That Summer (Part One) (14 page)

“Hey,
gorgeous. How are you?” A deep, masculine voice spoke back to me, oozing
confidence and self-assurance.

“Cole?”

“Who
else?” He chuckled lightly, clearly bemused by my wavering uncertain. “How’s
your day? Is it going well?”

“Um,
my day is going ok, I guess.” I answered simply, shooting a nervous glance across
the table towards Lisa.

“Just
ok?” He prompted me. “Has someone said anything to you? I swear to God if they
have-”

“No!
No, everyone has been… nice.” I replied hastily, desperate to prevent him from
completing that sentence.

“What
about your locker?” He asked. “Has it been cleaned yet?”

“I
just saw a couple of Jonathan’s friends trying to get rid of the graffiti on it
but they weren’t having much luck when I last saw them.” I answered,
remembering how frantic the two of them were in their attempt to clean my
locker. “How did you even know about what they did to it? I never told you
about that.”

“It
doesn’t matter how I came to hear about it. What I want to know is if you’re
still using that locker? If you are, go and get your stuff out of it right now and
put it in mine instead. I don’t want you anywhere near that thing until it’s
fixed.”

He
spoke firmly, giving off the impression that his decision was final and I had
no say in the matter whatsoever.

“I’ve
just been sharing Lisa’s locker. She didn’t want me using my old one either.” I
told him, recalling the kind gesture my friend made me earlier this morning.

At
the mention of her name, my friend looked up, raising her eyebrows up at me in
curiosity. She obviously knew who I was speaking to and was loving every minute
of my visible discomfort.

“Use
mine.” He instructed me, resolute and decisive.

“You
want me to use your locker?” I asked incredulously, unable to conceal my
surprise at his suggestion.

“Why
not? You know which one it is, right?”

Of
course I knew which locker was his. I’ve been obsessed with that thing since
Cole first started here. His locker is one of the only places I get to see him
besides the cafeteria and there have been some occasions when I would
deliberately walk by it, hoping to catch a glimpse of him in-between classes. Pretty
pathetic, huh?

“But
I won’t be able to get into it, it will be locked.” I said lamely, realising
how dumb that made me sound.

“Nah,
I don’t bother locking it. No one would dare touch any of my shit anyway. I
want you to use it until I get back to school, Green. Don’t use anyone else’s
locker but mine, not even Lisa’s.”

“Wow,
erm… thanks.” I mumbled, trying to speak quietly.

My
response was timid, longing to be somewhere that was more private so I could
finish my phone call in peace. Half the people in the cafeteria were observing
me, their watchful gazes drawn towards me and my discreet conversation.

“You
won’t even have to move any of your stuff out of it when I get back.” He
promised. “We can share one from now on if you have no problem with it.”

“How
about we talk about this later? I’m in the cafeteria right now.” I informed
him, eager to postpone our discussion until we could talk in private.

“I
know.” He replied, lowering the tone of his voice.

It’s
as though he did it on purpose, giving off the indication that he could see me
and that he knew where I was and what I was doing.

“How
do you know that?” I demanded, turning around in my seat so I could search the
large dining hall and all the faces of the students inside it. “Are you here?
Are you watching me?”

“Serena,
its lunchtime.” He reminded me. “It’s not difficult to work out where you would
be right about now.” He laughed lightly, causing me to feel embarrassed and
foolish about my paranoia.

“Good
point.” I sighed, reluctant to acknowledge the fact that he was right.

“Has
Louise spoke to you yet?” He asked, deliberately changing the subject.

“Louise?
Why would she want to speak to me?”

“She’s
going to apologise to you at some point today so I just thought I’d better let
you know about it beforehand.”

“God,
Cole… that’s the last thing I want her to do.” I wailed, shaking my head at
Lisa when she frowned at my sudden outburst.

“Tough,
it’s going to happen.” He retorted unsympathetically. “She owes you an apology
and that’s all there is to it.”

“Fine.”
I mumbled, realising how pointless it would be to try and argue against him.

“Anyway,
I’ll let you go so you can enjoy the rest of your dinner hour.” He concluded. “But
I will see you
very
,
very
soon.”

“Ok.
I’ll speak to you later.” I said, readying myself to say goodbye to him.  

“Oh,
there’s just one more thing.” He added. “Make sure you actually eat something
before you go to your next class. You’ve been playing around with that food of
yours since you first sat down.”

“What?
How do you know that? Where are you?”

“See
you later, Green. You look beautiful, by the way.”

He
hung up before I could say another word to him, leaving me bewildered and
confused by his last statement. Was he just playing games with me or could he
really see me? Was he watching me or was he at home in his bedroom, laughing at
my expense. I couldn’t stop myself from glancing around the cafeteria once
more, half expecting to spot him in the corner with a mischievous smirk on his
face.

“I’m
guessing that was him?” Lisa inquired, watching me closely.

“Yeah,
it was.” I answered, distracted and more than a little unnerved by my phone
call.

“And?”
She prompted me, encouraging me to continue. “What did he have to say for
himself? Was he the one who told Jonathan’s friends to fix your locker for
you?”

“Yeah,
it was him. He’s also told Louise to say sorry to me for what happened
yesterday.”

“Good!”
She exclaimed exuberantly. “I’ll be forced to to bitch slap her myself if she
doesn’t.”

“Don’t
even joke about it, Lisa.” I reprimanded my friend, hating the idea of anyone
hurting someone on my behalf.

“I’m
sorry, Serena. It was just a joke.”

“It’s
fine.” I assured her, forcing myself to smile. “But I think I’m just going to
head on to my next class early. I really can’t face eating anything right now.”

“Are
you sure? I can walk with you if you want me to.” She offered, more than willing
to go with me.

“No,
I’m ok. I’ll just meet you at our usual spot after school.”

“Ok,
if you’re sure? Enjoy the rest of your day.”

“You
too.” I replied, grabbing my things before I made a dash for the exit.

I
was consumed by the thoughts of my phone call with Cole, making my way up the
empty staircase when I saw her.

Louise.

She
was heading down them and I knew there was no chance in hell that we could manage
to avoid one another.

Shit.
Louise
was the last person I wanted to see after the conversation I had just had and I
was also pretty sure that she felt the exact same way about me. Confrontation
is something I avoid at all costs but Louise always gives off the impression
that she enjoys it, especially after what she said to me the day before in the
girl’s bathroom.

I
lowered my gaze and kept my head down as I walked past her, hoping she would
ignore whatever she had been told to do by Cole and leave me alone.

“Serena,
I need to talk to you.” She said, cutting across the staircase so she could
block my path.

“Ok,
what about?” I asked, pretending to be clueless.

“I
just want to say how sorry I am about what happened yesterday. I should never
have said any of those things to you and I just hope that you don’t think I was
threatening you in any way.”

“I
have to admit… that’s what I thought.” I confessed, forcing myself to make eye
contact with her.

“Well,
like I said… I’m really sorry.” She apologised again. “I promise I won’t bother
you anymore and I really hope that you and Cole will be very happy together.”

My
mouth fell open, wondering how on earth she knew anything about me and Cole.
Sure, I know people are bound to make assumptions about us but had he really
been telling people that he and I are together?

“Cole
and I aren’t… we’re not…” I paused, struggling to complete my sentence. “Um
thanks.”

“So
we’re ok? You’re not mad at me or anything?” She asked, leaning back against
the bannister behind her.

“We’re
fine.” I replied sincerely. “And I do appreciate the apology.”

“Ok,
well I guess I won’t take up any more of your time.” She finished, giving me a
feeble smile. “Bye, Serena.”

“Bye.”
I murmured, slowly making my way back up the stairs.

I
couldn’t understand how the girl I just spoke to could be the same one as the
girl I dealt with just twenty-four hours before. None of it made any sense to
me and that’s why I shouldn’t have been surprised when she called me back.

“Wait
up, Slut.”

She
hurried back up the stairs towards me, glaring at me with pure hatred in her
eyes.

 “Excuse
me?”

“You
didn’t seriously believe that little performance, did you?” She taunted,
looking me up and down like I was a speck of dirt on her shoe.

“W-what
are you talking about?” I stammered, trying my best to process the abrupt
change in her behaviour once again.

“Cole
is the one who made me apologise to you.” She told me, clearly unaware that I
already knew this. “He also demanded that I provide him with the evidence of
that apology.”

She
held up her phone for me to look at but I couldn’t see anything on it.

“I
don’t understand.”

“I
was recording the little chat we had just now and sent it to him.” She revealed
triumphantly, gloating over her victory. “So as far as he’s concerned, I did
exactly what he asked.”

“Your
apology was just for show? You didn’t mean any of it?” I blurted out
incredulously.

“That’s
right.” She confirmed, narrowing her eyes at me in contempt. “And if you tell
Cole anything different, I’ll make sure you pay for it.”

She
turned away from me and walked back down the stairs, leaving me alone and even
more perplexed than I was before by her sudden change in personality.

“Louise!”
I called after her, determined to find out the answer to one question. “Why do
you hate me? What did I ever do to you?”

She
hesitated for a moment, maybe debating whether or not she should be honest with
me.

“The
only thing that should concern you is what I’m going to do to you.” She
threatened, speaking quietly. “What I have planned for you will come when you
least expect it.”

She
turned away for the last time and carried on down the staircase, leaving me
alone, scared and more vulnerable than ever.

I
close my eyes, trying not to relive every single moment on that staircase. It’s
been several hours since school ended and Lisa dropped me off at home. I came
home to an empty house as usual and a note which said my mum had already left
for work. I decided to watch a couple of my favourite movies and order some
Chinese food before I ran myself a hot bubble bath.

Cole
has been texting me since I got home, wanting to arrange a time for him to come
over tonight. A part of me wants to put him off and ask him to come round
another night instead. Another part of me is desperate to see him and spend
some time alone together. If only I didn’t have school tomorrow… I’d invite him
over in a second.

I’m
lying on my bed right now, restless and nervous as I stare up at my bedroom
ceiling. Cole sent me a text just a few minutes ago to let me know that he’s
coming over and I’ve had a mad rush to get ready since then. I was just
stepping out of the bath when I read his message and experience a moment of
pure panic when I thought he might turn up early and catch me in nothing but my
towel.

I
really want to make sure that what happened between us last night doesn’t
happen again. Things between us have been moving so fast, I know it’s really
important that we take some time to process everything which has happened so
far and focus on slowing things down a little. We haven’t even had our first
kiss yet and I’m still majorly embarrassed about what I let him do to me last
night.

My
cheeks turn crimson whenever I think about it, remembering it all in such
graphic detail and I cover my face with my hands, trying to force out the
explicit image of us together. I really need to cool down and gather my
thoughts before Cole gets here, determined to remain calm and composed.

Of
course, all of my rational thinking goes out the window as soon as my phone
receives a new message from him. I sit up and reach for it, opening my new text
with trembling fingers.