Beautiful Mess (15 page)

“I’m
good, just been busy.  Not a lot of painting, mainly because I haven’t had
much time.  But I’m taking photography this semester, and it’s really
helping with my art.”

“That’s
great!  I’ll have to come by and see what you’re working on
sometime.  I mean, if that’s okay?”  Bri’s cheek flushed as she
realized that she’d basically just invited herself over to Cole’s house. 
What was she doing?

“Definitely! 
Hey, I have an idea.  I’ve got a big photography project I have to work on
this weekend.  Why don’t you come with me to take some pictures on
Saturday?  We could maybe even get some dinner after?”

Bri
smiled.  “Okay, it’s a date!  Oh, no!”  Her whole face went red
as Cole flashed her a victorious smile.  “Not
that
kind of
date!  I meant the calendar kind of date, not the
date
kind of
date!  Oh, man,” Bri dropped her face in her hands.  Cole laughed and
she looked up.  “What?”

“I
finally got you all flustered for a change!  It’s taken awhile, but it was
definitely worth the wait!”

“Whatever,”
Bri shook her head and unlocked her car.  “Bye, Cole.”

“Bye,
Bri.  I’ll pick you up on Saturday at 4:00.  Don’t forget!”  He
winked at her and shut her door.  He was still smiling as she drove away.

Cole
knocked on her door at 4:00 sharp on Saturday, and Bri was waiting for
him.  She’d been waiting for him the past two days.  She couldn’t
help her excitement at seeing him.  This was so not a good sign.

“Hi,”
she said breathlessly as she opened the door.  Hot damn!  Cole was
wearing a body hugging navy blue Tigers Football t-shirt, and her favorite butt
hugging jeans.  His blue eyes sparkled at her from underneath his worn
baseball cap, and her heart started pounding.  It was so loud, she hoped
he couldn’t hear it.  How was she supposed to keep her feelings in check
when he looked that good?  She was at an instant disadvantage. 
Pulling herself together, she hollered into the den, “I’m leaving, Dad.”

Connor
walked into the entryway.

“Okay. 
Have a good time, Pumpkin.  Hello, Cole.”

Bri’s
face heated in embarrassment.  Leave it to her dad to bring out the
embarrassing nicknames.  Cole held back a chuckle as he eyed her.

“Hi,
Mr. Donnelly.”

“You
two be careful.  And Bri, don’t be too late.”

“Okay. 
Bye!”  Bri was out the door before her dad could embarrass her anymore.

“Pumpkin,
huh?” Cole teased.  “I like it!”  He got a mischievous gleam in his
eyes.

“Don’t
you dare!”  She knew exactly what he was thinking.  “If you start
calling me that, I’ll punch you!”

“After
what you did to poor Trey, I definitely don’t want that!” he laughed. 

They
walked down the drive to the curb in front of her house.  Bri froze when
she saw what was parked there.

“What
the hell is that?”  She gaped at the very dangerous looking motorcycle in
front of her.

“That’s
my bike,” Cole beamed at the metal monstrosity.

“Since
when do you have a motorcycle?” Bri squeaked.

“I
bought it right before school started.  I saved up all summer for
it.  It was what I was working for.”  He rubbed the motorcycle
affectionately.

“
Why
?”

“Well,
my truck is terrible on gas, and with traffic, I wanted something a little more
maneuverable.  Why, do you have something against bikes?”

“That
is not a bike! 
That
is motorized death!  Do you have some
twisted death wish or something?”

Cole
laughed.  “Of course not!  You’re being ridiculous, Bri.  It’s
fun, I promise!  Come on, hop on,” he patted the seat.

“No,
absolutely not.  I happen to like my brain where it is, you know, inside
my skull!  Not splattered all over the pavement!”

“Bri,
I have a helmet for you,” he sighed.

“That
is
so
reassuring,” Bri quipped.  She pulled her keys out of her
purse.  “Here’s what we’re going to do.  You are going to drive my
car.  That way,
you
can still drive, and
I
don’t have to
fear for my life.  See, everybody wins!”  She tossed him the keys,
and went to open the passenger side door on her Mazda.

“Stop
right there,” Cole demanded.  He walked over and opened the door for
her.  “Just because we’re taking your car, doesn’t mean you’re getting
your own door.”  She slid in and he closed the door.

“Who
knew you were such a gentleman,” Bri smiled at him as he got in.

“Ambria,
with you I’ve never been anything
but
a gentleman,” he smiled back.

Cole
drove them up to the hills around LA and pulled out his camera.  Bri
carried the bag with his extra lenses and filters in it, while Cole snapped
pictures.  She was having fun following him around, while he tried to get
the perfect angle or the best lighting.  She could’ve sworn he snapped a
few pictures of her when she wasn’t looking.  When Cole was satisfied he’d
gotten some good shots, they turned back for the car.

“I’d
better not be in any of those pictures,” she warned as they drove away.

“Well,
that’s the thing.  There’s no way for you to find out, is there?” he
teased.  Bri punched his arm playfully.  “Hey!  I need that arm
to drive!” he laughed and glanced sideways at her.  “So, are you sure
you’re over the whole Trey thing?”

“I’m
still a little angry, but yeah, for the most part I’m over it.”

“Good,
because there’s something I’ve been dying to ask you, but I was worried it was
too soon.”

“Oh? 
And what’s that?”

“Where
the heck did you learn to throw a punch like that?”  He smiled at her, and
Bri laughed.  “I mean, most girls would’ve just smacked the guy.  Or
if they did hit him, they would’ve hurt themselves more than him.  But you
clocked him pretty good!  The whole side of his jaw is bruised, and you
didn’t even break a nail,” he winked at her.  “So, seriously, where did
you learn to hit like that?”

“Well,
my friend Rosa, back in Dallas, had four older, larger, brothers who made sure
she’d be able to fight off any guy who came near her.  She taught me.”

“Well,
she was one hell of a teacher!  Remind me never to piss you off, I don’t
want you mangling my face, too!”

Cole
pulled up to an Asian restaurant, and opened Bri’s door for her.

“Thanks
for coming with me today, Bri.  It was fun,” he said, once they’d been
seated.

“Yeah,
fun for you!  You weren’t the one lugging all the equipment around,” she
teased.  She really wasn’t complaining.  She’d had the best view
following behind him. 

“What? 
You’re a strong, independent woman.  If I’d tried to take the bag from
you, you would’ve given me a black eye!”

“I’ll
give you a black eye right now, if you’re not careful!” she laughed.

Their
food arrived, and Bri swatted Cole away as he tried to steal some of her kung
pao chicken.

“So,
there’s something I wanted to tell you,” Cole began after a couple of bites.

“Okay,
what’s up?”

“It’s
really not a big deal, but I wanted you to know I broke things off with
Serena.  Permanently.”  He glanced up at her through his lashes,
gauging her reaction.

“You
what?  Why?”  Bri was shocked.  She was even more surprised to
find that this news loosened something in her chest that she hadn’t realized
was even there. 

“Well,
I decided that dating just for the, um, benefits, wasn’t fair to anyone.”

“Oh. 
How did she take it?”

“She
was upset.  But I was honest with her, and she seemed to understand.”

“You
told her you couldn’t stand her because she was a total bitch?” Bri half
teased, half hoped.

“No!”
Cole laughed.  “I just told her that we could keep pretending all we want,
but my feelings for her hadn’t changed.  I said that I wasn’t interested
in her at all romantically, and if we kept going like we were someone was going
to get hurt.” 

“Wow. 
And you got out of there with your head still intact?”  Bri had a feeling
that Serena had been furious.  And when she got mad, she got mean.

“Barely,”
Cole admitted with a laugh.

“Are
you okay?”

“Yeah,
I’m good,” he smiled, his eyes holding hers.  His gaze was making Bri a
little uncomfortable.  There was an intense well of emotions hiding in his
eyes.  She wasn’t sure what they were, or what it meant, but her body was
responding to it.  Her breath caught, and butterflies swarmed her
stomach.  Unable to take it anymore, she turned her head and looked out
the window beside her.

They
finished eating, and Cole drove her home.  After they said goodbye, Bri
watched as he got on his motorcycle and started it up.  She didn’t think
it was possible, but Cole just got a little hotter.  For a brief moment,
she regretted not letting him take her out on his bike.  But, luckily
common sense reappeared.  He flashed her his sexy-as-hell smirk, that
riled up those dang butterflies again, before putting on his helmet and zooming
off.

Oh,
man, she was in some
serious
trouble.

“So,
how would you feel about meeting my dad?” Cole asked one day in Ceramics.

Bri,
who was working on her slab piece, paused a moment. 

“It’s
not a big deal, or anything.  My dad just wanted to meet the person responsible
for my “unbelievable turnaround in math”.  His words, not mine,” he
grinned.  “Maybe on Tuesday you could come to my house to study, and meet
my dad.  What do you think?”

“Um...”
Bri was a little surprised by Cole’s request.  But, they
were
friends
after all.  Friends hung out at each other’s houses and met their
parents.  She’d never had the chance to meet Cole’s dad last summer, and
now it seemed Cole was ready to rectify that.  That was all this
was.  Nothing more, no need to worry.  Bri smiled.  “Sure. 
That would actually be great, because my brothers are done with their soccer
practices, so my house is going to be a little loud from now on.”

“Great,”
Cole tried to sound nonchalant, but his eyes sparkled.  “I’ll make sure my
dad is there.  Then he can stop bugging me about it.  So does this
mean I finally get to meet these little monkeys you’ve been talking about?”

“My
brothers?  You want to meet my brothers?”

“Of
course!  And the infamous stepmom, too, if that’s okay?”

“Um,
sure, I guess.  Not that you’d be able to avoid it.  Soccer doesn’t
start up again until spring.  In fact, we may want to start considering
other locations to study at.  Liam and Logan take rambunctious to a whole
new level!”

“I
don’t mind at all,” Cole reassured her.  “I love kids.  They are the
highest form of entertainment!  I bet I could get some good dirt on you
from them!”

Bri
laughed.  “Well, I’ll have to make sure I grill your dad on Tuesday for
some dirt on you, then!”

“On
second thought, how about we agree to a no dirt digging truce?  I’m
horrified to think what my dad might spill.”  He shivered dramatically.

“Deal,”
she laughed.  “Now, quit distracting me.  This slab piece and I have
some unfinished business,” Bri glared at what was supposed to be a rectangular
vase in front of her.  It looked more like a lopsided cereal box.

Cole
laughed loudly, earning a warning look from the teacher.

“You
know, the key to art is to become one with what you are doing.  You’re not
going to be able to threaten it into submission.”  He had to stifle
another laugh.

“Ugh,
why did I take this class?” Bri groaned.  “This is in no way fun. 
It’s more humiliating and depressing than anything.  Kind of like
golf.  And just like golf, I completely suck at it!”

Cole
burst out laughing again, and Bri couldn’t help but join him.

“Oh,
Bri,” Cole wiped a tear from his eye.  “I spend my whole day just waiting
to hear what freaking hilarious, off the wall comment you’ll come up with
next.  You never leave me disappointed!” 

On
Tuesday, Bri drove over to Cole’s house, feeling a little nervous.  She
didn’t know why she was nervous, it’s not like this was some big, sit down
dinner with his family or anything.  Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her
bag and got out of the car.  She knocked on the door, and a moment later a
freshly showered Cole answered.

His
still wet hair hung in his eyes, and she could faintly smell his shampoo. 
She’d never admit it to anyone, but she loved the smell of Cole’s wet
hair.  She’d grown quite accustomed to it over the past little
while.  Yep, it was definitely not fair that he smelled so good.

“Hi
Bri!  Come on in,” he smiled and motioned her inside.

She
walked into the familiar living room.  A man with Cole’s same dark hair
was sitting on the couch.  He turned and smiled at Bri, standing up to
meet her. 

“Bri,
this is my dad, Jimmy.  Dad, this is Ambria.”

“Ambria,
so nice to finally meet you,” Jimmy smiled, his light blue eyes shining. 
“Cole talks about you all the time.  It’s nice to finally put a face with
the name!”

“Dad!”
Cole huffed.  “Don’t listen to him, Bri, he likes to exaggerate.  I
think it’s because he’s getting so old,” he joked.  “Old people exaggerate
everything!”

“Yeah,
well, this old man still has more game than you, Sport!”

Bri
smiled at Cole, glad she wasn’t the only one saddled with parental nicknames.

“Now
Bri,” Jimmy motioned for her to sit down.  “Tell me about yourself.” 
He smiled warmly and sat down next to her on the couch.  “It isn’t often I
get to meet Cole’s girlfriends.”

Bri’s
breath caught, and she blushed.  She wasn’t sure how to respond to
that.  Luckily, Cole jumped in and saved her.

“Dad!” 
He sat down exasperated.  “I told you, Bri and I are just friends. 
Stop trying to embarrass me, it’s making her uncomfortable.”

Jimmy
leaned closer to her.  “I’m sorry, Bri, I didn’t mean to upset you. 
It’s just that embarrassing Cole here is too much fun!”  He winked and sat
back.

Knowing
that Cole’s dad hadn’t been serious, Bri relaxed.  She told Jimmy a little
about herself, and they talked for a few minutes.  She found that Jimmy
shared his son’s easy going, gregarious nature, so different from the Cole she
saw at school.  In fact, as Bri watched Cole and his dad tease each other
good naturedly and swap one-liners back and forth, she realized that this was
yet another version of Cole she hadn’t seen before.  This sarcastic,
wise-ass Cole, though he shared a lot of qualities with her Cole, was a
stranger to her.  And while she found his playful banter funny, and was
laughing out loud at the exchange, she felt a little sad as she fully realized
that who Cole was changed depending on who he was with.  This scared her a
little because it validated her fear that she didn’t really know who he
was.  And how many more versions of Cole was she going to come
across?  She was worried that she would never know the real him. 
Shoving aside her concerns, Bri focused instead on getting to work as Jimmy
left her and Cole to their homework.

The
next few weeks seemed to fly by.  Dance kept Bri busy as the team prepared
for their competition season that began in December.  Most of the girls
had come around and weren’t as hostile towards Bri anymore, which made
practices much more bearable.  The team also had some more halftime performances
as the football team advanced to the semi-final game for the state
championship, which they lost.  Cole had been upset, but he’d had a great
game despite the loss. 

Layla
and Devon were quite the item now, so she didn’t have as much time to hang out
with Bri.  Bri completely understood, and while she missed her friend a
little, she was glad that Layla was happy.   

At
school, things between Bri and Cole remained the same.  They continued to
keep their distance, except in ceramics where they could talk.  Cole still
ate lunch with a very pouty Serena, despite their breakup.  But when they
passed each other in the halls, Cole’s eyes always sought Bri out, and he
always had a smile or a wink for her. 

Trey,
on the other hand, had ignored Bri ever since that night at the party. 
His face took a while to heal, but he had refused to say what had really
happened.  Instead, he pretended that Bri didn’t exist, which suited her
just fine.

Cole
finally got to meet Summer, Liam and Logan.  The boys were instantly
smitten with him, mainly because he would play with them for a while after he
and Bri were done studying.  It was the twins’ reward for leaving the them
alone so they could work.  The boys were quickly becoming Cole’s biggest
fans.  Even Summer didn’t seem to mind him coming over, and she would even
set out drinks and snacks when he was there.

Bri
was out watching Cole and her brothers playing football one Tuesday
evening.  She laughed as Cole dramatically missed tackling Logan and
landed face first in the lawn. 

“You
know,” she laughed from the front steps, “if you keep encouraging them, they’re
never going to leave you alone!”

Cole
lifted his face out of the grass and grinned.

“Are
you kidding?  They’re great!  I’ve always wanted little brothers!”

“Well,
don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

“Bri!”
Liam yelled as he rushed towards her.  “Come play with us!”  He
grabbed her hand and she let him pull her over to where Logan was body slamming
Cole on the grass.

“You
guys are in trouble now,” she grinned as she picked up Liam and twirled him
around.  As she set the slightly dizzy Liam down, Logan raced over and
tackled her to the ground.  She burst out laughing, and Liam jumped on the
dog pile.  She glanced up to see Cole laughing with her.  The pure
joy on his face, and his deliciously tousled hair, caused her heart to start
pounding.  His eyes met hers, and Bri felt herself blushing under his
gaze.  She had a sudden, almost irresistible urge to run over and tackle
him.  She quickly dropped her eyes, uneasy at her reaction.  

As
hard as she tried, Bri found it was practically impossible
not
to be
affected by Cole.  One look sent her pulse racing.  A smile would set
butterflies loose in her stomach.  And even a small touch would cause
goose bumps to break out on her skin.  No, it was futile to deny it any
longer.  He had been affecting her this way from the beginning, and as
much as she tried to fight it, her body just responded to him. 

And
it seemed her mind was starting to follow suit.  She couldn’t get him off
her mind.  She spent hours trying to puzzle him out, but could never come
to any definitive conclusions.  With Cole, there were always more
questions than answers.  She decided that if she was going to find the truth,
she’d have to get it from him.

It
was a cool Tuesday evening, a week before Thanksgiving.  Cole and Bri were
sitting at her dining room table reviewing Cole’s chapter for his math test
that Friday.  Summer had taken the boys out to run errands, so they had
the house to themselves for a change.  Bri wasn’t going to get a better
chance to talk to Cole, but she was having trouble gathering up the courage to
do it.  She decided to start by giving Cole some news she knew he’d be
excited about.

“So,”
she grinned mischievously at him.  “I have some news for you.”

“Oh,
yeah?” he looked up at her.

“I
just found out last night that your favorite stalker, Carly, is coming out here
for Thanksgiving!”

“Psycho
Chick?  She’s coming here?”  Cole looked almost scared.

“Unfortunately,”
she gave him a sympathetic smile.  “And I’m pretty sure she still wants to
pound you into the ground.  So you might want to lay low next week.”

“Lay
low?  I’m thinking about fleeing the country!  Is there any way you
could pretend you don’t know me, or more importantly, where I live, while she’s
here?” he pleaded.

“Well,
I suppose I could,” she considered playfully.  “I mean that is what
friends do.  They protect each other from their crazy, psychotic
stalkers!”

Cole
reached over and took Bri’s hand.  She was too surprised to do anything
but let him.

“You
see, Bri, that’s what I like about you.  You don’t get squeamish with the
nastier aspects of friendship,” he smiled, looking down at her hand in
his.  His thumb began rubbing circles on the top of her hand.  She
drew in a sharp breath, and he glanced up at her through his lashes.  As
she gazed into his gray eyes, thanks to his black t-shirt, something stirred
inside her.  She suddenly wished that things between her and Cole didn’t
have to be so complicated.  That they could just go back to the way things
were before school started, and forget about everything else.  But she
knew that things were never that easy.

She
dropped her eyes, and pulled her hand away.

“Cole,
if I ask you something, will you give me an honest answer?”

“If
I can,” he replied hesitantly.  “What is it you want to ask?”

“How
is it possible that there are so many different versions of you?” she asked
quietly, finally looking up at him.  “I mean, there’s the version of you
at school and with your friends.  Then there’s a totally different version
of you when you’re with your dad.  And you’re even more different when
you’re with me.  How do you possibly keep up so many different personas? 
And more importantly,
why
?  Why do you feel the need to hide
yourself from everyone?”

This
time it was Cole who dropped his eyes.  He let out a long breath.  He
seemed to be debating something internally, so Bri kept quiet and gave him some
time.  Finally, he spoke.

“Yeah,
I guess that is a question you would have.  And I think you deserve an
answer,” he looked back up at her.  “I guess it all started after my mom
left.  My dad was devastated, and even though I was young I could see
it.  And I quickly learned that if I was sad, or cried, or even asked
about my mom, my dad would completely shut down.  He’d leave me with a
babysitter and go to the bar, or lock himself in his room all night.  So,
I started being what I thought he needed me to be.  Happy, normal, well
adjusted.  I hid all my pain and problems from him so he wouldn’t worry,
or spiral into depression.  I also tried to cheer him up and make him
laugh as much as possible.  If he was happy, my life was better.  As
I grew up, I pretended to be interested in the things he was, football, cars,
poker.  And I kept from him anything that didn’t fit in with what he
wanted or needed.