I Hope It Rains Marshmallows ❤

Chapter Twenty Two - Cole's Past

~Cole~

Fighting back those tears that I just can’t seem to control, I ripped my hand away from Alyssa’s grip and sped towards the exit. I could feel all eyes on me now, their gaze burning through my shirt, my back, and I immediately pushed the door open and ran out.

The bitterly cold wind greeted me and stung my cheeks, making them all raw and red. For the first time, I looked back and watched the two doors swing back and forth, back and forth, brushing against each other slightly, before finally coming to a halt. Peering through the misty window, I took in Isabella’s shocked expression, Jeremy’s cold and indifferent stare at his own mum—wait, MY own mum, Alyssa still looking blankly at the door and finally my mother sprawled on the floor, bawling her two eyes out.

My chest tightened as Alyssa’s eyes and mine met. Immediately I broke eye contact with her, and leaned against the door, trying my best to make myself unnoticed. I couldn’t face her now, not yet.

Pressing my back against the wall, I tried to slink away without getting caught by Alyssa. But as I made out Alyssa’s hurried footsteps inching closer and closer to the door, I panicked.

Shit.

“Cole.” Alyssa said softly.

My first immediate reaction was to run away from her. I whipped my head around and raced blindly ahead, hoping that she’ll get the hint that I didn’t want to see her right now. But she didn’t get the hint. Sheesh.

“Cole, wait—“She shouted breathlessly as she chased after me, hot on her heels.

I glanced at her from over my shoulder and let out a sigh. Why did she have to chase me? I ran a hand over my hair, pushing it backwards so it wouldn’t cover my eyes. I could barely see. But with my hair all away from my face, I realized it wasn’t because of my hair. It was because of my puffy eyes. Oh man, I probably looked horrible now. I forced my legs to push harder, keeping my sprint. But damn was Alyssa fast.

“Why are you running?” Alyssa cried out, panting heavily now, but still in hot pursuit of me.

“Because…” I paused for a second to catch my breath. “Because you’re chasing me!”

I stopped in my tracks, clutching onto my chest, my breath hitched in my throat. Next thing I knew, Alyssa had collided onto me as we tumbled onto the floor.

I grunted and pushed her away from my body, my face all hot and my screaming lungs about to burst. I stood up brusquely and brushed off the dirt and soil on my brand new suit.

“I just got these dry-cleaned…” I sulked and unwillingly reached out a hand to pull Alyssa up.

She straightened her messy tee and looked up at me apologetically, sorrow and grief written all over her face. Why did she look like she was the one who just found her long-lost mum that abandoned her for another guy?

“Look, I don’t need your pity. I’ve got enough charity to last a lifetime.” I rolled my eyes dramatically at her, although deep inside I felt the urge to slap myself on the face for being such a jerk. I knew she was just trying to be nice, but I always get defensive of myself when it comes to situations like this, and somehow my words usually just tend to hurt people.

“No one said anything about charity!” Alyssa swatted her hand at me, making a ‘pft’ sound. “Cole…I mean uh, Danny…is that what you want me to call you—“

“Cole’s fine. I’m over Danny. To me, Danny never existed.” I looked down at my shoes, kicking away the pebbles that littered the ground.

“So, want to tell me about it? You can cry on my shoulder if you want.” She patted her shoulder, a reassuring smile flickering across her face.