not in the same way || c.h.

9

"What are you doing after class today?" Cole asked and walked up to me in the halls. Usually we didn't cross paths at all at school so this caught me by surprise.

"I have work you know that dork." I said and poked the tip of his nose as I continued walking to class.

"Can you call in sick today? I haven't seen you in forever it feels like." He said and slung his arm around my shoulders.

"You know I can't Cole. I need to make money for Noah and I." I said and looked up at him with sympathy.

"You have your grandparents, and the money your mom left you. You're fine with money and you know I'll lend you some whenever you need it." He said and played with the ends of my hair.

"I can't ask you to do that. He's my gonna be my responsibility soon, I need to start getting more responsible quickly or else he'll suffer. He doesn't deserve this life that was given to him. I need to make sure he's happy no matter what." I said sadly and heard him sigh.

"Fine I'm sorry for asking. I'll come see you during your break then?" He said and gave me an understanding look.

"I'll see you then." I said and went up on my tippy toes to give him a quick peck before I had to get to class.

///

After my class had finished I headed to work and awaited Calum's arrival. He comes in everyday, and stays till closing to bring me to my car.

We're actually really good friends now, and he somehow convinced me to give him my number. He still makes his cocky and flirtatious remarks but I just ignore it the best I can. He doesn't always show up to class so I rarely ever seen him there, but I do see him everyday at 4:30 sharp.

Except today I kind of wished he hadn't come in. I saw him walk towards the doors through the huge windows with some red head attached to his hip. I scrunched my face up in confusion but quickly acted normal before he could see me. I couldn't tell if he was enjoying himself if I'm being honest.

"Hey Brenna." He said cheerfully and walked up to my register. Apparently he was enjoying himself.

"Hey." I said and slyly eyed the girl that was tightly holding his arm in a protective manner. She gave me a death glare before she looked up at Calum and placed a long kiss on his cheek.

"Can I have my usual please?" He asked and handed me his card like always.

"And add a green tea." The girl demanded.

"K." I said and glared at her before handing the order to Heather who was stood right behind me. I saw the confused look on her face and then watched her glare at the girl also. I would've laughed if I wasn't so pissed off.

"Babe why don't you go sit down and I'll wait for our stuff." The girl said and bit down on her crimson lips and gave him a seductive look.

"Alright." He said and went to sit at his usual table in the middle of the room.

"You better stay away from him. I saw you checking him out, watch yourself bitch." She said through gritted teeth and walked to the other end of the table to wait for her order.

"Someones a bit jealous." Heather said and rolled her eyes.

"Why would I be jealous? I have Cole?" I said defensively and looked at her.

"I was talking about her Bren." She said and gave me a look.

"Right...." I trailed off and pretended that either of us said anything.

"Speaking of, how come I haven't seen him in a while? You seem to be spending your breaks with him." She said and nudged her head towards Calum.

I looked over and saw both of them sitting there talking and sharing a slice of chocolate cake. She couldn't keep her hands off of him, and for some reason that bothered me. What bothered me even more is the fact that I couldn't tell if he liked her or not. His face was completely unreadable.

"We've just both been busy. I still talk to him when I get a chance to." I said and shrugged my shoulders while forcing myself to look away from Calum and his girlfriend or whoever she was.

"He's actually spending my break with me." I said and looked up at the clock to see how much longer until I had my break.

"Well that's good. I'll get your orders ready now then." She said and went to make our stuff while me and Carol took the rest of the customers here.

"Hey babe." Cole said as he took his sunglasses off and walked towards my register.

"Hey." I said with a smile and practically ripped my apron off of me.

"Go sit I'll get our stuff." He said and walked around the counter to get our stuff from Heather. Since he's been my boyfriend for so long, and since everyone here loves him so much he's allowed behind the counter as long as he's not getting in the way.

I sat at the table I always sat at that was against the windows and went on my phone to open anything I had missed.

"I'm sorry I'm a little late. I was trying to convince my boss to let me take my break early and extend it a few minutes." He said with a sigh as he placed my stuff down in front of me.

"It's okay don't worry. Is he mad at you?" I asked and took a sip from my coffee. He worked at some law firm as an intern. He's studying law right now and they offered him a job as an intern so he could learn a bit more until they'd actually hire him after college.

"A little bit but I told him I'd work overtime next week so he got over it quickly." He said and sat down across from me.

"You didn't have to do that. Now you're gonna be working even later." I said guilty.

"I wanted to see you. It's only an extra 20 minutes a day I'll be fine." He said and shrugged his shoulders. He loosened his tie a bit before he took a sip from his drink and handed me a fork so I could eat the chocolate muffin we were sharing.

"How was your day today?" He asked after a couple seconds.

"Tiring but manageable. What about you? How was your trial today?" I asked and stuck my fork in my mouth.

"It was good, my professor said I made some good points and that I should be proud of myself. I guess it won't get graded until next week but he said I shouldn't worry." He said casually but I could tell he was excited.

"That's amazing." I said excitedly and held his hand from across the table.

"Once we're out of college me, you and Noah will be all set." He said and gave me a reassuring look that made me smile.

"I love you." I said and leaned over the table to give him a kiss.

"I love you more." He said and reached across the table to hold my chin in his hand.

"Why is that guy over there staring at us?" He asked after a few minutes of us just talking. I looked over in the direction he was looking in and saw Calum with a somewhat angry look on his face. I don't know why he was angry, or why he was staring, but I just tried my best to ignore him and his little red head.

"I'm not sure." I said and looked down at our half eaten muffin.

"Do you know him?" He asked and looked over at me.

"He comes in all the time but I don't really know him." I said and shrugged my shoulders. I decided not to tell him that I know him. I'm not even entirely sure why, I just told myself that it was so I wouldn't have to explain that awful night in the alley.

"Do you want me to say something?" He asked and I just shook my head.

"No it's fine don't worry about it. We don't have much longer until we both have to go back to work." I said and gave him a reassuring smile.