Breaking Free (BXB)

Chapter 6-The sky is falling

Glumly, I pushed past the crowds of people, my heart still in my stomach. I could hear the words that Owen said to me, clear as the crystal glasses my mother collected when I was a kid. They reverberated in my mind, sending me deeper and deeper into a dark place where Owen glared at me, disgust emanating from his eyes.

People pushed past me, our shoulders bumping. I could hear the angry words for a couple of seconds till they got sucked up into the crowds. Maybe I had said something wrong? Should I have said it the way I did? I was so stupid to think that Owen might actually like me, he'd just wanted to have a good time with someone easy.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Hey, short stack, what's got you down in the dumps?" Cooper nudged my shoulder gently, a soft smile on his face, his eyes shining with concern. I tried to replicate his smile, but I knew it fell short when the concern in his eyes grew. I know I shouldn't be upset over a silly crush, but I was, and there wasn't much I could do to change that. I fiddled with my fingers, looking down at my shoes.

"It's nothing, Cooper." I murmured. Looking up, I met his eyes and he frowned, his eyebrows furrowing. My eyes were turned down with sadness and I'm sure they were at least slightly red. Despite how hard I'd tried, I still cried. Owen's words had stabbed straight through me, and I couldn't pretend that they hadn't hurt. Because they had. They hurt a lot.

"Come on, Milo, I thought you knew me better. You can trust me with whatever is going on." Oh, Cooper, always so sweet and gentle. He reminded me of one of those really big, fluffy dogs that thought they were lap dogs. I did want to tell him, I tell Cooper everything, but saying what had happened out loud would make it real. Or at least, more real than it already was. I looked back at my shoes again, hot tears prickling at my eyes. Biting down on my lip, I pushed down my emotions.

"I'll tell you later, Cooper. Let's just change the subject." Cooper stayed silent and I could feel his eyes staring at me. The air was tense and I thought he might push for more, but finally, he let out a sigh, the tension releasing in one rush, like a wave crashing over us and washing us free of the tense atmosphere.

"Yeah, sure." Cooper ran his hands over his face before forcing a bright smile on his face. Any number of people would swoon over that smile and fall for it, but I saw the tiny crinkle around his lips, the turned down edges and the way his eyes didn't quite believe it. It was fake and I felt bad for being the reason it wasn't real.

"Hey, Cooper," I started, my voice strained. He hummed. "Have you ever been to detention before?" I asked, my sadness seeping away at the wide-eyed look on his face. I knew he had, but he loved to tell this story and he would forget about all that had happened in the last few minutes just to tell that story.

A big, real grin spread across his face easily and he started regaling the tale of getting caught skipping to help a baby squirrel with big, flailing arms. Of course, it was a squirrel, so instead of being so grateful for the help, it scratched him up. He got detention for a couple of days, and he swore up and down that the person in charge of all of the kids in detention was out to get him. He also swore that the baby squirrel he had helped was stalking him for several months after the incident. I smiled as the sparkle returned to his eyes, all thoughts of Owen slipping out of my mind.

Finally, we reached the classroom where detention would be held. There wasn't much noise from the room, and I turned to smile at Cooper. He bowed deeply, a smirk on his face as he flung his arm out in one, sweeping gesture towards the door.

"Detention, Your Highness." He mocked in his most posh voice and I laughed and smacked his shoulder.

"Dick." I joked and he shrugged his shoulders, straightening up, smirking boldly.