Come Back To Me

Chapter 19

I’m still sitting at the picnic table, eyes closed, trying to relax and enjoy the sun, when I feel the table jostle. I open my eyes, and Aaiden is sitting across from me.

“So, what’s going on in your world Hadley?” he asks me, concern evident on his face.

“What do you mean Aaiden?”

“Well, you know. I’ve been paying attention these past few weeks. I know Cole has a thing for you, I also know that Gavin does too. They’ve been coming at you from both sides. How are you dealing?” “Actually, it’s been a little overwhelming,” I answer him.

“Yeah, I figured,” he nods thoughtfully, “It doesn’t feel like he’s been gone that long does it?”

Now I know we’re talking about Reid.

“No, I guess it hasn’t.”

“I sure miss him Hadley.”

“I do too Aaiden. Every single day.”

He nods thoughtfully, and then his eyes meet mine.

“Cole told me about what happened today. He knows what he said was wrong. He feels really bad about it. Please don’t be too mad at him.”

“Is that him asking, or you?”

“A little of both I guess. I know Cole’s been acting like everything is cool with him, but it’s really not. Ever since Reid died, I’ve noticed he’s been drinking more, like a lot more, and I’m worried about him. He’s taking Reid’s death harder than anybody realizes. That night, after Brad’s party, I practically had to wrestle his keys out of his hands, and that’s just when I’ve caught him. Who knows how often he does it. He’s becoming more and more careless.”

“I’m sorry Aaiden, I didn’t realize it’s been so hard for him. He never said anything.”

“He hasn’t told anyone. He tries to hide it from me, but I know him better than anyone. Somebody needs to get through to him before he does something really stupid. I don’t want to lose another friend,” Aaiden sucks in a shaky breath and releases it slowly. I’ve been so caught up in my own drama and sadness, I’ve forgotten about the other people that loved Reid.

Aaiden continues.

“I’ve tried to talk to him about it, but he just denies that he has a problem.”

“So, do you think I should talk to him?” His eyes meet mine again, and his are glassy.

“I think it’s important that we don’t give up on him. Before Cole started pursuing you, he was your friend, and that’s what he really needs from you right now. I know it might be awkward for you because he likes you, but…”

“It’s okay Aaiden. I’ll talk to him. My feeling awkward shouldn’t stop me from trying to help out a friend. I don’t want him to hurt himself either.”

“Thank you Hadley.”

Aaiden smiles then presses his palms against his eyes for a minute. When he removes them, I see the evidence of tears. I reach out and pat his arm.

“I’m sorry I’ve been so wrapped up in my own stuff. I didn’t realize…”

“It’s okay, I know you’ve got your own s**t to deal with. It’s just gotten to the point where I can’t continue to pretend that everything with Cole is like it always is. He’d kill me if he knew I was telling you this, but if something were to happen to him because I didn’t tell anyone, I don’t know what I’d do.”

“We’ll help him through this Aaiden. We’ll figure it out.”

He nods at me.

“I didn’t know who else to talk to about this.”

“Yeah, it’s a hard subject to talk about. On one hand, you want to help Cole, but on the other, you don’t want to tell somebody that might start rumors about him,” I reason.

“Exactly. I figured I could trust you with this.”

“You can. I wouldn’t want people talking about my problems behind my back either, but I’m sure they do anyway. Speaking of such people, what’s up with you and Taylor?”

Aaiden laughs.

“The new Taylor is actually pretty cool. I was just as surprised as anybody with the change in her.”

“Do you think it’s genuine?”

“I do actually. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be dating her. I’m usually pretty good at reading people, and as far as I can tell, she’s truly remorseful for how she’s treated you, and a lot of other people. I don’t know what brought it on, but it’s good.”

“I guess somebody was able to get through to her in a way nobody ever has,” I say, trying not to smile.

“Yeah, but she won’t reveal her source.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter who it was. All that matters is that she’s no longer going to terrorize people.”

After school, just as he said, Gavin is waiting for me. He’s parked right where he dropped me off. He’s leaning against the passenger side door, talking to two girls from my class. He says something to them that causes them to laugh hysterically, and one of the girls smack his arm. I smile and shake my head. Gavin has always been such a flirt, a really good one at that. He spots me walking towards them, and he flashes me his dazzling grin. When I approach him, he reaches out and hugs me tightly.

“Ready to go?” he asks me.

“Yup,” I answer him with my best smile, glancing sideways at the girls, “hey Tanya, hi Lisa.”

The looks on their faces are those of somebody who just sucked on a lemon.

“Uh, hey Hadley,” Lisa mumbles, looking disappointed.

“Okay, let’s get out of here babe,” Gavin says as he opens the door for me to hop in.

He shuts the door after I hop in, and jogs to his side.

“See ya,” I hear him say to the girls, right before he gets in the car.

He starts the car, and we take off.

“Oh, those poor girls,” I tease him.

“What?” he asks innocently.

“You’re such a flirt, I don’t think you even know when you’re doing it half the time.”

Gavin laughs and shrugs.

“It’s all innocent. Does it bother you?”

“No, it doesn’t bother me. I’ve known you for a long time, it’s part of who you are.”

“If it helps, I don’t think I was flirting. I was just standing there, minding my own business, waiting for you, when they approached me.”

“Oh, okay,” I say sarcastically and nod.

“Really, I mean it,” he reaches over and pats my thigh.

I look down at where he’s touching me, and I feel a rush of something I haven’t felt in a long time.

“Sorry,” he apologizes, quickly removing his hand.

“It’s okay,” I say, “and I mean it.”

I smile reassuringly. He raises his eyebrows in surprise.

“Really? Well, I wonder what else I can get away with?”

“Don’t push your luck.”

Gavin reaches over again, and this time he brushes my hair off my shoulder, and runs a finger softly along my neck, up to my jaw. Involuntarily, my eyes close.

“How about that?” he says softly.

“It’s…nice,” my voice comes out all breathy.

Then I feel Gavin’s hand clasping his fingers through mine, resting our hands on the center console.

“How about this?” he asks again.

I’m silent for a moment. I look at our hands, and I realize that I don’t want him to let go. I look at him, and he’s watching the road, but he glances at me expectantly, waiting for my answer. I feel him start to loosen his fingers, but mine hold him in place. I just answer him with a smile.

“Really?” he grins.

“Yeah, really.”

Ten minutes later, we arrive at my house. Gavin awkwardly reaches around his steering wheel with his left hand to put the car in park. I watch him with amusement.

“I can give you your hand back you know.”

“I don’t want it back,” he replies, “I’m not ready to let it go yet.”

“So, we’re just going to sit here and hold hands?”

“Sure, and talk. Tell me more about your day, what was your argument with Cole about?”

I’m unsure of where to start. I decide to start simple.

“He asked me to Grad Formal, and I turned him down,” I explain.

“Oh yeah, I guess that’s coming up soon isn’t it?”

“Yeah. When he asked, why not? I told him because I wanted to go with you.”

Gavin’s eyes light up at this information.

“You want to go with me?”

“Well…yeah, of course. Anyway, Cole then tried to use the ‘Reid wouldn’t approve,’ argument, and I slapped him.”

Gavin’s jaw tightens, and I see anger flash in his eyes.

“Maybe I need to have a little chat with Cole,” he says.

“No, please don’t,” I shake my head adamantly, “he was just hurt, that’s all. I actually feel bad for slapping him, I shouldn’t have.”

I decide I shouldn’t tell Gavin the things that Aaiden told me. It would be a breach of Aaiden’s trust. I’ll have to deal with that on my own.

“All right, I won’t do anything, but that kid better watch himself, because he’s getting on my nerves,” Gavin grumbles.

“Cole’s harmless.”

“We’ll see.”

“Really Gavin,” I chuckle, trying to lighten the mood, “you boys and your jealousy.”

Gavin shrugs and smiles sheepishly at me.

“Okay, okay. I’ll let it go, for now. So about that Grad?”

“Yes. Gavin Thorne, will you be my date to Grad Formal?” I ask properly.

Gavin laughs and leans in close to me.

“Hadley Jacobs, I’d be honored.”

“Thank you.”

“No, thank you. You just made my day, my week, my month, so on and so forth.”

“Wow Gavin, it’s not that big a deal.”

“To me it is. So, what color is your dress? I’ll need the matching tie and all that jazz.”

“I uh, I don’t have a dress yet. Until today, I had actually forgotten about it. I guess I had blocked it out because it hurt to think about going without Reid.”

“Yeah. I actually remember hearing you two talk about it last summer. He threatened to wear the bright orange tux from Dumb and Dumber. Personally, I thought it was hilarious, but you weren’t so amused as I recall,” he laughs, and I laugh too, remembering that day clearly.

“I told him that if he did, I’d wear a nun’s costume, and act like one too.”

“You two would have made quite the entrance.”

“I really didn’t want to dress like a nun, but it was the only way to convince him not to wear the orange monstrosity, complete with orange top hat.”

“Oh Reid…he’s such a goof sometimes.”

The sentence hangs in the air a moment. I’ve caught his use of present tense, but I don’t want to point it out. Gavin must catch it too because he clears his throat, and corrects himself.

“Was such a goof.”

Oh Gavin. I want to talk about this with you, but Reid asked me not to. I know you see him too, but you’re too scared to tell me. I want to say this, but I can’t, I made a promise.

“Yeah, he is.” I say quietly.

Gavin stares at me, his eyes searching mine. He looks like he might want to say something, but he doesn’t.

“I’ll just go with the standard black tux,” he says.

“I’ll just go with a standard dress.”

“I’m sure you’ll look anything but standard Hadley. You could make anything look beautiful, including a nun’s costume.”

I blush at his compliment. The way he’s looking at me right now, I unexpectedly get the strange urge to pull him over the console and kiss him, but I keep that feeling in check. It just doesn’t feel like the right time, not yet. I better play offence. The longer I sit in this car with him, the stronger the urge will become.

“Anyway, Gavin, I uh, I guess I should let you get on with your afternoon. I think I have some homework I should do. Thanks again for the ride home,” I say, reaching for the door handle.

“Hadley, wait,” Gavin doesn’t release my hand, and I look at him in question.

He looks like he wants to say something, but can’t find the words.

“What is it Gavin?” I ask.

He sucks in a deep breath and lets it out.

“Uh, it’s nothing. Just call me later when you’re finished with all that homework, okay?” he says.

The way he emphasizes homework tells me that he doesn’t quite believe me.

“I will,” I smile at him and open the door.

Reluctantly, he lets go of my hand and I get out of his car. He doesn’t pull away until I reach my door and step inside my house.

Sitting at the kitchen table, I do manage to get some homework done. I end up finishing an English essay that wasn’t even due until next week. Happy with my accomplishment, I check the time. It’s just after seven, and I’m feeling hungry. My mom is at work, and won’t be home until nine. I’m on my own for dinner tonight. I’m rummaging about in the fridge when I hear my cell phone ding with a new message. Thinking that it’s Gavin, I smile to myself and abandon the fridge for my phone.

However, it’s not from Gavin, its Cole.

*Hadley, I just want to apologize for what I said earlier. It was a d**k move, and I feel really bad about it. Please don’t hate me.

Quickly, I text him back. I feel bad that he feels so bad.

*Hey Cole. It’s OK. You were just upset.

*Let me make it up to you. Have you had dinner?

*I was just about to raid my fridge.

*Let me take you for a burger? Just as friends…I promise.

I think about it for a minute, trying to decide if this is a good idea or not. He did say it would just be as friends, so maybe he’s accepted the fact that he and I will never be more. Also, maybe this would be a good opportunity to talk to him about what Aaiden told me.

*Sure Cole, I could go for a burger. Sounds better than the three-day old spaghetti I was going to eat.

*Great. I’ll be there in ten minutes.

Precisely ten minutes later, I hear Cole’s truck rumble to a stop out front. I grab my phone and my coat and hurry outside. I climb up into the cab to see Cole’s smiling face.

“So, where to? Burger Barn or The Huntsman?” He asks me.

“Burger Barn, where else?” I laugh, “It’s my favorite.”

“I know,” he says and puts the truck into drive.

We head down the streets, towards the town center. Cole is quiet, and drives just a little too fast, making me nervous.

“Hey Cole, you should probably slow down a little or you’re going to get a ticket,” I suggest.

He just shrugs and laughs.

“I know this town like the back of my hand, I know where all the cops like to hide. It’s all good,” he says cockily.

“One day, they’ll pick a new hide-out, and then what?” I ask, trying another tact.

“Whatever,” he murmurs.

I decide to shut my mouth until we get to Burger Barn. He obviously doesn’t feel like getting lectured right now. We pull up to the restaurant, but Cole doesn’t park, instead he heads toward the drive-through.

“We’re not going in?” I ask.

“Nah, I’d rather not. Let’s just get the food to go, and head over to the park. It’s nice out.”

Even though I’m not crazy about this idea, I just nod in agreement. Besides, the things I need to talk to him about are private, so maybe the park would be better. No eavesdroppers.

After receiving our orders, Cole starts driving again. He takes a few sips of his Coke, and then pulls the lid off. I watch as he reaches under his seat and pulls out what looks like a whiskey bottle. I gasp.

“Let’s say we make these Cokes Irish,” he says.

“Cole! What the hell? You can’t drink that, you’re driving.”

“Sure I can. I’ve already had a few, and you can’t even tell the difference, can you?”

He pours the whiskey into the cup, and then he offers me the bottle. I frown at him and take the bottle for safekeeping.

“You’ve what? Cole, stop the truck, let me drive.”

“No way. Nobody drives this thing, but me, and maybe Aaiden,” he shakes his head at me.

“Cole please,” I beg, “just pull over, I need to talk to you about something anyway.”

“Talk, about what? About, how you’ll never like me more than a friend?”

His voice starts to rise, and he pushes a little harder on the gas pedal.

“No, that’s not it…”

“Then what?” he snaps.

“Cole, what is the matter with you? I thought you were okay with us being friends. I’m sorry if that’s not enough…”

“Maybe I was hoping that if we spent some time alone together, you might change your mind.”

He takes a corner too fast, and I feel the truck fishtail slightly, before he’s able to correct it. My heart is beating double-speed; it feels like it could jump right out of my chest.

“And you thought drinking and driving might make me swoon? Seriously, pull over please!” I shriek, both terrified and angry.

“What? Are you scared Hadley?”

“Yes!” I cry, gripping the seat.

He takes another hard turn onto a dark back road without streetlights.

“Yeah well…” he starts, staring at me, and then he turns his head to look at the road.

“Oh s**t!”

My eyes go wide, and a scream gets caught in my throat as I see what he sees, all too late…

Another truck.