Chapter Text
‘Leave me alone,’ Cole muttered under his breath, glaring at this alarm contemptuously. He groaned in exasperation and finally shut it off, fumbling with the buttons for longer than he wanted to admit. Maybe staying up all night playing video games was not the best option on a school night. He blamed Lloyd.
He looked at himself in the mirror for a second, mentally preparing for the long day that seemed to stretch out in front of him. He could visibly see the lack of sleep in his eyes.
Dreadful.
He pulled on a grey hoodie and jeans, and splashed cold water on his face in an attempt to wake himself up. He still felt dead inside. And now he was slightly damp.
A knock on the door startled him, and he rushed down the stairs, grabbing his bag from the counter. ‘I’m coming!’ he yelled. ‘Keep your pants on,’ he could almost hear the eye roll on the other side of the door. He opened it with a grin ‘Hey, man’ he greeted enthusiastically, despite feeling like all his organs were about to give up on him.
Lloyd glared at him, his blond mop of hair falling across his forehead ‘Took your time, dude’ he said, sounding equally as unimpressed ‘At least I showed up’ Cole joked, as they swung out of his driveway and onto the road, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. Lloyd rolled his eyes, ‘I guess’
Cole let out a quick laugh. ‘Where is Kai, really?’ Lloyd shrugged ‘he’s saying he’s sick, but I'm pretty sure he’s just bunking off to hang out with Skylor’ Cole pulled a face ‘Jerk’ he said. Lloyd laughed ‘Just a guess’ he said ‘Want a donut?’ Cole gasped, ‘I thought you’d never ask.’
Lloyd handed him a paper bag ‘I know you too well, man’ Cole took a bite and sighed, the flavour making up for his miserable night's sleep. ‘I love you so much,’ Lloyd shot him a withering glare, ‘That was a fiver. You owe me,’ Cole ignored him, ‘and besides, how am I meant to keep up this fine physique without you feeding me up?’ he said, flexing for added effect. Lloyd pushed him, an amused glint in his eye ‘fine physique? Believe what you want to believe, I guess.’ Cole’s mouth hung open ‘Hey!’ he protested.
***
Cole sat in the back row during math class, doodling on a blank page and running through the entire gameplay of the last videogame he played in his head to pass the time. Math sucked. He didn’t even remember why he took it. His mom had been good at math, though, he recalled.
‘Move over, nerd,’ came a voice from above him. He looked up, a grin already spreading across his face. ‘Finally decided to show up, eh?’ he teased. Kai smirked, sinking beside him. ‘Not too much, some of us actually pull, you know?’ Cole felt a quick stab of anxiety before pulling himself together, forcing the relaxed exterior back before it slipped.
‘Hey!’ he complained. Kai rolled his eyes ‘and your fifth grade girlfriend you had for two days doesn’t count’
Cole glared at him ‘maybe I’m just mysterious, and don’t like to disclose my personal life to everyone in a six mile radius to me’
Kai clutched his heart in mock pain, ‘Fuck, you’re mean today’
Cole sighed, ‘Lloyds fault, I’m dying inside’
Kai laughed, ‘you are so dramatic... man up’ he teased. Cole elbowed him ‘says you- Mr. Storms Off When He Loses During Practice’ Kai began to say something and then trailed off ‘Okay, yeah. You got me there’ Cole cackled too loudly.
‘Cole!’ Mr Borg said sharply, ‘for the love of god, will you do your work?’ Cole fell silent, glancing at Kai in amusement. Kai shrugged at him, ‘So… Math? What’s up with that?’
After Kai was forcefully escorted out of the lesson, as he failed to prove he was a math student (‘If you’re really a student in my class, feel free to tell me what fifteen times twelve is’), Cole was subjected to alone time again. Something he did not enjoy. Too many things to think about that he’d been successfully putting off for quite some time. The door handle rattled, immediately drawing his attention away from his work (well, work was a strong word)
‘So sorry I’m late’ came a shaky voice from the front of the classroom ‘they messed up my timetable and-’
‘No worries, your grace’ came Mr. Borg’s voice, ‘take a seat at the back, next to… Mr. Brookstone’ and just like that, he had been saved. Saved by an angel with gold hoop earrings and a light blue tank top. She hurried over, a relieved smile on her face.
Cole stiffened and moved up to make room for her. ‘Hey,’ she said through a breath out, taking the seat next to him, ‘I’m Vania.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘Vania… like Princess Vania?... like Vania of Shintaro, that Vania?’ She let out a small laugh, her cheeks growing red ‘Yes, but keep it down’ she murmured, ‘I don’t want to get harassed in the hallways’ Cole laughed again, then stopped abruptly after receiving yet another disapproving glare from Mr. Borg. ‘So, you’re new, right?’ he said, attempting to drop his voice to a whisper. She giggled angelically, her golden hair cascading over her shoulders. ‘Yeah, Dad wanted rid of me, so I guess I come here now!’ she said jokingly. Cole raised his eyebrows ‘I feel that’
She met his gaze ‘yeah… it sucks’ Cole smiled, and turned back to staring at his empty notepad. She frowned ‘Need help with that?’ she asked. Cole looked at her in shock ‘Do you actually… know what’s going on?’
She smirked, holding up a completed paper, an A* grade at the top written in red ink. Cole stared in disbelief. ‘A genius princess… who even are you?’ he said, mouth hanging open. She smiled brightly, snatching his paper off him.
Cole left the lesson with a smile on his face; he loved making new friends more than anything. He approached his locker and began to unpack his books- but before he could even register what was happening, he felt something solid slam into his side. He tumbled backwards, pushing back into a crowd of people. ‘Kai!?!’ he exclaimed ‘you fucking winded me!’ Kai’s laughter rang in his ears ‘We have practice, airhead, hurry up!’ Cole slung an arm round his neck ‘alright, alright, you douche’ Kai fought against him ‘we need our goalie’ he said with a smirk. A girl behind them shot them a dirty look, and Cole could almost hear the judgment. They probably came off like future frat bros with no regard from anyone else and an insane superiority complex. Cole felt a pang of guilt and attempted to give her an apologetic look, but she was already gone. He rubbed his face with his hands. Why was he making up things to feel bad about? He had enough to deal with already. Plus, he was definitely not a future frat bro. Unfortunately, he couldn’t say the same for Kai.
He laughed and began to follow Kai around the back to the gym, who had broken out into a mischievous sprint, swiftly leaving him behind. ‘Oi!’ he yelled ‘GET BACK HERE, YOU DICK’
Practice went fairly smoothly; he managed to save three out of the five attempts at goals. Although by the end, Cole’s skates dug into his ankles, and he was desperate to lie down on his bed and sleep for twenty-four hours. ‘Good game,’ came Lloyd’s affirmative voice from the other end of the pitch. He skated towards him ‘Well played, Cole’ he said with a grin, twirling his stick in his hands. ‘Thanks, man,’ he replied, ‘fancy a beer and a chill at my house later?’ Lloyd shook his head. ‘I’d love to, but I’ve got some things to deal with at home right now.’
Cole frowned ‘You good? You didn’t mention that earlier,’ Lloyd’s smile didn’t reach his eyes ‘was trying not to think about it, he said ‘but yeah, I’m fine’ Cole gave him an affectionate pat on the back ‘It’ll be okay, kid’ he said. They filed into the locker room, shoulders pushing against each other.
‘You busy checking out my abs or what?’ Cole looked up with a jerk ‘Huh?’ he asked, his stomach turning. Kai rolled his eyes ‘I’ve been saying your name for about ten minutes, dickwad’ Cole shrugged ‘Sorry, I was zoned out’ Kai laughed ‘I could tell, buddy’ Cole pulled a face at him, and began to get changed. Kai sighed, obviously giving up on their conversation ‘Anyway, as I was saying’ he turned to talk to the circle sitting around them. Cole didn’t know any of the boys too well, but he thought they seemed alright. There was Jay, the right winger - a short pale boy with sharp features and freckles covering his face who seemed to have voice box louder than anyone else on the team, his best friend Zane who played left wing, a lanky quiet kid with ice white hair that contrasted his dark skin tone and eyes – who Cole found to be increasingly peculiar the more conversations he had with him, then there was Cinder, a defensive player, who had ashy hair that seemed to have a mind of its own, and always smelt like cigarettes. He mostly kept to himself, occasionally contributing a snarky remark to the group conversation. Lastly, there was Arin, a shy kid who was in the year below them, who had spent most of his time as a benchwarmer. Obviously, there was also Kai, who was another winger, and Lloyd, the team captain, who took centre position.
Cole definitely wasn’t an antisocial person, but he found it particularly difficult to bond with the boys in the team, aside from Lloyd and Kai; they were just such a different array of people. Although he did get on with Tox – another defence player and the only girl on the team, who obviously couldn’t participate in these locker-room conversations. Cole felt her absence; the lack of her easy-going, chilled-out conversation made things harder. There were others on the team, including the ones that Cole had no interest in befriending. Morro and his trail of minions were definitely not a good option for casual social interaction.
He broke out of his daydream for the second time to hear Kai saying ‘-But oh my god, she is so hot’ a stupid grin plastered on his face ‘the lucky son of a bitch that gets to sit next to her in class is my nemesis’ Cinder had an amused look on his face ‘don’t you have a girlfriend, dude?’ Kai shrugged, ‘Me and Skylor are keeping it casual for now,’ he said, ‘you know how it is.’ Cinder laughed coldly. ‘Sure,’
Cole frowned. ‘Who are you talking about?’ he asked. ‘Didn’t you hear? The Princess of Shintaro has moved to our fucking school’ Kai said, ‘and she’s hot’ Cole cringed, he hated when Kai talked about girls like that. ‘Yeah, okay,’ he said, internally flinching at his words. Way to go, Cole! Let’s make everything awkward!
Kai pinched his cheek '...does someone have a crush?’ he teased, Cole pushed him off, laughing ‘get off, idiot!’ Jay cackled, grabbing Kai’s arm ‘lay off him, you menace’ Kai moved past, to wrestle with him instead. Cole brushed himself off, self-consciously smoothing his wrinkled hoodie
‘How can I have a crush on her? I don’t even know her’ he challenged indignantly. Kai grinned, pushing Jay away for the final time, who fell into Zane. ‘I just have a feeling,’ he said. Cole snorted, ‘Alright, Mr. Romantic.’
The door swung open, and Coach Folson stepped into the room, a stern look on his face. ‘Good game, boys’ he said ‘but we need to step things up if we are going to play Highridge Academy next month’ He looked around the room, before eyeing his victim ‘Bentho, I’m sorry, but I’m benching you for the next few weeks and the game – you aren’t playing at the level that we need, I’m finding someone to fill your position’
Bentho’s face fell, and Cole felt bad for the kid, he had just and had just made the team a few months ago and it wasn’t fair to ask this much of him already. ‘Coach, I swear I can get better by the-’ Coach Folson cut him off. ‘Yeah, and I’ll quit my dead-end job and pursue my lifelong dream of being a news presenter,’ he said with a sarcastic eye roll, before turning and walking out of the room.
‘Jeez, who hurt him?’ Jay said, raising his eyebrows, a look of genuine concern on his face.
***
Cole had never been more thankful to be alone in his life, ‘Dad?’ he called up the stairs. No reply.
He set his things down on the table and walked to the kitchen to make a snack. He scanned the rows of food – not a very appealing selection, and a very clear lack of cake, which was never a positive sign. He sighed and accidentally looked at the picture of his mother on the counter for a second too long. He could already feel the stab of pain coming in his chest. Fuck. He needed a distraction. He jumped as he got a phone notification. He picked it up and read the banner.
‘Hey, it’s Vania! Let me know when you want to study together :)’
saved by the angel of interference, yet again. He forgot they had even exchanged numbers, but it wasn’t unwelcome; he had felt a connection to her in their brief conversation. He decided to text back, ‘tomorrow’s fine for me. I finish art at lunch, thanks.’ He pondered for a moment, then hit send. There was some naïve part of him that couldn’t help but hope, maybe it could be different this time. He laughed dryly, out loud. Sure.