Chapter Seventeen

Thursday was another day of nothing much for the seniors, technically the last day they had to attend regular school. All the kids took a longer than usual lunch. Some didn't even come back afterwards.

Danielle went to lunch with the other girls from the volleyball team. Coop spent his lunch in the gymnasium, the one sport he had never been any good at growing up was basketball. That was before he had grown almost a foot in the last five years.

He had also gone from a practically gaunt boy to an actual athlete. He could now at least layup or even dunk. Shooting the ball was still a mixed bag.

He ran up and down the court with the ball more than he attempted to get the ball in the basket. Really he was just trying to burn time until the school-day would be over.

He stopped to tie his shoes. He felt a presence behind him, he glanced and saw no one there. When he turned back around, Odys was standing a few feet in front of him. Coop stumbled back, falling on his butt.

Odys chuckled, putting his hands on his knees. "Sorry Cooper. Heard someone tearing up the court and got curious."

Coop laughed and held out his hand. "You gonna help me up or keep laughing?"

Odys' face went from playful to serious in an instant. "I've actually got a bug, probably shouldn't risk it."

Coop nodded, using his hand to push himself up to a sitting position before standing up. "Must be going around. Very considerate."

Coop picked up the ball and dribbled it once or twice. "So you can't be bothered to go back to class either?" 

Odys looked to the side, bringing his hands out. "At this point it's not so much class and more sit and watch whatever movie the teacher wants to pretend is educational."

Coop nodded, walking forward and shooting the ball, predictably it went wide and glanced off the backboard.

Odys nodded. "You suck!"

Coop agreed, it was not his game. "Yeah but this was the only place I could be alone."

"I feel that. I've spent a bit of time here the last few years." Both of them were silent for a moment, a curious smile came to Odys' face. "I'm surprised you haven't asked yet."

Coop shook his head. "Asked what exactly?"

"Why I quit wrestling, everyone else at school has asked me at least twice by now."

Cooper shrugged. "I guess I don't really care."

The brunt honesty threw Odys off a little bit. "Damn Coop, tell me how you really feel?"

Coop shook his head.

"It's not that I think you should have given it up, but it doesn't affect me either way. I don't care because it's your business, and it's not as if I'm gonna treat you any differently because of it."

Odys was impressed, that was probably the most mature response he'd gotten from the people at school after he'd been forced to give it up. Even the coaches and faculty had reacted poorly.

"That's what I like about you Coop, you don't pretend like the rest of them. Hell I'm not even Catholic and I go here, talk about living a lie."

Odys' face scrunched up after he said that, as if he was remembering something better left buried. Odys walked over, picking up the basketball. He dribbled it a bit.

Coop stepped closer to the basket. "You play much?"

Odys shrugged. "A bit, I'm not too bad of a shot, but dunking?"

He dribbled the ball, before darting forward and sprinting forward toward the basket. As he passed the free throw line he leapt into the air. To Coop it looked like he had jumped off a trampoline. As if he literally sprang off the ground; not only that but his trajectory was insane.

By the time he reached the basket his arc had barely begun to fall. He dunked the ball effortlessly, having to tilt his head to avoid hitting it on the rim. When he landed it was so softly, as if he had jumped in place only a few inches. The sound was barely audible to Coop's ears.

Odys turned around, smirking. "Ain't nothing to it."

Coop felt like a switch had been thrown, the wizard had tossed back the curtain and he'd seen something he wasn't supposed to. Odys smile was hollow though, looking like a well worn mask.

"See you Coop."

Odys began to walk out of the gym. Coop managed to find his voice and asked, disbelief still edging his voice. "You going to the bonfire tonight?"

Odys stopped, looking back over his shoulder. "I'll be around."

Coop watched his back as he exited out the double doors. 'Well that didn't sound ominous.'

He tossed open the doors, strolling out. Coop had to shake his head in disbelief. What he'd just witnessed didn't seem possible, it was beyond what he thought the human body should be capable of. Deciding he'd had enough of a workout he picked up the ball and walked over to the equipment room.

In the back was the rack where he'd gotten the ball from, he casually walked over to it and set the ball down. He heard voices outside, two women from the sound of it. One of the voices got farther away and he heard the gym doors open. Then Emma walked in, carrying a clipboard.

She seemed shocked to find Coop in there, then smiled. "Oh, Cooper; what are you doing in here?"

Cooper hadn't exactly asked anyone for permission so much as he had just wandered in and taken what he wanted. "I, uh, I just got done playing some one on none basketball."

He knew the joke was lame, which was why he was surprised when Emma laughed, and not just a giggle. No she hollered like a hyena, overselling her reaction.

Coop smiled uncomfortably. "Sorry, I'll get out of your hair."

He started to walk out, as he passed her she reached out her hand and grabbed his arm, squeezing it. "You don't have to leave." She looked down at her hand, rubbing up and down his arm for effect.

"I mean, we didn't get to talk much the other day. Things were kind of awkward."

Coop wanted to tell her to let go of his arm, but one of his flaws was that he couldn't be stern with the fairer sex.

That mindset wasn't mirrored when he sparred with women though, he was all about fair play. The few women that he'd had a chance to train with who were his size took their training as seriously as he did.

He would never disrespect a training partner by giving anything but his absolute best. But Emma wasn't his partner, and she was barely 5'7. Using a harsh tone would make him feel like a bully. So her arm stayed, and he stood there.

His mind raced for something to say to keep her from taking his silence for interest. "Did something happen between you and Danielle while I was gone?"

Emma's sweet smile turned a little bit sour at his mention of Danielle, but she recovered quickly.

"I might have ticked her off back in the day, after you moved my friends and I thought maybe something had happened between you two. When we asked her about it she got really defensive. She's hated me ever since then."

Coop thought about it, Danielle wouldn't say why they didn't get along. It was plausible that she wouldn't say because it would mean talking about that day.

He could also see how Danielle might blow up at someone for pouring salt on the open wound. Maybe he had misjudged Emma. He knew she wasn't the sweetheart she pretended she was. But maybe she wasn't really so bad after all?

"You know I had a crush on you back in the day." She said without pretense. 

'Oh crap!' was the phrase that came to Coop's mind. "Oh, that's crazy."

Emma batted her eyelashes, still smiling. "Yeah, I was actually gonna ask you out before you left, I knew how shy you were, so I figured I'd have to be the one to say something."

Coop was not built for quick intimacy. There was a list of people who had managed to become important to him and get past his defenses before he'd become bitter. From losing his mom, from the bullying.

Even the few years after his mother had died where his dad had been partially checked out had forced him to shut himself off. Jack had been so grief stricken he had been harsh on Coop at times.

After all that Coop wasn't quick to accept people, he gave everyone common courtesy respect, as well as three chances. Three chances for people to endear themselves to him or three chances to disappoint him. Once you got on his good side he would consider you a loyal, trustworthy person.

He would even look past a mistake or indiscretion after that, provided it wasn't malicious. But Emma was decidedly not in the list of people he felt comfortable touching him. He was frozen, unsure of how to remove himself from the situation.

Emma took the initiative, stepping closer. "You know Coop, after tomorrow we won't have a chance to see each other anymore, and before you leave, I thought maybe..."

She stepped even closer, pulling on the front of his shirt, trying to bring him down to her level. When she tugged, in that split second where he started to lean over her he thought to himself.

'A cute girl wants me, why shouldn't I kiss her?'

An image, a memory of Danielle came to his mind. When they were thirteen and their families had gone to the beach for the weekend. He had seen her in a swimsuit numerous times.

But now she was a teenage girl who had been maturing. And he was a nervous ball of teenage boy, worried about making her uncomfortable but also inexplicably compelled by his own curiosity and hormonal impulse to look.

He had hid on a beach towel underneath an umbrella, she had brought him an ice cone, and sat on the towel with him. They ate their cones and looked out at the ocean until he didn't feel so nervous around her. 

Then a huge chunk of ice had fallen off her cone and down into her cleavage. She had gone crazy, making a fuss and sticking her hand down her bikin top to scoop out the ice. That was when Coop suddenly had a strong urge to go wade out into the water up to waist height.

She'd followed him out and eventually he'd relaxed again. Their parents took them to a cookout and they sat and listened to music the whole night.

It was the first time Coop had ever felt butterflies in his stomach around a girl. That memory shot through him, and he realized he felt none of what he'd felt just sitting by Dany that day now. He reached out and grabbed Emma by the upper arms, pushing her back slowly until his arms were fully extended.

No apprehension in his deep voice, he said. "Emma, I'm flattered, but I'm not interested."

He heard a clicking sound behind him. He turned to look, but Emma's yelp of pain caused him to turn back around. She was reaching down, rubbing the back of her leg.

He looked back toward the door but no one was there. "You okay?"

She made a pleading face. "I think I've got a cramp."

He walked her over to a stack of mats, letting her steady herself on his arm as she sat down. Coop felt like a character out of a bad teen drama, and he really wanted to be anywhere else.

"Do you want me to grab you some ice?"

Emma shook her head. "No I'm fine, I probably just need to rest it for a bit."

Coop stood there for a moment, thinking 'To hell with this.'

"Alright, well I'm gonna go."

He turned and started walking out, he heard Emma put up what sounded like a token argument to get him to stay. Unbothered he kept walking out and nearly ran straight into her friend, which was strange since he hadn't heard the gym door open. He paused a second, eying the girl suspiciously.

"Excuse me." He said, stepping past her and continuing out of the gymnasium.

* * *

The rest of the school day he just stayed in class. Danielle and the other girls from volleyball came back for the last period. He didn't manage to catch her attention, but he damn sure noticed the daggers the other volleyball girls glared at him.

After his run in with Emma he just wanted the day over with already. But he still had the bonfire and movie with Danielle to look forward to. When the final bell rang all the seniors exploded out of their seats.

The energy was infectious, and even Coop found himself smiling, the experience of being done with this phase of his life felt freeing. He tried to find Danielle but she had already left the classroom.

As he walked out into the hallway to look for her he received a text. It was from Danielle, saying she needed to visit the restroom and she'd meet him out by the car. He put his phone away and walked outside.

Everyone was milling around outside, many not even leaving. Most just hanging around and enjoying the moment. After ten minutes Danielle hadn't come out, he started back inside before he saw her walking out the door. She strode for the vehicle quickly.

When she got near he leaned up against the car. "Are you feeling okay?"

She glanced at him, but looked back to her explorer and shook her head. "Yeah, something just gave me an upset stomach."

He couldn't help but notice the detached tone with which she said it. She opened the car door and climbed inside without saying anything else. Coop was left standing there feeling like he'd missed something.

He got in as well, Danielle started the engine without a word and backed out of the parking spot while he was still trying to put his seatbelt on. He was hesitant to say anything, seeing how tense she was.

Eventually the silence got to him and he said the first thing that came to mind. "I had something really bizarre happen to me in the gym today." She finally looked at him.

She looked oddly hopeful. "Bizarre how?"

At least she was speaking. "I was hanging out in the gym playing basketball."

She had a look of disbelief on her face. "You stink at basketball?" 

"I was playing by myself."

She nodded. "Makes sense, that's the one person you could win against." She smirked. He was glad to see she was over whatever had darkened her mood.

He laughed. "You know what, screw you. I'm not telling you."

She dropped the smirk and looked at him imploringly. "I'm sorry, please, what happened next."

"So I was playing and Odys showed up, he was being kind of weird. Then he did this absolutely crazy jump and dunked the ball from like fifteen feet away."

She looked at him, dumbfounded. "What?"

"Yeah it was so weird, like he just flew to the basket." He shook his head, still not believing it had happened.

After a moment Danielle cleared her throat and said. "Was that all that happened?"

He thought about it. 'If I tell her that Emma came onto me it will only upset her.' He shook his head.

"Yeah that was it."

He turned his head to look out the window. When he did so Danielle turned her head, looking at him, her face sullen.

'Why did he lie to me?' 

She turned her eyes back to the road. She wasn't gonna give Emma Perrington the satisfaction of getting to her. They drove the rest of the way in silence. When they got home, he looked at her as he took off his seat belt. "So meet back here at say, six for the bonfire?"

Danielle looked back at him, turning her head away before looking at him again. "I think I'm coming down with something actually, I should probably go lie down."

She looked disappointed, maybe she really was feeling unwell. "I'm sorry, I'm guessing that means you won't be up for the movie later."

She picked her head up, he looked back at her. "Yeah, probably not. I should just rest for the ceremony tomorrow."

Coop thought about the party tomorrow. Just like the one they'd had when they were kids. "You'll be okay for the party tomorrow though, right?"

He didn't want to look desperate as he asked, hell he was supposed to be distancing himself not begging her to hang out with him. After a second she nodded hesitantly. "I should be fine by then."

Coop nodded, relieved. "Alright, I'll come check on you when I get back."

"You don't have to, I'll probably take some cough syrup and go to bed."

He opened the car door, jumping out before turning back to her. "Okay." He tried to put on a warm smile for her. "Well feel better, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Thanks."

She didn't say anything else or even look at him. He shut the door and waited as she drove over to her house and hurried inside. He went inside his own home, heading upstairs and depositing his stuff on his bed before going to use the bathroom.

When he got back to his room he had a text on his phone from one of the guys on the wrestling team. It read, 'Bro since when are you a babe magnet?'

Coop stared at the screen for a second, thinking his friend Bo had chosen the wrong recipient. Before he could respond Bo sent him an image, it was a picture. The picture was of him, more accurately it was of him and Emma.

It was a shot from behind, and in the photo he was grasping her by the upper arms. She was pulling him down by his shirt and he was leaning slightly towards her. His eyes went wide, and he immediately pressed the call button.

After a few seconds he heard Bo pick up and said. "Where did you get this?"

He heard Bo messing with something in the background "I just saw it on the school's messenger group, but apparently it's been making the rounds since after lunch."

Coop immediately said goodbye and hung up without explaining. Then he went to his contacts, his heart sinking. He selected Danielle's number and pressed the call button. At the same time he went to his window. He looked at hers to try and see if she was there.

Before too long the call went to voicemail, he sighed and set the phone down, when he looked back to her house, he didn't see any sign of her through the window. "Son of a bitch!"

He walked out of his room and down the stairs. Out the front door and across the walkway to Danielle's house. He knocked and waited, after a minute the door opened and April stood there. He could tell straight away Danielle had spoken to her.

She looked at him like he was a doomed man. "Hey Cooper."

"Hi Ms. Stewart, can I talk to Danielle?"

April smiled, then looked up like she was reciting a practiced monologue. "Sorry Cooper, I've been instructed to inform you that Danielle isn't feeling well and can't talk right now."

Coop sighed, there was only one way to get her to show herself. "That's fine Ms. Stewart, I understand." April tilted her head, looking disappointed .

Cooper suddenly smiled at her before saying in a booming voice. "I guess I'll just have to ask Emma Perrington if she wants to go to the bonfire with me!"

The look on April's face went from shock, to amusement, and then to pity. She shook her head.

"Oh honey. No."

She chuckled to herself, turning and walking back into the living room. As she walked away Coop heard Danielle's door being flung open. He turned and walked a few steps away from the front door. She made it down the upstairs hallway and down the stairs in less than ten seconds.

He had his back turned to her when she spoke. "Do you think you're funny?"

He turned around slowly. Her skin was flushed and her chest was heaving over her crossed arms. If he didn't know better he'd say her eyes were red and puffy.

"I have been known to think of myself as humorous from time to time." She reached out her hand to grab the door and slam it. He leapt forward and put his hand on the door, stopping her.

She set her mouth in a straight line, refusing to make eye contact with him. "Let go of the door Cooper."

He did, but he stepped forward so she'd literally have to shut the door into his face. "I think I deserve a chance to explain."

Honestly he was a little peeved he had to say anything. She should know he wouldn't go behind her back with a girl she despised. Also the whole jealous girlfriend act wasn't as cute coming from a girl who didn't want him. "Or you could continue treating me like a piece of shit based on a snap decision." 

He said with no emotion, letting the first part sink in before he delivered the finishing blow. "We both know how well that worked out the last time."

He regretted saying it the second he saw her reaction, shame apparent on her face. She immediately dropped her hand from the door, casting her eyes down. To be fair, the deal they'd made never mentioned anything about him bringing it up again.

He wanted to tell himself he shouldn't feel bad, but every time he saw her without a smile on her face his world felt a little bit colder. He never wanted to be the reason she didn't smile. His face softened and he looked down, ashamed. "I'm sorry Dany, I shouldn't have said that, it was a low blow."

She shook her head, all while a humorless laugh and smile came from her. "It's okay, I'm sure she threw herself at you, she probably smiled and laughed at your bad jokes. What guy could resist all that and a smoking bod?"

He looked at her for a bit before he said. "Dany, do you know why you saw a picture of Emma trying to kiss me?"

She looked up hesitantly, he held up two fingers. "Two reasons, the first reason is because Emma wanted you to see it. She cornered me in the equipment room and came onto me. She had her friend take that picture to try and get at you." He lowered one finger, another pause to really nail the point home. "The second reason why you saw a picture of Emma trying to kiss me, and not one of us actually kissing is I turned her down."

She was skeptical, busying herself with picking at a spot on the door. "You did?"

Coop bent down so they were face to face. "I would never do that to you." 

She didn't know what to think of that. He had said it so casually. A little too casually actually.

"Coop, why do you think I'm mad?"

Coop furrowed his brow. "Because you assumed, incorrectly I might add, that I made out with your worst enemy." She could throttle him, then and there. How blind could he be? Did she have to make a sign?

"Of course." She put her hand to her forehead, rubbing it while looking as if she was in pain, then muttering under her breath. "Dummy."

"What's that?"

She shook her head, annoyed, and maybe a little, or possibly very relieved. "Nothing."

Coop nodded to the upstairs of her home. "Well go upstairs and get changed, then call me when you're ready."

Her tone changed, she was slightly apologetic but still hesitant. "Coop." 

He shook his head, indicating he didn't wanna hear it. "What do you want to get back to Emma? That I showed up to this by myself and was moping the whole night. Or that we went and had an awesome time on the last day of school, all while laughing at her pettiness."

She ruminated on it, finally her smile came back and she said. "Give me twenty minutes."

Coop nodded. "So forty, got it." He said as he turned around smirking.

She rolled her eyes and shut the door. She put her back to the door and took a deep breath. A moment later her mother came back into the foyer. Danielle looked up at her and gave a meek smile.

April crossed her arms over her chest. "See, I told you there must be more to the story."

Danielle got sheepish, embarrassed at her mother seeing her be so crazy over a guy.

"Yeah, I guess you were right."

April started brushing her towards the stairs. "Go on, you only have forty minutes." April smiled teasingly as Danielle ran up the stairs.

* * *

The bonfire was being held in a field next to the school, really a dirt lot where the teams held events. Some of the guys from wrestling and their girlfriends stayed and got things set up instead of going home.

Coop and Danielle were walking through the parking lot, arguing playfully. "But it didn't take me forty minutes, so you were wrong."

Coop rolled his eyes. "Oh excuse me, thirty-nine minutes!"

As they got closer to the lot they saw Coop's old team members gathering the pallets and scrap wood that was making up the fire. Danielle reached out her hand and he instinctively knew she was signaling him to hand her his jacket.

Coop smiled, taking it off and passing it to her. "Thanks."

Coop ran over and helped the guys carry wood. Danielle went to where the field butted up against the baseball field. The kids had set tables and coolers in there with drinks and food.

None of them were crazy enough to bring alcohol to school grounds. Danielle went and hung her and Coop's jackets in the baseball dugout before meeting up with the group of girls standing watching the guys.

She found two of her teammates and friends, Samantha and Rachel. They were the ones who had given Coop the stink eye earlier that day after the girls had seen the picture of Coop and Emma.

Both girls had surprised looks on their faces when Danielle came over.

"Hey you came!" Samantha said. Rachel looked for and saw Coop over with the other guys.

Rachel's eyes went wide, pulling Danielle close to her. "You already forgave him?"

Danielle shook her head. "It wasn't like that. Emma set all of that up to try and upset me. She trapped him and had someone waiting to take a picture at the worst possible moment."

Rachel looked doubtful, Samantha chimed in. "It makes sense when you think about it, what's more likely, that Cooper looked at another girl for more than two seconds, or Emma would go out of her way to ruin Dany's day?"

The girls thought about it for a moment. As they did Coop glanced their way. When he caught them all staring at him he waved in the way someone who knows their being verbally dissected does. The girls broke out into a fit of giggles.

As they were caught up in it none of them noticed the guys talking. One of the guys commented that they were all gonna need a shower before the party even got started at this rate.

The guys all decided to take their shirts off. All of the girls gathered started hooting and hollering. Coop was off by himself picking up another load.

When the girls noticed him still with his shirt on, Rachel leaned over at Danielle. "Bad luck girl, you want me to go accidentally spill my soda on him?"

Danielle was a little disappointed, and she wasn't the only one of the girls left frowning.

One of Coop's friends, Carlos, tapped Coop on the arm as he walked by. "You bring a spare shirt Coop?"

Coop looked at him. "No, why?"

Carlos shrugged. "This is gonna take a while, might as well lose it now so you aren't stuck wringing sweat out of it later."

Coop looked around and noticed all the guys had gone sans shirts. He casually took off his shirt and tossed it in the grass off to the side. The girls stopped their ogling of the other guys and collectively looked at Coop.

Even Dany, who hadn't gotten to see him in lighting like this when he'd stepped out of the shower this past weekend took her time appreciating his physique.

He'd adhered to a very strict training regimen since he got to Japan. Due in no small part to his desire to focus on anything other than why he left. As he shot up those five inches he'd also added fifty lbs of muscle to his frame.

He still indulged when he wanted to. So he wasn't shredded to the point of looking super dehydrated. But it was clear he had taken care of himself while he was away. All the girls looked to Danielle to see her reaction. She suddenly found that her lips were dry, and quickly drew her bottom lip into her mouth to moisten them.

Samantha put her arms around Danielle's shoulders and said loud enough for all the girls to hear.

"You better lock that down soon girl. Beef like that goes to auction pretty quick in Texas."

The girls all collectively broke out into laughter, even Danielle. Coop heard them losing it and looked over, seeing Danielle smiling and laughing.

He brought his hand up and brushed some hair that had fallen down his forehead up and to the side. Danielle's laughing subsided and she really stopped to admire him. She'd always thought he was cute.

Even when he was skinny and had hair down nearly past his ears. His self conscious attitude about his ungainliness was something she'd found endearing. Now years later the malnourished and sheepish boy she knew looked like a fitness model. He was still her goofball though, that would never change.

The guys ended up setting up three different bonfires forming a triangle. Once everyone arrived there were fifty people, including the wrestlers and their plus ones.

Everyone had chipped in and they'd raided the local grocery stores pre-packaged sandwiches and sides, macaroni salad and the like. After the food everyone just stood around talking and swapping old wrestling stories.

Around seven one of Coop's former teammates, Daniel, came late to the party and brought his friend Doug who wasn't a student at their school.

The wrestling captain, Jeremy, questioned Daniel about it. Daniel said since he didn't have a girlfriend or a date to bring, he should be allowed to bring a friend.

Jeremy decided to let it slide, not having a valid argument considering everyone else got to bring someone not involved with the team. After a while everyone noticed Daniel and Doug were getting louder and more boisterous.

Rachel and Samantha had gone to the bathroom together, when they came back they looked perturbed.

Danielle went over to them. "What's wrong?"

Samantha began. "We passed those guys." She pointed out Daniel and Doug. "And they smell like booze. I think I saw them passing a flask back and forth."

Coop had been standing next to Danielle. When he heard this he glanced over at them, he couldn't see a flask being shared, but the two were moving sluggishly and laughing at seemingly nothing.

He leaned into Danielle. "I'm gonna let Jeremy know."

She nodded. "Okay."

Coop walked off, looking for the team captain. Jeremy was over by the dugout, coordinating making sure everyone had their coolers and trash cleared out. Cooper walked over to him and caught his attention.

"Hey man, just letting you know, Daniel and that kid he brought are acting pretty weird. Toby and Nate's girlfriends thought they smelled booze coming off them."

Jeremy stopped what he was doing, and started toward the field.

"I knew I should have booted them when they showed up."

Coop shrugged his shoulders. "I honestly couldn't care less if they wanna get sauced, but they should know better than to do it here."

Coop walked with Jeremy, figuring he might want back up. Being confronted by two people might lessen the risk they would start something. By the time they got back the two had moved from the outskirts towards the center of the festivities.

They were milling about, talking randomly at people and bumping into others. Some of the guys on the team were getting heated over the two interrupting or making suggestive comments around their girlfriends.

Danielle was ushering two girls out of the way of the path of the two inebriated men. Jeremy and Coop both jogged over, holding their hands up to stop their advance. Jeremy pointed to the two of them. "You both need to leave."

Daniel gestured to everyone in attendance. "Why, we're just trying to have a good time like everyone else."

Jeremy shook his head. "Everyone was told no alcohol was allowed, not to mention you're bothering people."

Doug muttered something under his breath. Jeremy turned to him. "What was that?"

The young man stepped forward. "I said, fucking jock!"

Jeremy had enough and went to grab Doug's arm and start dragging him off the field, starting a series of events. Daniel stepped forward to defend his friend, Jeremy let go of Doug in order to push Daniel back.

Coop moved in between Doug and Jeremy so that they couldn't gang up on him. Doug moved forward as if he was gonna attack Coop. Just before he did Danielle tried to get in between the two of them to separate them.

Doug tried to push her aside, even though he was shorter than her and not strong enough to manhandle her. If it hadn't been for her tripping over a rough patch of ground she would have stayed on her feet.

As it so happened she landed on her ass, momentarily stunned. The next thing she heard was the sound of someone being taken to the ground. Followed by flesh hitting flesh, and someone screaming Coop's name.

She sat up, and saw Coop straddling Doug's midsection. The smaller man was flailing his arms about trying to block Coop's blows and cover his head, with little to no effect.

For every blow he deflected he took another two to the face and chest. She was trying to get to her feet but she was so frantic that it took her two attempts. Jeremy stepped forward and tried to pull Coop off him, but he was swatted away like a bug.

By the time she managed to stand Doug's arms fell limp at his side. Coop was raising his fist for another blow. She was trying to get to him but she already knew she wouldn't make it.

As Coop's fist started down a blur of speed passed before her and grabbed Coop, pulling him off.

They struggled for a second before the figure spoke. "Come on Coop, settle down man."

It was Odys, he'd grabbed Coop in a full nelson hold but he was struggling and about to break free. Odys looked genuinely surprised, and was preparing to take Coop to the ground when Danielle came in front of Coop and grabbed him by the face, forcing him to look at her.

"Stop Coop, I'm okay."

She said it quickly, before she saw the look on his face. She could see the reflection of the fire behind her in his eyes. His cheeks were high and his teeth were bared. It took a second before he registered her presence. When he did he let himself go slack, submitting to Odys' hold.

After a few seconds, once his breathing had settled down, Odys said. "You good now?"

Coop looked at Danielle's face, seeing her worried expression. He nodded, Odys released his grip on Coop, and came to stand in front of him. Odys studied Coop's face intently, searching for something.

When he didn't find it he looked at Doug, Daniel crouched beside him. Daniel was shaking him by the shoulder. As he did so Doug came to, woozy from the blows he'd taken and the alcohol. Coop heard Danielle start to explain what had transpired.

But he couldn't get the image of Danielle being so scared of him to go away. Half the people in attendance suddenly decided they didn't wanna risk having to talk to the police the night before graduation.

Even though he was outside, suddenly Coop felt like he was suffocating. He brushed past Odys, walking as fast as his legs could carry him.

Danielle tried to put her hand on his chest to stop him. "Coop."

He recoiled back, not trusting himself around her. "Just leave me alone."

He didn't shout it, but he just couldn't look her in the eye after she'd seen him like that. He started again, moving forward with no destination in mind. She didn't try to stop him again, which he was both grateful for and saddened by.

Behind him she watched his back as he disappeared into the dark, the dark from which she'd been so sure she saw fire reflected in his eyes only moments before.