Silence (Silence #1)(5)

After deciding to go for it, I nodded. If Cole looked like he was bored, I could always go home early. All I had to do was get my parents’ approval, but I would be with Cole and they trusted him so it shouldn’t be that hard.

“Great, I’ll save a dance for ya,” he said, winking at me. Whoa. Guys didn’t wink at me all that often. I blushed and shifted in my seat uncomfortably, not liking that kind of attention.

“You ready to leave, Oakley?” Cole snapped. Go already? I hadn’t even finished my milkshake or ice cream. I was about to shake my head until I noticed Cole’s face was tense with irritation. What did I miss?

He got up, and I took that as my cue to leave, even though I hadn’t answered him. Cole weaved around the tables quickly and almost jogged away. What on earth is wrong? I ran to catch up with him.

As soon as he slowed and we fell into a comfortable pace, I raised my eyebrows at him. He understood what I was asking him.

“It’s nothing.”

Nothing? That was a lie. He shook his head, looking around to avoid me pressing the issue further, and I let it go. We walked on in an uncomfortable silence.

“So, you coming to mine?” he asked as we reached his car in the car park at school. I nodded eagerly; spending some time alone with him was definitely what I wanted, and I loved being in his home. Cole’s parents and sister, Mia treated me like one of the family. I felt so at ease there and preferred it to being at my own house, no question. Cole smiled at me, his eyes lingering on mine for a little longer than usual. My heart thudded.

“Hey, sweetie,” Cole’s mum, Jenna, welcomed Cole as we walked through his front door. “Oh hi, Oakley,” she gushed, giving me a warm hug. Cole mumbled something that sounded like hi and walked off to his room.

“What’s wrong with him?” she asked, more to herself than to me. I shrugged anyway and smiled back at her. Jenna always smelt of coconut; it was her shampoo. The smell was so comforting.

“You should follow Mr Happy. I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.” She hadn’t even asked me if I wanted to stay for dinner, she just knew I would.

Cole’s room hadn’t changed much since we decorated it when he was fifteen – two years ago. It was still the same shade of blue. He hated it now though, said it looked like a baby’s room. I doubted he would change it any time soon though; he was too lazy. Cole was lying on his bed, his hands behind his head, just staring at the ceiling. His bottom lip was pulled between his teeth, the way it did whenever he was thinking hard. What had happened?

I laid down on my side, propping my head up on my hand, and waited. After a few minutes, I became impatient, so I gently nudged him in the ribs.

“What?” he whispered, still not looking at me. I sighed and rested my head back, no idea what was going on.

“Sorry,” he eventually muttered. But sorry for what? I hated it when he was cryptic. It wasn’t often that he could hide something from me, but when he did it drove me crazy.

We lay beside each other in silence. The sound of his breathing was so soothing that I started feeling tired. Eventually, I gave in and closed my eyes. A few minutes later, Cole grabbed my hand, interlacing our fingers, and then I fell asleep.





Chapter Two


Oakley




I woke up to Cole sitting up off the bed, causing it to dip, and making me roll onto my side.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” he said softly, grimacing.

I shook my head and sat up, rubbing my tired eyes. Cole grinned.

“Liar. Anyway your parents are coming over for dinner, so you don’t have to go home yet. We’re having a barbeque. Again.”

Grinning, I stretched my arms up, unlocking my muscles. I loved sitting out in Cole’s back garden eating barbecue food. Cole’s dad, David, always forgot about the smouldering food and wandered off, so we ended up having to smother it in tomato and BBQ sauce to balance out the taste of burnt charcoal. It had become a tradition though.

“So, that guy at school today, Julian...” Cole said, trailing off. He seemed unsure if he should bring it up or not. Not, I thought. I shook my head, not wanting to think about Julian. There was only one day left at school. After that I wouldn’t have to see him again for six weeks.

“Yeah, I know you don’t want to talk about it, but it’s tough. Does he do that a lot?” Cole looked me in the eye. “We’re doing this, Oakley, whether you like it or not. Does he hassle you a lot?”

Closing my eyes, I reluctantly nodded my head once. There was no point in trying to lie and assure him nothing was going on. He would know I was lying.

“I’m gonna kill him,” he growled angrily. His body tensed up.

My eyes snapped open, and I shook my head, desperately pleading with him not to do anything stupid. Couldn’t he see that it would just make things worse?

Cole’s face softened, the angry expression fell from his face.

“I’m sorry, Oakley. I just hate that people give you a hard time,” he said tenderly. “I’ll leave it, I promise. As long as he doesn’t do anything like that again. You tell me if he does, okay?”

Sighing in relief, I laid my head on his shoulder. He immediately wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer to his side. My heart started beating wildly as he rubbed circles on my arm with his thumb. I loved his touch. It didn’t make me feel sick or scared. It was completely different, and I never wanted him to stop.