Out of Breath (Breathing, #3)(17)

He laughed. ‘You’re crazy.’

‘Yeah, I think am.’

Cole held the amused expression on his face for a moment longer, and then he noticed that I wasn’t joking. His eyebrows pulled together. ‘You’re serious?’ I shrugged in admission.

I stood from my stool. This seemed like the best time to make my exit – he was way too intrigued.

Cole looked at his watch. ‘Uh, we still have six minutes.’

‘Not any more,’ I replied and headed towards the door with a committed stride. I thought I heard him let out an exasperated breath, or it could’ve been the air in my lungs that I’d been holding in since I sat down. I shouldn’t have come here to begin with. I’d hoped I could convince him that I wasn’t worth his time. Not even fifteen minutes of it.

‘You promised fifteen minutes,’ he declared, jogging up next to me on the sidewalk.

‘Wow, you’re either the most stubbornly determined person I’ve ever met, or you love the abuse. Because I know it’s not my charming personality.’

The corner of his mouth lifted. ‘I think it’s morbid curiosity, because no, you’re not all that pleasant to be around.’

I sighed in exasperation. ‘I don’t understand you.’

‘What do you want to know?’ he offered, seeming sincere. ‘I’ll tell you anything.’

I quickened my pace towards my car.

‘Walk with me,’ he suggested. ‘For’ – he glanced at his watch – ‘another four and a half minutes.’

‘Fine. I’ll feed into your twisted curiosity and give you your four minutes,’ I said sharply. ‘Tell me something about you worth knowing.’

‘Worth knowing? Wow, that’s pressure,’ he pondered. As I glanced at my watch he blurted out: ‘I surf.’

‘And that was more predictable than the sun rising every day,’ I scoffed. ‘Is there anything you do that most of the state doesn’t?’

‘Well, I’m not exactly adrenaline-driven like you,’ he countered. ‘I don’t live my life in quest of the next adventure; sorry to disappoint.’

He should have been pissed off. He should have turned around and told me to f*ck off. But he didn’t. He was seriously considering my question. He stopped along the sidewalk, next to a house with an ill-fated garden.

‘Umm … okay.’ He paused in contemplation. ‘I listen to silence.’ With this, he started walking again. I stared after him. At first I thought he was antagonizing me with his cryptic response, but then it struck me that he was serious. I caught up with him.

‘I’m pretty good at it too. It might have something to do with having four sisters and never getting a word in. I became a sort of expert at listening to what no one said. I could tell when my older sister was fighting with her boyfriend, or when my younger sister was mad at my mother, or when my youngest sister was frustrated when she couldn’t run as fast as she wanted to in track. I knew my parents were getting a divorce way before it happened, even though my sisters swear they had no idea.’ Cole stopped and turned to face me. ‘I listen to silence. And you –’ his mouth pulled into a smirk – ‘you have a lot to say. Although I haven’t quite figured out what it is yet.’

My brow creased as I stared back into the depths of his eyes. I didn’t have anything to say. I didn’t want to be this puzzle he was trying to solve, or listen to.

‘Time’s up,’ I announced, starting back towards my car. Something stirred inside me, something I wasn’t comfortable with.

Cole jogged to catch up. ‘I think we should hang out again,’ he concluded as he followed me down the sidewalk.

‘You do? Why? Wasn’t this disastrous enough?’

He just laughed in response.

‘I promise not to delve into what makes your silence so loud, if you promise not to walk out on me.’

I should have said no. I should have kept walking and let him go on with his life, without my interference. But I didn’t.

I crossed my arms and released an impatient breath. ‘Fine. Let’s see how interesting you really are.’

He shook his head with a wry grin before replying. ‘You’re not going to pressure me into coming up with something crazy to do. We’ll just hang out – plain and simple.’

‘I will limit my expectations,’ I goaded.

He ignored my remark and said, ‘I won’t be around much, since I have a big paper due next week. But how about after?’

‘Maybe I’ll see you at the library. I pretty much live there.’ I stopped walking, and he eyed me curiously. ‘Uh, I can make it to my car from here.’

‘Right. Time’s up.’ He turned in the opposite direction and walked away without saying goodbye … again.

Cole didn’t say anything when he pulled the chair away from the table and sat across from me in the library the next night. I looked over the top of my laptop as he began pulling books out of his backpack, then returned my attention to the screen and kept typing.

He didn’t acknowledge me in any way, just concentrated on his work. This continued throughout the week. Each night I’d sit at the same table, and he’d sit across from me. I wouldn’t have known he was there at all except that his hair was so shockingly blond that it would catch my eye as he bent over his books, taking notes. We didn’t talk, or attempt conversation. When he was done, he’d close up his books and leave without saying a word – it was a little strange, but I dismissed it easily enough.