Her Verdict (Part 5)

" What if you were just "the other girl" in his story? and to leave means to make him happy? Would you fight destiny? or would you just let him be free? "

“Only one week left!” Lauren shrieked as we walked together to our next class. It has been 2 months since Lauren told me about the tickets to Puerto Rico her mom won. “Xyriel its next week! Do you hear me? It’s next week! It’s freeeeedom baby!”

            “Yes I know it’s next week Lauren, with you reminding me every time.” I sighed, trying to look as annoyed as possible so she could stop yapping about our impending vacation.

            “I can just imagine us having so much fun there!” she continued, clearly not affected by my little act. “There will be lots of parties, drinks and flirting,” she winked at me, and I glared at her.

            “Oops. Had a little lapse back there. Flirting for me,” she giggled.

            I rolled my eyes at her, thankful that we finally reached our destination.

            “Hurry to your places children,” Mr. Fanning ordered. “Because of the renovations we had in our Chemistry laboratory, we weren’t able to do much lab works lately. But now that it is done, we have a lot of catching up to do. So let’s not waste anymore time, pair up with your lab partner and proceed to the Chemistry laboratory”

            I turned to Lauren only to see her staring into space and giggling.

            “Lauren!” I exclaimed, making her jump out of her seat.

            “What!?!,” she asked, clearly annoyed that I caught her off guard.

            “Didn’t you hear what Mr. Fanning just said? We need to be going to the chemistry laboratory.”

            “Oh,” she uttered, her cheeks starting to blush. “Sorry ‘bout that”

            “Got sucked into your fantasy world huh?” I teased as I gathered my things.

            “Wait,” her face suddenly turned serious. “Chemistry? Lab?” her eyebrows crossed as she stared right through me. I turned around following her gaze.

The tension was evident. They were both clearly trying to avoid eye-contact. A month after the drama, I told Cole that he should go back to his seat already instead of sitting with Daniel, and that it was fine with me. He was hesitant at first but I was able to convince him in the end. 

I started towards them, mind already set on what I need to do.

“Cole, Kyla, aren’t you going to the lab yet? Let’s go.” I said, offering them the most genuine smile I could make. Them teaming up can’t be avoided, so I might as well help them get comfortable with each other.

I turned around and walked towards Lauren. “Let’s go,” I told her. She grabbed me by the hand and pulled outside

“Hey! The lab’s that way!” I shouted at her as she continued on dragging towards the opposite way. She finally stopped when we reached the restroom.

“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!” she screamed at me as soon as the door was closed.

“What are you talking about?” I muttered, trying to avoid her gaze. I knew what she was talking about and I knew how this conversation was going to end.

“XYRIEL! YOU’RE NOT THINKING STRAIGHT!” she stared at me, her gaze cutting through my lie. “And don’t you dare start spouting nonsense about you trusting him and all cause dearie trust won’t make Kyla less attractive.”

“He promised me it won’t happen again,” I tried to reason out, struggling to keep my voice from quivering. I do trust him.  I said to myself. He won’t do it again.

But I knew I couldn’t convince myself for far too long.

 

“Slowly pour a small amount of Hydrochloric acid to the beaker,” Mr. Fanning who was taking a sip from his coffee, obviously bored with our class, instructed us. This was already our fourth Chemistry laboratory work this week and Lauren and I were just hanging on through each class, hoping for the week to end. Kyla and I managed to become civil with each other, with the occasional hi’s and hello’s though I’m really trying to become more friendly with her.

“Let me do it!” Lauren faced me. She grabbed the test tube clumsily and poured every drop of it, before I could even react, to the beaker. The solution started to bubble and overflow.

“Oh my gosh! Lauren!” I yelled at her. “A small amount only! Didn’t you listen?” I took the rag near me and started to wipe the mess, flowing down the table.

“Sorry…” Lauren only managed to say.

“Ms. Fran, Ms. Tomlin, you clearly didn’t follow my instructions,” Mr. Fanning accused us. He shook his head and headed to our table, “Run along to the Supply Room and get the mop.”

“I’ll go, you clean the table,” I decided. I started walking towards the door when Cole called out to me.

“You need help?” he asked me as he took my arm and examined it worryingly.

“No. And I’m fine. It didn’t burn me or anything,” I smiled and the crease on his forehead started to disappear.

“You should really be careful next time,” he continued.

“Tell that to Lauren,” I scoffed. “I got to get going now,” I ran to the door and towards the Supply Room.

I ran back with the mop ready to rant to Lauren about not listening and how she owes me big time when I heard Cole’s laugh. I turned to the door and looked for him.

She was sitting in her chair writing in a piece of paper talking to him while he was standing next to her, laughing occasionally.  They looked happy. He looked happy.

I was angry. Not at him, not at her, but at myself. I’ve always tried so hard to keep these thoughts out of my mind. I was the one who wanted them to be friends again and right now, I’m being unfair to him.

But there was no denying it. This smile he’s wearing seemed different, but familiar. Then it hit me. I knew this smile.

The smile he showed during our first year together, when everything was perfect.

“I don’t want to be the one to tell you this but Cole’s texting Kyla,” Daniel finally said after much fidgeting and hesitation. 

“I know. I told him it was okay,” I said to him, warily avoiding Lauren’s eyes. “It’s okay with me, don’t worry. He told me it was just for Chemistry.”

Lauren scoffed.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” Cole said between gasps as he staggered towards us. “I woke up late.”

“Yeah, on the day of our much awaited flight,” Lauren rolled her eyes. “Let’s just hurry up.”

“There’s still five hours before our flight,” I defended Cole. “Whatever. Let’s just get going,” I added before Lauren could say something back.

We hailed a taxi cab and arrived at the airport with 3 hours to spare. The tension that surrounded us finally disappeared when we stepped foot at the airport and Lauren started squealing with excitement. 

“Our flight is in 3 hours. Let’s get some lunch first, I’m starving,” Lauren suggested.

“I need to buy something at the store, you go first, just text me what restaurant you’re eating in,” I told her. “Cole, can you go with me?”

Cole was staring at his phone with a smile creeping in his face. And then he broke out into a laugh.

“Listen to this… Why did the white bear dissolve in water?” he struggled to keep his voice from wavering. “Because it was polar.”

“Really dude?” Daniel taunted and Lauren rolled her eyes.

“What? It’s funny,” he said. “Xyriel, Kyla asks if she could borrow your notes of the last topic we had in Chemistry, she got sick with fever that day, and she says hi.”

It took me two seconds to regain my composure, “Sure. Tell her I said hi too,” It took a lot of me to keep a smile in my face. Get a grip Xyriel! You were the one who kept on yapping to him about being friends with Kyla and how it’s the right thing to do.

I need to talk to him about this. I finally decided.

I started walking and Cole followed, treading along beside me.

“Cole,” I managed to spit out once I was sure we were out of Daniel’s and Lauren’s hearing range, my heart starting to beat wildly, “I need to talk to you.”

He looked at me like he was trying to figure me out and his brows started to furrow. “Are you okay with-“

“I’ll tell you when we’re in the plane,” I cut him off, not yet ready to face the conversation we were heading to. I mustered up all my remaining control and pushed a smile to my face, making it seem like it wasn’t a big deal.

Cole’s face started to relax and he nodded. He took a step towards me and wrapped me in his arms. I nestled my head in his neck, taking comfort from his familiar warmth. “I love you,” I murmured.

Then my heart broke a little.

I felt his body tense and it took a while before I got the reply he was supposed to say. “I love you, too,” he whispered back.

“All passengers of flight 5J43346 bound to Puerto Rico, please proceed to your boarding gate 118.” The intercom announced.

“Where are they?!?” Lauren exclaimed. “They better be on their way, I’d rather do homework than miss this flight. OH MY GOSH XYRIEL!” she shrieked, “We’re really going!”

“I’m telling him,” I suddenly blurted out. Lauren and I were sitting near our boarding gate waiting, while Daniel and Cole made a last stop to the convenient store to buy some snacks.

“Telling who what?” Lauren turned to face me, a huge smile plastered in her face. She was tapping her feet and her hands were clasped in her lap. I couldn’t help but smile at how she looked, like a little girl waiting for Santa Claus to climb down the chimney.

“Uhmm, hello? Earth to Xyriel, telling who what?” she continued and the smile on my face faded as I remembered the subject.

“I’m telling Cole,” I said. “That- that- I’m not okay with him talking to Kyla all the time,” I swallowed a big lump in my throat, telling myself it was the right thing to do. Cole was starting to pull back from me. I can’t let that happen.

“Finally!”Lauren exclaimed. “I mean, that is the normal girlfriend would do,” she pulled me close and hugged me, “All the best for you, love. You know I’m always here for you right?”

I nodded. “I’m scared,” I mumbled.

“It’s okay not to be okay,” Lauren sang the Jessie J song as she pulled away from me. “Everything’s gonna be alright,” she smiled.

I laughed. She always knew how to make me calm. “I love you.”

“I know,” she smirked and gave me a wink. “It’s hard not to.”

“Hey,” Daniel was running towards us, his face looking weary, “I have some bad news.”

Lauren and I immediately stood up to face him. “What? What happened? Where’s Cole?” I shot at Daniel.

He breathed in and combed his hand in his hair, “Kyla’s mother just died.”

“Oh my gosh,” I uttered, taken aback by the news.

“What?” Lauren said, bewildered, “What? I mean how?”

“She was at stage 4 colon cancer, she was supposed to last for a few more months with continued medication,” Daniel explained. “Apparently, the doctor estimated wrong, it was worse than they thought.”

I slowly sat back down, my heart filling with pity for Kyla. She doesn’t deserve to go through that kind of pain of losing a loved one forever. No one does.

“Wow,” Lauren sat down beside me. “That’s- that’s”

“Last call for all passengers of flight 5J43346 bound to Puerto Rico, we will soon be departing so please proceed to your boarding gate 118,” the intercom announced again.

“Where’s Cole?” I asked, breaking the silence.

“Yeah,” Lauren said. “I mean, I don’t want to be insensitive or something but, we need to get going or else we’ll miss the flight.”

“He’s talking to Kyla right now, at the men’s room,” Daniel replied.

“I’ll go get him,” I told them, as I started striding towards the rest rooms.

“I said he is in the men’s-“

I stopped in my tracks as Cole came into my view. He was walking towards us, his head bent down.

“Cole!” I called out to him.

He raised his head, and my heart finally gave out.

He looked worn-out and his eyes filled with emotions I didn’t want to know. I knew that look. I knew he’s tired and I knew he was trying his best to not ruin the mood. He gave me a smile.

I knew he wanted to be someplace else.

 

Author's Note

Hey guys! I'm back! Watch out for the last part of this story! :)
And also, stay tuned for my next story. I'm already halfway through it so I will be posting here soon. Thanks you guys! Leave a review :)