The Institute ~Completed~

Chapter seven: A threat

Joshua woke up and got dressed. He needed to speak with Cotton now. He runs out of the house and over to her house. He knocks on the door. Just the girl he wanted to see opens up the door. "Joshua! Hi!!" She squeals and hugs him. He doesn't hug back. "What's wrong?" Cotton asks. Joshua pushes past Cotton and into the house. "Joshua!" Cotton grabs him back but out of anger he hits her. Cotton hit the wall with a scream. Joshua felt no remorse for what he just did. Cotton got up being the fearless creature she was, she pushes him back into the couch. "How dare you!" She yells at him. At that moment Jake and Jessica came down stairs. "What's going on?" Asks Jessica.

"Get out Joshua! Get out now!" Cotton pulls Joshua outside and slaps him hard. "Cotton wait!" Jessica grabs her before she did something else that would harm both her and Joshua. "Why are you defending him!!!" She screams at Jessica. "What happened?" Jake asks Joshua. Joshua looks down trying not to make eye contact knowing Jake was glaring at him. "She grabbed me and hit her. She freaked out and started yelling at me." Joshua says. Jake looks at Cotton. She was looking down to. "Is that true? Cotton?" Jake asks her. She didn't answer. Jake got angry at this. "Answer me Cotton!" He yells. She jumped so did Jessica. Jessica rarely heard Jake yell. It scared her. "Yes." Cotton replies in a shaky voice. Jake looks at Joshua. The whole thing was uncoordinated. It made Jake angry with both of them. "Why did you hit her?" Jessica asks Joshua. He looks up at Jessica. "My anger got the best of me. I only came here to talk to her. I didn't mean for any of this I swear."

Cotton got out of Jessica's grip and walked up to Joshua. She looks directly at him. She slaps him and then hugs him. "Don't ever hit me again please!" Cotton says into his ear. Joshua hugs her back. "I won't. I promise." Jessica looks at Jake like 'you better say something before I do.' Jake pulls Cotton away from Joshua. "I don't think you should be hanging out with Joshua anymore." Jake says. Joshua's eyes widened. That made him angrier. "Excuse me? Last time I checked she's not your daughter." He snaps at Jake. Beings Jake was only a year older than Joshua, he almost hits him but Cotton got in the way. "No!!! Please! No!!" She cries. "Cotton get inside now." Jake orders. Cotton didn't move. That's what made Jessica a little mad. "Cotton he gave you an order!" Jessica yelled for the first time. Jake never heard her yell. Cotton jumps at her voice. "Whoa? Who are you to tell her what to do?" Joshua pulls Cotton behind him. "Josh I wouldn't." Cotton warns but Joshua got in Jake's face anyway. "Do you wanna die today?" Jake asks pushing Joshua back. Joshua stumbles back which caused Cotton to slip off steps. Her scream stopped the boys in their tracks. Joshua ran to Cotton. "Cotton are you okay?" Asks Jake. Cotton glares at him. Joshua helps Cotton up. She screams. Joshua looked at her in confusion. "What's wrong?" Jessica asks. Cotton looks at her arm. Jake saw it was bruising and swelling up. "Oh great you broke her arm." Joshua yells at him. "It wouldn't have happened if she listened to her father." Jake yells at him. Joshua looks at Cotton. "What?" He didn't know they adopted her.

"Josh they adopted me." Cotton says. "What? No! You told me you didn't want to be adopted?" Joshua says to her. He didn't like Jake one bit. Jessica didn't bother him. It was true Cotton didn't want to be adopted until these two came along. "I didn't until I found them. Josh you gotta understand, they love me and I love them. Although I'm a bit scared right now. But still." Cotton explains.

"You know what I don't even care. Have fun with your new family, I'll see you around Cotton." Joshua was about to walk off but Cotton grabs his wrist. "Josh please no!" She says. Joshua turns around. "No!! I'm done. We're done! Just leave me alone." He pulls away knowing Cotton couldn't keep a grip. "No!!! Please!!! I need you!! I need you." She cries as he walks away. Joshua wanted to give in but knew he was doing the best thing for her and himself. "Joshua please!" She runs after him. He turns around. He was about to break off all contact with her with these words. "No Cotton. I don't love you! I don't care about you! Just leave me alone. I hate you. Just go home!" He says to her. Cotton's heart shattered in a million pieces. She didn't even speak. She just stared at him. "Goodbye Cotton." He says and walks away. Jake and Jessica ran to her. "Cotton? You okay?" Jessica asks. She pulls out of their grip. "You know what! This is all your fault! You had to become parents today? How could you do this to me!" She yells at them. Joshua turns around. He heard ever word she just said. "And maybe I was wrong about you. You ruined everything!" She pushes through them and runs back into the house.