I rolled my eyes and got out of the car. Lizzie followed behind, her heels clicking against the tile floor.
“Do they do low fat milkshakes?” she asked, briefly looking around in bewilderment at the quiet café.
“Yeah, all their milk comes from skinny cows,” Cole said seriously. I bit my lip and pretended to look at the menu.
“Really? I didn’t know they put cows on diets,” she said, her eyes wide in amazement. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see his jaw was clenched tightly shut where he was trying not to laugh.
“I’ll have a banana milkshake then,” she said happily
Cole walked over to the counter to order,, and Lizzie didn’t waste any time in digging for information on him the second he was gone.
“Is he seeing anyone?” she asked.
I picked up a plastic coffee stirrer and debated whether I could get away with ramming it into her eye. If I said nodded would she ask me, or him, who it was? However, if I said no, she might try something on with him. I nodded quickly, hoping that would make her stop looking at him as if she wanted to eat him.
“Course he does,” she grumbled and slumped back in her chair.
Cole reappeared, holding a tray with our milkshakes and ice creams.
“So, Cole, what’s your girlfriend like?” Lizzie purred.
“Girlfriend?”
“Yeah, Oakley said you were seeing someone.”
I watched as a knowing smile swept across his face.
“Really?” he asked. “She did, huh?”
“Yeah, so what’s she like?” Lizzie repeated.
“She’s alright,” Cole said casually and shrugged his shoulders. “She incredible in bed,” he added.
What! I choked on my drink and slapped my hand over my mouth.
“You okay, Oakley?” he asked innocently. I nodded and forced myself to smile at him when all I wanted to do way chuck my ice cream over him.
“Yeah? Really?” she asked, leaning her body towards him. “You’re good too then?”
“Not had any complaints,” he said proudly. I wasn’t comfortable with the way this conversation had gone. It wasn’t something I could joke about. I concentrated on my ice cream, swirling the spoon around to soften it up.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Julian and two of his friends walk past the window. Please don’t come in here, please. Of course, they did. As soon as they spotted us, they strode up to our table. Cole’s body tensed when he saw who it was. Not wanting him to cause a scene, I pressed my leg against his to tell him to stay calm.
They all ordered and sat at a table next to ours, even though the cafe was practically empty.
“Hi, Oakley,” Julian said in a friendly manner. I smiled briefly and looked away.
Lizzie fluffed her hair up and smiled at him seductively. Oh no.
“Hi, I’m Lizzie. Oakley’s cousin.”
Julian smirked, his eyebrow rising slightly. “Really?”
She nodded and turned round to face him.
“Yeah. So are you going to her party on Saturday?”
He looked straight at me and replied, “Yep.”
“Well make other plans. You’re not invited!” Cole growled.
“Actually, I was,” he retorted smugly. Great, so Mum did invite him.
“Julian, just fuck off,” Cole spat through gritted teeth. Lizzie was watching them with wide eyes. Perfect, now she’s going to be grilling me about this. I’d had enough and just wanted to get away, so I stood up and started walking out. I heard footsteps right behind me, and I knew it was Cole, I also heard Lizzie’s heels clicking unevenly as she hurried after us.
“See you Saturday,” Julian called. Cole turned around and gestured something, but I didn’t look around. I got in the car and slammed the door.
“Don’t worry,” he said, stroking my hand. “We’ll stay away from him. I won’t let him come near you.”
I looked up to the car ceiling, so the tears that were pooling in my eyes wouldn’t fall. The summer holidays were meant to be break from everyone at school. The thought of seeing them all again made me feel physically sick.
“What was that all about?” Lizzie squealed so loud it made both me and Cole jump. She slammed the car door and huffed. “You were so mean to him, and he’s lovely! He called me back and asked me to be his date to your party! Can you believe that? I have no idea what to wear! Oh God, we have to go shopping-” I put my head to my knees in despair. Getting the message, Cole put the key in the ignition and sped home as quickly as was legally possible.
Everyone but Cole and I were downstairs setting up the decorations and moving furniture around to make room for the DJ. It wasn’t my birthday until tomorrow.