"Okay, let's see…Dirty Dancing?"
"Veto. Terminator?"
"Veto."
"You suck."
"You suck more," Starr grumbled playfully, still flipping through the movie channels.
"You know, I think we probably should have put a limit on how many vetoes we each get; would have made this whole process a lot faster."
"But less fun. Besides, the fact that we get so many just means the final selection really is perfect!" Starr chirped brightly.
He just chuckled, and Starr continued to flip through the selection, as the room was just filled with silence- a comfortable, peaceful one, that made Starr feel like she could just be content here forever.
Unfortunately, the moment of bliss was abruptly broken minutes later, as there was suddenly a loud, thundering pounding on the outside of the door, and Starr leapt to her feet in surprise, her heart jumping. Schuyler appeared from the kitchen within seconds, instantly hovering by her side protectively as they both looked at the door apprehensively.
"Mr. J, open up!" a voice sneered sarcastically a moment later, causing Starr to gasp softly, as she looked to Schuyler with wide eyes.
"Oh my God, that's Cole," she hissed frantically, panic clouding her mind. "And it sounds like it's taken him all of a day to prove you right." Schuyler just sighed, looking torn between anger, worry, sympathy, and disappointment, and Starr gave what could only be described as an anxious squeak, digging her fingers into her hair. "Schuyler! What do we do?!"
"I know you're there! I can see the lights are on!" Cole shouted, slamming his fist against the door again, causing Starr to flinch and reflexively reel back. Cole being like this reminded her way too much of that horrible day by the lockers.
"Maybe he'll just go away," Schuyler suggested.
"If you don't open the door, I'll kick it in!"
"Or not."
"Schuyler!"
"It'll be okay, Starr," Schuyler murmured as he seemed to snap out of a daze, reassuringly brushing his hand across her cheek. "Go hide and I'll deal with him, okay?"
"Okay," she breathed nervously, quickly squeezing his hand.
"I am not kidding, I will break this damn thing down if you make me!"
"Be careful, alright?" Starr begged. "I don't know what he might do when he's like this."
"I've got a pretty good idea," he sighed, looking grim as he recalled his own experiences when he'd been in a state like that.
Starr frowned slightly, not liking Schuyler comparing himself to Cole, but turned to leave until Schuyler quickly caught her arm, stopping her for a moment.
"Hey, Starr; I love you," he said firmly. She slowly blinked, confused.
"Love you too," she replied quickly, before hurrying off to the bathroom, where she then proceeded to climb into the shower and pull the curtain back, just to be safe.
Taking a deep breath, Schuyler quickly walked to the door and pulled it open with an appropriately confused look on his face. Cole, eyes hard and angry, instantly shoved past him, letting himself into the room.
"Cole, what the hell is going on?" he immediately asked, pretending to sound mystified.
"Where is she?"
"What are-"
"Where is she?! Where's Starr?!" Cole thundered, momentarily grabbing Schuyler by his shirt before letting go, storming further into the place.
"Cole, aren't you supposed to checking in with Rachel about-"
"You son of a bitch," Cole hissed, seething with hatred. "You swore there was nothing going on!"
"Look, Cole, I don't even know what the hell you're talking about," Schuyler replied calmly as Cole flung the closet open, shoving things aside as he looked around. He went near the bathroom door and Schuyler's heart seized for a moment, before Cole just brushed past it.
"I just heard something really interesting about you and your favorite student, Mr. J."
"I don't know what to tell you; rumors are always going to start after what Starr did the night of the dance, what do you want me to-"
"Are you sleeping with her?" Cole interrupted, his voice deadly quiet on this question.
For just a moment, Schuyler felt a surge of anger and he glowered at Cole, unable to believe this boy, who hadn't been anything to Starr in a long time, thought he had any right to storm into his apartment and ask him that question, but he quickly swallowed it, going right back into his act.
"I'm not sleeping with Starr, Cole," he spat, fighting desperately to ignore the mental images that brought to mind.
Inside the shower, Starr flinched; okay, she knew he was acting, but still, did he have to sound so disgusted by the possibility?
"I never have."
"But if you had, I'm sure it would be all her fault, right? Just like that kiss supposedly was? Because she just threw herself at you, totally out of the blue, you never saw it coming, right? And you didn't want it at all."
"Cole, what is this, where is this coming from, this anger?" Schuyler demanded, side passing that question. "What, are you high again? Do I need to call Rachel?"
"Don't make this about me!" Cole shouted, giving the dresser a violent kick. Starr jumped slightly, but Schuyler didn't budge. "I know that you have been seeing her!"
"I don't know how to make this any clearer to you," he snapped, the anger he was feeling starting to creep out. "I am not involved with Starr, Cole. I don't want to offend you here, because I know how much you care about her, and Starr is a great kid, a really great kid, but she is exactly that- a kid." Starr inhaled sharply, feeling like she'd just been slapped. "I can't tell you where she stands on this, but I can tell you that I'm not interested." Cole snorted slightly.
"You know, Starr turns to you because she thinks you understand."
"I do understand," Schuyler instinctively replied sharply, defensively, before realizing that was a mistake.
"No, you don't!" Cole roared, whipping around to punch the wall before turning back to Schuyler. "You don't understand- you used her! You used her," he repeated, his voice softer, but his fury still unmistakable. "You used her need to talk to someone- anyone but me. I couldn't help her, so she turned to you and you took advantage." Schuyler roughly swallowed the lump building in his throat, simply bowing his head as his shoulders sagged. "You and your mom ruined our lives."
Starr pressed her hands to her mouth, tears of disbelief burning her eyes as anger gripped her heart. How dare he? Schuyler took advantage of her? After all Schuyler had done to try to keep her away, the idea seemed hysterical- just like the idea that Schuyler had been a replacement for Cole did. Cole was really flattering himself if he thought her feelings for Schuyler, the connection she'd had with him right from the start, had anything to do with him. And how could he bring up Schuyler's mom? How could Cole be so heartless? And God, why was Schuyler just letting him say all of this?
"Look, Cole," Schuyler began quietly. Starr strained to hear him; there was an unmistakable note of doubt in his tone, and it made her want to cry; after all they'd gone through together, how could he let Cole's awful words get to him, even for a split second? "I've only been teaching for a couple of years, and I've never encountered a situation like this before, I don't exactly know what I'm doing here. And maybe… maybe my guilt over my mother, about not doing what I could to help her…maybe I am letting myself get too involved in Starr's grief." Starr swiped her hand across her eyes, resisting the urge to cover her ears. Not disagreeing with Cole to avoid suspicion was one thing, but actually saying he might be right? "Okay? But I promise you, I have never slept with her, and I never will."
"Don't make me tell you this again," Cole hissed, stalking closer until he was right in Schuyler's face. "You stay away from Starr."
The 'warning', Cole's possessive attitude about Starr, triggered something in Schuyler he wasn't proud of, an urge he'd never had while sober- the urge to just snap and strike. He reflexively clenched his fist, gritting his teeth together as for a split second, he almost lost control, before the jarring thought hit him that this was exactly the way he would have reacted when he was on drugs, causing him to instantly calm down and relax his body. Jesus, he knew better than that; how had he let Cole's own drugged up behavior draw him back into that state, even for the briefest of moments?
"Look, Cole," he replied evenly, reminding himself he was supposed to be convincing Cole there was nothing for him to worry about. "I don't know how else to say this to you. I don't want Starr. She is just a child with a crush, okay?" Schuyler snapped, internally hating himself for how this must be hurting Starr. "Frankly, I wish you two would get back together so she'd leave me alone already."
Starr flinched, taking a quiet but deep breath as her heart seized painfully for a moment; even knowing he was just flat out lying to get rid of Cole, hearing those things come out of Schuyler's mouth hurt like hell.
She realized a moment later this had been what his last minute 'I love you' had been about, reassuring her before he had to say these things, and Starr relaxed; the pain wasn't erased, but it was soothed.
"I'm sure," Cole replied sarcastically, shaking his head as he turned to leave.
Cole walked back into the living room, and suddenly froze dead in his tracks as he glanced at the couch, for there, scrunched up on the corner cushion, was Starr's jacket. His first urge was to grab it, shove it Joplin's face, demand he try and worm his way out of this one, but knowing that creep, he'd actually find some way to. So instead, Cole just filed the information away as he stormed out the front door and slammed it behind him, smirking as an idea began to form; maybe he couldn't do anything about this, but Todd Manning certainly could. It was about time someone told him what his daughter was up to these days anyway.
Back inside the hotel room, Starr took a minute to compose herself, wiping away her tears and making sure there was no physical evidence that she'd been at all upset; the last thing she needed after everything Cole had just said and put Schuyler through was for him to also feel guilty because of her, to think he'd hurt her in some way. She was just being stupid, anyway; she knew very well that every word of that had been a lie to get Cole off their case- why had she let it affect her at all?
Finally, she stood and climbed out of the shower, wandering through the place until she found Schuyler in the living room, leaning against the couch with his back to her, his head hanging low. She quietly walked over to stand with him, placing her hand on his shoulder, and Schuyler instantly straightened up, turning to face her with a casual smile, like her ex-boyfriend, high on drugs, hadn't just stormed in here and accused him of such horrible things. Starr weakly returned the smile.
"So, uh…good job," she laughed nervously. "I don't know how he couldn't have believed that." She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should stress what she hoped he already knew, that everything Cole said couldn't be further from the truth, but decided against it; she just wanted to forget the last ten minutes altogether.
Schuyler studied Starr carefully, feeling a sharp pain suddenly shoot through his heart as he noticed her clouded, bloodshot eyes, and instantly realized his words to Cole had gotten to her as well.
"Starr, I-"
"So, I think I'm good with Terminator, actually," she interrupted quickly, turning away from him. "Sarah Connor is pretty awesome, I can watch it for the girl power factor."
Schuyler hesitated; he could tell what she'd heard was still bothering Starr, but he also knew if he were to bring it up, she would just deny it.
"Terminator it is."
Starr nodded and started to walk to the TV, but Schuyler gently gripped her shoulders to stop her, hugging her back to his chest as he wound his arms around her waist, lightly pressing his lips to her neck. Starr smiled, covering his arms with her own as she leaned back against him.
"I love you, Starr," he repeated.
"I love you too," she said, turning her head and quickly kissing him before wriggling out of his grasp to go set up the movie.
Her phone, tossed somewhere on the couch, suddenly rang loudly, and Starr breathed a sigh of relief that it hadn't gone off while Cole was here, quickly grabbing it.
"Hello?"
"Starr, I am so sorry!" Langston wailed dramatically in greeting. "Look, I have something to tell you, but don't be mad, okay?!"
Schuyler, able to hear Langston's voice all the way from where he was standing, glanced over in surprise and confusion, and Starr couldn't help but laugh slightly, giving him a wry look as she whispered to him.
"Well, I guess we know how Cole found out."
"You already know he knows?! Did he go over there?! I'm so, sosososo sorry, Starr!" Langston continued. "What happened, what did he do? Is everything-"
"Langston, breathe," she instructed gently. "I'll give you the full story in a second, but just know that everything's okay."
If Starr had known what horrible effects Cole's actions were going to cause the very next day, she might not have been so quick to think that.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Cole finally made it Todd Manning's the next day after school; his mother had been expecting him home early yesterday, and he'd had to check in with Rachel, and the last thing he'd needed was for one of them to think something was up if he showed up late. And today, of course, he'd been busy with school; honestly, it was a miracle that he'd made it through the entire day without bursting into Joplin's classroom and strangling him.
Cole gave a short, impatient knock on the door.
"Manning, open up!" he barked.
"Oh God, not you again," Todd sighed irritably as he opened the door. Cole clenched his jaw; he'd been so distracted entertaining himself with thoughts of what Todd would do to Mr. J when he found out the truth, that he'd briefly forgotten just how much he hated him too. "What could you possibly want now?"
"Shut up," Cole hissed, violently shoving him back and stalking inside. "I have something to say, and you're going to listen."
"You know what, kid? If you're here to go off on me about your mom, save it. Get over it and get out.
"Oh, I'm- I'm not going anywhere, not…not until you hear this," Cole muttered, moving further into the house to prove his point. Todd smirked as he followed, looking amused by Cole's behavior.
"Boy, you're really w-w-w-wasted, aren't you?" Todd asked mockingly. "Speaking of, aren't you supposed to be in rehab?
"Look, don't you even mention my mom again," Cole snapped. "This has nothing to do with her or me."
"Well, whatever it is-
"No, shut up! You've been too busy feeling sorry for yourself because my mom won't forgive you for raping her again, that you don't even know what's going on with your own daughter."
"What are you talking about?" Todd asked tightly, finally seeming to take him seriously. "Is something wrong with Starr?"
"Oh, no, nothing's wrong with Starr; the problem is the teacher trying to get into her pants," he spat.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Exactly what I said! Her teacher is going after her."
"Not possible, Starr would have said something to me," Todd replied tightly.
"To you?" Cole laughed. "Maybe you can't accept this, Todd, but she hates you. And besides, he already has Starr buying into it- she's convinced she's in love with him or something, that he's some great guy- she's trying to protect him."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I'm worried about her. And if you care about her at all, you should be too."
"Of course I care about my daughter- I love her," Todd snapped.
"Then listen to what I'm telling you and do something about it!"
"How do you know this teacher is going after her?"
"Because I saw them kissing," Cole replied, feeling the hot rage building within him as he remembered that fucking horrible night.
"You saw a teacher kissing Starr?" Todd repeated in disbelief, snorting. "You sure this wasn't some drug hallucination or-"
"Look, I know what I saw!" Cole exploded. "And if that's not enough for you, then consider the fact that yesterday, I heard your daughter's best friend say Starr told her herself that she's dating this guy. You believe your own daughter? Oh, and let's not forget the fact that that when I went over there to confront the guy, your daughter's jacket was on his couch."
Todd went silent, and his expression was unreadable; Cole felt a twinge of satisfaction, knowing this meant something good was coming.
"Who is this teacher?" he asked, his voice eerily calm.
"Mr. J- Schuyler Joplin."
"Joplin?" Todd repeated in disbelief.
"Yep. You can find him at the Angel Square Motel."
"You lying to me?" Todd asked, stepping closer until he was face to face with the boy.
"No." Todd's hands shot out and gripped the front of his jacket tightly, his voice growing deadly.
"Are you lying to me?"
"I'm not lying!"
Todd studied him carefully for a moment, then let go, simply walking around the boy and to the front door.
"Lock up when you leave," he called over his shoulder.
Left alone in the silence of the room, all Cole could do now was smirk, imaging just what was about to happen to Schuyler Joplin when Todd got there.
Cole turned to leave himself, walking towards the door, only to stop when another man suddenly appeared from around the stairs, behaving so casually that you'd think he was the owner of the house; Cole furrowed his brow as the man came right over to him, smiling pleasantly.
"Uh…do I know you?" Cole asked slowly.
"I don't know; do you? I'm an old friend of your mother's," he offered. Cole frowned.
"I don't remember you."
"Oh, you weren't even born yet when she put me in Statesville." Cole breathed furiously as the realization hit him.
"Zach Rosen."
*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"So, you seemed to handle today pretty well. I think-"
"Ugh!" Starr shouted the second the door shut behind them, throwing her bag across the room. Langston startled in surprise; well, apparently Starr's calm behavior at school today had just been a front. "Sorry, what?"
"Um…nevermind."
"God, Cole as just loving having something to hold over me, wasn't he?" Starr seethed, pacing angrily. "Just giving me that stupid smirk the whole day, knowing very well I'm freaking out over what he's going to do! And I can't even show him that I think something is wrong, so I have to be sunshine and smiles all day and bottle it all up!"
"I'm still so sorry, Starr," Langston apologized earnestly.
"Langston, it's not your fault Cole is being a selfish jerk," Starr sighed, rubbing her temples. "God, I don't even know how I managed to resist the urge to slap him today. If it weren't for the fact that we made Hope together, the way he's been acting the past couple of months would make me wish I could go back in time and tell myself it was gonna end up this way so I could just never get involved with him at all."
"Oh, Starr, you don't mean that," Langston blurted out. She knew Schuyler was it for Starr now, and that she and Cole were dead and buried, but she didn't think it invalidated what the two used to have.
"Probably not, but…everytime I remember those horrible things he said to Schuyler, I get so mad and disgusted that I can't even stand looking at him," Starr spat, her voice trembling. "I can tell what he said hit Schuyler hard, and I hate him for that. I mean, he just-"
The door from the living room suddenly opened with a loud bang and Starr instantly went quiet as her little brother stormed into the room, though her anger didn't go away.
Jack stomped past them, suddenly shoving Langston's bag and everything else on the table to the floor, and both girls gaped at him, the outburst irritating Starr further.
"Jack! What do you think you're doing?!"
"What happened to you?" Langston echoed.
Jack, glowering and looking far too much like Todd for Starr's comfort, glared at them both, jabbing his finger at Langston.
"Your uncle? Is a horse's butt!"
He turned to storm up the stairs, but Starr shook her head, unable to take this any further.
"Jack, you wait a minute!" Starr snapped, her patience having been shattered by Cole, reaching out and grabbing his arm, yanking him back to her.
"Get off of me!" he yelled, flailing wildly.
"No, Jack, you're going to shut up and listen, for once!"
"Starr, he's just venting, he's upset," Langston jumped in nervously. "Maybe you should just-"
"No, Langston! We've been letting him use that as an excuse way too long, and I'm tired of him being so selfish! You are not the only one with problems, Jack! We have all tried being patient because we know this is hard for you, but I am sick of you being such an ungrateful little brat! John and Ray and everybody have been great to us, and you're going around acting like you hate the world just because you can't live with dad! Well guess what, Jack? I love dad too-"
"Bullshit!" he shouted. Starr's jaw dropped in shock, her eyes widening about to the size of dinner plates.
"Watch your language!" she shouted back. "And yes, I do. But he's not a good guy, Jack! Someday you're going to realize that, and you're going to be grateful mom kept you from being turned into him!"
"I don't have to listen to this, I'm not gonna let you try and brainwash me. Now get off!" he roared, slamming his foot onto hers for good measure. Starr cried out, releasing him, and Jack bolted up the stairs.
"Oh, you are such a brat, Jack!" Starr called after him in frustration, practically shaking with anger.
Langston stared at her with wide eyes; Starr usually had such patience with everyone, especially her family; to say that scene was jarring would be quite an understatement. It was understandable, though; Starr had a lot to be upset about right now, especially after what Cole had done, it was no wonder she'd snapped.
"Okay, um, Starr, how about we go to your room and talk there?" Langston suggested gently, grabbing her bag and guiding her friend up the stairs.
Starr calmed down as they went to her room, and just collapsed on her bed with a tired sigh once inside, weakly hugging her pillow; her own bed wasn't nearly as comfortable to her as Schuyler's these days.
"So, it seemed like Cole got to Schuyler?" Langston asked softly, deciding it was best to pretend the Jack incident just hadn't happened.
"Yeah," she said sadly. "The things he said just hit on Schuy's biggest insecurities. I hate this; I hate freaking out about what Schuyler's thinking after last night, I hate having to worry that Cole's going to do something that could more or less destroy us."
"Like what?" Langston asked in alarm. "I mean, I know he could get Mr. J fired, but if Schuyler's anything like you say, he'd stick by you even through that."
"I hope so, but that's not even what I'm thinking of- if my dad finds out, we're pretty much dead."
Outside Starr's door, from where he'd been eavesdropping, Jack snickered quietly. His sister was such an idiot; he'd overheard her talking to that Schuyler dude before Langston ever had but never said anything because he just didn't care. Now, though, after she'd been such a bitch, it seemed only fair that he finally use this information.
Grinning broadly, Jack hurried off to call his dad.