Chapter 6

Natalie Kilper had not expected that her mother would move this quickly.

It was only the next day when Natalie Kilper's mother had dropped by to 'visit' her. Unfortunately for Cole, he happened to be at home as well.

Mrs. Kilper immediately spent a long time in praising Cole's looks, remained ignorant of his eyes that showed his desperation to escape. Finally, Mrs. Kilper turned her attention to Natalie, setting Cole free.

"Dear, do let me meet this man that had stolen your heart."

"Why mom, you have just met him."

"I did?" Mrs. Kilper beamed with joy.

Cole stared at Natalie in horror, quick to catch onto what Natalie meant.

Natalie grinned wickedly as she winked at Cole. "Yes mom, you did. Cole's the one that had managed to steal my heart."

"Oh, my!" Mrs. Kilper examined Cole again. "I approve of this young man! When's the wedding?"

"There will be one, but hopefully by next year," Natalie answered happily and completely disregarding Cole's pale face with his mouth hung open in shock.

"N-Natalie!" Cole was finally able to get over his shock and protested before the conversation would go any further.

Natalie burst out laughing. "Sorry but it's rather fun to tease you, Cole."

"So he isn't your love interest?" Mom asked in disappointment. She had liked Cole after all.

"He is, but I need to steal his heart first before the wedding, mom."

"That won't be a problem! My Natalie would steal your heart in no time, young man."

Cole stared at them in horror. "N-No, Mrs. Kilper t-that won't happen!"

"Are you saying my Natalie isn't good enough for you?" Mrs. Kilper demanded with a fierce gaze as she stared down at Cole. It was an easy feat for Mrs. Kilper was a tall woman and Cole's height had only managed to reach past her ears.

Cole's height was just a few centimeters shorter than Natalie, but he was still in his growing period so in future he would be taller than her.

"No, Mrs. Kilper! N-Natalie is a g-great person! But-"

"Then why are you protesting? Perhaps you don't get aroused by my daughter?"

"Mom!" Natalie yelled in embarrassment while Cole blushed fiercely. "What are you talking about?"

"What? You can't expect every man to be drooling for you, Natalie."

"I didn't! You are the one that said it!"

Mrs. Kilper ignored her daughter. "Well, Cole? Do you or do you not?"

"I-It's not p-proper, ma'am!"

Mrs. Kilper snorted haughtily. "Not proper? I have a husband that I've known since junior high and I have also raised a healthy son. I know very well what young men mostly think about."

Cole's face blushed to a deeper shade of red. "I-I apologize, ma'am. I- I think Natalie is p-pretty, but I think she's too f-forceful."

Natalie froze as Mrs. Kilper stared at Cole in disbelief. "Forceful? Nay! Natalie is just like me in temper and stubbornness, but she isn't forceful!"

"Mom!"

"Oh hush Natalie. If he couldn't accept your weakness as a part of you, perhaps he isn't the one for you!"

"Mom! You can't just-" Whatever Natalie wanted to say was cut off by the doorbell.

Natalie blinked in confusion, as she was not aware of any guest coming today, except for the unexpected arrival of her mother. Trent was not here, as he will be meeting his girlfriend with the courage he painstakingly gathered to finally propose to her.

"M-My friends!" Cole cried out in relief and rushed to the door to escape. The situation was getting too sticky and he could not find any reason to reject Natalie's advances nor her mother's questions without hurting anyone's feelings.

Cole slowly opened the door and takes his own sweet time to step aside to let Wess, Scott, and Brenda into the apartment slowly. He was trying how to avoid the situation in the living room, but could not think up any excuses.

As a law student, every question that involves rules and regulation could be answered correctly by him, but since the day he met Natalie, he discovered that there was something other than natural disasters in this world that his logic could not explain and control.

Wess was staring at him questioningly when Cole slowly led them towards the living room. He had wanted to have the study group to be in the living room since there would be a larger space but the situation changed his mind. The study group would have to be in his room, but in order to go to his room, they still had to cross over the living room.

With heavy legs, he brought his friends into the living room and saw Natalie and Mrs. Kilper calmly sipping their tea, their previous argument nowhere to be found.

"Cole, they are your study mates?" Natalie asked with a friendly tone, but Cole did not miss the way Natalie had examined Brenda critically, ignoring Scott and Wess.

"Y-Yes. Y-You remember Wess from b-before?"

"Yes, I do. Hello again, Wess."

"Hi, Miss Kilper."

"Do call me Natalie, Wess. Only strangers call me that."

Cole frowned inwardly, as Wess was a stranger to Natalie. Wess had not visited him in the apartment aside from the moving day. "Um, t-this is Scott and Brenda."

"Hello. I'm Cole's roommate, Natalie."

"Hi," Scott and Brenda greeted.

"Are you going to use the living room, Cole?" Natalie flashed a sweet smile towards Cole, who fidgeted in response. It was not the first time she had smiled that way to Cole, but it always made him uncomfortable.

"N-No. We are going to m-my room."

"I see. Well, then I shall not bother you guys. My mother and I will chat quietly."

"T-Thanks." Cole motioned his friends to follow him to his room. When the door finally closed behind them, Wess quickly dragged Cole towards the bed and made him sit down.

"What's going on?"

Cole eyed at Scott and Brenda uncertainly, but Wess waved his concerns away. "I've told them about Natalie and her obsession towards you."

"Natalie doesn't have an o-obsession on me!"

Wess just raised an eyebrow at Scott and Brenda, both nodded as if to confirm something. "See? Both of them agree that she has an obsession with you!"

"Why did you tell them?" Cole whispered angrily at Wess.

"It's funny?"

Cole groaned and Wess patted his back. "Well, I asked them both to come here to help with your case."

"Help with my case? A-Aren't we here to study?"

Wess snorted. "Dude, the exam is in three weeks. There's plenty of time to study. But in your case, it isn't something we can leave untouched any longer."

"But-"

"Look, Cole," Scott interrupted. "I know this may sound as if we are being a busybody, but we are your friends. We help each other. You have helped me with my problem too, remember?"

"I remember, but-"

"Don't you dare say that this isn't a big problem. You've told me Natalie is growing bolder as the day passed," Wess said grimly.

In the beginning, Natalie had started wearing clingy clothes that molded onto her figure like a lover's caress. Soon, she started to skip wearing a bra after a shower, and it was something Cole noticed because her thin shirt could not hide her stiff nipples!

"Is it true that Natalie had sneaked into your room at night?" Scott asked curiously.

Cole blushed and nodded timidly. He remembered the first time it happened. It shocked a great deal out of him when he was roused from sleep at the sound of his bedroom door opening. That night, he happened to sleep facing the door and could see who had entered his room.

He did not know why he quickly shut his eye and pretended to be asleep with his heart beating erratically.

At first, he could hear her moving things around and felt angry that she was snooping around his things. He was going to confront her when Natalie suddenly approached his sleeping form and helped to arrange his blanket so that it could cover him up to his neck.

With a soft 'good night', she quietly left the room. He waited until he was sure she would not return again before climbing out of his bed to check his room. To begin with, Cole was a person that value tidiness and his room showed it. There was not much mess in his room but he noticed with keen eyes that Natalie had helped to straighten some of his things up.

The next morning, Natalie had greeted him cheerfully and acted as if she had not entered his bedroom last night. Cole could not open his mouth to ask her either and so the topic was pushed under the carpet.

She continued doing that every night until Cole decided to lock his bedroom. He could sense her disappointment the next morning but she did not ask why he locked the door.

The four of them jumped when someone suddenly knocked on the door. "I brought drinks!" Natalie cheerful voice flooded into the room.

Scott was quick to pull out books from his bag pack and tossed them onto the floor. Brenda sat down on his bed as Wess slipped down to the floor from Cole's bed, trying to look busy as with a book.

Natalie opened the door without invitation and marched into the room with a tray filled with drinks on her hand. She smiled at the boys but when she turned to Brenda, it looked more like a grimace.

Natalie was annoyed to see Brenda sitting on Cole's bed, right beside the person himself.

"Thanks, Natalie!" Wess took a glass for himself. "I'm getting thirsty!"

"You guys hungry? I have some snacks in the kitchen."

"That's kind of you Natalie, but we have just eaten our lunch before we came here," Scott politely declined.

"Then I will leave you guys to study." As soon as Natalie left, everyone sighed in relief.

"Do you think she's going to come in again?" Scott asked.

"I think she will," Brenda voiced her opinion and Wess nodded in agreement.

"We need to do something to protect Cole," Wess decided as his lips thinned with determination. "We had to protect Cole's virginity!"

Cole slammed his pillow onto Wess's face to keep his mouth shut as his face burned in embarrassment.

"Perhaps this idea would work," Brenda slowly said and gained everyone's attention.

"What idea?"

Brenda stared at Cole shyly before she quickly asked, "Would you be my boyfriend?"

Cole gaped at her in shock while Wess and Scott whooped in joy. "You finally asked!" Wess said happily.

"Yes, finally! One year babe! One year!" Scott joined in cheering for the shy but happy Brenda.

Finally, they stopped and turned to look at Cole, who was still shell-shocked. "Cole?"

"I-I don't k-know what to s-say," Cole stammered and avoided making any eye contact. What truly shocked him was that Scott and Wess know about it and manage to keep it a secret from him.

Brenda clasped his hand. "You don't have to answer me now, so take your time to think about it. I will wait for you. But we can lie to Natalie about us in a relationship."

Cole risked meeting her eyes and found her to be sincere about it. He had known Brenda for three years and found that she was a nice person and a great friend. She was not like those girls that kept fawning over him. Cole knows she would be a great girlfriend, but he never feels that way towards her. In fact, he had not even looked at her in a romantic way.

If he agreed to be her fake boyfriend, that might make Natalie back off, but Cole does not want to hurt Brenda's feelings. Their fake dating might give Brenda a fake hope.

Cole looked at Brenda seriously. "I'm sorry B-Brenda but I don't f-feel that way towards you. T-Thank you for h-helping, but t-there's no need for it."

Brenda nodded, but could not muster up a smile. "That's okay. I understand."