It's a Match! Read Online Free PDF Page A

cheeks. Her teeth were the whitest shade of white and perfectly straight, with soft lips in a natural peach tone. Her slender figure was draped in a white blouse and fitted beige cargo pants.
    As they made their introductions, Cole felt an instant connection. And he knew he was going to try to spend as much time with her as he could.  

    Cole smiled at the memory and threw a duffle bag over his shoulder. Here goes nothing , he thought, as he walked toward his car to begin loading it. It was time—time to chase the unknown.

COLE PARKED IN front of the hotel, then walked into the old and decaying lobby. He shuddered as the stench of stale cigarette smoke and chicken that had been sitting out for a few days filled his nostrils. He walked up to the desk and was greeted by an old man wearing a monocle. Cole stifled a laugh.  
    “Hello, young man. How can I help you?” the old man asked, followed by a painful sounding cough.  
    “I was looking for a room for tonight. Preferably with two beds.”
    “Let me see what we have available.” The old man searched through his ancient, dust-covered computer and nodded his head. “Yes, we have the perfect one for you. How many will be staying?”
    “Just me and one other person,” Cole replied.  
    Sutton had texted to let Cole know she’d be arriving in twenty minutes, but he was glad he’d have time to get settled in before she got there.  
    “Okay, let me get you the key. And I’ll need to see your identification as well.”    
    The man disappeared into the office for a couple of minutes while Cole pulled the ID out of his wallet. The man returned with a rusty old-fashioned bronze skeleton key and handed it to Cole, then took Cole’s ID and input the information into the computer.  
    “That will be twenty-five dollars.”
    Twenty-five dollars? Cole wondered if he’d entered a wormhole and woken up in the seventies. He took his card out and the man informed him they only took cash. Cole checked his pockets and pulled out two crumpled twenty-dollar bills.  
    The man gave Cole his change and he headed up to the second floor, then gasped as he entered the room. Beneath the layers of filth, the shaggy carpet was orange. The tattered curtains were yellow and green plaid, and were covered with cigarette burns. The heavily frayed blankets on the bed were gold with purple speckles. Cole laughed to himself as he thought about how clean-freak Sutton was going to react.  
    Cole sat down on the bed and noticed the lack of TV—not that it really mattered. It was late, and they probably needed to just go to sleep anyway. It was their last night before going their separate ways. Cole wondered what it was going to be like. Of course they would talk on the phone, but it wasn’t going to be the same. He had mixed emotions, because he was also really excited for the journey he was about to embark upon. All throughout high school, he had dreamed about college; what it would be like, who he would meet….  
    Cole heard a knock on the door and opened it to see an exhausted looking Sutton. She threw her bag down and gave Cole a hug. “That was the longest drive ever.”
    “Seriously.”
    Sutton looked around and cringed. “This is awful.”
    “I thought you’d like it,” Cole said, snickering.  
    “Oh yeah, totally my style,” Sutton replied sarcastically.
    “There’s no TV.”
    “I’m not worried about it. I’m so tired.”
    “Yeah, me too.”
    “I’m going to get ready for bed.”
    “Sounds good.”
    Cole watched Sutton walk to the bathroom, and sighed. He changed as she was in the bathroom brushing her teeth. When she came back in a few minutes later, she had a horrified look on her face. “I thought the room was bad, but that bathroom is simply atrocious.”
    Cole got up and entered the bathroom once she was done, then immediately peeked his head back out. “Wow, you weren’t joking.”  
    “I never joke,” she replied, with a smirk.  
    The tarnished