Twitter: @BlairHoldenx

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*Not proof-read I'll do that in the morning*

Dedicated to Call-Me-Bell for the amaaaaaazing new cover <3

Also dedicated to all you guys who wanted Cole and Tessa to dance to Little Things :) Proud Directioner :') 

Chapter Thirteen : Is That A Rhetorical Question?

Beth is a lot of things. She's tough; she's confident, outgoing, unapologetic and a little too punk rock. What I haven't pegged her as is someone who's as interested in my love life as the rest of the town is at the moment. I can still sense everyone's gaze on me and it's tempting me to go all Kardashian on them and give them something to really watch.

Okay getting back to the topic at hand. Beth, yes my perfectly sane if just a little out there friend is starting to freak me out with her constant look of absolute amazement on her face. It's somewhat uncomfortable to have her liner rimmed eyes on me like this especially in response to what I've told her.

"You're going to the Founder's Ball?"

"Yes."

"You're participating in that demeaning competition?"

I flinch at her words but nevertheless repeat what I've previously said.

"Cole's being your escort?"

I nod my head and she sighs, "I knew I'd lose you to the establishment one day. Megan, I could imagine pulling this on me but you Tessa? I'm just disappointed."

"Oh come on, there's no establishment. My mom's blackmailed me into entering the pageant and I have to go to the Ball, the Mayor's my dad."

 "Details, details," She dismisses my rebuttal with a flick of the wrist and collects her books from her locker. We walk side by side to homeroom and yet another hour of watching Ms. Sanchez being attacked by spitballs.

"But I've always gone to Ball, ever since I was a kid. What are you getting mad?"

"I'm not mad," she sighs again, "It's just that for the last two years you've been the only person I can trash the stupid tradition with. Remember how we always snuck out halfway through your Dad's speech."

I smile remembering how I have never stayed at the ball for more than an hour or so. No one noticed when I left; I don't know whether the thought should make me happy or want to burst into tears.

"It's different this year. I feel like my family's finally getting it together and I want it to work." I reply clutching my books to my chest as I'm shoved into by someone who closely resembles one of Nicole's minions.

"Watch it you bimbo." Beth yells over her shoulder and then shakes her head.

"I have a bad feeling about all of this. Nicole's not going to be happy about you entering; god knows how desperate she is to win this thing."

"Though," she continues without me having added a word to ease her concern, "if you beat her it could change everything."

I listen to her talk about the new world order and the possibilities of world domination. She sounds a lot like Cole right now. Both are under the impression that winning a beauty contest would ultimately help me dethrone Nicole and take her place as the new Queen Bee. I do not want that, I have never wanted that but to see her lose what she cherishes most...well it would be quite a sight. That's the plan, taking away all that she treasure most and being as shallow as she is, that mostly means her popularity. It's rather low of me to want that but after all these years of letting her stomp over me with those gigantic feet of hers, it feels right.

I don't see Cole in any of our classes nor do I see Jay. At first I begin to worry that the encounter at the mall might have led to something more but then Beth points out that all the jocks are missing. Cole has joined the football team and not surprisingly he's been made the Quarterback. As the first half of the day progresses into lunch I learn that the boys are volunteering to set up for the Ball. A kind of fear creeps into me as I walk into the cafeteria to find that my safety blanket isn't there. If it's not Cole then one of his teammates from the football team would watch out for us, keeping the bullying to a minimal. We also got to sit at the table Cole had claimed on his very first day but today Beth and I were confused as to what would happen.

Cautiously I take a seat at said table and take a look around the room. Sure enough Nicole's glaring at me from where she's sat but as time ticks by and she does nothing to inflict humiliation on me, I begin feeling relieved.

Someone taps on my shoulder and immediately start conjuring vicious scenarios in my head. This is it Tessa, this is where Nicole unleashes her wrath on you. It's all been too good to be true, now you're going get the full Queen Bitch treatment.

"Why is that plankton at our table?" My friend's staring at whoever is behind me and I let out a breath when it's obvious that it isn't the 'lets make Tessa's life miserable' squad. I crane my neck to find a burly freshmen boy smiling widely at the both of us. Typically, we stick to the food chain in this school and don't fraternize with those above or below us. Being seniors, we don't really talk to or care about the newbies. They in turn stay away from the big bad world of eighteen years old. Which is why I'm confused as to why he and his friend, a few feet behind are looking at us like we've been best friends since our diaper days.

"Can we help you?" I ask as politely as I can manage.

"Actually we wanted to know if we could help you. Cole told us you don't like cafeteria food so do you want us to get you something off-campus?"

Beth and I look at the two boys thinking that they've obviously lost their minds. Why would these strangers whom we treat like scum half the time want to spare us the torture that is mystery meat Tuesday?

"Why would you want to do that?" I ask

"Because it's part of our job requirement. If he finds out we've been slacking, he'll kick our...," the freckled freshman with a head of brown floppy hair pauses to think of a more ladylike word, "butts. We have to make sure that you're taken care of." He says with a serious nod of his head. The two stand so tall and proud, it's like they've been entrusted with national security plans.

"Wait, let me get this straight. Cole's got you guys watching over us?" Beth asks with barely hidden amusement as she makes air quotation marks over the words 'watching over'.

"Everyone but the freshman players from all the teams are helping out with the Mayor's ball so he told the two of us," he gestures between him and his olive skinned friend," to make sure that no one bothers you guys today."

Oh.

I don't know whether to feel giddy that he cares so much or worried that he has the power to 'employ' freshmen as bodyguards. This explains why we've been left alone the entire day, why no one's tried to attack us or take advantage of the fact that Cole's not here.

It's all because even though he's not here, he's still taking care of me.

Oh My God.

"In that case, boys," Beth is disarming the boys who stand no chance when it comes to resistance. Giving them her best flirty smile and twirling a strand of her hair around her finger, "Can you get me a cheeseburger?"

"Should we go check up on Megan?" I ask Beth as she's driving me back home. Her mother's finally given in and let her buy a car. It's a little old and needs work but Beth might as well have given birth to it seeing how much she loves it already.

"Her text said that whatever she has is probably contagious so we should stay away." She frowns as she turns into my street. Megan missing a day of school is pretty rare so it's believable that she's sick but something doesn't feel right about this.

"I know what you're thinking. Let's give her a day before barging into her room okay?" I nod as I realize it's probably best to give Megan the space she needs. Things have been a little difficult for her, what with Alex relentless pursuing her and her mother's insistence that she lives a nun like life until she's thirty.

"I just hope she survives spending all that time with her mom." I shudder at the thought as I get out of the car. I would invite Beth in but she has to get to work so we say our goodbyes for the day and I go inside.

I'm in the process of pouring myself a bowl of Coco Puffs when my phone buzzes in my back pocket. Surprisingly it's a text from Cole. It's about four in the afternoon so it's possible that he's done for the day.

Cole: Dress warm, we're going out. Pick you up in ten.

The old me would like to argue with him, to tell him that I have better things to do on a Friday night but the new me has other plans. The new me actually wants to spend time with Cole Stone and is excited at the prospect of 'going out' with him.

Me: Okay.

In five minutes I race upstairs and try to salvage something of my appearance. I spring my hair free from the messy top bun I made in a hurry this morning and run a brush through it. Taking off my over-sized sweatshirt I pick out a soft pink cashmere sweater and pair it with my Diesel jeans. Finishing the look with white converse I let out a huff of air, proud of myself for managing to do all this in less than ten minutes. I peep out of my window and there's no sign of Cole's Volvo. It gives me time to put on some mascara and lip gloss along with a subtle spray of my favourite perfume.

I haven't touched that particular perfume bottle in ages. It's my favourite one and I only use it on special occasions so it makes so sense why I just did that.

Convincing myself that it's only because I want to get more use out of it I go back downstairs breathing so heavily that one might think I've run a marathon.

The doorbell rings as I'm trying to calm my nerves down. It's just Cole, Cole the bully, Cole the abuser, the guy who's made me cry more times than I can count. There's no need to feel all light headed. I know it's because he's here or because I haven't seen him in over three days but seriously, this is pathetic. Its okay Tessa, breathe just breathe.

"You should remember that I only ring the bell out of courtesy. I still have my key."

He saunters in wearing his black leather jacket over a snug white t-shirt and jeans, rendering me speechless. His hair's windswept and total mess but strangely attractive, I've also never noticed how white his teeth are...

"Are you done checking me out Tessie?" He says smugly making me realize that I need to do damage control. I cannot let him think that I like him like that.

Or like him, period.

"Are you not aware that you have grease all over your face?"

Actually it's just a smidge on his forehead but hey, I'm not Tessa O'Connell if I don't exaggerate.

"What? I thought I washed all the damn stuff off." He groans and walks over to the kitchen sinks and starts splashing water all over his face.

Oh no, this is way worse.

The water's soaking his shirt and trickling down his throat muscles which flex as he swallows.

I must not stare. I must not stare at the gorgeous human standing a few feet away from me.

Averting my gaze I look for miniscule tasks around the house. I pick a cleaning cloth and begin rubbing at a spot on the counter even though it's already gleaming.

"You ready?" He asks once he's drying himself using a whole wad of kitchen paper. I don't look at him and nod, grabbing my satchel.

He tugs at my arm and pulls me back before I walk over to the door. Turning me around he grabs a hold of both my shoulders and tilts my chin to look him. His eyes penetrate into mine like they're trying to figure something out.

"Are you okay?" He's scanning my face and visible parts of my body for I don't know what.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

I detest sounding so breathless but he doesn't make a big deal out of it, not teasing me about my reaction to him. It's very un-Cole like and goes to show that our relationship is changing. I don't know if I want that to happen. While it's nice that he isn't terrorizing the living daylights out of me it's even more unnerving to have this sudden tension between us.

"You're acting a little weird. Did something happen in school? I'm going to kill those..."

I roll my eyes as he threatens his freshmen lackeys, "Calm down Butch, I'm fine. Don't we somewhere to go?"

Getting out of his grip, I turn my back on him and take a few deep breaths. It's getting easier to lie to him but I would never profess to be a professional. My heart's racing in a way that's certainly not normal and my palms are starting to sweat. It's hard to believe that the guy whose sight I couldn't once stand has started causing all these strange feelings to explode inside of me.

"Everyday Tessie, everyday you get weirder."

Turns out he didn't drive his car to my house, which is why we end up walking up to the park after getting some pizza. I still don't understand what we're doing at this point he seems so animated and well, happy that I don't want to ask him to stop. He's talking a mile a minute about how we're going to crush his brother and Nicole in the pageant. If I wanted to rain on his parade I would tell him that winning doesn't mean much to me and that I'm only doing it for my mom. Strangely though, I want him to think that I'm just as excited about this as he is.

I don't want to disappoint him.

We settle near the lake, thank fully the grass isn't wet do we don't need a blanket. Why would we even want one? A picnic by the lake is what couples do, this is not a date and all we have to eat is a greasy pizza. Surely this isn't what I'm beginning to fear it is. We're here, all alone and he's awfully quiet for ...well for being Cole Stone.

"What I wouldn't pay to know, what goes on in that head of yours." He chuckles as he passes me a napkin and a slice of pizza.

"Usually nightmares about how you pushed me from this very tree when we were nine. I broke my arm, had to wear a cast for three weeks and missed my piano recital."

"It wasn't this tree." He says defensively, pointing to the whooping willow behind us. I shake my head and smile at the sudden embarrassment on his face. Is he feeling bad?

"I thin I would remember, thank you very much."

"I didn't think you'd actually fall." He says softly picking on the blades of grass. His bottom lip is sticking out looking incredibly pink and way more attractive than I want it to look. What is it about his lips? I am not a lip person; I'm more of a hair or eyes kind of person. Guys' lips don't attract me but I can't stop staring at Cole's!

Cole's made me have a lip fetish.

This is so wrong.

"It's okay, it's been nine years, and I think I'm over it by now." I chuckle and he laughs with me. Much as I used to want to, I don't like making him feel guilty anymore. It's apparent that he feels bad for all the times he's bullied me in the past but ever since he's come back, he's been different. I don't know why but most of the times I think it's because he feels sorry for me now that I'm such a social pariah. When you put it like that, I don't know what I want anymore. Do I want a Cole who pities me or do I want the old one back?

"So did you pick a song?" He asks as we finish eating. I lean back on my elbows and look up at the starry night sky. I don't want to talk about the silly competition right now. Here, in my own bubble I just want to relax and not think about all the problems plaguing my life. I'd stopped coming to our town park a long time ago. Nicole and her posy would almost always be here and she was almost always making out with Jay. In hindsight I think she kissed Jay to drive me away, not because she actually wanted to.

What a shallow, selfish witch.

"What song?" I ask looking at him, only to find him staring at me with a wide eyed gaze. Immediately I sit up straight wrapping my arms around me and ducking my head. That look of his, his intense piercing gaze has my heart doing a dance of its own inside my chest. No dancing, heart! Not over a potential heartbreaker like Cole Stone.

He scratches the back of neck and avoids looking at me. Once again I feel like a douche for making him uncomfortable. I don't want him to think that he creeps me out. It's the opposite in fact, I like the way he'd been looking at me way more than I should.

"You know the one we're supposed to dance to?"

Oh, right, the dance, the stupid compulsory dance. See the pageant is our version of the winter dance, our juniors get to have. As the graduating class, we get to participate in the Ms. Farrow Hills competition and then have our prom. Usually the girl who wins the title is a shoe in to win the prom and the guy who escorts her automatically becomes prom king. Both these titles mean the world to Nicole. She's been practicing her victory speech ever since her older sister won the double lottery when we were thirteen.

Cole wants to wrench it right from within her grasp and give me the one thing she's worked for, for so long. Her popularity is all she cares about and watching someone else take it away from her would destroy her in more ways than one. I'm not sure I want to do this to her, I'm not sure that I'm even capable of dethroning her. Though whenever I say such a thing, I receive a huge lecture on self-esteem from my unwanted spiritual coach, Cole and am forced to suck it.

"I didn't think you'd be interested. You said slow dancing was for pansy pants."

"It is for pansy pants Shortcake but we need it to win; besides I'll be dancing with you. That makes all the difference."

He winks at me and like a fool I gape at him. He's flirting with you Tessa, say something, do something. Stop looking at him like you want to jump his bones. Tell him how much he repulses you; tell him you're not interested. Just do something!

"I got new curtains for my room." I blurt out.

What?

What in the name of fudge sickles is wrong with me? Curtains? Why, Tessa, Why?

"Do I make you nervous?" He sounds so smug that I want to hit him. It's not nice that he wants to take advantage of my idiocy. I have to work on not letting myself get tongue tied in front of him or he'll think I'm just like every other girl in town. Though I can see now why they're as attracted to him as they are. He's gorgeous and he's extremely aware of it.

"No, spending so much time is killing my brain cells Stone."

"That's obviously because of all the time you spend staring at my airhead brother." He gets up, making me think that he's mad at me or something or that I've said the wrong thing. However when he reaches for my satchel, lying on the ground I realize he's up to something else entirely.

"You have your iPod in here?"

I get up and snatch my bag away from him.

"Haven't you been told never to look through a lady's purse?" I cringe at the sort of things he would find in here, my tampons being the worst.

"Where's the lady?"

I kick his leg, "Just don't touch my bag again." I growl and tuck in my side.

"I just needed your iPod, no need to bite my head off woman."

"Here," I sigh taking it out and placing it on his awaiting palm. He grins at me before wrapping his free arm around me and pulling me to his chest. The small action knocks the breath out of me and if he hadn't been holding me I would have melted into a puddle on the ground.

"W-what are you doing?" I stumble a little as I cough out the words. His hooded eyes twinkle as he places the iPod in the front pocket of my jeans. One piece of the earphones goes in my ear and the other in his. I watch, absolutely hypnotized as he guides my arm to rest on his shoulder and interlinks our free hands so that they're hovering in the air.

"I'm dancing with you Tessie."

Soft music begins to play as I fear the song that will follow it. I share my iPod with Megan since her mother wont let her go near technology before college. Lets just say my friend and I have starkly different tastes in music.

"Follow my lead," Cole whispers as we begin to sway.

Your hand fits in mine like it's made just for me 
but bear this mind it was meant to be 

The song starts and I try my best to not focus on the lyrics. Lyrics have meanings, words have power and I can let myself be overwhelmed by all this.

"Loosen up, you're too tense. " I nod at his instructions and copy his movements without ever looking into his eyes.

I know you've never loved the crinkles by your eyes when you smile, 
You've never loved your stomach or your thighs 
The dimples in your back at the bottom of your spine 
But I'll love them endlessly 

I know you've never loved the sound of your voice on tape 
You never want to know how much you weigh 
You still have to squeeze into your jeans 
But, 
You're perfect to me 

The words hit home and my bottom lip begins to quiver. Oh god, what's happening to me? He's holding me so close and so tight like he'd never let me go. Just when I'm thinking about letting go of him and running for my life, he removes our interlinked hands for the briefest of times. Tilting my chin up, his eyes bore into mine.

"You need to look at me," his voice is husky and causes tremors to rock through me. "The judges need to buy what we're trying to sell."

Right, of course. We're putting on an act because we need to win. I let out a deep breath, not as close to death by hyperventilation as I was minutes before. This is all about beating Nicole, nothing more.

"Now let's try again and this time look at me, okay?"

"Okay."

I won't let this little things slip out of my mouth 
But if I do, it's you, oh it's you, they add up to 
I'm in love with you and all these little things

His hand inches up from the small of my back, up my spine. It's slow and sensual enough to make me squeeze my eyes shut. The stupid song isn't helping; I need to tell Megan to stop putting all these sappy songs in my iPod!

"I'm going to lift you now okay?"

"Please don't throw me in the lake." I say weakly,

He lets out a laugh before pulling me even tightly against his chest. Through the delicate cashmere of my sweater, I can feel his heart beating wildly in his chest and god knows mine's racing the same way.

"Don't you trust me Tessie?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

He rolls his eyes at that one, "I'm going to lift you anyway. You're just going to have to learn to trust me."

I snort at his claim, "Easier said than done buddy. You tormented me for most of my life; don't blame me if I think you might try to kill me."

He mutters something under his breath and I'm pretty sure it's along the lines of 'drama queen'. This is good, this is normal. Bickering, arguing, wanting to rip each other's hair out is what we do best. Any lingering feelings might disrupt our awesome dynamic.

You never love yourself half as much as I love you 
You'll never treat yourself right darling but I want you to 
If I let you know, I'm here for you
Maybe you'll love yourself like I love you oh

Without warning he lets hoists me up by the waist and in a matter of seconds my legs are dangling in the air as Cole moves us. The words which we hear in our individual pieces of earphones now resonate all around us. With the way Cole's looking at me and with the singer's soft caressing voice, it's just the most magical thing to have ever happened to me.

As he brings me down, slowly his hands move so as to grip my hips. The space between us is as much as the width of a hair. As my feet touch the ground, I find myself completely tangled in Cole. His arms around me, one leg in between mine, my hands gripping his shoulders fiercely, it's surprising that there's any space left between us.

His eyes zero in on my lips and he's looking at them like they're made out of glass. I cannot even make sense of the way my heart is threatening to crash out of my chest. Every single part of me is aware of how close he is, this is it.

Something that's going to happen right this moment will change my life forever.

"Tessie," Cole whispers as he leans into me. I find myself inching my face closer and closer...

A shrill buzzing sound ruins the peaceful silence of the night. The Kaiser Chief's 'I Predict a Riot.' Blares out making me feel like I've been drenched by ice cold water. Cole curses silently and untangles us as I stumble away from him, nearly falling on my butt.

My cell phone continues to ring and vibrate as I take it out from my back pocket with trembling hands.

"Hello?" I sound breathless, my voice is cracking and I feel like driving a nine inch nail through the skull of whoever just called.

"Tessa, oh thank god. You need to come up to Megan's right away, she's having a meltdown and I don't know what to do."

Beth keeps on talking about how she's worried about our friend or how she thinks Mrs. Sharp has finally pushed her daughter over the edge with her controlling behavior. I'm only half listening to her; my eyes linger on Cole's back as he tosses pebbles into the water. From his tense posture I can tell he's angry or irritated at the very least.

We were going to kiss, that I was certain of. Had Beth not called, would we have finally done it?

"You there? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, I'll be there soon."

I end the call quickly and walk towards Cole who notices my approaching footsteps and turns to face me. His expression gives nothing away; he seems like he always does; carefree, happy and a tad bit crazy.

"Everything okay?"

I wave my hand dismissively, "Apparently Megan has an emergency. Can you drive me there?" Hopefully the twenty minute drive from his house to Megan's would give us a chance to talk.

We almost kissed.

Again.

This demands some kind of serious attention right? Isn't that what grown-ups do, talk about stuff.

We walk in silence to his car with an awkward distance between us. Its nerve wracking to not have him babbling away or making fun of me. I want him to tell me that I dress funny or that my teeth are too big or that my contacts make me look like a diseased vampire. Anything but this terrible quietness.

I strap myself into his Volvo as he revs the engine. Thinking of safe topics for conversation I begin by something which obviously can do no wrong; boosting his ego.

"So where'd you learn to dance like that?"

"Cassandra taught us when her sister was getting married. Jay and I must've been about ten." He smiles at the memory and I can imagine a ten year old Cole with his gangly frame, learning how to slow dance.

"Obviously Jay wasn't a very good learner." We both chuckle thinking about how bad of a dancer the other Stone is. Nicole's yelps are heard throughout the gym whenever there's a dance, poor her has Jay stepping on her feet the entire night.

"Cassandra gave up trying to teach him after she got blisters all over her feet. Let's just say, my brother might be many things but he's definitely not a good dancer."

"You got that right." I snort and he grins at me. All at once the awkwardness vanishes and we go back to being ourselves. All it takes is dissing Jay a little and honestly I don't even mind that right now.

We park outside Megan's house which is the picture of mind numbingly boring suburbia. The place gives me the chills whenever I come here. Half of the time I suspect that the people living here are actually aliens who have sucked the personality and soul right out of these people. Then I meet Megan in all her red haired glory and my theory gets trampled on.

"Thanks for the ride, I'd ask you to come in but I fear what Mrs. Sharp could do to you."

I remove my seatbelt and climb out of the car. I'm halfway up their porch when I hear footsteps behind me and not surprisingly Cole right behind me. The only difference is that he's holding a large grey coloured gift box with a silver ribbon on it.

"What's this?" I ask nervously and watch him once again scratch the back of his neck.

"Look, I don't want you to think I'm forcing you or anything but..."

"What is it? Why do you sound so scared?" My laugh sounds fake to my own ears as I eye the box wearily. Now, what?

"I know you were having trouble finding a dress and since you don't want to look like a disco ball wearing your mom's, I got you this."

He thrusts the box towards me shyly, like a little boy offering his teacher an apple on the first day of kindergarten. Though if I remember correctly, poor Mrs. Grisham got a whole jar full of earthworms from her least favourite pupil that fateful day.

"You bought me a dress?" I gasp as I grab hold of the heavy box, how much did the thing weigh?

"Technically Cassandra helped me pick it out but I think you'll like it. If you don't you can always return it. I mean I'm not going to force you to wear it, its not like I know a lot about dresses. Cassandra said you would like it and I thought it would look good on you. I swear it's not important that you..."

He's rambling. Oh gosh he looks so cute when he's all caught up and nervous and rambling!

I have never ever seen him lose his calm like this and boy is it adorable. Without thinking I walk up to him and place my hand over his mouth.

"Shut up Cole."

When I'm sure he's not going to start talking again, I stand on my tiptoes and press my lips to his cheek. Applying the slightest pressure, I let them linger there for about five seconds before moving away. The dazed and star struck look on Cole's face is worth all what I've done. To know that I'm the one who's caused this reaction is just so darn flattering and empowering.

"Thank you, I'm sure I'll love it." I whisper before backing off and walking away.

"You're welcome Shortcake, though I do accept Swedish massages as tokens of affection." He yells as I'm nearly in the house.

"Only in your dreams Stone," I whisper yell, not wanting to scandalize Mrs. Sharp.

He winks at me before going back into his car. Before driving away he blows me a kiss and I stand there watching him leave thinking about how much he's changed, how much we've changed.

I'd sooner have betted on seeing a unicorn than on developing feelings for Cole Stone, that's for sure.

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BAH. I'm too sleepy to write an A/N that makes sense but THANK YOU-woah over 1500 votes on the last chapter and nearly 800 comments! You guys are fantastic!! Thank you for all your song suggestions. Little Things seemed the most popular one so I've used it here but I'll use more in the next chapter :)

I hope you guys like this and please vote/comment/fan if you do :D

Question time! If you were Cole what kind of a dress would you give Tessa? It's supposed to be a ball gown/formal dress so leave a link of your dress in my comments. The one I love the most will be the one Tessa wears to the ball :D Bring out your inner Coles :)