In which Cole gets into a fight at school.
Episode 10, Season 13, before the events of the flashback
"Hey there, loser."
Cole left his locker open and turned to see a big bully messing with another kid much smaller than him. Rocky, the bully, was infamous in their school for his buff attitude and his rebellious misdemeanors. Cole hid behind his locker door, not wanting to attract attention to himself.
He tried his best to ignore the mocks and jeers from Rocky and his gang and the cries for help from the poor kid. One side of him wished that kid was more confident so he can defend himself, but he also can't just stand to see him suffer, and he didn't want to get in trouble for not helping him.
"Please stop," the poor boy whimpered. He shied away from Rocky, his mischievous face only a breath away from him.
That's it, Cole said to himself, determined. Time to teach this bully a lesson.
"Stop it, Rocky," he demanded. He slammed the door to his locker, revealing a scorn of disapproval.
Rocky scoffed and gave Cole a defiant glance, and was about to mess with the kid again when Cole interrupted.
"You heard him, Rocky," Cole said, stepping in front of the kid. "Stop messing with him."
"Says who?" sneered Rocky.
Cole wanted to talk back and correct him, but he dismissed it, not wanting to get into a nasty fight. "Leave us alone, then this will all end in peace," he said sternly.
Rocky is not the kind of person to listen seriously. Instead, he grabbed Cole by the collar and threw him on the ground before the lockers. "I don't wanna see kids like you again!" he shouted, making sure his intimidating remark reached the ears of everyone in the hall.
Bystanders noticed the commotion and watched in awe, some cheering in support of Rocky's gang, while others shook their heads in disapproval. Cole staggered to his feet, his face covered with dust and dirt from the floor.
"In my defense, I did what was right!" Cole shouted with courage. "There is no reason to end this in a fight."
His only response was defiant snickers and chuckles from Rocky's gang, Rocky himself glaring at him blatantly with crossed arms.
The bystanders supporting Cole nodded their heads in approval. Jeers and boos were all Cole heard, but that won't stop him.
"Look, I do not have time for this nonsense!" Cole admitted, standing tall. "But I cannot let this injustice pass without a fight!"
Rocky only heard his last sentence, cackling with an evil grin while rushing towards Cole and thrusting him against the wall behind him. He kicked him away from the wall and pinned him to the ground with his leg, digging it mercilessly into his chest. It all happened so quickly that Cole didn't have time to respond, and once he was on the ground again, all he could do was try to force Rocky's heavy leg off him.
Kids surrounding them brought their phones out and filmed the fight. They didn't bother to defend Cole or even stop the fight! Too shy to interrupt the fight himself, the kid Cole helped took advantage of the commotion, sneaking away through the crowd to tell someone about the fight. It wasn't long before a teacher broke through the same crowd and pushed the two boys away from each other.
"That's enough!" the teacher insisted. "You two boys -- go to the principal's office. We're going to have a very wonderful talk," she added sarcastically with a frustrated tone.
Rocky stubbornly glared at Cole. "We're gonna finish this someday!" he exclaimed, pointing to the ground to emphasize his statement.
Cole knew that ending this with a fight will only make things worse, but he had no choice. At least his act was justified: he did it to defend a kid who didn't have the confidence to defend himself.
"In my defense, I did what was right," he muttered determinedly.