“I had a really great time tonight,” she smiled. “We should do this “normal” thing more often. It was nice.”
“Anytime you want.” Cole gave her a delicious, lingering goodnight kiss that was sure to make an appearance in her dreams that night. “Goodnight, Ambria,” he reluctantly stepped away.
“Goodnight, Cole.” Bri went inside in a blissful daze.
Division was the next Friday, and the team got to skip school that day to head down to San Diego. The only downside was that Cole, Devon, and the rest of their cheering section weren’t able to come down for the competition. Layla and Bri were bummed, obviously, but it surprised Bri to see that the rest of the team missed their fan club, also. Luckily, it didn’t affect their performance, and the team dominated Division, coming in first place and earning themselves a trip to State in Sacramento in two weeks.
The next day, Bri headed over to Layla’s house to get ready for MORP. The girl’s choice formal had snuck up on them, and the girls were lucky to have found dresses. Layla chose a short, silver, strapless dress that showed off her long legs. She managed to convince Bri to get a knee length, ruched, royal blue strapless that showed off her curves. Bri opted to have Layla twist her hair up, while Layla left hers long. As the girls stood in front of Layla’s mirror, admiring the finished product, Layla glanced at Bri.
“You’ve been awfully quiet today. Is something bothering you? You and Cole didn’t fight, did you?”
“What? No! It’s just... the whole college thing is kind of weighing on me.”
“Why?” Layla pulled her over to sit on the bed. “Aren’t you excited about going to Stanford?”
“Of course I am. It’s just that it finally hit me that Cole will be going away to college somewhere else, which means that our relationship has an expiration date. It makes me a little sad is all.”
“You could always ask him to go to Stanford with you. I’m pretty sure any school would love to have him. And Cole’s a smart guy.”
“I couldn’t do that,” Bri sighed. “This is his life, his dream. He should get to go wherever he wants. I can’t ask him to give that up. Plus, our relationship isn’t to that point where we would go off to college together and contemplate a future. I doubt that’s what Cole wants anyway.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Layla raised an eyebrow. “Listen, I’ve known Cole for a long time, and he has a certain history with girls. He’d date someone for a couple of weeks, get bored, and move on. In fact, I was a little worried about you when you two came out. But I knew you were smart enough not to settle for that, so I didn’t say anything and decided to see how things went.”
“Except when you called and threatened Cole’s manhood if he hurt me,” Bri smiled.
“Well, yeah! I gotta have my girl’s back!” Layla winked. “But over the past little while I’ve noticed a huge change in Cole. He was always so cocky, and indifferent, and condescending before. Like he was too good for everyone, and nothing ever touched him. But since you two became official, he’s changed. It’s like there was a totally different person hiding beneath the surface, and being with you has finally allowed him to escape. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah, it makes sense.” Bri was surprised Layla had noticed the change in Cole, too.
“What I’m trying to say is that he must really like you, and I mean really like you, if he’s willing to drop his whole conceited ass routine and finally be himself.”
“You think this is the real Cole?” Bri was startled at her friend’s perceptiveness.
“Yes, I do. He’s happy now. Honestly, legitimately happy. He’s never been like this before, with anyone. I don’t think that kind of happiness happens when you’re pretending to be something you’re not.”
Bri nodded, never having thought of it that way before.
“And you are the reason for his happiness. That being said, I think if you asked, there isn’t much that boy wouldn’t do for you.” Layla gave her a pointed look. “So, before you doom your relationship to fail on a technicality, you should at least talk to him about Stanford. Let him make that choice, don’t take it from him. Because deep down, you know that he makes you happy, too, and you don’t want to lose him.”
“Thanks Layla,” Bri hugged her tight, tears welling up in her eyes. “You are too wise for your own good sometimes!” she laughed. “What about you? Have you decided what you’re doing about college?”