NO Love Club (Boy × Boy) ✔

17) JUST COLE BEING COLE.

X Bélizaire's POV 

When Cole didn't show up to school the next day, I was trying to recollect what exactly I had said to him. But despite my efforts, all I could remember were the way he recoiled from me and the blank look in his eyes before I stormed out of the parking lot.

I had dismissed the warning signs, thinking I was just moody because of the argument with Cole. I even dismissed my sudden craving for pot noodles and chips as a need for my favorite comfort foods, again because of the argument. 

Until that morning, when I was at school, the auras appeared in my peripheral vision, creating two white columns which always made me feel like I was wearing blinkers like a horse in a race. The stiffness in my neck made it even harder to see, as I couldn't turn my head properly.

By the time the first period was over, I was convinced I should hurry home before the headache would strike me like a clap of thunder. Except I couldn't drive home with the auras and I didn't like the idea of leaving my motorcycle at school overnight. 

When Cole came to talk to me for the first time, the headache was throbbing in my temple. It was already bad, and I knew it was only about to get worse. During the attacks I aim to keep talking to a minimum, as I find it difficult to form proper, coherent sentences. Of course, the nuisance that he is, Cole insisted on talking even though I said no.

I'm surprised I made it through the school day alive, as the headache was throbbing the left side of my head like a sledgehammer and Cole's constant bugging didn't make it easier to bear. Fortunately, the peak of the attack was over by the end of the last period. The auras were gone as well and my vision was back to normal, so I deemed it was safe enough to drive home.

Just as I was about to get on my bike, Cole was there again. What he said to me or what I said back to him is, as I mentioned, hazy in my mind.

Migraine doesn't necessarily cause me memory loss, but it makes a mess of my ability to stay focused during conversations and my brain can stay foggy for days afterwards. All I know is that my last retort to him must have been something hurtful. I dreaded to think what I could possibly have said, if it was so bad it made Cole skip school the next day.

Don't be ridiculous, I reassured myself, he isn't skipping school because of you.

And yet, something in me told me he was. I am not a mean person and I'm not one to say hurtful things, unless I'm provoked to a point I must defend myself or the things and people I care about. If someone was to say something stupid, or to try to lay their hands on me, I had all the right to do the same to protect myself.

Again, something told me that Cole hadn't tried to hit or insult me. At least not on purpose. He was annoying, but he wasn't that annoying. 

The following day at school, I noticed a few things out of the ordinary. First one was that Declan was much quieter when he was alone. He spent most of the classes either biting his pencil or frantically writing down notes, which was surprising to me. It was the first time I had seen him putting down more than a word or two. 

The other thing was that Wilder and Declan were constantly getting on each other's nerves once Cole wasn't around. I was almost ready to admit that it was possible Cole's presence was what made the two behave.

After each period, Declan talked with the teachers, which was also something he never did. Some of them gave him papers, which he folded neatly and stacked into his bag. It made me think I was missing something. When I tried to ask Wilder and Noah about it, they grew silent until Wilder cleared his throat and swiftly changed the subject. 

I have a few shifts at the library, the one dad works at, a week. He is my voucher, and responsible if I screw anything up. In a way that is scarier than having an actual boss, because dad can be unforgiving when angered. So, I was trying my best to be on time and to be nice to all the customers.