let me in | shirbert

twenty ; i'll never leave your side

chapter twenty ; i'll never leave your side

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The bell rang for lunch and I couldn't have been more relieved. I could feel an uncomfortable tightness in my stomach and was still struggling to maintain regular breathing, even though it had been hours since my nightmare. Something was off, and I needed to get home.

"Anne!"

I snapped back to reality, hearing Cole's concerned voice by my side. I blinked up at the blonde boy, realising that I was still sat at my desk in a completely empty classroom.

"You zoned out; it's lunch now," He told me with furrowed eyebrows.

"Of course it is," I laughed gently, trying to make it sound genuine. Pull yourself together, Anne.

"Are you feeling okay?" Cole asked, reaching out to place a hand on my forehead.

I slapped it away before it could make contact with my clammy skin, plastering a bright smile on my face. "Just tired," I lied, gathering my things and walking out into the corridor.

Cole just shrugged in response, and began to chat away about how boring the lesson was. If I was honest, I couldn't remember a single thing from the class, not even opening my textbook. But I nodded along with his rant anyway, wishing for the day to be over.

My head felt heavy as I shuffled down the corridor, my shoulder rubbing against Cole's as we made our way to the cafeteria. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, trying to fight off the migraine that was building in my temples.

Before I could react, I had tripped on something and was falling, but a pair of strong arms had wrapped around me and caught my body before it made contact with the ground.

"Anne! Are you okay?" Cole asked, worry etched onto his face as he scanned me.

"Of course," I mumbled, standing back up and turning around to thank my saviour.

A pair of nervous blue eyes awaited me, and I found myself smiling in grateful shock. Billy withdrew his arms and returned them to his sides, shifting his weight awkwardly from one foot to another.

"Thank you, Billy," I smiled warmly up at the tall boy.

"It's no problem Anne," He returned my smile, clearing his throat as his eyes rested on the boy stood protectively beside me.

"Um, excuse me? Since when were you two on a first name basis?" Cole demanded, walking around so that he was back in my field of view.

I laughed, shrugging. "Since now, I guess," I replied calmly.

"Okay, fine, don't tell me why I'm suddenly living in an alternate universe where you two don't hate each other," Cole scoffed sarcastically, prompting me to nudge him in the shoulder.