Behind These Eyes

Chapter 6~Shay Dixon

"You good?" I blink a few times, awakened from my daydream by Cole.

"Yeah," I yawn, "just zoned out for a second."

Cole nods and parks the car before opening the back door to grab our skates. He then comes around and opens my door for me and I thank him.

Jesse wouldn't have done that for me. Then again, Jesse won't even get in a car. I understand his fear but that was years ago. He didn't have a driver's licence then. Then again, he still doesn't, only the fake one he used to get his motorcycle licence.

"What are you thinking about?"

I look over at Cole, already lacing up his skates. "School." I lie.

Cole probably doesn't believe me but I just lace up my own skates and get on the ice. I'm thankful that the ice isn't too crowded. It's cold out and most people would've chosen to go to an indoor rink rather than an outdoor one. I like having the wind blow through my hair though. Indoor rinks always seemed so weird to me.

I speed up and I notice Cole catch my eye, an evil glint in his eye from the other side of the rink. He picks up his speed too. I increase my speed and, in turn, he does the same.

I forget that the rink rounds off at the end and we're both coming to the same point. As we turn, we slid into each other, laughing. His weight makes me fall backwards and I pull him down with me.

I playfully push him off me and he slowly gets up before helping me up. I'm a bit clumsy and I almost fall sideways but he catches me instinctively.

"Thanks." I laugh nervously.

I don't hear Cole's reply because something close by catches my eye. Sasha.

Cole follows my gaze and sucks in a breath. "Don't go over there."

I'm not surprised that he read my mind, we've been friends for over six years. "I'll just say hi, it would be wrong to ignore her. Besides, she's new."

"Doesn't matter, she's only new because in her old town she's an outcast. For killing a guy."Cole points out.

"Well then, she needs help." I skate on over to Sasha before Cole can stop me. I can only imagine what's going through his mind right now.

"Hi Sasha." I call.

Sasha looks up from her phone. "Hey."

"How's it going?" I ask casually, knowing I should've planned out what to say ahead of time.

Sasha shrugs. "Good, yourself?"

"Pretty good-"

"Hey, isn't that the guy I saw you with the other day? Your...friend?"

I clear my throat. "Yeah, that's Cole."

"He's kinda hot." Sasha looks him over and I instantly feel jealous, despite the many reasons why I shouldn't.

"I-I guess so." I'm taken back by the statement. She's not wrong though...

Sasha laughs. "He seems to like you. If you wanted, you could probably-"

"I'm actually dating someone else."

Sasha shrugs. "And that would be..?"

"Jesse Holland." I smile proudly.

Sasha just stares blankly at me. I forgot for a moment that she's knew and hardly knows anyone at school yet.

I decide to continue. "He's the basketball team captain and-"

"Yeah, I know who he is." Sasha pauses. "I would be careful if I were you, he seems very..." She stops herself.

"He has some anger issues and can be a little intense but he means well." I say quickly, not fully believing my own words.

Sasha just averts her eyes. "Right...you better head back to Cole, he keeps looking at you." I look over at Cole and, sure enough, he's looking at me expectantly, skating back and forth.

"I guess so." I give a nervous laugh before thinking I shouldn't have. I don't want her to think I'm a loser or something.

"Well, nice talking to you." Sasha smiles but the blank look in her eyes doesn't change.

"Yeah, same." At that, I head back to Cole.

"We better go, it's getting late and your parents will kill me if you aren't home by ten." Cole pulls me to the edge of the ice.

"But it's only after six." I frown, my house is only a few blocks away.

"So? You gotta eat sometime." Cole points out. "I was thinking...Rockwater Steakhouse?"

"That's pretty expensive Cole, I would totally be fine with just some fast food."

"Don't worry about it, I got a discount." Cole smiles.

"Since when?" I laugh.

"Since I started working there last week."

"You did? Why didn't you tell me?"

Cole shrugs. "I wanted to make sure I still had the job. The more people you tell, the more you will disappoint if you don't keep the job."

"That's great, Cole!" I laugh and hug him. He stiffens in surprise at first but then relaxes and hugs me back.

"Then let's go." Cole helps me off the ice and then we undo our laces.

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