I'm Feeling Twenty-Two || Cole Caufield

Chapter 4 - Family Meeting

Allison's POV
Quinn and Jack call a family meeting right after lunch the next day. I don't even need to ask why they called it because Quinn mouths an "I'm sorry" to me when we sit down.

"Why did you call this family meeting?" My mom asks with a frown. Quinn clears his throat before beginning his reply.

"Jack and I called this meeting because we don't think you've been entirely fair to Allison," he says. My mom's brows furrow in confusion and my dad crosses his arms over his chest.

"What do you mean by that?" My mom asks.

"While you've been so wrapped up in mine and Jack's and Luke's hockey games and tournaments, you've never paid much attention to Allie. You never watched her softball games. Yesterday, she told you that she got into Louisiana State University and you just blew her off." Quinn explains, shaking his head. My mom looks at me and her eyes are wide.

"You got into Louisiana State?" She asks. I nod.

"Yeah. I got a full scholarship to play softball for them and I am going to major in business management. I want to open a boutique,"

"I had no idea. That's—"

Quinn cuts my mom's sentence short so he can continue.

"You would have known that if you had actually listened to her yesterday," he snaps.

Tears start to fall down my cheeks and Jack reaches over to squeeze my hand. I look over at my twin brother and he gives me a sad smile.

My mom looks to be on the verge of tears and my dad has a guilty look on his face. I notice that my little brother Luke has a guilty expression on his face too.

"I'm so sorry, Allie. I never realized how much I had hurt you," my mom mutters. My dad places a hand on my mom's shoulder.

"Your mom and I are extremely sorry for everything. We should have paid more attention to you," my dad adds. My mom walks over and gives me a hug.

"We're going to fix things with you. I promise," she mutters. I frown.

"Are you going to keep your promise or just forget about it?"

I study my mom's face and I can tell that she is sincere about her promise.

"I want to keep this promise, Allie. I don't want to ruin my relationship with my only daughter even further than I already have," my mom says. My dad nods.

"Me too. Dad-daughter relationships are extremely important and I've never been able to spend time with you one on one. Maybe the two of us could go on a daddy-daughter vacation together," he suggests. I smile.

"I'd like that,"

Cole's POV
Allie calls me around two pm, telling me all about how her brothers had held a family meeting to tell their parents that they are unfair to Allie. She seems so excited to tell me about it.

"My dad is taking me to Florida for a daddy-daughter trip! It's gonna be so much fun! She says excitedly. I smile.

"That's awesome. I'm glad you were able to fix things with your parents,"

"I'm glad too. You want to come over tomorrow? I've got nothing to do and I need someone to hang out with," Allie explains. I shrug.

"Sure. I'd love to,"

"Hold on, Allie Cat. Cole can't come over. You're gonna hang out with your three brothers tomorrow instead," I hear Jack say over the phone.

"What? But I already made plans," Allie mutters.

"It's okay, Allie. We can hang out another day," I say.

"Are you sure?" Allie asks. I nod.

"Yeah. You should spend some quality time with your brothers tomorrow,"

"Okay. Talk to you later," Allie says.

"Yeah. Talk to you later," I mutter. I hang up the phone and place it on the table in front of me.

Although I'd love to hang out with my best friend tomorrow, I know that she should spend time with her brothers tomorrow, especially since her older brother, Quinn, is home from Vancouver.

I had been working on some college stuff when Allie had called. The work was kind of stressing me out and seeing Allie's name on my phone made me feel better.

I hear someone rap on my door frame and look over to see my mom standing there.

"Hi hon. How would you like to go out shopping for college? I was looking at your packing list and I want to take you out to get some of the things you need for your dorm," she explains.

"Um, sure. That sounds great. I could use something to get everything off my mind for a little while," I reply. My mom smiles.

"Awesome. We'll leave in like ten minutes, okay?"

"Okay. Sounds good," I mutter, grabbing my phone off my bedside table and leaving my room.

Allison's POV
Quinn, Jack, Luke, and I all spend the next day hanging out together. Quinn bought us tickets to a Detroit Tigers game and he drives the four of us there. It takes us about an hour to get there and Quinn allows me to sit shot gun.

With front seat privileges, I also have control of the aux. I connect my phone to the Bluetooth radio in my mom's SUV and start playing the playlist that Jack and I made yesterday.

Jack, Luke, and I all start singing along to You Proof by Morgan Wallen while Quinn just laughs and shakes his head at his younger siblings.

When we get to the Tigers stadium, I'm overly excited. It has been years since mom and dad had taken us to a baseball game. Although I prefer playing softball over baseball, I love watching baseball games.

The Tigers win the game so we all go home happy. We jam out to more music on the playlist we had been listening to on the way there.

When we get home, I'm super tired and I flop onto my bed, falling asleep instantly.

I never had so much fun with my brothers in my entire life and it felt great to spend quality time with them. I'm glad that I agreed to do this.

Cole's POV
Two days later, Allie invites me over to her house to hang out. She tells me all about what she did two days ago with her brothers.

"Quinn took us to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and then he took us to a Tigers game. It was so much fun," she explains. I smile.

I could be super upset about something, but Allie always manages to cheer me up and make me smile.

I told Jack about it a couple of days ago and Jack started laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"What's funny is that you're in love with my twin sister," Jack replied over the phone. My brows creased together and I frowned.

"You really think so?"

"I know so. I feel the same way when I'm around Maggie," Jack answered.

I bit my lip, thinking about what Jack had said.

"You know, you're probably right. Promise you won't tell your sister?" I asked. Jack laughed.

"I promise, man. You're one of my best friends. I won't tell Allie anything,"

I turn my attention back to Allie when she shows me the foul ball she caught with her softball glove during the baseball game.

"I wish you had been there. You would have had a lot of fun," Allie says as she places the baseball into a drawer and closes the drawer.

"I wish I had been there too, but you had fun with your brothers and that's what matters. Quality time with your brothers before you and Jack go off to college," I explain. Allie smiles.

"Yeah. It does. Thanks for suggesting that I hang out with my brothers. You're an amazing friend, Cole."

Allie gives me a hug and I feel butterflies fluttering through my stomach. Another symptom of love.

I'm in love with Allison Hughes.