Chattering.

The sound of Zela's teeth chattering against each other, was what kept her aware of her surroundings. She had completely forgotten how cold it got in Colorado during October. By no means was it colder than what New York considered a warm day, but she forgot how drastic of a change it was from the warm weather to the cold biting at your exposed skin.

It had been two months since her friends from New York had left, it was bittersweet, but they still kept in contact which they hadn't before so it was better than what it was. Zela now was alone, she didn't have anyone from New York with her anymore. Her sister left her abruptly with Danny and their uncle, so now she had nobody to talk to that understood how much she actually missed New York.

"I told you wearing a skirt without tights would make you freeze." She heard from behind her, and she turned around to look at Nathan who was smirking at her and she merely waved him off as she wasn't in the mood for bickering with him. She wasn't really herself lately, ever since they started school back the relationship between her and Cole shifted. It was as if the summer he confessed he would always love her, never happened.

So undoubtedly, it messed with her, made her think she was some sort of summer fling. She had voiced this towards Cole's twin brother, Danny, her best friend. Of course, Danny told her it was just Cole being Cole. Zela was starting to not understand what that even meant, because Cole could do the sweetest thing and Danny would say it was Cole being Cole, then he'd go right back to ignoring her. She never personally had whiplash, but Cole Walter sure made her feel like she has.

"Do you work tonight?" Nathan asked, and Zela nodded her head as they were now sitting in the vehicle waiting for Cole to come out of the house, and here lately Cole usually had a routine of getting up and leaving at exactly the same time every morning but now? He was shifty. None of them knew when he'd show up to take them to school, "Five bucks Cole's got a girl in there." Isaac suddenly said, as he got into the back seat, Lee following in behind him.

Zela rolled her eyes at this, as she sat in the front seat, since Danny had 'passed' it down to her. "You're on." Lee said, shaking Isaac's hand, and Zela had a gut feeling Isaac wasn't wrong. As Cole came out the front door, a random girl following in behind hurriedly putting a jacket on the two ran towards the vehicle and Cole entered the driver seat not even sparing a glance to Zela. Hearing a knock on her window, Zela looked over to see the girl and she sighed as she just rolled the window down.

"You're in my seat." The girl said, and Nathan sucked air between his teeth as Alex looked at the girl then to Zela, scratching the back of his neck. "Oh! I'm sorry, didn't know the name skank was written on this seat." Zela said, giving the girl a sickly sweet smile, and the girl's mouth dropped as she looked at Cole, "Babe are you going to let her talk to me that way?" She asked, and Zela looked over to Cole, "Yeah, babe got anything you want to say?" She said, and Cole finally looked up at Zela.

"Just let her sit there, it's only for today." Cole said, and Zela looked at Cole then to the girl, and crossed her arms, "No. She can walk to school for all I care." Zela said, holding her ground, and the girl swung the car door open, "Then fight me bitch." She said, and Zela sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "It's too fucking early for this shit, Cole. Either shut your tramp up or I will." She said through gritted teeth, and Cole put his hands up refusing to get involved.

"What? Are you scared you're going to get your ass beat?" She egged on, and Zela laughed dryly and turned around handing Isaac her purse as Isaac repeatedly shook his head telling her no. "Z don't do it." Nathan quickly said, and Zela ignored them, as she got out of the car, and stood in front of the girl, "Hit me." She said plainly, and the girl looked at her up and down before she slapped Zela in the face.

As Zela's face was shoved to the side from the impact, she laughed softly as she licked her teeth to berid of the slight blood as it busted her lip and she looked at the girl grinning, "Thank you." She said, before she quickly punched the girl in the nose, hearing a satisfying crack as she knew it had broke it. As the girl stumbled back, and fell to the ground Zela stood over her, and smiled, "I don't think mommy and daddy's money is gonna be enough to fix that sweetie."

As arms wrapped around her waist, hoisting her up and placing her back in the driver seat, the door slammed shut and Cole angrily sat in the driver seat as he slammed his door shut. "Did you seriously have to do that shit?" Cole asked, and Zela looked at him and looked away as she pulled down the mirror to look at her reflection as she wiped away the smudged lipstick. "She hit me first, Kathy gave me permission to finish what someone else started." She said, shrugging as Isaac laughed before he covered it up with a cough.

"What about the girl?" Lee asked, as he leaned over Nathan to see that the girl was still on the ground holding her nose, and Zela looked out of her window, "She has a phone, she can easily call someone to pick her up. We're not obligated to give her a ride to school." She said, and Cole just clenched his jaw as he pulled out of the driveway, leaving the girl on the ground at the house, thankful that everyone else had left.

As Zela was sitting down in AP math, she looked as Erin walked in sitting down beside of her, her mouth curved into a giant smile. "What? You're freaking me out Eri." Zela muttered, looking at her best friend, and Erin continued smiling at her before she leaned forward, "Danny and I talked on the phone for six hours last night." She said, and Zela's eyebrows raised in surprise, "Six? Eri, you both need to sleep much earlier, I get that you two have a thing going on but damn."

Erin playfully rolled her eyes as she grabbed Zela's legs and placed them on her lap, and pulled her closer, "I heard that you beat up Zoe." Erin whispered, and Zela looked over to her once more and hummed, "So that's her name, who even is she?" She asked, and Erin pulled out her phone and started messaging someone, that someone she assumed was Danny. "She's a junior, one grade below us. She moved here this year, well not really moved, just switched schools."

Nodding her head, someone wrapped their arm around Zela's shoulder and she looked up noticing Olivia was now there, and Zela pulled Olivia down on her lap, as the three sat together. "So, it's true then? You beat up Zoe?" Olivia quickly asked, as if she were excited to hear the answer, and Zela just nodded her head and looked up on the board, reading that today was just a free period due to their teacher being in a meeting. "How come I haven't seen her? We've been going to school for two months now."

Zela questioned, and Olivia shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, she's super popular because of her assets." Olivia said, motioning to her chest and Zela rolled her eyes. "From what I heard, she's just a blonde bimbo who's been pining for Cole since day one of school." Erin told her, and Zela hummed nodding her head, "Well, she got what she wanted." She said, as Zela's arms were wrapped around Olivia's waist, and Erin was tracing shapes on Zela's leg.

"I don't mean to be rude, but you saw how Cole was whenever we had a 'thing'. He'd act like we were a couple then sleep with people behind my back. I think it's always going to be like that." Erin told her, frowning and Zela shook her head as she sighed, "I'm just glad I have work tonight otherwise I'd strangle Cole." She told them, and Olivia laughed as Erin gasped, and Zela looked over to her. "So your hot coworker will see you while you're upset? Hello? The tension would be so thick."

Grimacing at her words she rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Scott knows nothing about Cole, or anything about my living situation. He's just a coworker." She stated, and Erin wiggled her eyebrows at her, "Who is totally hot and older, what about that doesn't scream perfect boyfriend?" She asked, and Zela chuckled at her best friend, "He's four years older than me, not going to happen." She told her, and Erin scoffed, "You're eighteen, he just turned twenty two, technically it's three years."

"Not helping at all, Eri." She mumbled, and Olivia hummed in thought, "So wait, he's the one who drives a motorcycle, right? Date him it'd be so badass." Sighing at her best friends she regretted ever waking up today as she knew it was going to be a long day. She was looking forward to work as it meant getting away, but with all these ideas from her friends swirling around in her brain, she suddenly felt nervous at the fact that she worked alone with Scott tonight.

As the door rang signifying that Zela had walked into the coffee shop, she sighed to herself realizing it was slightly empty but it was also not that popular as it was ways away from any towns nearby. As she walked behind the counter and into the staff room she grabbed her apron and quickly put it on, and gasped when she realized Scott had entered behind her quietly. "Jesus, Scotty. How the hell do you walk so silently?" She asked, and Scott chuckled as he reached above her grabbing a new bag of sugar.

"Because I don't wear shoes that click against the floor like you do." He said, as he looked at her, and Zela rolled her eyes at him, as she playfully shoved him away. What she didn't confess to Olivia and Erin was the fact that Scott and her were practically best friends. She didn't want anyone getting the wrong idea about them, so she always made it seem like they were strictly coworkers. "Yeah, yeah." She muttered, as they walked out into the front, and Scott grabbed onto the strings of her apron causing her to halt her movements and slightly slam into his chest.

As he tied her strings so that way the apron was on correctly, he grinned at her, "You always manage to forget to tie them." He said, and Zela nervously laughed as she noticed their proximity and cleared her throat as she walked towards the espresso machine to make herself a drink as she hadn't had any caffeine today. "My memory is slipping away as we speak." She joked, and as she was locking the coffee in, her face was gently grabbed and turned towards Scott.

As Zela looked at him, Scott's thumb brushed against her bottom lip that was busted and he sighed shaking his head, "How many times to I need to tell you to dodge?" Scott mumbled, and Zela shrugged her shoulders as she turned her head back towards the machine, "If they don't make contact with me first then I can't hit them. I've told you this." She reminded him, and Scott leaned against the counter beside the machine to look at her, and nodded his head, "Yeah, that's true."

Hearing the bell ding, Zela sighed, "Welcome to Campfire Coffee House!" She greeted, her voice going up an octave to go into her customer service voice, and Scott quietly laughed at her voice change, and turned around to greet the customer himself. As Zela finished making herself coffee, she looked up and had to hold herself back from rolling her eyes at the sight of the blonde hair in front of her. "Well, if it isn't Netflix's wet dream. Dumb and dumber." She said, as Cole and Zoe looked at her.

Scott shifted his gaze towards her, in shock, before he looked back realizing that the girl had a bandaged nose and he almost laughed on the spot once he connected the dots, "Did you seriously bring her here to bother me? Real mature." She said, and Zoe rolled her eyes, "Not everything is about you bitch." She said, and Zela sighed and smiled at her, "Kinda is whenever the person you've been seeing for months brings his blonde bimbo barbie doll all the way here whenever there is a coffee shop in town."

Zoe faltered for a second before she scoffed and looked away, not having anything to rebuttal, "Just two hot chocolates." Cole said, and Zela quietly ordered them the hot chocolates and harshly grabbed the money out of Cole's hands shoving it into the cash register. "Here." Scott deadpanned, not even bothering putting on his customer service voice for them as he placed down the hot chocolates. As they grabbed them, the two exited and Zela groaned as she leaned against the counter.

"I can see why you broke her nose." Scott said, causing Zela to crack a grin and sighed, "He threw me away after months of leading me on for that." She muttered and Scott wrapped his arms around her shoulders placing his head atop hers, and swayed them back and forth, "If he truly loved you, he wouldn't put you in second place." He whispered to her, and Zela nodded her head as it was getting darker outside.

"Hey, look." Looking up to where Scott was pointing, she saw a single firefly against the window of the coffee shop, and the promises Cole made her flashed through her brain and she looked away, "Guess they're going away for the winter." She mumbled, and the barrier of ice Cole had around him that finally melted, was long forgotten. Zela now walked on a frozen lake, at any second it could break and she'd fall through, drowning in the memories of what they had.

"Are you still down for staying at my place this weekend?" Scott asked, and Zela nodded her head, the two had planned on going away to a cabin for halloween weekend and having their own halloween, one that Danny agreed with virtually. "I'm looking forward to it." She told him. as she turned around in his arms, hugging him and Scott's hold on her tightened protectively, as he pulled back and kissed her forehead. "Come on, it's break time."

Following him to the back of the coffee house, Zela pulled out a cigarette from her skirt pocket, and lit it as she breathed in the nicotine, and Scott grabbed the cigarette from her lips and placed it between his letting in a deep breath as Zela breathed out the smoke. "Will you give me a ride home? Kathy dropped me off, and I really don't feel like bothering her so late." She asked, and Scott nodded his head handing the cigarette back to her. As he did so, Zela's eyes lingered on his hands, and she thought back to the drawing she drew whenever she first met Scott.

She had drew his hands as she could not stop thinking about them, hands are one of the first things she notices on someone, and she truthfully has a thing for hands. Especially his hands, of course Scott had no idea about this, he just knew she drew and designed clothes. "Thank you for helping me back there, I probably would've slipped poison into their hot chocolates." She said, blowing out a puff of smoke and Scott smirked as he shrugged, "Guess I should have let you make them then." He joked, causing Zela to laugh and shake her head.

As Zela hopped off the motorcycle, Scott let out the kickstand, and took his helmet off as he placed both of them down on the bike. "Thank you, again." Zela said, and Scott chuckled as he grabbed her hips bringing her into a hug, and Zela quickly hugged him back, "No need to thank me, I don't mind driving you home. Remember, pack tomorrow and I'll pick you up and we can head to the cabin together. I'll bring my car to put our shit into it." He told her, as he kissed her forehead, and they both looked to the side after they heard someone clear their throat.

"I think it's about time for you to head out." Rolling her eyes, she crossed her arms as Cole stood there glaring at Scott, "I'll be fine, text or call me whenever you make it home, alright?" She said, as she kissed his cheek and Scott nodded his head as he hesitantly got on his motorcycle and drove away. "So now you're dating your coworker? Isn't he a bit older than you?" Cole asked, and Zela laughed sarcastically as she walked into the barn and into the loft as Cole followed her.

"You're one to fucking talk." She said, and Cole glared at her, "You tossed me away as if I was just some summer fling then you go and get a new girl and purposely rub it in my face. So what if Scott is a bit older? It's three years, plus he's more of a man than you will ever be." This caused Cole to flare his nostrils as he walked closer to Zela, as she held her ground, "What we had was just a fling." He told her, and Zela's heart ached at those words and she dryly laughed at him.

"Yeah?" She said, as she grabbed the jar with the firefly in it that he had made months prior, and threw it against the floor as it shattered everywhere, "Consider that a fling." She told him, and Cole quickly walked over the glass shards crunching underneath his boots as he grabbed her wrist harshly, and Zela's eyes widened. "You will regret that." He told her, and he let go of her wrist, and she grabbed her wrist and looked up at Cole. "Danny didn't tell you, did he?"

Zela said, voice strained, and Cole's eyebrows scrunched together as he looked at her before he stormed off leaving Zela to clean up the shattered glass, and she began picking up the shards as Alex quickly climbed the ladder to help her as he had heard the commotion outside, since he was going to go check on her. "Are you okay?" He quickly asked, and Zela nodded her head, not daring to tell him what really happened, "I'm fine." Alex caught sight of the growing handprint on her wrist, and he was pissed, but he knew he couldn't do anything to help.

"Go change, I'll finish cleaning this up." He told her, and she slowly got up and changed out of her work clothes and into a pair of pajamas as she sat down on the bed, and Alex slowly sat down beside of her as she looked at the TV that was turned off and showed the reflection of them. "I wish Jackie was still here, she'd know what to do." Zela whispered, and Alex wrapped his arm around her as he comforted her. "It'll all work out one day." He told her softly, as it was becoming a regular occurrence that Cole and her argue like this.

"I don't think it ever will." She told him, and Alex sighed and rubbed her shoulders as he kissed her temple, "Do you want to skip school tomorrow? We can watch anything you want." He offered, and Zela looked up at him as she nodded her head slowly liking the idea of staying home. Katherine was made aware of what was going on between Cole and Zela, as Alex informed her, and Katherine gave the green light for Zela to stay home on days she didn't feel mentally well.

"Get some sleep, I'll be back in the morning with breakfast in bed, and some of your tea." He said, causing Zela to slowly smile at him. She was honestly happy that they had mended their friendship, she'd be lying if she said she didn't miss their little moments together. "Sleep well." He told her, and Zela crawled underneath the covers and Alex turned on a movie for her to fall asleep to and quietly left. As he walked inside, it took every fiber of his being to not barge into Cole's room and beat the life out of him.