I sharpen the pool stick and turn towards my friends. "Let's get the game started. Antwon you're on my team. Liam you're on Frankie's team." Setting the balls up I move the black ball setter and break. The balls go in all direction and a ball goes into the hole. Leaning towards the hole of the table I look at the ball that went in. "Antwon we're small." I hit the ball again and I miss the pocket.

"Can you turn the radio on?" Liam asks. "I want to know what the weather is like."

"Sure," I walk over to the CD player and turn it on. "Why do you need to know what the weather is like?"

Liam lines up the shot "I have a feeling that Julia took Veronica to our secret place, but knowing my sister she won't be listening to radio to find out how the weather is." He looks at Antwon. "Do you remember the time when we took Julia to our spot and it rained?"

Antwon's face pales. "Yeah, she nearly fell slid down the dirt track and headed towards the rock cliff." He shakes his head. "The memory of that day haunts me. I don't want to go through something like that ever again." He hits the smaller ball into the pocket. Then he has another go and misses.

I pick up the bottle of beer and drink from the bottle.

Liam's phone rings and he looks at the caller ID. He looks at his brother and says. "It's Mom. She's probably wondering if we're going to be home for dinner." He answers the call and puts it on loudspeaker.

Liam: Hey, Mom.

Mrs. Harris: Are you going to be home for dinner?

Liam: I don't know. Why?

Mrs. Harris: I was thinking about asking Cole to join us. So, he and your sister can actually have a civilized conversation where Julia won't walk away from him. I know she's stubborn when it comes to that boy.

Me: Hey, Mrs. Harris. I'll be there for dinner. Thank you for helping me have a conversation with her.

Liam: What's for dinner?

Mrs. Harris: What do you boys feel like?

Antwon & Me: Pizza.

Mrs. Harris laughs.

Mrs. Harris: I should have known you boys would say that. Cole, if you don't feel like going home you could always spend the night.

Me: Thanks Mrs. H.

Liam ends the call and then picks up the cue. He hits the white ball and it hits a larger ball and it goes into the pocket. He hits another ball and it misses. Picking up his beer he takes a drink. "How has talking with Julia been going?"

I run my hand down my face. "It's not going anywhere, Liam. She keeps telling me that she's not ready to talk about it. I really didn't know all the things I did to her in high school has affected her so much."

Antwon slaps my back. "Now, you do. You have so much to make up for when it comes to my sister. I just hope it's not too late for you to make her change her mind about you."

I nod. "I hope so too. Do you think she's going to want to go the high school reunion in a couple of months?"

Liam laughs. "She's not going to want a repeat with what happened then. I'm sure she will boycott that thing."

Damn, I was hoping to show her that I have changed. Especially, with all the people that helped me make her life hell.

The music stops and a female gives us the latest news before saying. "There's rain on its way over. Please, drive carefully and have your headlights on, so other driver's on the road will be able to see you."

Liam puts his cue away and looks at Antwon. "We should leave." Turning towards me he says. "Call Mom and tell her to bring the girls clothes over. This is place is closer than ours and I don't want them wearing wet clothes longer then they have to."

"Okay," I pull my phone out and look for Mrs. Harris in my contacts.

Liam and Antwon run out of the house. They climb into their car and pull out of my driveway.

Frankie rubs the back of his neck and looks at me. "Should I go?"

"Yes," I hit the call button and the phone rings.

Frankie starts to walk out of the house as Mrs. Harris answers the phone.

Mrs. Harris: Hey, Cole. What do you need?

Me: Liam wants you to bring some clothes over for the girls. On the radio we heard that it's going to rain and Liam's afraid that Julie and Veronica are going to get caught in the rain.

Mrs. Harris: I'll be over there shortly.

Me: Thanks.

I hang up the phone and put the left over beer back into the fridge. I walk into the living room and start cleaning it. I have clothes all over the floor and a few containers of left-over food I brought from the Chinese restaurant down the road from my place.

After I finish cleaning the living room I see Mrs. Harris pull into the driveway in her husband's car.

She climbs out of the car with two bags of clothes. She runs to the door just as the sky opens up.

I open the door for her. "I didn't expect it to rain this soon. I thought it would hold off longer."

Mrs. Harris shakes her head. "I knew it wouldn't hold off. Once the clouds come over that's it," she holds the bag clothes up. "Where do you want me to leave the clothes?"

"Put Veronica's in the bathroom close to the kitchen and I'll take Julia's up to my room."

A smile spreads across Mrs. Harris's face. "You really want to show off your house to Julia? Do you think that will make her fall for you?"

I shrug. "I could hope."

She laughs. "It's going to take more than that, Cole. You've got a lot of work to do to thaw my daughter out." Mrs. Harris gives me Julia's bag of clothes.

"Are you calling her the Ice Queen?"

"Yes, I am." She walks down the hall and heads to the bathroom.

I take Julia's bag to my bathroom and set it on the counter in my ensuite. It has his and her basin and draws. My side has a lot of stuff on it and on the other side it's clean and unused. The draws on her side is empty as well.

Mrs. Harris walks into the bathroom and she looks around. "You did a really good job at designing this bathroom. Have you told my son's that you've done all the work here?"

I shake my head. "No, all they know is that I'm good at fixing cars. I haven't told anyone about my building skills. If I did I'm sure a lot of people would want me to help them with their house and then my hobby will become something I won't enjoy anymore."

She nods. "I was going to ask you to help us with our new laundry, but it looks like that's out of the question."

"I'll do it. Please, don't tell everyone that it was me that did it. If they ask tell them you hired a builder to do it."

Mrs. Harris looks outside. "I better get going before my daughter shows up. Knowing her she'll put up a fight. So, she doesn't have to shower here. I'll tell my sons that they should leave with Veronica after her shower. Julia likes to spend a while in the shower after she's gone swimming." She walks out of the room.

I watch from my bedroom window as Mrs. Harris pulls out of my driveway.