You little bit-” but he stopped himself when he saw Ryder and Kyle standing a few feet behind me.

“Oh look who it is, the little fucker who beat up my little baby.” He smiled at Ryder. “Aren’t you proud of your little brother?” he asked Kyle.

“Stop it, dad.”

“Don’t even think about trying anything. We have the cops alerted as to what we are doing.” Kyle calmly spoke as he stepped forword with Ryder close to his side. I was glad they were calm cause I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest.

“Now Cole is getting her things and she is leaving. If you try to stop her, you will be arrested. She is 18 and she can leave if she wants to. Understand?” Kyle finished.

“Your leaving?” My dad was stunned. “But…Why?”

“The fractured ribs you gave her should answer your question.” Ryder spat with venom in his voice.

I ran past my dad and up to my room. I packed everything I could. Everything I would need or just want; clothes, shoes, jewelry, a stuffed animal my mom had given me, and all my diaries. I came back down stairs to see my dad was sitting in his chair and Ryder and Kyle were standing. Ryder took all three of my bad and handed me a check.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“A check.” Ryder answered making a confused face. I rolled my eyes.

“I know that! But is the check for?” I turned it over to see it was for $70,000. My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. I was speechless.

“That’s from your father.” Kyle said glaring at him.

I was confused. The last thing I ever thought my dad would do was give me this much money, especially sense I was leaving. I knitted my brow together and looked at Ryder for a answer.

“Why?” I finally stammered when no one helped me out.

“Because…I’m sorry.” My dad said.
I was stunned into silence. I could feel all the color drain from my face. Then rage shot threw me, bringing the color red to my face. “You’re sorry? Bull shit, you’re sorry! You’re more sorry your loosing someone to beat on. I hate you. I fucking hate you!” I went to go rip up the check, I didn’t want his money, I didn’t want his help or pity! If I was leaving I was going to figure it out on my own. Not with his money to help me. Before I got the chance to rip up the check, Ryder took my hand in his, stopping me.

“Don’t.”

I was confused but I trusted him. So I handed him the check and walked out the front doors, never looking back.


Four months later
Ryder
Alarm clocks are the devil. I swear! My alarm went off at 5:00 and I was tempted to throw it against the wall. I rolled onto my side and hit the snooze. I felt Cole against me as she pulled herself into my body.

“Morning…” she mumbled. I hated that I had to get up so early, my alarm clock always woke her up too.
“Morning, sweet heart.” I said kissing the top of her head.

These past three months have been the best in my life. After Cole had left her dads, me and her found a small apartment together. Money wasn’t an issue for us because of that check her dad had given her. Well, he gave it to her hoping that she would keep her mouth shut about him hitting her. But apparently Cole hadn’t caught on to that, her dad was now a proud new owner of his very own jail cell.

“You’re going to be late for work.” Cole said pushing me out of bed.

“Ugh. Well…maybe I could call in sick?” I thought about it. It seemed like a good idea. I hated being away from Cole but it was a necessity.

“Don’t you dare Mr. get your butt to work.” She smiled.

I made a face at her as I got out of bed to go shower. Having Cole in my bed and waiting for me when I got home was the best gift anyone could ever get me. We had graduated from school about a month ago, we fitted perfectly into the new routine. I worked as a volunteer firefighter, or I would be soon when I completed the training and schooling. Cole went to night school and worked at a local auto parts store. I always teased her about being the only girl I knew that could fix her car without even thinking about it.

I got out of the shower, dressed and walked back into our bedroom. Cole was curled up in the middle of the bed, she was even more gorgeous when she slept. I quietly opened the nightstand drour and pulled out a black box. I opened it to see a simple diamond ring sticking out of the velvet folds. Tonight was Friday night and tonight was the night I’d ask Cole to be my sweet heart forever.

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 23.12.2010

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Widmung:
When the one you lost comes back what do you do? run away from them or run into their arms?