CHAPTER 12 
Absent Dates and Loving Mothers

"Hey"

I turned around and met with Cole who gave me a polite smile.

"Hey, are you done with receiving all the guests?"

"Not really. But I slipped away without my parents knowing." He shrugged.

"Good. I was starting to get lonely here."

"You were right about the Hendersons being a family of perverts. That lady's stare made me feel naked." He shuddered, "Doesn't she have a son of my age?"

"Yes, she does. Alec Henderson. He's another big pervert." I said, "And don't even get me started on his grandfather though. That guy does not lose a chance to touch you." I said making Cole's eyes brows scrunch up in disgust.

"I think I noticed him throwing me a few glances. Does he swing both ways?" He asked.

"Oh, yes he does. Once, he actually grabbed Blake's ass. Poor guy is still traumatized by that." I said with a smile and Cole let out a laugh.

"Sucks to be him." Cole commented, "Speaking of Blake, did you see him tonight?"

"Yeah, I did. Why?"

"Was Terra with him?"

"You know, you were actually pretty fun until you brought her up." I said as I crossed my arms.

"I'm sorry." He sighed. "I haven't seen her tonight and I was just wondering if she was fine."

"Oh, she's doing great." I lied with a fake smile, "She was like a dog with two tails."

"Good. I'm glad that she's enjoying." He said wearing a bright smile on his face, making me roll my eyes.

"That was cute, Romeo. But can we please not talk about her?" I pleaded.

"Why do you hate her so much?" he asked.

"And we're still talking about her." I stated as I let out an exasperated sigh.

"If this is about Blake, it's not her fault."

"Who said this is anything about Blake?"

"I just thou–" He started before I interrupted him with a hand gesture as I saw a figure walking towards us.

I internally groaned when I saw who the woman approaching us was.

"Excuse me...." She trailed of looking at Cole questioningly for a name as she reached me.

"Cole Hamilton" He said, giving her a half smile.

"Yes, Cole" She smiled back, "Could you please give me a moment with my daughter?"

He nodded before walking away from us.

"What do you want, mother dearest? Did my father already ditch you for another woman?" I asked, making her huff in annoyance.

"Don't you dare accuse your father of such infidelity when you're the one here doing that."

"Excuse me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Why am I seeing you with two different boys tonight? What do you think people are going to say about that?"

"I don't know what people are going to say, but I'm not doing anything wrong. Cole is my date, so I am supposed to spend time with him."

"But what about Bill?"

"Listen lady" I started, "I don't know any Bruce or Bill, and Blake's just a friend. You don't know anything about me or my life, so stop trying to lecture me on it."

"Addelyn, I am your mother." She snarled, "You should watch your tongue."

"Or what? You're going to take away my allowance? Or my house?"

"I can do that." She threatened.

"And I can go to the media with all your dirty secrets." I smirked as I saw a flash of fear pass through her eyes.

"Who was that guy I saw in your hotel room when I came to get a few school papers signed?" I asked making her gulp, "Does my dear father know how you find clients for him?"

"You may be my mother, but don't you dare think that you can overpower me in any manner." I told her before walking away.

I saw Asher's mom standing around a table with a few other women of her age. I walked over to her and tapped on her shoulder, making her turn around to face me.

"Hey, Kristine"

"There's my girl. You look as gorgeous as ever, honey." She said pulling me into a tight hug.

"Oh, so do you. You don't look a day over eighty." I teased.

She gasped and playfully placed a hand over her heart, "Even when I'm eighty, I'll look as young as I am now. Maybe people will start mistaking us for sister."

"Sure, they will." I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, by the way, I won the bet." I grinned happily. We had a bet to see whether Asher or Hazel would ask the other one out first. I'm glad I put my bet on Asher.

"Fine, you win this one." She said, "But we can still have a bet on who's going to end that stupid open relationship of theirs."

"I'm going to put my bet on Asher this time too. Hazel has her ways to break him." I stated smugly.

"You know, Asher and I have our own bets." She said and I raised an eyebrow.

"On what?"

"On you and Blake of course." She answered and my mood fell. She noticed it and looked at me with concern.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing, I just don't think Blake and I are going to work out."

"Why do you say that?"

"He does not feel the same way as I do, Kristine."

"Are you talking about the same guy who's finding it really hard to take his eyes off you right now?" She asked.

I looked at Blake who was standing at a distance along with Asher. He was already looking at me as Asher talked to him and when our gaze met, he quickly looked away and tried to act casual as if I didn't just catch him staring at me.

I laughed and turned back to Kristine who was standing there with a smug look.

"Told you", she smiled.

"I need to get to my date. I'll see you soon." I placed a kiss on her cheek before walking away and tried to find Cole.

When I finally found him, I realized that he was shooting daggers at Blake who was still standing next to Asher.

"Cole" I called, making him turn his attention to me, "Is everything alright?"

"No" He replied, "Why the fuck is Terra not with him?" he asked as he continued to glare at Blake.

"I don't know. But who cares anyways?"

"I do." He replied, "Addy, I'm sorry, but I need to go find her."

I groaned, "Can we please forget about her and just enjoy this peaceful night?"

"I can't. I need to make sure she's okay." He said before walking away.

I glared at his retrieving figure before making my way towards Blake and Asher.

"Where's your stupid date?" I asked Blake.

"She's been avoiding me since that conversation with my mom." He answered, "Every time I try to talk to her, she keeps walking away. So, I thought that I should give her some space."

"Maybe she got bored of you." I told him.

"Of course not." He grumbled, "I think she knows that my mom didn't like her. So, she's probably hurt."

"Nice" I said as a cheeky grin made its way to my face at the thought of her being upset.

"Lynne, don't be rude."

I ignored him and turned my attention to Asher, "Where's Hazel?"

"She's texting Luke." He replied as his face scrunched up with anger.

"This is what you signed up for, Asher." I told him.

"But I didn't think she would blow me off like that." He whined, "I came here to this stupid ball to spend some time with her but still, Luke's the one who gets her."

"She'll come back after she's done talking to him." I assured him and he nodded.

"So, did your date blow you off too?" Asher asked me.

"Yes, he did."

"You have a date?" Blake practically shouted in surprise.

"I'm not standing here for this conversation." Asher said and quickly speed walked away from us.

I turned my attention back to Blake, "You didn't really think that I would show up here without a date, did you?"

He rolled his eyes before he asked, "Who is he?"

"Cole" I replied.

"Cole?" He asked with an irate look, "Lynne, if you wanted to come here, I would've taken you."

"But you asked Terra."

"And I said that I would cancel on her if you wanted to go."

"Blake, you can't give me a choice after you've already made the decision. You should've asked me about it first."

"But you could've talked to me if you had any problems with it." He said making me roll my eyes.

"I feel like dancing." I told him, deciding to change the topic, "I'm going to go find Cole"

I walked away and smiled when I finally found Cole but the person sitting next to him made me frown.

I ignored Terra and turned my full attention to Cole, "I want to dance. What do you say?"

"Don't go with her." Terra told him.

"No one asked for your opinion." I spat.

"Stop fighting." Cole demanded, "Let's go dance." He sighed as he got up from his seat.

"Cole" Terra called in a warning tone. He  looked at her before turning back to me.

"Can you give us a second?" He asked.

I nodded and walked away only to run into Blake again.

"Where is your lovely date?" He asked sarcastically.

"With Terra." I replied.

"So, both our dates ditched us for each other."

"No. Cole's going to be here soon."

"Okay, then until he comes, dance with me." He smiled and stepped closer to me.

"I don't know...." I trailed off.

"Why not?" He stepped closer until his face just an inch away from mine. "You and I both had a rough night. Why don't we forget about everything and have one dance together?"

"Blak–"

"If you're going to say no, please don't. What do you have to lose? It's just a dance." He softly grabbed my hand. He brought it up to his lips and placed a kiss to the back of my hand while keeping his eyes focused on mine.

The proximity and his eyes boring into mine made it really hard for me to focus. All I could think of was that soft smile on his lips and how hard it made my heart beat.

"Addy"

Blake and I both whipped our heads to the voice behind me. Cole stood there with a smile.

"Let's dance"  

Author's Note

What do you think about Cole? 
This is actually the first time I'm writing about him but surprisingly, you guys already loved him for some reason. 

Now you have one more chapter of the ball left. And that is probably the most dramatic of it all. 

And I think Hazel's plan is working. Asher's pretty jealous already and she hasn't even gone on a date with Luke. 

So, if you liked what you read, vote.

If you want to keep reading, add this to your library so you'll know when I update.

If you have absolutely anything to say, good or bad, feel free to comment and let me know.

And if you made it till the end, thank you for reading and I love you so much!

Okay, have fun, enjoy life.

Signed,
Me