Five People, Four Cups, One Who Walked Away Chapter 06

Five People, Four Cups, One Who Walked Away Chapter 06

Cole came straight over when he saw me. 

“Why is your number disconnected?” 

“I called you more than twenty times.” 

His voice was sharp. 

He sounded as if he were the one who had been 

left behind, unable to reach me. 

I used my access card to unlock the glass door. 

“If you’ve got something to say, say it. I have a 

meeting at nine.” 

Cole planted a hand against the door. 

“Come back with me.” 

“Come on. You’ve had your tantrum, and you’ve 

moved out. Enough already.” 

“We waited for you until midnight last night.” 

I looked at him. 

“And?” 

“What do you mean, ‘and‘?” 

He frowned. 

“You were mad because we didn’t wait for you to 

eat, right?” 

“Well, we waited.” 

“We saved the ribs for you, too.” 

For a moment, I thought I must have misheard 

him. 

“Cole, do you think I moved out just to make you 

all miss a meal?” 

“Didn’t you?” 

His voice dropped a little. 

“Nora, if you want something, you can tell us.” 

“Why do you have to disappear? How is anyone 

supposed to deal with that?” 

The teachers were arriving for work. 

Some glanced our way. 

Holding his anger in check, Cole reached for my 

travel bag. 

“Let’s go home first.” 

“Why would you want to live in this dump?” 

“I told Mia to leave your room alone. We’re keeping 

it for you.” 

I pulled my hand back. 

“That’s not my home anymore.” 

Cole’s expression froze. 

“What do you mean?” 

“We’re done.” 

The words came more easily than I’d expected. 

Cole didn’t seem to understand. 

He stared at me for several seconds, then gave a 

sudden laugh. 

“Don’t pull that.” 

“Breaking up is a decision for both of us. I didn’t 

agree to it.” 

“We both have to agree to be together.” 

I pushed his hand away. 

“Only one of us has to decide it’s over.” 

The smile vanished from his face. 

“Because of Mia?” 

“It’s not really about her.” 

“It’s about all of you choosing her, over and over.” 

“She got home late, and you waited.” 

“I got home late, and you’d already washed the pots.” 

“Her stomach hurt, and you drove an hour to get her cinnamon rolls.” 

“I went to the ER, and you complained about my 

calls.” 

“She didn’t have a cup, and you took mine.” 

“She needed an art studio, and you started clearing out my room.” 

With every sentence, he went a little paler. 

Finally, he rushed to interrupt. 

“Those are all little things.” 

“Right.” 

I nodded. 

“Every one of them was a little thing.” 

“That’s why I couldn’t even be bothered to fight 

about them.” 

“I just added all those little things together and 

decided I didn’t want you anymore.” 

Cole’s lips moved. 

He held up the insulated tumbler. 

“I brought it back.” 

“You love this, don’t you?” 

The words on the bottom, “Nora will always have a 

home,” glared in the sunlight. 

I didn’t take it. 

“Keep it.” 

“Mia needs it, anyway.” 

He tightened his grip suddenly, as if it had burned 

him. 

Just then, Dana came outside. 

“Nora, the parents are here.” 

“Tyler’s mom says she’ll only talk to you.” 

I answered and turned to go inside. 

Cole followed me a couple of steps. 

“You’re really going to throw all of us away for this 

job?” 

I stopped. 

“Cole, you’ve got it backward.” 

“I didn’t throw any of you away.” 

“You thought it didn’t matter how you treated me. 

You kept putting me last, until you realized I was 

gone.” 

The glass door closed in front of him. 

At ten, Tyler’s mom signed the agreement for his 

makeup sessions. 

Before she left, she pressed a bag of warm 

breakfast sandwiches into my hands. 

“You don’t look well. Have something to eat.” 

I looked down at the bag. 

For a moment, I couldn’t say anything. 

Outside, Cole was gone. 

Only the insulated tumbler remained on the steps. 

A note was tucked beside its lid. 

[I’ll come pick you up tonight.] 

I tore up the note. 

I gave the tumbler to the woman who cleaned the 

center. 

“It still works. You can have it.” 

Some things didn’t need to be smashed. 

Someone else could use them instead.