Where the Truth Leads

Chapter 15: Cowboy Hats and Tennis

AERO's POV

"You're taking too long," Thomas called out to me from the hallway.

"One second!" I yelled back as I finished zipping my bag. I tucked the loose piece of hair that had kept falling into my face behind my air. I double checked that I had all of my belongings and then joined my friends in the hallway.

We checked out of the hotel and said our goodbyes to Oklahoma. We packed up the car and hit the freeway. As Aurelie tried to guess what number Patrick was thinking of, I looked out the window at the long, open road.

Summer was now more than halfway over. In just a few more weeks we'd be back in Canada. It made me sad, but I was also sort of looking forward to the new semester. I was over the heat and ready for sweater season. I was ready for classes to start so my focus didn't have to be 100% dedicated to my personal life. I was enjoying the road trip, spending this time with my friends. But for some reason being on the road for so long was starting to make me me feel like I was on the run, and I was so tired of running.

I could also see that Thomas was tired. He was having fun with us but he was tired. Despite not loving his Homelife, he'd never been away from it for this long before. Aurelie and Patrick were having a blast, but with each long care ride we took the more bored and restless Patrick would get. Especially after the letdowns that Arkansas and Oklahoma were.

"I'm just excited to finally wear my purple cowboy hat!" Aurelie had said earlier that morning. Patrick took it from her hands and placed it on his head. "Yeehaw, Texas here we come!" He had stated in a terrible, southern accent.

As we crossed the boarder into Texas the sun was begging to set. I looked down at my phone which began to buzz. It was Cole. I didn't answer, as I bet it was just Parker trying to contact me again.

After receiving another call from him I hit ignore and shoved my phone away.

After settling in to our hotel, Patrick begged us to go out. He claimed he wanted to go to the rodeo, so we settled for a random bar instead. Both Thomas and I wore a flannel with jeans, his flannel being black and white and mine being white and navy blue. This was our compromise when Aurelie had forced us to "dress the part". She wore ripped jean shorts with a purple tank top to match her hat. We even stopped at a store for Patrick to purchase his own Cowboy hat and for us all to get authentic cowboy boots.

We walked in the bar and was instantly greeted by loud country music and booming voices. There was a giant bar in the middle of the room with over five bartenders. One side of the bar had tall, wooden, standing tables. The other side was the dedicated dance floor which was filled with people lined up and dancing.

"Oh my gosh they are actually square dancing! Let's go!" Aurelie dragged Patrick by his hand and lead him to the dance floor.

Thomas looked at me and asked, "You joining them?"

He pointed at the floor with a smirk.

I opened my eyes widely and laughed. "I'm gonna need at least one drink before that happens."

PARKER's POV

I lowered the racket and attempted to catch my breathe. Even two against one, Harry was still crushing Cole and I.

I used the back of my hand to wipe sweat away from my forehead. I looked over at Cole who also looked tired. I cringed at his white polo and white tennis shorts only because I knew thats also exactly what I looked like right now. Harry has insisted that it was the proper tennis attire but I knew he just enjoyed making us look like assholes. I tried to get out of todays match by claiming I didn't feel well, which wasn't a complete lie, but Harry said it would be "good for us".

After swinging and missing the ball yet again, I paused and yelled, "Alright its break time!"

I grabbed my water bottle and took a huge sip.

"Nice job guys. You almost had that last one!" Harry smirked at us.

I shot him a dirty glare and rolled my eyes.

"Cole honey!" We turned to see his mom standing by the gate. "Come here for a second!"

He nodded and jogged over to her, too far away for me to hear their conversation. "So did you guys have that talk yet? The 'what happens next' talk?" Harry asked.

"No," I sighed. "Why? Is that what they are talking about? Has she asked him to stay? Do you k now something I don't?"

"Woah, woah," he said tossing up his hands. "I don't know anything, I was just curious."

I let out a quick sigh of relief. I still wasn't ready for that conversation with Cole.

"I'm sure it will all work out," Harry said tapping my side with his tennis racket. "But for now you gotta step up your game."

I rolled my eyes. "It's hard to move back and forth quickly!" I whined. I wiped off more sweat off of my face and breathed heavily. With the sun beating down on us my body felt like it was on fire. I drank more water as my stomach cramped up.

Cole trotted back over to us and his mom walked away.

"What was that about?" I asked curiously placing down my bottle.

He shook his head quickly and said, "Oh, nothing."

That response did not ease my mind.

"Should we call it a day? You look really tired,'' Harry said looking me up and down.

"Are you kidding? I could do this all day!" I said sarcastically.

I leaned down to pick up my racket when everything started to go blurry. I stutter-stepped forwards trying to catch my balance, but the cramping in my stomach got sharper now causing me to double over in pain.

"Parker are you okay? What's wrong?" Cole grabbed ahold of me to keep my from falling but my legs gave out causing us both to collapse onto the ground. My heart began to beat faster as the pain worsened.

From that point on I couldn't make out the words they were saying. I just looked up and saw the sun shining from behind Cole's worried face. I squeezed his hand as I struggled to keep my eyes open.

AERO's POV

Thomas spun me around making me giggle. Neither of us had any idea of what we were doing but we couldn't help but just laugh. I was definitely starting to feel the last drink I had. A women with a bucket passed by us and offered me a black cowboy hat. I reached for it excitedly and placed it on top of Thomas's head. He grabbed me by my hips and pulled me in closer. "How do I look?'' he laughed. I had no idea how he did this sober.

"It's hot,'' I yelled nuzzling my nose against his. He kissed me quickly and then spun me around again.

I felt my phone buzz from my back pocket. I let go of Thomas with one hand and grabbed it. I swiped it open quickly and answered.

"Lila?" I asked.

She began talking but I couldn't make out her words.

"Wait one sec, I can't hear you," I yelled into the phone and then made my way outside with Thomas following behind me.

"Aero? Can you hear me?" she said quickly, her voice shaking.

"Yeah I'm here, what's up?" I asked concerned.

"He said you won't answer him, so he called me- and I figured you-"

"Lila what are you talking about?" I cut her off to get to the point.

She hesitantly whispered into the phone, "It's Parker."