Page 44 of Echoes of Us
She shook her head, gathering her things.Without him, she wouldn't be here at all, in more ways than one.
The hallway afterward felt unnaturally quiet, her footsteps echoing off marble floors.The heavy doors creaked softly as she pushed through them, adjusting to the change in pressure between the stuffy lecture hall and the open corridor.
Her heart stuttered to a stop.
Cole leaned against the stone balustrade, one hand running through already disheveled hair.His white shirt was rolled to his elbows, and tie loosened - looking nothing like the controlled man who'd drilled physics into her head all week.When he turned, the shadows under his eyes matched her own sleepless night.
He must have been waiting here for her.The thought made her chest tight.
"Well?"The word came out rough like he'd had to force it past something stuck in his throat.
Her bag slipped off her shoulder, landing with a dull thud on her feet."You were right about the uncertainty principle."
A ghost of a smile touched his lips, gone so quickly she might have imagined it.His eyes caught on her collar, where she knew the mark he'd left was now visible.Something dark flashed across his face.
"Cole-" she started, taking a step forward.
"Don't."He straightened, putting careful distance between them."I just wanted to make sure you didn't completely bomb it.Wouldn't want my...tutoring...to be a waste."
The deliberate pause, the way his gaze flickered over her body - he was trying to reduce last night to something casual, something meaningless.The realization hurt worse than his misunderstanding about Dale.
"It wasn't a waste," she said quietly."None of it was."
His jaw clenched.For a moment, she thought he might say something else, might finally hear what she was really trying to tell him.Instead, he pushed off from the balustrade, shoulders rigid with tension.
"Good luck with the research position," he said, voice carefully neutral."Try not to break my brother's heart."
He was gone before she could respond, leaving her standing in the empty hallway with an aced physics exam and the growing certainty that she'd somehow managed to fail something far more important.
* * *
Ashley staredat her phone's screen, at the string of unanswered texts she'd sent Cole over the past week.The first few had been attempts at explanation.Then shorter, more desperate: 'We need to talk.''Please.'And finally, last night: 'You can't avoid me forever.'
Except apparently, he could.
"If you check that phone one more time, I'm throwing it out the window."Marie sprawled across Ashley's bed, her dark curls spilling over rumpled sheets.Empty coffee cups and discarded outfits littered the floor - evidence of an hour's worth of party preparation neither of them really wanted to do.
"Graduation's in two days," Ashley said quietly, tossing another dress aside."He can't just..."
"Pretend nothing happened?"Marie's reflection met hers in the mirror, one perfectly arched eyebrow raised."Because that's exactly what Cole Westwood does.It's kind of his thing."
Heat crept up Ashley's neck.She tugged at the black dress she'd finally chosen - shorter than she'd usually wear, the fabric clinging to curves she'd normally try to downplay."This isn't about-"
"The fact you've been wearing turtlenecks all week?"Marie rose from the bed, coming to stand behind Ashley.Her hands were gentle as she fixed a strand of Ashley's hair."You don't have to explain.Just...be careful tonight, okay?"
"You know Cole from before, right?"Ashley asked Marie."Sarah told me you went to high school with him."
Heat crept up Marie's cheeks, and she suddenly became very interested in organizing Ashley's scattered makeup brushes."What if I did?"
"When did he change?Start partying and treating ladies like chewing gum?"
Marie's hands stilled."He didn't...it wasn't like flipping a switch."She sat on the edge of the bed, something distant in her expression."Junior year, he was just Cole.Quiet, actually.Kind of a nerd - always helping Dale with calculus, always had his nose in some physics book.The kind of guy who'd give you his jacket when it rained and never expect it back."
Ashley's heart twisted.That sounded more like her Cole.
"Then he got offered to skip a grade with Dale.When he refused..."Marie shook her head."By senior year, he was dating Jessica Mitchell - you know, the type.Queen bee, perfect hair, perfect everything.After she cheated on him with the lacrosse captain...well.That's when Cole Westwood really became Cole Westwood."
"The one who doesn't get hurt because he hurts them first," Ashley murmured.
