That Summer (Part One) (18 page)

“What
are you going to do?”

“Nothing.
I just want to say something to him, that’s all.”

“Cole…”

“Serena,
go.” He orders harshly, leaving me with no other option.

He
storms past me towards Peter, the imbecile who was taunting me just a couple of
minutes ago and I watch his friends scatter, anxious about making themselves
scarce. When he spots Cole he spins around in an attempt to escape him, pushing
those aside who are in his way. He’s heading for the exit of the cafeteria and
almost makes it until Cole sprints after him.

Students
are shoved out of the way as Cole increases his speed, knocking over chairs and
leaping over tables in his attempt to catch up with a terrified Peter. He grabs
him by the collar, hauling him backwards down the flight of stairs you have to
ascend to leave the dining hall.

Peter
falls flat on his back, landing on the hard wooden floor with a bang. I wince
in sympathy, knowing how much that must have hurt him.

“Get
up.” Cole orders, unsympathetic and unfeeling.

“Cole,
I-I didn’t do anything. I swear I didn’t.” Peter splutters, begging my
boyfriend to believe him.

“I
said
get the fuck up. Now!”

“My
God… should we do something?” Lisa asks, hurrying over towards me.

“Like
what? I’ve already pleaded with Cole not to hurt him.” I tell her, feeling more
helpless and feeble.

“I
don’t know. Should we get a teacher?”

“If
we do that then Cole will be excluded for good.” I remind her. “I won’t do that
to him.”

“But
he looks like he’s going to kill him. I’ve never seen anything like it before.
He looks… dangerous.”

“He’s
not.” I claim fiercely. “He’s just being protective.”

“Serena,
I don’t think you even believe that yourself. Who are you trying to convince?”

I
tear my eyes away from Cole, glancing at my friend before I take a step
forward.

“I’ve
got to do something, I can’t watch him do this.”

“Serena,
stop. You can’t get involved or you’ll be in trouble yourself.”

“I
don’t care. I can’t just stand here like this.”

“Serena,
wait!”

I
break free from her grasp and push my way through the crowd of people who have
now gathered around Cole and Peter. I get shoved back plenty of times before I
finally make it to the front of the circle which is surrounding them. The
majority of people seem to be on Cole’s side, proving that fear and popularity
is enough to influence someone’s beliefs when it comes to doing what is right
or wrong and I feel so powerless against it. I have no idea what I can do to prevent
any of this from happening.

“Causing
trouble again?”

I
whirl around and come face to face with Louise. She’s glowering at me with so
much hatred, narrowing her blue eyes at me in revulsion.

 “Not
now, Louise.” I sigh wearily, trying to turn away from her.

She
grabs hold of my arm before I have a chance, digging her long fingernails into
the tender flesh of my skin.

“I’m
not going to let you get away with this.” She snarls disdainfully.

“Away
with what?” I question her. “What have I done to you that’s so terrible?”

“You
stole him from me and you know you did.”

“Louise,
I-I know why you hate me and I can’t say that I blame you for it. Cole was
wrong when he said my name and-”

“What
did you just say?”

“Nothing,
I… forget it. I don’t know anything.” I stammer, realising the monumental
mistake I just made.

“I
swear I’m going to make you sorry, bitch. Who the hell do you think you are?!”
She cries out loudly, grabbing hold of me by the shoulders so she can shake me.

Her
shrill voice and the possibility of a cat fight steals some of the attention
away from Cole and Peter, as another crowd starts to congregate around Louise
and myself, making me feel trapped and suffocated. There’s no way out of this
and I’m certain there’s no one who will decide to step in and help me. I don’t
even know if Cole can see me due to the fact there’s hundreds of people
surrounding us.

“Louise,
I don’t want to fight you. You don’t have to do this.” I beg her, holding my
hands up in surrender.

“Yes
I do.” She states boldly. “No man is going to want you by the time I’m through
with you and certainly not Cole.”

She
grabs hold of my hair, yanking on it firmly. I cry out, reaching for her
fingers so I can try and loosen the grip she has on me. My eyes fill with tears
as they search the faces of people cheering her on. The pain of what she’s
doing doesn’t even compare to the humiliation I’m experiencing. It’s almost
like I’m her prey and she’s just toying with me for everyone else’s
entertainment. It strips away my pride and leaves me more vulnerable and
exposed than ever, my dignity is gone and I don’t think there’s anything I can
do to get it back again. It’s degrading and demeaning but there’s nothing I can
do about it. Physically, she’s much stronger than I am and she has the unfair advantage
of having the entire school behind her.

All
of a sudden, she relinquishes the unyielding grip she had on my hair, enabling
me to free myself from her hold. I stand upright, wondering what on earth must
have happened for her to back down from hurting me.

Cole.

He’s
the one who got her away from me, placing himself in front of me so she can’t
touch me whatsoever. He has hold of her arm, shaking her roughly as he glares
down at her in loathsome disgust. 

“Get
the fuck away from her.” He growls threateningly.

“Cole,
you don’t know what she just said to me!” Louise exclaims loudly, sounding
indignant and incredulous.

She
points a finger at me in accusation, trembling with rage and jealousy.

“I
don’t give a shit.” Cole assures her, towering above her in a menacing pose. “If
you so much as touch her again, I’ll rip your fucking hand off. Do you
understand?”

“Cole…”
I whisper, struggling to keep the tremor out of my voice.

“I
mean it, Louise. I’ll make sure you pay for it if you touch her again or
threaten her in any way. I will hurt you if you hurt her.”

“Why
are you letting her do this? She’s nothing. She’s a skanky little whore who
sends naked photos of herself to other guys, why the hell would you want her?”

“I
swear to God if you weren’t a woman…” Cole murmurs darkly, taking one step
closer towards her.

“What?
You’d hit me? Is that what you would do, Cole?” She taunts, squaring up to him
as though she’s daring him to do it.

“Let’s
just go.” I beg him, resting my hand against him.

“I
choose her.” Cole claims fearlessly. “I want her and I’ve already chosen her.
There is no one else and there never will be. She’s it for me and you’re just
angry with yourself because you know there’s not a single thing you can do
about it. I don’t want you, Louise. I never wanted you. It’s always been her and
you know it.”

She
inhales sharply, placing a quivering hand on her chest. She looks behind him,
fixating her cruel eyes upon my own once more before she flees, shoving people
out of the way so she can reach the exit of the cafeteria.

The
entire room falls silent as Cole turns to face me, cradling my face with his hands
as he gazes down at me with concern and adoration.

“Are
you ok?”

“I
am now.” I reply softly, desperate to get away from everyone so we can talk
properly.

“I’m
so sorry I couldn’t get to you in time. I didn’t even know what was happening
before it was too late.” Cole explains, stroking his fingers through my hair. “I
should never have left you alone and I never will again.”

“It’s
ok.” I promise him, taking hold of his hand. “What about Peter?”

“I
think he’s learnt his lesson. He certainly won’t be speaking to you again.”

“What
did you do?”

“It’s
not important. Come on, let’s go.” He pulls my hand, leading the way as we
start to leave the cafeteria. The remaining crowd parts for us so we can get
by, all of them staring at me in shock, surprise, sorrow and regret. I guess
they’re starting to feel guilty about what they almost let happen, at least I
hope they are.

Cole
opens the door for me, placing his hand on my lower back so I can go through first.

“I’ll
deal with the rest of you later.” He says coldly, turning around to address
everyone in the dining hall. “You really think I’m going to let you get away
with this? You already know what I said would happen if any of you messed with
her but I guess you didn’t believe me… now I’m going to have to prove to you
how serious I was.”

He
lets the door slam behind us, striding down the corridor in a rage. He refuses
to let go of my hand, tugging me along as we head towards his locker.

“Cole,
where are we going? What are you doing?”

“Get
your things. We’re leaving.” He demands, yanking his locker door open for me.

“Leaving?
We can’t just leave school right now.”

“Why
the hell not? You really want to stay here after what just happened?”

“Of
course not but we’ll get in trouble if we go right now.”

“No
one will dare say anything about Peter and Louise was the one who attacked you.
If a member of staff asks us anything we can always say we were ill or make up
some other excuse. I really can’t stay here, Serena. I feel like I’m about to
explode and I don’t know how much longer I can keep a hold of it.”

“Cole,
look at me.” I plead with him, reaching up so I can stroke the length of his
jawline.

He
does as I ask and locks those magnificent brown eyes of his on my own,
smouldering with intensity and desire.

“You
don’t realise what you’re doing to me.” He moans, grabbing hold of my hips so
he can press my body against his.

I
can feel how hard he is, straining against the material of his trousers as he
lowers his lips towards mine. He’s breathing heavily and his obvious arousal
starts to turn me on as well. Thank God we’re in an empty corridor and it’s
still the middle of lunch, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to do this at all.

“W-we
can’t do this here.” I remind him, forcing myself to put some space between us.

“I
know we can’t.” He murmurs, staring at my lips intently. “That’s why we have to
leave right now.”

“You
know we still can’t do anything. We have to wait until you get your test
results back and I have my appointment with the doctor.”

My
appointment with the nurse about taking contraception is tomorrow and I have to
admit that I am quite nervous. Cole has promised to go with me but I’m still
slightly anxious about it.

“I
know
all of that but you’re making it too damn difficult for me.” He
exhales slowly, grabbing the material of my shirt in both hands.

“How
am I?”

“Look
at you… you don’t realise how beautiful you are or how perfect your body is. I
would be a fool not to want you and now I know how incredible you taste… it’s
even more difficult for me. I can’t stop thinking about that night, Serena. The
night you were completely naked in front of me. You were so confident and
turned on… it was breathtakingly erotic and I need to do it again with you. I just
have to.”

“Cole…”
I whisper, wondering how on earth I can continue to fight the internal battle
going on inside of me. “You’re not helping things. You know how much I want
you.”

“Prove
it.” He orders firmly, demanding I submit to his request.

“How?”

“Let
me take you in that closet over there.”

I
know the closet he’s talking about, it’s the one right behind me across the
hall. The one I’ve never even seen been used.

“R-right
now?”

“Right
now.” He persists, relentless and determined.

“I
don’t know… what if we get caught?”

“It
has a lock on the inside door.” He clarifies with certainty, refusing to tear
his eyes away from my own. “And don’t ask me how I know that, just trust me.”

“I
do trust you.” I murmur, tucking a strand of my hair back behind my ear.

“So…?”

“Ok.”

My
compliance causes him to move fast, he grabs hold of my hand once more and
strides towards the maintenance cupboard across the hallway.

“We
need to move fast. The bell is going to go in a minute.” He explains, glancing
left and right before he yanks the door open and pushes me inside.

The
closet is pretty small but it’s not got much in it. There’s a light and it
smells clean which is a huge bonus. Cole turns the light on and flicks the lock
on the door, turning around to face me with a salacious smirk on his face.