SO COLD (18+) currently editing

Chapter 27.5

CHARACTER VIEWS DO NOT REPRESENT MY OWN. Please be civil in the comment section.

Cole didn't want to kiss me. He flat out refused to. Ear cocked, leg crossed, and drink in hand, he waited. "Tell me," he insisted.

"Alright. Fine. I was born into a poor family, in Domremy, France. It was a small village. There wasn't much to do except yank baby calves from their screaming mothers and walk in the countryside. It all looked the same. Shit and muddy brown. Not even green. I think I was 13 when I started hearing voices. It was Saint Catherine, Good Old Marg, and Michael. Phones weren't invented then, you see, so-"

Cole set down his glass forcefully. "Do you ever take things seriously?"

"I do. I am. Maybe after I tell my story, you can tell me about yours. There's no way you didn't have a traumatic childhood. What was it, uncle was a child fiddler? Daddy drank and gambled? Maybe it was when you were in your twenties. You met a beautiful girl and then one sad night, she died. Ever since then, you've been crying into your pillow at night and beating up teenagers because nothing has felt like home since her."

"You can be a real cunt." He was irritated but not yet pissed.

"Hey. I'm just doing what you did to me when we first met. You remember? You asked if my father snuck into my room at night and raped me. And then as if that wasn't enough, you said I probably enjoyed it. I'm still fucking salty over that." Men can make rape jokes and no one will blink but as soon as a woman dishes out, it's an outrage and 'what a slut,' and 'she's such a bitch.' It pisses me off. Cole pisses me off.

"Well," he took a sip, slightly sheepish, "it wasn't that serious."

"Like hell it wasn't. You were and still are a world class bastard."

"I asked you to tell me about your father and you turn this into an attack."

"I want a thousand."

"A thousand what?"

"A thousand fuck-yous. What the fuck do you think? And I want it in cash. No cheque."

"And why the hell would I give a grand?"

"Because otherwise Michaels' will become my best friend. And best friends love gossiping and spilling secrets. We might even have a sleepover. Talk about boys. How fat we've gotten. Who killed Andrew. Silly stuff like that."

"You're really blackmailing me?" Now he was furious. He stood in front of me, glaring.

"See it however you like. You want a bedtime story and I want to be paid. It doesn't take a genius to work out we both benefit from this."

"Exactly how do I–"

"Come on, Cole. It's pretty damn obvious. You love hurting others but you also get some sort of thrill from helping others, too. I've seen how protective you are of Daniel."

That rubbed him the wrong way. "You don't know shit about me."

"It's just an observation. No need to spit."

His nostrils flared, his lips pressed into a thin line, he opened his mouth to retort and then shook his head. "You're not worth it." His shoulder bashed into mine as he strode past and nine seconds later, the front door smacked shut.

**

Joe wasn't mad I came ten minutes late to class. He had more of a problem with my empty hands. "Homework?" He questioned as soon as I walked in.

"You didn't set homework..." I wandered off when I realised he must've been talking about the catch-up work. It's only been a day. Did he really expect me to have done anything but toss it aside?