They continued working math problems for the rest of the hour. After packing up his bag, Bri followed Cole to the door, where he paused.
“You know, you can still talk to me Bri. We used to talk about things, remember? We used to be friends. I miss that.” Cole’s eyes held a depth of sadness that surprised her. “I just want you to know that I’m still here, if you need me.”
“Really?” Bri was skeptical. “Because it seems to me, Cole, that the only time you will talk to me is when you’re alone. If your friends are around, suddenly I’m not even good enough for you to acknowledge. And then now, when no one else is here, you want me to pour my heart out and tell you everything that’s wrong? It doesn’t work like that! You are either my friend all the time, or you’re not. And you’ve made it very clear that you are not my friend. So don’t come over here and give me that “I’m here for you” crap!” she finished angrily. “If I’m not good enough for you at school, then you’re not good enough for me, period.”
Cole dropped his eyes, but not before Bri saw the pain there.
“Okay,” he replied quietly. “If that’s the way you want it.”
“No Cole!” She was furious that he still wasn’t getting it. “This isn’t the way I want it! This is the way you’ve chosen for things to be. So this is the way they are.”
He nodded slowly and turned to go. He paused, looking like he desperately wanted to say something, but then changed his mind. “Goodnight, Ambria,” he said sadly.
“Goodbye, Cole.” She shut the door.
Bri leaned against the door and felt the sting of tears in her eyes. How was he still doing this to her? How was he still able to jack with her emotions like this? She was over him. He was nothing but a lying, conceited, self-absorbed jerk. But the pain, the sadness, in his eyes had been real. He genuinely regretted the way things had turned out between them. But he was the one who caused the rift between them in the first place, so why would he be so upset? Nothing made sense. Cole was a confounding dichotomy, and Bri didn’t know if she had the energy to figure him out.
Things continued in much the same way for the next few weeks. To her great horror, Trey asked Bri to the Homecoming dance, which she emphatically rejected. Layla had offered to find her a date, like she had for Maddie, but Bri gracefully declined. She really didn’t feel like going to the dance at all, and stayed home with the six hour miniseries of Pride and Prejudice instead.
After Homecoming, the bet the football players had about Bri seemed to be forgotten, and she was able to sink back into relative obscurity at school. Serena, her BFF Natalie, and the rest of her cheerleader minions continued to give Bri dirty looks, and Serena was known to offer the occasional snide comment. But for the most part, people quit paying attention to her, which was just the way she liked it.
The girls on the Dance Team even mellowed out a little, with the exception of Natalie and Erica. But for Bri, not having the rest of the team despise her was a nice change of pace.
She and Cole continued to ignore each other at school, even in ceramics. But he never once missed their tutoring sessions. He was always on time and very attentive. They didn’t talk about anything but math, as per her rule, but Bri was reminded how much she’d enjoyed spending time with him, before he’d turned into a prick. That was one mystery that still consumed her. She knew she’d never be able to move on until she figured it out. So, as the days and weeks passed, Bri watched Cole, covertly of course, trying to figure out what his deal was. At school, he was always the arrogant, apathetic ass, who only cared about himself. Surrounded by his popular, superficial friends, he fit in seamlessly. But during their tutoring sessions, she saw none of that. Cole was respectful and considerate, engaging, and even grateful. More like the Cole she’d known before. It was like he was two polar opposite people. It all depended on who was, or wasn’t, around.
Much to her dismay, she found herself liking the Cole that came to her house on Tuesdays, and began looking forward to it. It made her miss her friend, the boy she’d grown to care about. She had forgotten how much fun he was, how nice it was to be near him. How his eyes lit up when he smiled. How he melted her heart with that smile. And over time, her anger began to diminish, and she felt herself softening.
Bri didn’t realize it, but by doing what she’d asked him, Cole was slowly breaking her down.
Chapter 10
It was the second week of October, and Bri was doing some homework while waiting for Cole to come by for his weekly tutoring. The past few weeks had begun to wear on her. Keeping Cole at a distance was taking more out of her than she’d like to admit. But she couldn’t complain; he’d done exactly what she’d asked and given her the space she’d wanted. The problem was that now she wasn’t quite sure what she wanted anymore. She was more confused and confounded than ever.