Make Me Cry ✔️

the bullies

COOPER REED DIDN'T ONLY LIKE ANGER -- HE HAD GROWN AN ACQUIRED TASTE FOR THE RUSH OF ICE COLD POWER THAT FROZE HIS VEINS AND MADE HIM A BLADE OF UNSTOPPABLE STEEL THAT CAME WITH IT. Because when life pushed you under raging waters, shoved you into pure darkness without a flashlight, and stripped you of everything you thought you couldn't loose, the only thing you want is to be able to fight back. And, for Cooper, watching the power get sucked out of someone smaller than him and injected into his body was the only way he knew to gain enough strength to prove how tough he was -- not only to the teammates who worshipped him, or even the best friend who always told him he wasn't good enough -- but to life.

As soon as Lee Campbell had shut his smug, self-satisfied trap, Cooper had punched the battered Toyota that he had been leaning against, leaving a small dent to add to its collection. He released a jagged breath of cold air, before swiftly wiping the blood from his knuckles on his t-shirt. The car alarm had gone off, and once Cooper had gotten over the surprise that a beaten up five-seater like that had an alarm, him and his friends disappeared into the school.

"We'll get them back." Hayes Golding promised, feeding off his friend's anger like a dry sponge. "Two little fuckers think they can talk like that to us?"

"What are you going to do, Hayes, eat them up like the fucking lap dog you are?" Burke drawled, fingers casually looped around the straps of his backpack as they walked.

Cooper froze, spinning on his heels so fast, Burke almost stepped back. Almost. "What the hell was that?" He growled, leaning forward, finger jabbing the air accusingly. "You know the Sheriff's shit-face son or something?" Cooper's nose scrunched. "What, do you like the fucker?" It wasn't uncommon knowledge that Lee Campbell -- charming, sleek, fearless -- was the only openly gay kid at Kennedy High.

Burke's expression didn't change, always engraved in stone. "Watch it, Reed."

Cooper just shook his head, jaw tense, eyes flashing. He needed a fight. He needed fists on flesh, words slashing skin, the bitter taste of pain and chaos on the tip of his tongue. He forced himself to take a deep breath. Burke, always so calm and collected, was known to be able to best anyone in a fight with one punch, and Cooper wasn't going to test that theory. Not in front of his teammates.

"I need to cool off." He managed through gritted teeth, pushing past the cluster of boys, lungs hungry for the cold and fresh air outside the double doors. But before he got there, he felt someone block his path.

"Cooper, are you OK?"

"Get the fuck away from me." The words left his lips before his eyes reached his brain. In front of him was Mrs. Taylor, shrewd eyes wide, crimson lips curled.

"Excuse me?"

His mouth fell open as his English teacher waited impatiently for a reply. "I-I. .." Cooper knew he should have apologized, but he also didn't know how. Only weak people were ever sorry.

A few tense beats of silence passed between them before she let out a long sigh, realising he wouldn't finish, and crossed her arms, gazing down at him through thin-rimmed glasses. "I'll book you a meeting with the Guidance Councillor after school -- "

"Mrs. -- "

"I don't want to hear it." Mrs. Taylor cut him off with a raised hand. Her features softened a fraction as she leaned in, voice warm like tepid coffee. "Listen, I've heard that things aren't great at home, so we'll let this time slip. But I expect you to be at the Councillor's Office after school. You need to empty out that anger."

Cooper almost laughed. Empty out that anger? WHY WOULD HE WANT TO EMPTY THE ONE THING THAT HAD PROTECTED, COMFORTED, AND NEVER LEFT HIS SIDE IN THE WORLD WHEN EVERYONE ELSE HAD?