Silence (Silence #1)(41)

“Really?” he asked. “She did, huh?”

“Yeah, so what’s she like?” Lizzie repeated.

“She’s alright,” Cole said casually and shrugged his shoulders. “She incredible in bed,” he added.

What! I choked on my drink and slapped my hand over my mouth.

“You okay, Oakley?” he asked innocently. I nodded and forced myself to smile at him when all I wanted to do way chuck my ice cream over him.

“Yeah? Really?” she asked, leaning her body towards him. “You’re good too then?”

“Not had any complaints,” he said proudly. I wasn’t comfortable with the way this conversation had gone. It wasn’t something I could joke about. I concentrated on my ice cream, swirling the spoon around to soften it up.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Julian and two of his friends walk past the window. Please don’t come in here, please. Of course, they did. As soon as they spotted us, they strode up to our table. Cole’s body tensed when he saw who it was. Not wanting him to cause a scene, I pressed my leg against his to tell him to stay calm.

They all ordered and sat at a table next to ours, even though the cafe was practically empty.

“Hi, Oakley,” Julian said in a friendly manner. I smiled briefly and looked away.

Lizzie fluffed her hair up and smiled at him seductively. Oh no.

“Hi, I’m Lizzie. Oakley’s cousin.”

Julian smirked, his eyebrow rising slightly. “Really?”

She nodded and turned round to face him.

“Yeah. So are you going to her party on Saturday?”

He looked straight at me and replied, “Yep.”

“Well make other plans. You’re not invited!” Cole growled.

“Actually, I was,” he retorted smugly. Great, so Mum did invite him.

“Julian, just fuck off,” Cole spat through gritted teeth. Lizzie was watching them with wide eyes. Perfect, now she’s going to be grilling me about this. I’d had enough and just wanted to get away, so I stood up and started walking out. I heard footsteps right behind me, and I knew it was Cole, I also heard Lizzie’s heels clicking unevenly as she hurried after us.

“See you Saturday,” Julian called. Cole turned around and gestured something, but I didn’t look around. I got in the car and slammed the door.

“Don’t worry,” he said, stroking my hand. “We’ll stay away from him. I won’t let him come near you.”

I looked up to the car ceiling, so the tears that were pooling in my eyes wouldn’t fall. The summer holidays were meant to be break from everyone at school. The thought of seeing them all again made me feel physically sick.

“What was that all about?” Lizzie squealed so loud it made both me and Cole jump. She slammed the car door and huffed. “You were so mean to him, and he’s lovely! He called me back and asked me to be his date to your party! Can you believe that? I have no idea what to wear! Oh God, we have to go shopping-” I put my head to my knees in despair. Getting the message, Cole put the key in the ignition and sped home as quickly as was legally possible.



Everyone but Cole and I were downstairs setting up the decorations and moving furniture around to make room for the DJ. It wasn’t my birthday until tomorrow.

“We get to tell everyone soon,” Cole said, smiling happily. That was the other thing. We had agreed to tell everyone after my birthday, but the closer that got the more I realised I wasn’t ready for everyone to know. Cole was really excited about it, but all I kept thinking was how much everything was going to change.

“You don’t want to tell them, do you?” Cole asked quietly, his face fell. Do I tell the truth or just go along with what we had originally planned for his sake? “Oakley?” he prompted. Sighing, I nodded, choosing the second option.

“You don’t mean that. You worried about what they’ll all say.” I nodded. “They’ll be happy for us, you know they will. Things will calm down after a week or two when it’s old news.”

So he knew they were going to be watching us like crazy too.

“We can wait longer if you want.”

He said the words, but I know he didn’t want to. I shook my head and kissed him quickly in case someone walked in. I missed being able to be physically affectionate with him. I missed being that intimate with someone I trusted with my life, someone I knew would never hurt me.

Two hours later, I was dressed and ready for the party. My nerves grew with every step I took downstairs. I was thankful that Cole, Kerry, and Ben would be with me. At least I could just spend the evening with them.

Some of my family had already arrived and were standing around drinking and talking. My grandparents from both sides of the family were sitting on the sofa, drinking wine. I didn’t see Dad’s parents often; they lived quite far away so only visited on birthdays and at Christmas.

The doorbell rang, and I took a deep breath, looking at Cole to stop myself freaking out. He smiled and mouthed, ‘Love you’ which made me forget everything, and everyone else.

“Happy Birthday, Oakley,” Julian shouted from across the room.

Cole glared at Julian, and if looks could kill, Julian would have been a goner by now. Why did he even come if he hated me so much? It made no sense. Did he just enjoy making my life a misery? Cole tugged on my arm and led me into the kitchen, away from Julian.