Boys Like You

Chapter Eight - She Knows

Cooper couldn't stop thinking about Ellie. He had the best weekend with her and the rest of the group and he loved what their friendship was becoming. He had never been so close to a girl like before and he loved spending his time with her rather than his 'friends' in school. They hadn't noticed how much time Cooper was spending away from them.

Cooper had panicked as first when Miss Smith had said he would be getting help from Ellie as he always assumed she was quiet and weird and the conversation would be super awkward between them. He was completely wrong though. She was the opposite of quiet and that's why she got along with his friend so much.

He began to think about why he cared so much about his reputation and why he cared so much about what people thought if he was friends with Ellie. No one would really care except the people who he called 'friends' and he didn't care about them anyway. He would be leaving school soon and wouldn't have to care about what they thought but it would just make his life easier if he was openly friends with someone rather than keeping it a secret.

Claire had begun asking Cooper questions about what he had been doing at the weekends and after school. More than she usually did and Cooper would lie to her about going out with his mum or hanging with his brothers. He had used every excuse in the book but he believed that Claire had bought all the lies. Cooper was beginning to get a little worried though that Claire was getting suspicious and he didn't want Ellie to get hurt by her as she could be a nasty piece of work.

Cooper pushed all of these thoughts to the back of his mind. He had a long day and the only thing keeping him going was the double period of drama he had with Ellie at the end of the day. He had to get through lunch first.

As he entered the cafeteria, he caught eyes with Ellie who winked at him. He grinned at her and sat down at a table with Frankie, Luke and Ellie's brother, Jordan. The other group wasn't here yet so Cooper could relax a little. The table erupted with laughter before he could say anything.

"What's so funny?" Cooper asked

"Frankie thinks he is in love with Emily, look at this text" Luke laughed passing Cooper a phone

"He's an idiot" Cooper laughed

"Cooper..." A voice came from behind him

Cooper turned to see Claire standing with her two accomplices. She had an innocent smile on her face that he didn't trust. A little bubble of worry started in his stomach but he didn't show this.

"Matt wants you to go see him" She smiled

Matt was supposed to be Cooper's best friend. He technically was but Cooper had begun to dislike him as the years went on. With Matts popularity came a lot of bullying and Cooper did not like that. He would never confront him about anything though as Matt was bigger and tougher than him.

Cooper followed Claire out of the cafeteria, even though he didn't trust her. He was curious. She took him to an empty classroom. When they entered she shut the door and stood in front of it.

"Where's Matt?" Cooper asked

"I lied" Claire smiled

"What?" Cooper asked confused as to what was happening and why he was in an empty classroom with Claire

"I know, Cooper," She said. Ellie popped into Coopers head instantly

"You know what?" He asked

"I know you have been hanging about with Ellie behind your friend's backs, why are you lying to us?" She asked

"How do you know that?" Cooper asked. Instantly regretting it. He probably should have denied it at first.

"I saw you a few weeks back when you got thrown out of the bowling alley, I just arrived when you got kicked out" Claire explained