First Punch ➟ Kellic

T W E N T Y T W O

I get home with my mood completely in the toilet. I should've kissed Jake. He's right, this really is over and I wanted one last moment. I miss him already and it's only been a few hours.

I sigh to my empty room, looking over at my roses for the trillionth time. They used to make me so happy, and now it's just a torturous reminder of what could've been.

After continuously running over our short romantic fling a million times in my head, I decide to try and find Carter. If I keep sitting here by myself Jake will just hang in my mind all night long.

I head into the hall, somewhat annoyed to see Carter's door open and room empty. I don't really want to go on a huge mission to find him right now. I can vaguely hear voices downstairs so I sigh a little, too tired to interact with anyone other than Carter.

I head down the stairs, rolling my eyes at Boom Dawg's stupid suggestion: "Can't we just rush in and start shooting?"

I laugh a little rounding the corner and expecting him and Carter to be playing video games on the new x-box and TV they're so excited about. Of course, they couldn't manage to get something more useful like a computer, no, they stole some junky's old ass bubble TV.

As I turn the corner though, I stumble to a stop. Most of the gang is gathered around in the living room, Dimitri holding a serious look on his face as he replies, "No. It'll leave us too vulnerable. They outnumber us."

My eyebrows furrow, confused as to what this meeting is about, and why I wasn't invited.

"Hey, what's going on?" I say, getting everyone's attention. I look at Dimitri confusedly, kind of mad that they left me out.

"We're hitting the Blood's base tonight," Dimitri tells me, turning back to Boon. I direct my gaze to Carter now, seeing a guilty expression on his face as he avoids looking at me. As everyone around us discusses strategies, I keep staring at Carter until he finally looks me in the eye. I hold my annoyed expression, clenching my jaw in anger. Carter's usually the one to come and get me after Dimitri decides to gather everyone. So why did he leave me out?

Carter rolls his eyes, getting up and starting toward me. I back up toward the kitchen, not wanting to yell at him in front of everyone.

"Don't be mad..." he sighs, stopping in front of me. "We don't know what we're getting into, you have to sit this one out, Cooper."

"You're fucking with me, right?" I ask, trying to keep my voice below a yell. Why do they all still see me as that scared twelve-year old?

He rolls his eyes again. "I'm serious. I don't ever question Dimitri, but this is a big risk."

I snort in disbelief, shaking my head at him too. He's right, he doesn't ever question Dimitri. None of us do, and have never had a reason to. Dimitri's a smart guy, he would never put us in a situation where the odds are against us.

"Can you please stop protecting me?" I reply, my voice firm. "I want to help."

"Not tonight," Carter replies, shaking his head and turning around. I clench my jaw again, beyond frustrated with him.

"Watch me," I say in anger, pushing past him.

"Cooper," I hear his demanding voice warn me, but ignore it and walk back into the living room, stealing his spot on the couch.

"So what's our plan so far?" I ask, jumping in after Dimitri finishes describing where the entrances are.

"I think Boon had a good idea, sort of. We need to spread out, cover all the ways in at once. And we have the element of surprise working in our favour, but they still outnumber us," he explains. "We can't just rush in and start shooting." Everyone laughs, Boon looking kind of embarrassed by his suggestion.