“Dinner! Come and get it, I’m not waiting on your arse!”
I followed him downstairs to get my, probably burnt, pizza. He hadn’t done too badly; only the crust was a little darker than it should have been. I did turn my nose up as Jasper squirted mayonnaise all over his food though. The only thing that belonged with pizza was ketchup.
“I spoke to Cole,” he muttered, chewing his food and giving me a good view of the mashed up pizza in his mouth. Nice. I looked down at the table and just nodded in response. “You left school because of Julian didn’t you?”
That made me look up at him. Was he just guessing or had Cole said that? Did Cole confront Julian? I started to feel a little sick.
“Just tell me,” he demanded, sounding frustrated. “Was it Julian, Oakley?”
I nodded, feeling defeated. He was going to find out anyway. Jasper jumped up, balling his hands into fists.
“Little bastard. I’m gonna kill him!”
I grabbed his arm and shook my head. What was it with the killing Julian thing? Cole and Jasper were both acting like they were in an action movie.
Jasper sighed and sat back down when he saw how worried I was. I’d had enough of it all. It was the holidays anyway, so it didn’t matter any more.
“Fine. But I swear if he comes near you again I will kill him.”
I ignored that; it wasn’t worth arguing over. I doubted he would drop it, but he wanted me to believe he had.
“So, is Cole coming over tonight?” he asked, trying to act casual. I could tell he was dying to know what had happened between us that we’d cancelled our plans together after school.
I stood up and grabbed my plate, deciding to eat in my room since Dad wasn’t here and I didn’t want to have the Cole conversation with Jasper. Half past eight was too early to go to bed, but I didn’t want to go downstairs and risk Jasper’s questioning though, so I put on a film and curled up under the covers. Cole kept entering my mind, making it hard to concentrate on the TV. I should go over there, get on my knees and show him my best ‘please forgive me’ face, the one that worked every time, but I was too stubborn and scared. Half an hour later, I was finally feeling tired, so I turned the television off and closed my eyes.
Jasper woke me up by knocking on my door and screaming my name.
“Oakley! Get up, we’re going to Cole’s for lunch,” he yelled, much louder than necessary. Going to Cole’s for lunch? No.
I ran to the door and pulled it open, frowning at Jasper for an explanation.
“We’re booking the holiday today remember, so we’re all going over there for a barbecue lunch.” Barbecue again? “Get dressed. We’re leaving in half an hour.”
My heart sank a little. I half-smiled at my brother, and slammed the door shut behind him. Lunch at Cole’s. That was going to be awkward.
Half an hour later, I was dressed and sitting on my bed, waiting for someone to call me down. After seven minutes, the inevitable happened – Mum shouted my name. I took a deep breath and walked downstairs slowly. Going over there was the last thing I wanted to do. I felt sick with nerves.
“You look nice, honey,” Mum complimented with a smile. I could tell that she was thinking that I had dressed nicely for Cole. I only had on a long white summer dress and yellow ballet shoes. It wasn’t for Cole. It was because of the heat. I didn’t wear make-up, and I hadn’t done anything with my hair. I didn’t think I looked particularly nice.
We all walked to the Benson’s house at Jasper’s pace: the only time he did anything in a hurry was when there was food involved, or girls, so presumably the thought of the barbeque was behind his speediness. I wanted to walk slowly and put off seeing Cole for as long as possible, but my brother clearly had other ideas.
Jasper knocked eagerly at their front door, and within seconds, Jenna greeted us with a hug, and then ushered us through their perfectly kept house to the back garden. My heart sank with every step I took. Part of me hoped he was out, but I knew he wouldn’t be. I did want to see him though. I hated arguing with him, and just wanted everything to go back to how it was.
Cole sat at the end of the wooden table, staring into his glass of coke. He looked sad, really sad. As we approached the table, he looked up and said a quick hello.
Where should I sit now? Would near him be inappropriate? Would he even want me there? Not wanting to make things any more awkward, I sat next to Mia, forcing Jasper to sit near Cole.