Eliza

We get into the car and I become increasingly anxious by the minute as to the events that could potentially unfold. I understand why Cooper is angry about Theo making me cry but all I can think to myself is that he can never find out the real reason I was so upset, because I can imagine that somebody would get hurt, and I wouldn't want it to be either of them.

"Seriously, Coop, maybe we should just get a coffee or something?"

"I don't need a coffee."

"But aren't you hungover? You need something to make you feel better."

"Which is why I drank water, Eliza, stop trying to divert me from going back."

I sigh in defeat, and peer out the window at the coincidental moment that we drive past the road in which Theo used to be located on. I almost see the patch in which he slept on every night, deprived of the air that he filled it with. My thoughts become so engrossed into the time we shared our first conversation -with him being the utmost jerk - that I don't realise Cooper pulling up to the driveway of my house. I try to pull myself together before opening the door, and I can only pray that my mother is still at work because the only thing worse than Cooper confronting Theo, is Cooper confronting Theo to the attention of my mom.

We step into the house and I expect Cooper to run up the stairs in a rage of fury, but to my surprise he takes his time getting to the top of the stairs, almost as if he is trying to gather some courage. I trail closely behind him and latch onto his arm, to ensure it doesn't fly loosely onto Theo.

"I thought I already told you-" I hear Theo say from the bathroom once Cooper ruptures through the door. He walks out of the bathroom wearing the same sweats of Cooper's he was wearing the other day, and his face speaks of shock once he sees that it is not just me in the room, like he obviously expected.

"Yeah, I know what you told her and I want you to repeat it in front of me you jerk," Cooper pipes up, raising his voice.

"You-what?" Theo's face scrunches up as if he is trying to decipher what exactly is going on, but he can't.

"I said I want you to repeat it to me you jerk," he cries as he lunges forward and delivers a blow to Theo's right cheek.

"Cooper!" I shout, as I watch as Theo moves his body back, and without thinking, I almost reach in to protect him and see if he is okay. But then I remember that Cooper doesn't know, and he can't know, so I have to present loyalty to him.

"She told me you ass!" Cooper shouts, as I clasp my hand into his.

"What? No, look man I didn't mean for it to happen-"

"How can you not mean for it to happen? You know what you're doing, you know what you're saying-"

I suddenly get the realisation that Theo doesn't know what Cooper is angry about, and he probably thinks he knows about what happened between us, causing my blood to stop rushing for a moment.

"What happened between me and Eliza was a-"

"He was just being a jerk! That's all," I scream, attempting to drown out Theo's voice. He looks at me confused, and I realise that this is not the time to stop speaking. "Look, Coop, when he said that I'm just a spoilt brat who shows off my money, it hurt at the time. But now, it doesn't matter. Because I don't care what he thinks."

"You should when he's making you cry!"

Theo throws another puzzled look towards my direction before he staggers backwards slightly. I can tell that he now understands what is going on. "Look, um Cooper, I'm sorry for... What I said. I was just a little out of it-"

"Do you think I care? Eliza, why the hell is he still living here?" Cooper shouts in my ear, making me sigh outrageously as I begin to think of something to say to get Cooper off his back for good.

"Because he doesn't have anywhere else to live, Coop. Why else would he still be here?"

"He's lived on the street before so what's the big deal with him going back there?"

"Coop-"

"Dump him back on the street just like where all the other trash of New York are," Cooper finishes and before I know it, Theo has lunged for him and is close to hitting his face before I get in the middle of them. I notice Theo lower his arm down once he notices that his hit would be directed towards me instead of Cooper, which resonates a warm feeling in my heart. This doesn't last for long as I immediately remember the harsh words he spat at me earlier on, and my mind makes a sudden click as I realise this is an opportunity to get my feelings off my chest.

"Theo, don't you dare touch him! You're both acting like a pair of losers."

"So you're just going to let him call me a piece of trash and let him walk away?" Theo questions, causing my rage to increase desperately. How dare he even have the sheer audacity to question me, when everything he has ever told me has been a lie? I don't owe him anything, I think to myself.

"I don't care what he calls you. I don't care about you, Theo."

"Look, you son of a bitch," Cooper begins. "You're living in my girlfriend's house; sleeping on the bed my girlfriend used to sleep on; eating the food my girlfriend's mom buys and cooks. You're a nonentity in this house and I will have no problem throwing you out of here by my clothes just as fast as you came in."

"Are you sure you really want to talk to me like that Cooper? Aren't you scared that I'll reveal your little secret?"

I feel the blood pumping around my heart much faster, and suddenly feel surrounded by a dark cloud of confusion and uncertainty. "What secret?" I look at Theo for a moment before staring directly into Cooper's eyes.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Cooper howls.

"You know... That one little secret you have that could ruin everything."

I watch Cooper's face to detect his emotions and whether his wrinkles that form when he is nervous have come to the surface, but they haven't. "Cooper, what is he talking about?"

"I don't know. I don't know what the hell he's talking about," he points at Theo.

"What secret, Theo?"

"Ask your perfect little boyfriend here," and before I can even register his words in my brain, it is Cooper's turn to lunge forward in the hope of attacking Theo. Yet again, my body manages to shield any punches being thrown.

"Stop!"

"It's about time you shut the hell up!" Cooper barks.

"Afraid I might tell?"

"There's nothing to tell."

"So why on Earth are you getting so angry?" I add.

"Because he's a piece of talking trash. And he made you cry."

A sense of comfort comes over me, as I recognise that Cooper has been defending me for the past ten minutes. Suddenly, I think to myself that maybe I can be with him. I turn around to him to see pure vexation written on his face.

"Coop, don't worry about him. I appreciate you sticking up for me, but at the end of the day, you're right. He is trash. And we've got each other whilst he's got nobody. And that's his fault because he's not a good guy, and it makes sense why you're mad at him, but he's so pathetic that you should feel embarrassed for even giving him the time of day."

"He's a jerk."

"I think we can establish that by now. But he's nothing, okay? Don't worry about him. Worry about you, and me," and at that I kiss him softly. We embrace into a warm hug after that at which point I detect wild fury in Theo's eyes. He must be angry at the truth in my words. "Let's go," I say, pulling Cooper's hand.

"Stay the hell away from my girlfriend," he orders Theo whilst pointing his finger at him. Theo stays silent but avoids eye contact with the both of us as he walks into the bathroom.

The walk to my bedroom feels painfully long as I reflect over the one word Theo kept on repeating. He may have probably been trying to spilt Cooper and I up but maybe he was doing it with something that isn't a lie. I need to get to the bottom of this, I think internally.

"What a tool," Cooper concludes as we both sit on my unmade bed. I was so eager to speak to Theo and tell him how I feel that I didn't even bother spending any unnecessary seconds in my bedroom to lay my bed - something that I now completely regret.

"So what's the secret?"

"What? Oh, Eliza, you're not seriously listening to him are you?"

"He was convinced that there's a secret Coop, so tell me what it is."

"He was just trying to cause problems between us. You said it yourself, he's got nobody, so he wants everybody to be as alone as him. But that's not going to happen."

"So there's no secret? Nothing revealed on your drunken night out yesterday?"

"Nope."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Don't listen to what that ass says."

I pause for a moment, my mouth incapable of opening to produce words. It's like deep down I'm hoping there is a secret, just so I have an excuse to not be with Cooper.

But there isn't. And he just stuck up for me, and that's more than I can say for Theo. "I won't," I finally say.

Theo

I change into the black hoodie and jogger bottoms I was given, after noticing a stain on the gray pair I've worn in the past days. I make my way downstairs to the kitchen where I see Rosanne drinking a cup of coffee by the kitchen counter. Eye contact, or any type of contact with her is not on the agenda and I ensure to scurry off to the front door as fast as I can. I only reach past the kitchen when her voice hounds my ear.

"Where are you off to? Back home?"

I shoot a menacing glare to her that doesn't seem to phase her, causing my blood to curl up into a ball of anger. "For a walk," I simply reply.

"I remember the last time you went for a walk. You know, the day you stole my bracelet. I'm surprised you'd take that kind of risk again."

"So what are you saying? You're going to plant something else in my-that room?"

"Planting seems too easy. I may try something else this time," she smiles threateningly.

"You're pathetic," I utter as I walk towards the door.

"So are the clothes you're wearing that belong to my daughter's boyfriend," she calls after me, but I slam the door on her last note. I stand in front of the house picturing in my head the route I need to take, and exhale a deliberating sigh as I accept the fact that it may take a long time for me to get to my destination.

What feels like forty minutes later, I read the scrawled letters that form the infamous title of The Shakespeare. My brain suddenly divides into two parts, with the left side telling me to go inside, but the right side scorns me for even thinking of going in, and tells me to go back to home. Well, that home. People that walk past alongside people that enter deliver looks of anxiety and wariness to me, as if they feel that I am planning on demolishing this building. I roll my eyes at them, and get a sudden urge of confidence to walk in, and latch on to the door once the latest person glides through. Once I am inside, my body freezes as I begin searching for the source I need - curious eyes fall on me, the lonesome, dirty boy standing suspiciously at the back.

Through the maze of the energetic members and the families that seem to take over every single table, I spot my target. I hurry over to him and take a seat on the empty chair right in front of him, catching his attention immediately.

"Oh! It's you again," he states, whilst juggling some cups.

"It's me again," I respond.

"What's going on?"

"I need something from you."

"A drink?"

"That too," I laugh, and he joins in. "But more importantly, I need information."

"On what?"

"The secret."

"What secret?"

"The secret Cooper has... That you said he has."

"I didn't say he has a secret, I said he doesn't love this Eliza girl."

"But she doesn't know that, so there must be some secret surrounding that, right?"

He looks at me for a moment, before he begins laughing and starts pouring a drink. He places it in front of me, and I take a sip of it. I make a point to myself not to have more than one cup, or this conversation may exist as a mysterious blank space to me later on.

"Why, are you going to use it against him?" Carl finally replies.

"Something like that."

"What happened to doing something about it?"

"I did something about it... And I screwed up," I note, before taking another pitiful sip.

"And who's to say knowing this 'secret' will help?" He asks, doing the action of quotation marks with his fingers.

"I'm sure it will."

"Man, I don't know if I want to get involved in all of this."

"Look man, this girl is the only thing I have. Well, I don't have her, but she's the only beautiful thing in my life at this moment. But she hates me, and I can't take it. I don't like to ask for things, but I'm asking for this. So, please. Tell me."

He appears to be deep in thought, before finally looking at me. "Alright, fine. But whatever happens, you didn't hear it from me. And this is all I know, so don't try coming back here fishing for more information."

I nod slightly.

"You're living in Eliza's house, so you must have met her mom right?"

"Yeah, she's a bitch."

He laughs. "Bitch is correct. But Cooper doesn't think so."

"What does that mean?"

"Have you noticed anything unusual between the two of them? Their... Relationship?"

"No, why?" But as soon as the question slips from my mouth, my brain becomes whole again as I realise what Carl is trying to tell me. A mix of emotions run throughout my entire body - beginning with confusion and ending with anger at Eliza's own mother doing that to her. And don't even get me started on her punk of a boyfriend. "I need to hear it out loud," I request.

"They're together," Carl simply states.