‘In time we hate that which we often fear,’

- William Shakespeare

Chapter Nineteen

“Is it just me or does the school food get worse and worse every day?” Alex commented, as he sat down at the table where Azelie, Kelly and Cole were, before looking down at the disgusting brown mush that had been placed on his plate. It had been a long week for Azelie. It was only Thursday but her entire week had been filled up with mountains of homework.

“Now, now Alex - I thought we didn’t judge things before we tried them?” Kelly joked, shaking her head in fake disapproval in Alex’s direction. Alex looked up from his plate and over the Kelly, an eye brow raised. He then stuck out his tongue out in her direction before picking up his fork and scooping up some of the ‘food’ and eating it. All three sets of eyes were watching Alex as he placed the food in his mouth, waiting for his reaction.

“OH GOD!” He coughed, food sputtering out of his mouth as he did. He quickly turned to his left before spitting the remaining food into the bin, choking slightly as he did. The trio just burst out laughing, all three of them having been smart enough to avoid the mush that the school was trying to serve as food and instead had opted for sandwiches, except Kelly who had decided to skip lunch all together. “That’s just awful! I don’t even think it’s editable!”

“Alex, you must have been the only person stupid enough to actually try that!” Cole laughed, shaking his head at his best friend, wondering if being tacked so many times while playing football had effected Alex’s IQ.

“I didn’t think it would be that bad!” Alex replied, grabbing his water bottle before rinsing out his mouth, trying to get rid of the remaining taste. “Besides you’re supposed to be on my side!”

“What the side of the stupid?” Cole replied with a grin. Alex just shot Cole an angry look.

“Haha very funny Cole!” Alex replied looking at Cole, before turning his head to face everyone else in the group.

“You’re such a drama queen Alex! It can’t have been that bad!” Azelie added, looking down at the mush on his plate. It did look awful, but it can’t have been that bad! Surely the school wouldn’t serve something that made it’s students sick?

“You really think it isn’t that bad?” Alex replied, turning to Azelie, a grin growing on his lips. She just nodded in reply, sure of what she had said. “Okay then! I dare you to try it - AND you have to swallow it!” he threatened. The dare caught Cole’s attention as he waited to see if she would do it.

“Okay drama queen - you’re on!” Azelie smirked. Alex pushed his plate towards her, before passing her a fork. She grabbed the fork before digging into the food, taking a fair bit on the fork before looking around the group. Kelly was just sat there watching the entire scene, shaking her head at Azelie, while Alex sat with a smug look on his face ready to watch Azelie puke. Then she looked at Cole, taking in his curious expression. She put the fork in her mouth, and tried to hold down the gagging effect it had on her. It was awful, with a sharp taste of god know’s what mixed in with a pungent flavour. It was like acid on her taste buds, killing them one by one. Somehow she managed to swallow it, still managing to keep the smirk on her lips.

“See! Not that bad, drama queen!” She said as she held down the food in her stomach. What the hell had she just eaten?

“What! How the hell?” Alex practically screamed, his voice going all high pitched and squeaky. Kelly laughed loudly, before turning to Alex to tease him for being a drama queen. However, Cole didn’t laugh and instead turned to Azelie with a concerned look on his face.

“Here, drink this,” he said, passing her his water bottle.

“No, no, I’m fine!” Azelie replied, a weak smile on her lips as her stomach threatened to give in.

“Like hell you are! You look like you’re about to puke!” Cole replied, keeping his voice low so Alex and Kelly wouldn’t hear him. He knew that if they found out that Azelie was about to puke from eating the ‘food’ that they would call her bluff and that Azelie would just eat more of it to prove them wrong. “Just drink the damn water Azelie!” Azelie didn’t fight him this time, and instead took the bottle before drinking it, clearing her throat of the awful taste of the food. She smiled at him for a second, thanking him for the water. He then turned over to Alex, joining in with Kelly’s teasing for the rest of lunch, all the while Azelie sat quietly, trying to hold down the contents of her stomach.

The rest of lunch passed at an almost torturous rate for Azelie. All she had to do was wait until the first bell rang and then she could go to the bathroom. She couldn’t leave until then, not if she wanted to escape Alex’s gleeful accusations of her not being able to stomach the food, which she wasn’t but that was beside the point. So when the bell finally rang signaling the end of lunch, Azelie practically jumped out of her seat, quickly grabbing her bag before saying her good byes to her friends and running out of the cafeteria. Somehow, she managed to push her way past all of the crowds, and into the girls toilets at the end of the hall, making her way straight into the first available stall before puking up everything that she’d had for lunch. Her body began to shake as her stomach pushed everything out, silent tears rolling down her cheeks as she tried to hold her hair back. Suddenly, she heard the bathroom door opening, followed by heavy footsteps making their way over to where Azelie crouched over the toilet. She felt somebody carefully holding back her hair, keeping it away from her mouth. She tried to turn around so she could see who was behind her, but just as she did, another wave of sick pushed her back around, the rest of her stomach escaping into the toilet. It was another minute or so before she felt strong enough to look behind her, the stranger handing her pieces of toilet paper to clean the puke around her mouth with.

She turned around, expecting to find another girl or a teacher helping her, but instead found Cole helping her, a concerned look on his face.

“You didn’t have to eat it you know!” He sighed as she wiped her mouth clean, before flushing the paper towel down the toilet.

“I know,” she replied, her voice weak. “But I did it anyway,” Cole just shook his head at her, wondering how far he would have to take her before she was even the slight bit frightened.

“Can I ask you a question?” Cole asked, sitting down beside Azelie, leaning against the tiled wall of the bathroom.

“Only if I can ask you one?” She smirked in reply, her brown eyes not leaving Cole for a second.

“Where you even scared when you fell out of the raft? Where you even going to swim?” He questioned, his green eyes locked on her brown, awaiting her answer.

“That’s two questions!”

“Yeah, but they probably have the same answer so technically they count as one!”

“No, they don’t that’s two questions! Besides, if you already know the answer then why are you asking me them?”

“Just answer me Azelie!” She took a deep breath, her gaze floating away from Cole as she tried to look for something else to look at before deciding on the floor.

Then, she answered him.

They practically ran to class, trying not to be any later than they already where. They both had chemistry and were 10 minutes late for class. Azelie froze at the door of the class room, not wanting to be the first to enter.

“Cole! You go in first!” She shouted as a whisper, Cole immediately shaking his head in reply.

“You were the one who caused us to be late with your puking!”

“So! You stayed behind”!

“Yeah to help you! I was there in your time of need - and this is how you thank me! Some friend you are!” Azelie groaned in reply, rolling her eyes at Cole and his refusal to go into the class room first before spinning around, slowly grabbing the door handle and opening the door, trying to make as little noise as she could. She opened the door to reveal the entire class looking in her direction. She saw them looking at Cole who stood behind her, their heads jumping to conclusions.

“Miss Ryans, Mr Grey, care to tell why you are ten minutes late to my class?” The teacher questioned, looking quite angry at them both.

“I’m sorry, it was my fault! I had something at lunch that didn’t quite agree with my stomach and I started throwing up, Cole heard me from the hall and held my hair back,” Azelie replied, trying to take the blame for the entire thing. Almost immediately, the teachers expression switched from anger to concern.

“Oh right, well I guess that’s reasonable!” He said, “Do you need to go to the school nurse?” he added in question.

“No, no, I’m alright now. Like I said, it just didn’t quite agree with my stomach,”

“Very well then. Just take your seats and we can continue with the lesson! We are looking over the test papers from last week. The pair quickly nodded at the teacher, before making their way to the desk at the back, quickly dumping their bags underneath the table and taking a look at their papers.

“Aw shit!” Azelie swore as she looked down at her mark test paper, trying to figure out a way she could make her 35% a positive thing. She glanced over to Cole’s desk, her eyes taking in the 97% that was printed in red pen on his test paper. “Seriously dude - how the hell did you get such a high score?” She questioned furiously, looking up at Cole who had a smug look on his face.

“I revised?” He smiled.

“But so did I!” Azelie whined, turning away from Cole and slamming her head into the table. “I’m so going to fail!”

“No, you’re not!” Cole replied, rolling his eyes at Azelie before picking up her test paper to look over her answers. “You started off right with your answers, but you’re missing important marks all over the place!” Azelie just groaned in reply, she had felt confident about her test paper, but now she was sure she would fail the entire course. “Look if you’re really worried, you can come over to mine and I’ll go over the answers with you,” Cole offered. Azelie lifted her head up, smiling eagerly up at Cole.

“You wouldn’t mind doing that?”

“Of course not! Can’t have my partner failing this class, now, can I?” Cole replied with a smile. “Besides, you were the one that was scared that I would pull down the grade of the project!”

“Thank you Cole! Seriously, I really can’t fail this class!” Azelie smiled, actually ready to hug Cole.

“It’s alright, I can just meet you at my car after school if you want?”

“Sure! I’ll meet you there then!”

“Miss Ryans! Mr Grey! You had a valid excuse for being late into my class but you are still behind with what you are supposed to be doing!” the teacher shouted at Azelie and Cole, ending their conversation immediately. Once the teacher turned his attention back to what he had been doing previously, Azelie turned her head slightly to face Cole, sending him a smile in thanks for offering to tutor her, the memories of their food fight playing on Azelie’s mind, making her smile just that bit brighter.

~~~~~~~

“Alright - last question.. okay see you’ve not explained your answer enough there, you need to explain the process in full to get the full marks, and you should know the process because it’s written in your book!” Cole explained, before picking up his jotter and opening it at the page he was talking about.

“Oh right, I guess that makes sense!” Azelie smiled, only slightly tired. It had taken them a good hour and a half to work through the exam questions, with a few interruptions and distractions throughout.

“The explaining everything is annoying at first but once you get into the habit of doing it, it’s fine,” Cole added in, “But as long as you remember to do that you should pass the next test!”

“Great!” Azelie replied, before slowly beginning to pack her books into her bag. Just as Cole opened his mouth to add something else in, Cole’s dad walked into the kitchen, instantly rolling his eyes at his son.

“You know, when I was your age, studying meant something completely different from what it does to you two nerds!” He laughed, shaking his head slightly.

“Will you ever stop with your ‘back in my day,’ stories? You’re beginning to sound like an old granddad or something!”

“Hey! Remember what I said - I’m too young to become a grandpa! Don't be a fool, wrap your tool!” His dad smirked. Almost instantly, Azelie began to choke on air, unsure of whether she should laugh or die, all the while Cole just decided to fight back.

“Well, you didn’t!” He said, hiding his embarrassment of his father’s favorite slogan.

“Yes, and I ended up with you! Lesson learned!” His father laughed, looking at Cole. “I’m just reminding you and your girlfriend-” he began to add but he was caught off by both Azelie and Cole shouting.

“-I’m not his girlfriend!”

“-She’s not my girlfriend!”

Cole’s dad just looked between the two teenagers, a smirk growing on his lips. He loved that Cole was now a teenager and he could tease the crap out of his son. He liked to think it was practice for when Lily started to bring home boys - god forbid!

“For now, my dear son, she’s not your girlfriend for now!” he replied, with a knowing smile. Memories played on his mind of his teenage years. “Anyway, Azelie, do you like pizza?” He questioned, turning to Azelie.

“Em.. yeah?” she replied, making her answer sound more like a question.

“Great! You can stay and I can continue to watch my son squirm as I tease him about his new girlfriend!” His father replied, a bright smile playing on his lips.

“She’s not my girlfriend!”

“Oh Cole! You have so much to learn!” His father replied before picking up the house phone, and digging into one of the drawers to find a pizza delivery menu. “Is meat feast alright?” he questioned, looking between his son and Azelie. They both agreed before his father walked out of the kitchen to order the pizza. “No baby making while I’m away now! I’m like a shark - I see everything!” His father quickly added as he walked into the hall, closing the kitchen door behind him.

“I really do wonder how I can be related to somebody so annoying!” Cole smiled as he looked at Azelie, taking in her surprised look. She looked back at him, her brown eyes practically shining.

“I see the resemblance...” Azelie replied, a smirk playing on her lips.

They spent the rest of the night eating pizza and watching football re-runs, as well as messing around. Luckily for Azelie, most of Cole’s father’s teasing was aimed at his son, rather than at her, so it had been very entertaining for her to laugh as Cole got more and more annoyed. Lily had gone to bed an hour or so before, Azelie and her had basically been hanging out as the two males screamed at the football - despite the fact it was a re-run. It had been a fun night for Azelie, she loved being with Cole and his family. It made her feel like less of a screw up, but of course, she had to go home at some point. She had spent almost ten minutes arguing with Cole over him driving her home, Azelie saying that she didn’t mind walking, but, as usual he wouldn’t have it and soon enough, they were both sitting in his car as Cole drove her home.

“Thanks,” she said, as he pulled out of the driveway.

“For what?”

“For tonight... I know it seems stupid and everything, but thanks for letting me come home with you and for your help with Chemistry, and for dinner,” She clarified, a bright smile making it’s way onto her lips.

“It doesn’t seem stupid!” Cole replied quickly, “Lily practically loves you! My dad.. well I’m surprised he hasn't picked out his suit for our wedding that Kelly seems to be planning!” he laughed. Azelie just smiled in reply, deciding to accept what Cole was saying.

She felt like she was finally free of everything. Never in the last seven years had she felt like this, felt like she could be anybody, anything without being in some kind of life threatening situation, but now with Cole, she felt it. Stronger than ever before. How could one boy do this? Make her feel like everything was alright. Then, of course, the illusion was shattered as she looked down at her phone.

The date, the month, something didn’t add up. She had felt like this for a while, like she had been forgetting something important. But it was only now that she realised what it was. It hit her like a lightening bolt, everything flooding her brain at once. She had been alright, she had felt fixed.

Oh how she had been wrong.

Her lungs suddenly couldn’t get enough air, as memories flooded her mind. Everything was done. It was all done. She looked up at Cole, she hadn’t even realised that he had arrived at her house. He was speaking, but she couldn’t hear him. She knew that he could see right through her, she had to get out, get away. She said goodbye, before stumbling out of the car, her entire body shaking. She ran up the path to her house, and pulled the door open before closing it behind her and sinking to the floor. It was there, she prayed for the sound of the car engine to start up again, she prayed and prayed that Cole wouldn’t get out of his car, and try to see if she was alright. She heard the slamming of a car door, the slow footsteps up the path, almost as if he was trying to figure out if this was a good idea or not. He was at the door, and with a light knock on the door, he spoke.

“Azelie... you can let me in or I can knock down the door,”

His threat was empty, he wouldn’t even know if Azelie was at the other side of the door or not. But that didn’t stop Azelie from opening the door. She needed her best friend. She just needed him for an extra minute, just for the comfort of a hug. He didn’t ask what was wrong, he had learned better than that, but he was there, knowing that tomorrow he could ask, but not now.

They stood there, at the door way, Cole trying to figure out what he had said to set her off, but he couldn’t think of anything. She had been fine! They had been mucking around for a couple of minutes, and then she checked her phone, and it was like all hell was let loose.

He didn’t know what was wrong with her; but he was sure as hell going to find out.

so yeah, I have no idea when the end upload will be! my charger died and went to heaven so I can only write when the new charger arrives in the post! I will try and write on my phone and stuff but apart from that im pretty screwed... hope you enjoyed this though!