Odium (n.)
the widespread hatred or disgust for someone.
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I was sitting on the couch, catching up on one of my shows from earlier in the week and nursing my hangover from the night before. Beer pong may have gotten a little out of hand between Benjamin and I since we were both extremely competitive but beggars can't be choosers.
The front door suddenly burst open and Kingsley came running into the apartment, making a beeline for her bedroom. I quickly jumped off the couch and ran after her but she had locked the door.
"King, what's wrong, baby? Let me in," I said softly as I knocked. My heart broke as I heard her crying and I rested my forehead against the door. "Please let me help you, honey."
The door suddenly opened and I wasted no time in wrapping my arms tightly around Kingsley and pulling her into my chest. She sobbed into my shoulder as she roughly fisted my shirt between her hands. I pulled her back slightly and walked toward the bed, moving so we were both sitting on the plush comforter. I pulled her head down gently into my lap as I ran my fingers through her hair and let her continue to cry.
Once she finally calmed down enough to speak, I asked, "What happened?"
"He doesn't want to be with me," she forced out as she sniffled. "He thinks I slept with someone else, El."
"Why the hell would he think that?" I almost yelled as my hand froze in her silky blonde hair.
"I don't know," she mumbled sadly. "He wouldn't even let me in so I could talk to him."
We stayed like that for an hour until I heard her heavy breathing and knew she had fallen asleep. I slowly slid out from underneath her and reached for a blanket she had on the chair that rested in the corner of her room and covered her with it.
Tiptoeing out of her bedroom, I gently closed the door behind me before practically running for the front door. Grabbing my wallet and Kingsley's keys off the couch, I slipped on my converse and made my way out to the car.
______
"Open the fucking door, Benjamin," I yelled as I pounded my fist heavily on the door. I suddenly heard footsteps and crossed my arms over my chest only to see Cooper opening the door instead.
"Someone's a little hostile this morning," Cooper started to tease but I roughly pushed past him and stormed into the apartment. Boxes littered the place and I had to climb over a few to make it to the hallway.
Pushing open the first door, I saw more boxes inside and knew that it was Cooper's room. Reaching for the next one, I flew inside and saw Benjamin sitting on his bed with his laptop in his lap and headphones in.
I walked over and slammed his laptop shut which caused him to finally look up at me and roll his eyes.
"What do you want, Elli?" Benjamin asked, frustration evident in his voice.
"I want to know why the hell you think King cheated on you," I spat out as I heard Cooper enter the room.
"What's going on?" He asked from the doorway, but we both ignored him.
"Cause I saw the picture," he snapped as he reached for his phone and pulled it out. Snatching it from his grip, I narrowed my eyes at it before my face fell and anger coursed through me. I was staring at a picture of what I knew to be me and Johnathan kissing in his car but I could see how he thought it was her at first glance.
"That's me in that picture, you fucking asshole," I hissed as I threw his phone on the bed. "Next time use your goddamn eyes. I can't believe you think she'd do that shit to you."
"You're just covering for her," Benjamin mumbled as he flipped his laptop back open.
"Wait," Cooper said from behind me. "You don't think this was-"
"You are damn right I do," I said through clenched teeth as I spun on my heel and pushed past Cooper. "That bitch is getting a piece of my mind."
______
I walked onto the diamond where the baseball team was continuing their party from the night before. Pushing past endless amounts of drunk and hungover college students, I finally spotted the mop of blonde hair I was looking for.
"Laura," I seethed as I put a hand on her shoulder and spun her around so she was facing me. "What the hell is your problem?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she tried to tell me sweetly but I sucked my lip in between my teeth as my anger broke the surface.
"I don't care what you do or try to do to me and or Cooper, but you made a big fucking mistake when you brought Kingsley into this. Our beef stays between us."
"You two think you're just so special," Laura spat as she closed the gap between us and got in my face. "Think you own the fucking world and any guy in, but you don't. You're just a girl with daddy issues and a shitty home life who turned into a slut to make herself better. And Kingsley? Oh, she's an even bigger fraud than you. Walking around in her perfect little outfits and innocent personality when in reality, she's no better than you."
The minute she started badmouthing Kingsley, all rationalization when out the window. Not missing a beat, I brought up my left hand and slapped her firmly across the face. Everyone around us fell quiet as they encircled us, knowing what was about to happen next.
Laura whipped her head back around and narrowed her eyes on me. Using her right hand, she slapped me across the left cheek and my head snapped to the side. Slowly turning back to her, I ran my tongue across my teeth as I slapped my hands down on her shoulders.
Pulling her down, I spun us in a circle as she roughly gripped my forearms to try and get me off her. Instead, I grabbed a handful of her hair as I landed a knee roughly into her stomach. Laura bent over and let out a groan before she stood back up.
Catching me off guard, she landed a firm right to my jawbone which caused me to stumble back slightly. Gathering my bearings, I closed the gap between us and landed a hard left on her overly exaggerated, makeup covered cheekbone. As she turned to look at me, I noticed blood dripping from her nose. Smiling, I reached for her again and quickly spun us around as I sent her flying into the dust.
Before I had the opportunity to jump on her and finish the fight, a pair of strong arms wrapped around my torso, pinning my arms down to my sides. My legs kicked the air as a few girls ran over to Laura to help her up. She glared furiously at me but my sly grin stayed plastered on my face as I stopped fighting whoever had a hold on me.
"You don't know who you're messing with," Laura hissed at me as Ryan stepped in to stop her from advancing on me.
"Neither do you," I snapped back. "If you even think about bringing Kingsley into this again, I'll make sure there's no audience next time."
Laura glared at me but didn't say a word as she turned her back on me and started to walk away. Growing angry all over again, I tried fighting against the death grip someone still had on me with no luck.
"Take down that fucking picture or else this was just the beginning," I yelled after her. She whipped her head around and stared at me intently before disappearing into the crowd of people.
Whoever was holding onto me finally let me go and I stormed off back toward the car but not before I noticed Benjamin standing in the crowd of people. I was halfway back to the parking lot when I felt a hand on my arm before I was spun around.
I looked up into Cooper's dark brown eyes and shook my head as I tried to get to the car but he refused to let go of my arm.
"Let me go, Coop," I said through clenched teeth, but he wasn't having any of it.
"I'm not letting you drive when you're this angry," he said softly. "Talk to me."
"Talk to you?" I scoffed as I narrowed my eyes on him. "Laura can't stand the fact that her boyfriend lied and told me he was single before I slept with him. Not only that, she seems to think she has her claws dug into you and can't stand the fact that you don't fucking want her but want me instead. And what? Just because I don't bend to her bullshit she goes after King? She's such a-"
Before I could finish my sentence, Cooper grabbed my face in his hands and crashed his lips to mine, effectively cutting me off. I stood there frozen for a couple seconds before my arms wrapped themselves around his neck to pull him closer to me as he deepened the kiss.
I don't know how long the kiss lasted but when he pulled away, he rested his forehead against mine as we both tried to catch our breath. I looked up and smiled which caused him to chuckle slightly as a grin of his own covered his face.
"Can we go get lunch?" I asked. Cooper started laughing as he shook his head and wrapped an arm around my shoulders before leading me toward the parking lot.
"Punching someone really takes it out of you, huh?"
"Something like that."
They finally kissed! I don't know about you but there's something about a guy kissing a girl to shut her up when she's angry that just makes me feel some type of way.
I'm not sure if I have any Riverdale fans reading this story but the gif I used was honestly one of my favorite scenes/episodes. If you watch it, what's yours?