Filed to story: My Life with the Walter Boys Book (I & II) PDF Free
It was supposed to be Cole and Danny’s graduation party, but Cole was missing. George was cooking hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill. Katherine made three bowls of potato salad, and Nathan cut up a huge display of fresh fruit. There were a ton of kids from our school hanging out by the pool, mostly people who knew Cole, but a few drama club members had stopped by to congratulate Danny as well.
“Jackie?” Nathan called. “Do you know where Cole is? He’s got another check here.”
“I haven’t seen him in a while,” I said, taking the envelope out of his hand. Katherine had me keeping track of the gifts because she didn’t want any of the money disappearing. “I can go look for him if you want.”
“Sure, tell him he’s missing a good time.”
Inside the house, I slipped the card on top of the fridge where none of the little kids could get at it and then went in search of Cole. It didn’t take me long to find him since he was in the first spot I looked—his garage.
Normally, the doors were shut tight, even while he worked. Today, however, they were thrown open, letting the late-afternoon light paint the small room in a golden yellow.
“You know,” I said, stepping up to the car. “There’s a party going on out back. Lots of people are here to see you.”
Cole looked up from his work in surprise, as if he hadn’t expected someone to come looking for him. “Oh,” he said when he saw me. “Hi, Jackie.”
“Lose track of time?” I asked. Glancing around, I noticed that the workbench looked tidier than normal. Most of the tools and spare car parts were packed away in the shelving unit.
“No,” Cole said, slamming the hood of the car down into place. “I just wanted to finish installing this last part.”
“So it’s ready to run?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Something about the way he responded sounded sad, almost as if he didn’t want his car to be fixed. Sighing, he pulled a rag out of his pocket and wiped off his hands.
“Hey,” I said, moving toward him. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t seem like it.”
Looking down at the car, Cole took a deep breath. “It’s just, I don’t know what to do with myself now that I’m done restoring the car. I’ve been working on it for so long.”
In the moment of silence that passed between us, I heard laughter from the party. “You mean, since you broke your leg during a football game last year?” I asked then.
Cole’s head snapped up. “How do you—?”
“Nathan told me.”
He was quiet for a minute. “Did he say anything else?”
“He mentioned something about how you were different afterward.”
This time, he stayed quiet for much longer as if he needed to gather all his energy to make his confession. “When I didn’t go out for football this year,” he started to explain, “most people just thought I didn’t care anymore because I had lost my scholarship. I guess I started acting like it too—skipping school, partying, girls.”
“And the real reason?”
“Honestly, I’m terrified that it won’t be the same. I feel—I don’t know. Broken, I guess.”
“So this replaced football?” I asked, gesturing down at the car.
Cole nodded. “I can’t fix myself, but I can fix this.”
I nodded my head slowly. I couldn’t agree with Cole because I didn’t think he was broken, but I understood how he felt. “You know what, Cole? I have a feeling you’ll be okay.”
Instead of answering, he changed the subject. “I’m moving into Will’s old apartment. He’s living with Haley now.”
“How come?”
“I’ll be closer to work. I have to save up money this summer if I’m going to pay for college.” Cole might have lost his football scholarship, but he still planned on going to the same college: the University of Colorado at Boulder.
“Well, once you’re all settled in, you should give me a tour,” I said with a smile.
“If that’s what you want.”
“Of course! Now how about you stop moping around and come join the party. I want to grab a hamburger before they’re gone.”
“You go,” he said. He was staring at me, the look on his face unsolvable. “I’ll catch up in the little bit. There’s one last thing I have to do.”
***
The next few days went by fast. Danny and I were leaving to go to the airport in the afternoon, and I spent most of my morning making sure all of my belongings were packed. As I looked around my room one last time, I noticed the pair of Katherine’s old jeans that Cole gave me hanging over the back of my chair. They weren’t on my list of things to bring, but I scooped them up and shoved them in my suitcase anyway. I wanted to bring a bit of Colorado back to New York with me.
Katherine was teary eyed when I brought my suitcases downstairs, and I knew it was hard for her as she watched Danny and George load the back of the truck. She was losing three of us in the span of one week. During the graduation party, Cole had packed up his car and moved out of the house, leaving only a note on the kitchen counter to explain where he went. When I heard he was gone, I felt like it was my fault. He’d mentioned leaving back in the garage and I should have known he was trying to tell me good-bye, but I didn’t realize he was planning to go so soon. I called him twice, but both times it went straight to voice mail.
“Before you all go, I want to show you something,” said Katherine. She had been acting mysterious for the last two days.
“You finished the mur—” Isaac started.
“Don’t ruin it!” Nathan butted in before Isaac could wreck the surprise.
“Come this way, Jackie. You have to see.”
Katherine led us around the side of the house to the barn, with everyone following behind us.
“You have to close your eyes,” she told me and covered my face with her hands.
“All right,” I giggled, not quite sure what was going on. Someone pulled back the squeaky barn door and guided me inside.