WHERE WE ARE ; COLE WALTER

029

"SO, AFTER YOU READ 'PRIDE AND PREJUDICE'   like we agreed you would, what do you think is the message Jane Austen wants to convey?" Veronica asked, helping Cole out with the assignment he had received from Mr. Choudhry to receive some extra credit for English class.

"Uhm," he responded, looking helplessly at the book. He has read it, he really has and he actually somehow enjoyed the book but he couldn't understand how someone can find a message behind Mr. Darcy's and Elizabeth Bennet's love story. They fell in love and had some difficulties to face, so what?

"Okay, let's start with one point after the other," Veronica said, knowing that interpreting books' meanings can be difficult since most of the time one focuses on the plot and not on the message between the lines. "How do you think women are portrayed? Oh, and compare it to women nowadays."

Cole began to list off a few things he could think of, but was soon interrupted by Veronica, "You're doing great, but you actually need to write that stuff down, so you can write the essay later."

The two of them spent the whole afternoon sitting at the kitchen table of the Walters', Cole's notes in front of them and while he wrote, Veronica worked on her Math assignment so that she could explain the difficult parts to Cole later on.

"Hi Veronica, good to see you," Katherine greeted the girl as she had just come back from work. "What are you two doing?"

Cole looked over to his mother, a desperate look in his eyes as he banged his head on the table. "Math homework," Veronica responded nonchalantly, poking Cole with her pen repeatedly until he lifted his head once again. This was the seventh time Veronica had come over to help and she has started to not only see a change in his attitude, but also a result in his grades and even their teachers were happy that Cole was picking himself back up again.

"Then I won't bother you," Katherine said and quickly walked out of the kitchen.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" George asked as he ran into his grinning wife.

Katherine pointed in the direction of their kitchen, "Cole's doing his homework with Veronica."

George's eyes widened in surprise and wanted to take a closer look, however was stopped by his wife and her tight grip on his bicep. "Don't you dare go in there. He's finally trying again with school, so it's better not to disturb them."

Her husband nodded, "You're probably right, but what happened with Veronica? I thought they didn't talk anymore."

The red-haired woman shrugged, "I don't know, let's just be happy that he has his best friend back."

"I think I get it now," Cole said, putting his pen down after having finished an equation.

Veronica looked up from her own homework. "Really?"

The boy nodded, "I get it, I just need to learn the approach for one equation and the rest is basically the same and I just shouldn't mess up the numbers."

"Let me check the last one you did," Veronica asked him, a smile growing on her face as she was happy that he had finally caught up on the topics they had done over the semester.

Her smile morphed into a big grin as she checked his equation. There was one little mistake where he had put a minus instead of a plus in the solution but other than that, he had calculated it the right way.

"You got it right, Cole, congrats," Veronica praised him as she handed him back his paper.

"No way," Cole exclaimed and without thinking about it, he hugged her tightly. He was so happy to finally know what was going on in Math and really any other subject, all thanks to Veronica. "You're the best, Ronniekins."

Veronica's cheeks heated up by their close proximity and the nickname she hadn't heard in such a long time, but she couldn't bring herself to move away from him, also elated by his progress.

Their moment however was interrupted by someone clearing their throat behind them. The two of them quickly let go of one another, still feeling the others touch on their skin.

In the doorframe stood Issac, a grin on his face as he watched the pair. "Am I interrupting?"

"Actually, yes you are," Cole grumbled, only loud enough for Veronica to hear him. The girl stepped on his foot, forcing him to suppress a pained groan.

"Of course not," she said, a sweet smile on her face. "What do you need?"

"Nothing," he responded and turned around, but then turned back to them. "Actually, I need your help with packing my stuff for New York, please."

"Oh, yes, I'll leave you two to it and get back home, I still have to get ready for the wedding after all," Veronica said, gathering her stuff together.

"No, no Vee, I actually meant you. Who in their right mind would ask Cole for fashion advice?" Danny told her.

Silently the two of them looked over to Cole in his usual jeans and flannel shirt. "You're right. I'll come upstairs with you. You wanna join us Cole?"

"After you just mocked my style right in front of me?" he asked them. "Yeah sure, but I'll have to leave soon."

"That's alright, I just need Veronica anyways," Danny said and walked off to get his suitcase.

While Cole and Veronica packed up their stuff, Cole mumbled something about siblings and them being little brats, even though Danny was the older twin.

"So you'll leave to go to school, right?" Veronica asked Cole as they walked up the stairs to Cole's and Danny's shared room.

The blond boy nodded, his hair falling into his eyes. "Yeah, I'll hand in the extra credit assignment for Mr. C," he told her and before speaking his next words, a smile appeared on his face, "Well, and I'll ask if I can still sign up for summer school."

"You're joking, aren't you?" Veronica asked him in disbelief. There was no way Cole would give up his 'Great American road trip' for school, was there?

Cole shook his head, "Actually, no. I'm telling the truth. I mean after all the work you put into teaching me, I guess I have to do something over the summer."

"I'm so proud of you, Coley-bear," Veronica exclaimed and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing Cole tightly, repeating how proud she was time and time again as he hugged her back.

"I hate to interrupt you two yet again, but we need to hurry, the wedding's in six hours and I haven't even set anything out that I could take with me," Danny said, once again forcing the two to let go of one another.

"Okay, come on Danny, I'll put together the best fits for you," Veronica stated and went ahead and into their room, while Danny and Cole stayed back and exchanged a meaningful look, Cole signifying for Danny to just shut up.

"And that's it," Veronica sighed in relief. She loved packing but this was a huge task since she had never been to New York and didn't know how differently people would dress there. "You're all set now, Danny."

"Thank you so much Vee," Danny said as he took a moment to sit on the floor, exhausted from the activity. He hadn't known that packing one's suitcase was this exhausting.

Cole sat up from his own bed, closing the book he was reading (or rather the book Veronica was forcing him to read), "Fucking finally, I have to go to school. You need a ride home, Ronniekins, right?"

Veronica nodded and stood up, stretching her arms which were exhausted from constantly folding and refolding clothes. "I actually do, I'll get ready at home and see you later at the wedding."

"Can I join y'all? I forgot some things in my locker," Danny asked, now also standing up and stretching his legs.

"Leaving in five, that goes for the both of you," Cole told them in a stern tone before walking down the stairs.

HOPE speaks!

Cole's trying to get better and Vee's happy to help! So we'll see how their relationship progresses in the future 👀

love you lots<3