AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She grabbed his hand and led him out of line. “We forgot to walkby the elephants,” she said. “I love them. They’re like oversized, hairless dogs. And they have those giant ears.” Words were rushing out of her mouth at the same pace as her racing heart. Cole could not see her. She had no idea what she’d say to him outside the confines of a room where she had any kind of authority. And then Colin would have questions, and she’d have to lie. Or tell him the truth. Neither was an acceptable option.
“They also smell terrible,” Colin pointed out, gazing longingly over his shoulder at the snack bar.
She ignored him and tugged a little harder on his arm. “Come on. The faster we get there, the faster we get back.”
“Or, hear me out, we could eat first,thensee the elephants.”
“Colin.” Her eyes cut over his shoulder. Cole and his friends had their food and were heading in their direction.
Allison hurried her steps. Behind her, she could hear Colin’s feet as he jogged to keep up.
There was the aoudad enclosure. And the red river hog beyond it. The African elephant exhibit was around the next corner. It had high walls and lots of viewing areas. Plenty of places she could hide until Cole was gone.
They were a few steps from safety when Colin jerked her to a stop. She faced him, already pointing over her shoulder. “It’s ri—”
The rest of her sentence died in her throat as she realized they were too late. Cole and his friends were grouped around the hog enclosure. The only barrier left between them was a chain-link fence. He was going to see her. What would he do? What if he brought up how she’d gotten mad today and removed him from class? She was certain Colin had never lost his temper in a classroom. He’d probably never even had a student interrupt him. How would he believe she was a good teacher if he knew she’d dealt with all that and more?
Allison did the only thing she could think of. She rushed at Colin and swung her arms around his neck. In her mind, it looked spontaneous. Passionate. Romantic. They’d kiss under the stars as the swaying light from the jack-o’-lantern candles danced around them.
In reality, her aim was as bad as always, and her nose collided with his cheek. An unattractive grunt heaved from her lips.
And that was all before Colin lost his balance, dumping them both into the very large, very muddy puddle behind him.
The water was cold and slimy and some of it splashed across her face and into her hair. More seeped through the thin layer of her shirt and smeared over her jeans.
Colin sat motionless beside her, his long legs splayed in front of him like a stringless puppet. Pinocchio come to life. His mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.
Allison searched out Cole from between the few onlookers that wandered by. One or two took pictures. Others laughed. No one helped. Her stomach sank when she caught the back of his Red Sox jacket disappearing down a different trail.
Of course Cole had gone the other way. He hadn’t even noticed her.
“What was that?” Colin painted mud across his face as he tried to clear his vision.
A blush attacked Allison’s cheeks. She’d forced them to take a mud bath for nothing. “I wanted to see the elephants.” Warily, she climbed to her feet.
“And make out in front of them?” Colin rose too and began to wring out the cuffs of his sweater. Droplets broke the surface of the puddle like rain.
“I felt inspired,” she deadpanned pathetically.
“Allison.”
Sighing, she kicked at a loose stone. They weren’t supposed to talk about anything related to Wendy’s class. That was the whole reason they were doing so well. No competition. No need to cut each other down. This also meant that she hadn’t had to lie to him in weeks. Thethought of doing it again summoned a lump to her throat. One she couldn’t bring herself to push past.
“Cole’s here.” A cold wind cut across the open path, and Allison wrapped her soggy arms around herself as if that might help.
“From Wendy’s class?”
She nodded. “And my recitation.”
Colin’s eyes narrowed. “And you don’t want him to know we’re together?” he said carefully.
“No.” Allison took a few steps toward him. “I want everyone to know we’re together. I didn’t want Cole to seeme.”
“Why?”
Her shoulders slumped. She didn’t want to say it.
He spoke her name softly in that way that uncoiled her muscles and loosened her joints. This time, it unraveled the words from her mouth, too.
