Breathe

five

[ cole's pov ]

Guilt rushes over me as Nora Nightingale rushes out of the room.

I watch her, with wild hair bouncing all around, soaked clothes, and surprisingly, a calm expression plastered on her face.

I want to stand up and defend her, but I can't.

I'm Cole Woods.

I can't ruin my reputation by rushing to the side of a drenched, ugly girl like some lame Prince Charming.

Besides, it was probably just an accident. Tiffany and Sierra wouldn't ever go so far as to ruin someone's clothes.

I settle on that idea as I stare down at the rest of my burger. For some reason, I'm no longer hungry. My stomach is too busy swimming with emotions.

"Hey guys," bouncy Sierra says. She twirls the end of her hair and sits down.

Tiffany does the same, and I notice she's gripping a whole pile of napkins tightly.

Oh no.

The realization hits me and I'm utterly disappointed that it did.

I don't want to face the hard facts.

"Have you seen that girl over there?" Sierra starts in her high-pitched voice. "She's such a freak."

Something inside of me snaps and I push myself out of my seat. Unfortunately, it looked like I slammed the table, and I receive a bunch of stares.

"Cole, dude, what's up?" Derek gives me the calm down look.

"Nothing." I clench my jaw. "I- I just have to go somewhere."

Shaking my head at how dumb I sound, I walk out of the room and start my search to find her.

-----------

"This is stupid," I mumble to myself.

I walk in circles, wringing my hands, in front of the girls' bathroom.

After checking the hallways and lockers, I decided the only place for a possibly crying girl to be is in an empty stall.

Should I go in?

I have no problem with just walking into the girls' bathroom. Most of the girls are eating right now anyway.

It's just that, I don't know if I want all that comes with entering the bathroom.

I'm not sure I want to be wrapped in the world that's Nora Nightingale.

Right off, you can tell she's a peculiar girl and that she's probably way more interesting than half of the idiots here.

But she's ugly and that makes people hate you in high school, no matter how unfair it is.

She could possibly destroy everything I've set up for myself.

Besides, I could end up hating her.

I mean, I already kind of hate her for looking like the way she does and still drawing me in with her sarcastic and babbling personality.

It was a weird thing. I was positive I didn't like her.

I just couldn't figure out why I kept feeling the urge to follow her around or just stay a few minutes longer or rush into a bathroom for her.

I shouldn't care about her.

I start to walk away, but at the last minute I change my mind.

"I'm gonna regret this later," I say to myself as I turn on my heels and practically throw myself towards the bathroom.

The door thrusts at me and I cry out.

"Not again!" I clutch my head, the pounding becoming louder and louder.

"Oh."

I glance up to see Nora there, just standing and staring.

"You really do have a problem with hovering in front of doors, you know."

Her remark makes my insides smile, however rude it may be.

"The normal response is to say you're sorry."

The pain in my head begins to fade.

"I tried that last time and you still ended up a jerk." She smiles coldly, throwing daggers at my heart.

I swear if a smile could be sarcastic, it would be hers.

"Excuse me, but I haven't been a jerk to you at all. In fact, I was coming to see if you were okay."

She rolls her eyes at me.

Yet again, it's a real eye roll and I'm still amazed.

"Our conversations keep seeming to go the same way, and it's quite boring."

At that, she brushes past me and walks away.

"I'm not boring!" I call after her, a deep part of me wanting her attention. She doesn't turn back, though. Not even one more glance.

This is the rudeness I wanted from her the first day, but now it just makes me sad.

My head aches, but it's not because of the door hitting my face.

It's because the image of mascara trailing down her face burns in the back of my mind like a dripping candle, scorching each part of me that it drops onto.