Dear Diary

Chapter 7

However, after the second bell succeeding break rang, those rumours became a reality. No-one quite knew how the fight started, but next thing Cole's fists were pounding into the face of another boy in the grade by the name of Bryan.

Fights didn't happen often in our school, but I just so happened to be near when it started. Bryan probably would have ended up looking like a victim of a rabid beast with the way Cole threw his punches. 

The first impression I had of a cool, calm and collected guy flew out the window as I saw the anger, the only emotion I've been able to see on him up to this point, in his eyes. For the first time in a long time, a strong feeling washed over me: fear.

But as soon as the fight had began, Mr Robertson  seemed to materialize from thin air and managed to pull the two boys apart. But in that time, Cole managed to land a few good blows while he himself only looked a little ruffled.

Mr Robertson was a tall man - only slightly taller than Cole who was easily 6'3" - with not much in the way of muscle, but he was extremely scary when angered. The whole corridor of students watched as he grabbed Cole's collar and basically dragged him towards his office, the students parting like the red sea, while another male teacher escorted Bryan at a slower pace. His nose was bleeding and his one eye already began to swell.

As Mr Robertson came towards my group of friends and I, the two of them towering over my small stature, Cole made eye-contact with me once again. I looked away quickly, but not out of embarrassment. No, this time I looked away out of fear.

Growing up in a Christian home with two parents that loved and respected each other made me sensitive to fights because I never experienced them: the furthest their fights became were a strong complaint, never to the point where they raised their voices horribly at each other.  I've never seen someone raise a hand to another before so this fight shook me slightly, but I tried to hide it as best I could.

The whole corridor was quiet as they watched the parade pass by them, but as soon as the four of them were out of sight, everyone burst into chatter.

"Man, that Cole's scary," Betty said and my group nodded in agreement before we made our way to English, which was the last lesson of the day.

Whenever my friends and I have a class together, we tried to alternate our seating arrangements. So, if I sat next to Anne in maths, I tried to sit next to Amy in English, and in music I sat next to Natalie.

Mrs Eley was a very energetic woman, the kind of teacher every student dreaded at the end of the day, especially on Mondays. Once the class had settled in their seats we began to take out our poetry books when there came a knock at the door.

Mrs Eley opened it to see Cole standing there with an expressionless look on his face as he handed her a note. My heart began to pound when I realised he was in this class as well. 

While Mrs Eley read the paper, Cole's eyes looked over the class before finally settling on me. I froze on the spot, but quickly shifted my gaze as I felt my cheeks turn red. I couldn't handle stares. I tried to ignore the happy chatter of the female population, too.

"Okay," Mrs Eley said and Cole took his eyes off my form, making me sigh in relief. "Go and sit somewhere."

Cole looked around the classroom and my eyes widened in horror when I realised that the only open seats left were behind me and Amy. A queasy feeling began to grow in my stomach as he approach the desk, his long strides eating up the ground. His hands were tucked in his pockets and I couldn't help but take note of the tattoos on his arm. His dark eyes locked on my eyes for a moment. I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked away from him.