𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒, 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒

~Felicity Romano~

I woke up to the sound of my alarm, I got up and hopped in the shower. I took a nice warm shower before throwing on some black jeans and a long sleeve blue shirt, I grabbed my Shinedown hoodie before dashing downstairs. As I walked into the kitchen, I saw all four boys sitting there. Carlos was the first to notice me, he gave a whistle, the other three turned to look at me. "Listen, at school we don't want anyone to know we are step brothers, okay? It might-"

"Ruin your reputation? Don't worry guys, I'm way ahead of you. I don't feel like hanging out with the popular kids, to much attention and sluts, I ain't up for that." I responded quickly, I don't get why they don't want people to know I'm their step brother. Don't get me wrong, I don't like them but I still be wondering.

I grabbed an apple from the kitchen before heading towards the door, I picked my bag, keys and phone up before leaving. I plugged my headphones in, turning on my Shinedown playlist. the first song being Monsters, something I understand...

Good for you, you fooled everybody
Good for you, you fooled everyone
Good for you, now you're somebody
Good for you, you fooled everyone

Leave your weapon on the table
Wrapped in burlap, barely able
Don't get angry, don't discourage
Take a shot of liquid courage

'Cause my monsters are real, and they're trained how to kill
And there's no comin' back and they laugh at how I feel
And these monsters can fly, and they'll never say die
And there's no goin' back, if I get trapped I'll never heal
Yeah, my monsters are real

Good for you, you hurt everybody
Good for you, you hurt everyone
Good for you, you love nobody
Good for you, you owe no one

Leave your weapon on the table
Wrapped in burlap, barely able
Call a doctor, say a prayer
Choose a god you think is fair

'Cause my monsters are real, and they're trained how to kill
And there's no comin' back and they laugh at how I feel
And these monsters can fly, and they'll never say die
And there's no goin' back, if I get trapped I'll never heal
'Cause my monsters are real

Leave your weapon on the table
Wrapped in burlap, barely able
Don't get angry, don't discourage
Take a shot of liquid courage
Leave a light on if you're able
'Cause we both know you're unstable
Call a doctor, say a prayer
Choose a god you think is fair

'Cause my monsters are real, and they're trained how to kill
And there's no comin' back and they laugh at how I feel
And these monsters can fly, and they'll never say die
And there's no goin' back, if I get trapped I'll never heal
Yeah, my monsters are real

I looked up and noticed I was at school, I turned my music off and placed my phone in my pocket before heading into the place I dreaded the most. I walked towards my locker, ignoring the snarky comments as I passed. I was so used to these comments, like I said, I'm the victim. I walked up to my locker, putting in the digits before popping it open.

"Did little Cooper like my poem?" I didn't have to turn around to know exactly who was behind me, Zeke. He's picked on me since I was seven it started with names but eventually got worse. "I'd hardly call it a poem, it's just a piece of trash."

"So that makes it perfect for you, doesn't it Cooper."

"Wow, how original, calling someone trash. Please, let us give the award of 'asshole of the year' to-" I was cut off as my head was slammed into a closed locker, hard. The bang sounded around the hall, I'm sure by now everyone was looking at me. I could feel something trickle down my face, I lifted my hand up to touch it. Blood.

"You gonna fight back? Or are you too pussy?"

"Depends, If I were to hit you that would be classified as animal abuse-" I shut up as a foot connected with my mouth. I bit down on my tongue, drawing blood from the impact. I spat out some of the blood, hating the taste of it. "Don't call me an animal you pathetic bitch!"

"I'm not one to lie Zeke-" A foot to the stomach, I hunched over at the pain of it. Luckily I hadn't eaten much else I probably would have thrown it up. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the tears away as pain surged through me. "What's the matter Cooper, you gonna cry? Why don't you save your tears for your goodbye note when you kill yourself." Zeke kicked me in the face one final time before walking away to first class. Everyone else walked away, like expected. I slowly slid to the ground, holding my stomach as I felt the tears start to fall.

"Here." I looked up to see a girl around my age kneeling down in front of me. She had light brown hair with natural blonde tips at the bottom, she had beautiful blue eyes that shone with a hint of silver. She was holding a tissue out for me, I eyed the tissue before looking up at her. "I'm not like them, I promise." She had a strong Italian accent as she spoke. I took the tissue out of her hand, pressing it to the side of my head. She sat down beside me, pulling out another tissue and pressing it against my split lip.

"Why are you helping me?" I asked, my voice just above a whisper. Another silent tear fell as I looked at her, my eyes searching her for some sort of sign that this was all a prank. She would help me for a bit then push me back down and laugh, then she'd walk away and leave me like the rest of them did. "I know how it feels." She simply said. "The jokes hurt, the comments about the self harm. The pushing and shoving, the kicks and punches. I know how much it hurts."

"Y-You self harm?" She lifted her sleeve up, showing me the singular scars along her forearm. I lifted up my sleeve, showing her my scars. She looked at my arm before placing her hand on my arm. "I know how it feels, I know it hurts." She pulled me into a hug, not caring if she got blood on her. "T-thank you." I whispered, another stray tear falling, landing on her hair. "I-I never got your name."

"Felicity, Felicity Romano. I just moved here a few days ago, I started today and I've decided you're the only person I want to talk to."

"That makes two of us." I said with a small smile, I started to get up, using the locker to pull myself up. "Cooper, Cooper Bryan. It's a pleasure to meet you Felicity... maybe even a blessing." Felicity smiled before handing me my bag, I thanked her before taking it. "What class do you have?"

"I'm not sure, I was hoping you could help me?" She asked, handing me her schedule. I looked over it, a smirk growing over my face. "You, miss Licity, are stuck with me for the day." Felicity took her schedule back before smiling. "Yay! At least I'll have someone to sit with!" I smiled before leading Felicity off to our first class, history. I knocked on the door before opening it, everyone turned to look at us. "Mr Bryan, you seem to be late."

"Sorry sir, I got caught up helping the new student." I said as I stepped back from in front of Felicity. The teacher sighed before pointing to an empty table. "I'll let you off the hook Mr Bryan, don't let it happen again."

"Understood, Sir." Felicity and I took a seat at the back of the class, ignoring the looks of most of the class. I turned to Felicity with a sigh, "You ready for some boring ass shit?"