cole connell had genuinely never felt as humiliated or shocked than he had in this moment.

who are you? the words kept replaying in his mind. over and fucking-over again.

how could anyone not know cole connell?

not only was he a son of a senator, he was the best hockey player in the nation right now—so not knowing him was practically unheard of. especially at westwood prep.

it had been a completely normal day. cole had been, for once in his life, genuinely happy. without smoking a joint with nolan, or sneaking some vodka out of his father’s stash. life was good, girls were hanging onto his every word in the cafeteria while he, dakota, and nolan all discussed a party happening that night.

then? you walked into the doors of the cafeteria.

everyone, not just cole, watched as you held your books closer to your chest, and went straight over to bella-fucking-madison of all people.

all of westwood prep knew how much of a bitch bella was, and would honestly kill someone for even looking at her wrong. sure, she was hot—and cole had hooked up with her. yep, been there, got the trophy, whatever. multiple times, mainly because they were seen as what was expected. the son of a senator and the daughter of a business man. but, cole couldn’t stand bella’s performance—and the fact that the whole personality she put on for everyone else was fake.

the point was that you were going straight over to bella, no hesitation.

did you have a death wish? the cafeteria was almost silent at this point, as people held their breath in anticipation at how bad bella was going to flip out on you.

but instead of any of that, bella literally smiled at your arrival.

cole’s face dropped immediately. how in the shit did this new girl get the bitch of the school to smile at all?

then, he noticed nolan get a wave of recognition on his face, and decided to drop the bomb that you were no other than the little sister of bella.

could this day get any crazier? and yes, yes it could.

instead of going back to talking about the party like everyone else in the cafeteria—cole stood up, making his way over to the table. maybe it was the fact he wanted to piss bella off, or maybe it was the fact that he wanted to see if you were just as bad as your sister.

once cole got close enough, he cleared his throat—making bella’s sharp eyes snap up to his in suspicion. but he wasn’t looking at her, he was looking at you—and holy shit. whoever said love at first sight wasn’t real, was 100% wrong. this girl was going to be the death of cole and he hadn’t even said a word yet.

but, instead of smiling or even looking at him with awe, your face twisted into confusion.

“who are you?”

cole stopped short. literally. and he could feel bella laughing at him. but, he tried to play it off, laughing awkwardly.

“uhm— cole. cole connell. im a friend of your sister.”