The Inadequate Experiments: 1. White Noise [Rough Draft]

Part 2; Inequity - 10. The Time Bomb

“Sera. Sera! Stay with me, here.”

I blinked – it was Cooper. He was sitting across from me on the bed in – of all places – Oliver’s bedroom. He’d been talking to me, but I couldn’t say I had been paying much attention.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, looking down and playing with the soft red bed sheets. “I’m just a little…”

“Distracted?” Cooper asked stiffly, seeming to know what was distracting me before I even mentioned it. “I’ve noticed.”

“I’m sorry,” I said again, still not meeting his eyes. “I’m just worried about Oliver, I guess.”

I had learnt a while back to always use Oliver’s full name around Cooper. Whenever I called him Oli, Cooper would stiffen up and look reluctant to continue any conversation, as if calling Oliver by his nickname suggested something was going on between us that clearly wasn’t. Oliver had made that obvious enough; I can’t let myself love you, Sera. I can’t. His words echoed around my head like a broken record, driving me insane. As if I wasn’t already insane enough.

“I’d be worried too,” Cooper said lightly. Even without looking at him, I knew he was smirking. “First he gives you a concussion, then when you’re finally honest with him about me, he yells at you! The guy sounds like a psychopath, Sera.”

“He’s not a psychopath.” I said stiffly. “He’s just…” I searched for the right word.

“Unstable?” Cooper suggested. “Weird? Scary? Insane?”

“Fragile.” I snapped, shutting him up.

“Fragile?” Cooper repeated eventually. “Sera, he’s the most famous teenager in the world. The only thing he could possibly be fragile about is the fact that his latest single is only at number two on the aria charts.”

“You don’t know him, Cooper. He’s not like that.” I muttered. “And, just for the record, his latest single is at number four. And frankly, he couldn’t care less.”

Cooper sighed and shook his head. “Neither do you, apparently.” He pointed out. “You heard what he said, Sera. He said that that was who he is. Who he really is. Before today you hadn’t even thought he could act like that.” He met my eyes. “Proves how well you know him, doesn’t it?”

“When people hide their feelings,” I snapped, “it’s usually for a reason.”

Cooper hid his face behind his hands. I could see him trying to keep his emotions in check, yet I could also see that it wasn’t working very well. “Why are you suddenly defending him?” He asked when he dropped his hands. “A week ago you would’ve been laughing at the fact that Oliver Jackson was fragile. What’s changed?”

I sighed and looked down, fiddling with Oliver’s bed sheets again. “I don’t know, Cooper. I just…” I broke off, realising what I was about to say; I can’t. That was the basis of Oliver’s outburst. I couldn’t bring myself to repeat it.

“Sera,” Cooper’s voice softened, and I felt his hand rest carefully on my knee. “You can talk to me, Sera. You know that.”

Slowly, I looked up and met his eyes. “It’s just…” I paused. “I spoke to Oliver’s sister, Calliope—” I stopped. In the corner of my eye, I had noticed his watch. When I started talking, the blue numbers counting down until I met him in real life flickered off. When they flickered back on again, the numbers were green.

“Green,” I said softly, trailing one finger along the screen of his watch. I looked up at his face and watched his eyebrows furrow in perplexity.