Heather's POV
"So, you are telling me that you have never used a dating app, like ever?" Coop asked surprised.
"No, never. I didn't need it because I was never really single for a long time, ever" I replied.
"Wow!" Stephanie exclaimed. "You have missed out on a lot" she exaggerated.
"Not really. My experience with online dating hasn't been great. I almost decided to never try dating apps after my first date through one of these platforms," Cooper said.
"Hell yeah! That is a good one. It still cracks me up, man" Stephanie laughed.
"Tell me about it" I said.
"It's really embarrassing" Cooper said in a low voice.
"Just tell the story, dammit" I tried to playfully threaten her but she just laughed at my face. I huffed and leaned back in my seat.
"Fine, I will tell" she said raising her hand in surrender. "So, I was single for a couple of months and Stephanie suggested I use a dating app to find a date. After a lot of pestering from Stephanie, I did sign up and went on a date. This chick was cute and the date went well too. We decided to head out for coffee sometime and she gave me her number."
"So, it was a nice first date with the possibility of a second date. How is that bad?" I asked.
"Patience"
"I was walking home from the date and Stephanie was texting non stop so I decided to finally text her back when somebody snatched my phone and ran. I ran behind him until he got into a car and the car sped away. I lost the phone and the number but I was hopeful. I asked my dad for a new phone after narrating the story but he refused to buy me a new one. That year was not good for my phones because I already lost one phone, broke another and now, the third one was stolen."
"He told me that if I needed a phone so bad then I should buy one with my own money. Now I had no way of getting her number, all I knew was her first name and nothing else but one day I spotted her at the mall. I approached her and spoke to her, tried to explain what had happened and she slapped me. She told me that it an excuse that boys used all the time and I didn't have the guts to tell her that I didn't like her so I was lying. She left after slapping me and ridiculing me in the store, I haven't gone back to that store again, by the way." I laughed at this.
"Wait, there is more" Stephanie said and I raised my eyes in question and surprise.
"So, I go to another store and get the things I needed and head to my car only to find the words "I have no guts" inscribed on the hood of my car, the car that my father gave me which was his first car. That chick used a fucking screw driver to write that. Moral of the story, when you ghost a girl, you pay for your phone and your car's hood from the money you earn through your part-time job. I had to drive around in that car with those words for four months" Cooper huffed. She looked so irritated right now.
I burst into laughter hearing the entire story and the look on Cooper's face only made me laugh harder. Not to forget how funny Stephanie's laugh is. We laughed for minutes while Cooper sat with a scowl on her face. She was more irritated than before. She huffed and looked away. Our laughs had died down but Cooper was ignoring us.
"It was so funny, you would have laughed too" I said.
"Funny for you. I was teased about the car for four months and this bitch," she pointed at Stephanie "she still teases me about it. She even posted the thing on her social media so that it never dies. It is on the fucking cloud."
"What are best friends for?" Stephanie chuckled winking. "That reminds me, why the fuck has my best friend not replied to my messages yet?"
"Which messages? Did you send them today or last night?" Cooper asked pulling her phone out.
"I sent those damn messages three days ago. Why do you even have a phone if you don't use it?" Stephanie yelled and I chuckled at their interaction.
"That's what she said," Cooper replied.
"I don't think that is the right way to use that line" I said laughing harder.
"No, that is actually what she said. One of my ex -girlfriends said the same thing to me while breaking up with me" Cooper said rubbing the back of her neck. I was now in an uncontrollable laughter fit.
Stephanie started laughing along and we both kept laughing for a few minutes. A couple of pack members looked at us like we had two heads. We finally settled after a few minutes when I thought of something.
"Okay, so you guys tell me what was the weirdest reason you broke up with someone and the weirdest reason someone used to break up with you" I suggested.
"Cool" Stephanie said.
"Nope. Not unless you tell us yours" Cooper said with a glint in her eyes.
"Fine, I'll start then. I have only ever dated Drake but we once broke up because of a fight. Out of anger I started dating another guy with whom I broke up after a week because whenever we held hands, his hands got very sweaty and he refused to let go. When I got my hand back, it felt like slime. Ugh!" I said disgusted, Cooper started laughing at the face I made.
"My turn" Stephanie said as she leaned across the table. "My ex broke up with me because he knew Cooper would kick his ass if he ever hurt me and he did get his ass kicked because he dumped me."
I was laughing at this guy's stupidity. He broke up in order to not get his ass kicked but ended up doing just that, how ironic. Stephanie and I looked at Cooper waiting for her to answer. Cooper pretended to look elsewhere and ignore us. After getting yelled at by Stephanie and I, she began with her story. She had a thoughtful expression on her face as if recollecting a memory stored far away.
"Okay, the only slightly weird or unreasonable excuse I have used to break up with someone was because he ate in a disgusting manner" Cooper said. I was shocked to hear 'he'.
"Wait, he?" I asked.
"Yes, the one and only guy I ever dated. When I came out to my father, he wasn't convinced. So, he set me up on a date with his friend's son and on the second date with him, he asked me to be his girlfriend in front of his entire pack. Under spotlight, I said yes because I just wanted the attention away from me. I tired to tell him that I didn't want to be his girlfriend but he didn't take no for an answer and I dated him for two more weeks until I broke up with him because he ate food in a very disgusting manner, it was unsettling and made me want to throw up" Cooper said. I could see how she shivered in disgust which made me chuckle.
"Okay, so, that was weirdest reason I used to dump my ex but let's get going with the weirdest reasons someone has used to dump me. One of my ex-girlfreinds broke up with me because I worked out a lot, one broke up because I was smarter than her in math, one, because I refused to buy her drugs, one because of my car and I quote "I can't be seen riding in this crap box so we are over", one dumped me because I didn't want to have sex with her in the bathroom when I went for dinner with her parents and the last one, wait for it ....... because I didn't quit my job to spend more time with her" Cooper finished.
"Wow, that was a long list" I said. Cooper let out a breath and nodded.
"I forgot about Julia, she was so fucking messed up yo. Isn't she the one who gave you drugs when she had sex with you?" Stephanie asked and Cooper's face turned into a poker face.
"Let's just not" Cooper said and got up from the table. She started walking towards a tree, she stood under the shade and pulled something out from her pocket. She place the stick between her lips and lighted up the thing.
"Let's go, smoke up" Steph said pulling me up.
I wondered what went down with this Julia chick that Cooper wanted to smoke upon being reminded about her. We both walked to where Cooper was, Stephanie took the joint from Cooper and puffed on it before passing it to me. I took a nice big puff before coughing up. Cooper rubbed my back and offered to get me some water but I said I was fine.
"This is some new shit, it's really good. I am sorry, I should've warned" Cooper apologized with sincere eyes and tone.
"It's alright. Can I ask you something if you don't mind? It is regarding what Stephanie asked but I won't ask if you don't want me to" I said.
"Okay, but maybe when we are alone" she said as she took the joint back from Stephanie and took a few puffs. She passed it to me and asked me to be careful this time. The joint was over and now we were all sitting under the shade of the tree, away from the pack.
"Steph, go and give Harry some sex while you are high" Cooper said.
"Nah, it doesn't work if only one is high" Stephanie said.
"Here, take this" Cooper said and pulled out another joint. Stephanie took it and examined it.
"Oh cool! This will be our first time getting high and having sex" Stephanie giggled and jumped to her feet.
"Use a condom, don't forget" Cooper called. Stephanie just nodded her head and kept walking.
Cooper took out a cigarette from her pocket and slipped it between her lips. I quickly snatched the cigarette from her mouth and threw it away. Cooper looked surprised and gave me skeptical look.
"Why do you smoke?" I found myself asking.
"I smoked for the very first time because I wanted to de-stress, I thought, it's better than drugs. What I didn't realize is how fast I got addicted to it, every time I was under any kind of stress, I pulled one stick out to smoke away all my stress. I am trying to quit though but I picked up weed instead. I am not addicted to it but it helps a lot, better than cigarettes but I still cannot quit it" Cooper replied.
"I know you will, one day" I encouraged. We sat in silence for a few minutes until I broke it. "Are you keeping quite only because you want to avoid telling me about Julia?"
"Yes" she replied looking in distance.
"It's okay if you don't want to talk" I said.
"It is not" Cooper replied in a broken voice. My stomach curled upon hearing the tone of her voice.
I looked at her face, she had an unreadable expression, her eyes still faraway like she was reliving the moment. Her hands were clenched into fists so tight that her knuckles had turned white. I squeezed her hand and she relaxed a bit, she turned her face to look at me.
"Everybody says it's okay if you don't want to talk and I have never told the whole truth to anybody and it's not okay to not talk. Maybe, I want someone to know this, maybe I want to talk, I just...- I just don't know how or with whom I should talk about this" Cooper said.
"You have me, you can talk to me. Just tell me whatever comes to mind, tell me whatever is in your heart" I replied.
"You? Really?" she asked in disbelief. I just nodded my head.
"Sometimes, I wish for impossible things to come true even though I know that I am only setting myself up for destruction by giving myself hope. I want to let go of this hope but a part of me still holds on, a part of me that is still not dead and it hopes; it hopes for a bright, bubbly, enigmatic and bold feeling" Cooper said. Her words didn't make sense to me so I just smiled and nodded. She chuckled in response, she knew that I didn't understand the context behind her words.
"Julia Evergreen, a witch by birth and a bitch by nature. I fell for her when I met her for the very first time. She taught me how to charm people. I experienced charming for the very first time because of her. She had charmed me into believing that I was in love with her. She was my first, she took my virginity. She had charmed me and I didn't know what I was doing, what I actually wanted to do so I did everything she asked me to."
Cooper took a deep breath before continuing. "She started using drugs a few months before we started dating. By the time we were dating for a month, she was a full blown addict. When she realized that the drugs were making her unable to use her powers and her charm wasn't working on me, she gave me drugs. Sometimes, she roofied me other times she gave me drugs which paralyzed my body but I remembered everything that she did. The relationship ended when she was kicked out of her house and didn't have money to buy drugs and was unable to charm me anymore. She begged me to buy drugs for her but I didn't, she dumped and two days later, all of her spells on me broke and I realized that I was in an non-consensual relationship where I was raped every single day. That day I felt utterly powerless and pathetic for the very first time in my life."
Cooper refused to meet my eye. She pulled out a cigarette and lit it. I was in way too much shock to pull it out of her mouth this time or maybe I understood why she smoked. Sometimes we need to make ourselves believe that these things take away the negative things that have happened in our life but we are only fooling ourselves.
I wrapped my arms around Cooper's torso, I felt her breath hitch. She exhaled loudly and her shoulders slumped. She threw away the cigarette and turned her body before wrapping her arms around me. She pulled me into her and squeezed tight. She really did need this hug.
We broke the hug and sat in silence until Cooper broke it. "I once watched a bollywood movie and there was a dialogue from the movie that I found very funny. It always cracks me up. It goes "if walnuts didn't have shells and girls didn't throw tantrums then life would be so easy". To some, it may seem a bit sexist and all the other feminists might bash me for this but it's only a matter of perspective. An easy life is a life not lived, there is no thrill or adventure in a life like that."
"I may not know the intention and context behind the dialogue so I will assume that it is offensive to women but is it really? Yes, girls throw tantrums, most of the time for stupid reasons but we keep men on their toes. We know how men are, they are always behind a hotter woman, they are like animals who only care about mating and they will do it with anyone. Women have slightly more self control and are more disciplined, they use tantrums to keep their man in check. They make sure that he knows he will be in a shitload of trouble if he messes up. We use tantrums to protect ourselves not to make others miserable." Cooper continued.
"Basically, my story telling skills are shit and the moral of my story is that perspective is really important and it changes everything. If you see things with a positive perspective then you will find good in everything and everyone but if you see things from a negative perspective then you will only surround yourself with more negativity. Julia might have charmed me, used me, raped me but she also taught me how to use magic, she taught me how to charm people. She made me realize that I too had this ability and I am happy for that. I don't know how much longer it would have taken me to find out. What she did to me, I cannot forgive her for that but I also cannot let one incident define me. I felt really good telling you the entire thing, I have never told what happened with her to anyone" Cooper gave me a small smile. It didn't reach her eyes but it assured me that she was fine.
"You are a very good person, Cooper. You are the only teenager I have met who is actually mature enough to be an adult. You have been through a lot of things and yet you try to be so kind to everyone. What you did for Natalia, I don't think anybody else would have done that. You try to see good in everyone, I am sure you will find somebody who loves you and deserves you" I said.
Cooper let out a sigh and looked away. "My father will get me married by the end of summer. I will be a married woman before I go to the university. It won't matter if the person I am marrying is a male or a female or someone who is my age or 20 years older than me. The person you are talking about doesn't exist anymore, Heather."
"But you don't have to. You can just say no, you can reject him/her," I said.
"I signed a contract with him, I am legally bound to do it. The contract clearly states that if I haven't found my mate by the end of summer then I will have to marry another suitable mate in order to still remain the Alpha of this pack" Cooper replied.
"Is that why you were so adamant about removing that law?" I asked, she nodded her head.
"I am so sorry, Cooper" I said.
Cooper smiled at me before shaking her head "Don't be. Don't be sorry for anything that is not your fault. In life, you will encounter a lot of situations where people will make you think that it is your fault, some people will blame you because it is easy but don't be sorry if you haven't done anything wrong, don't be sorry for choosing your happiness over someone else's, don't be sorry for trying to be better, don't be sorry for trying to make the other person better and most importantly, don't be sorry for trying to do something different, for trying to be different."
"We are who we are and if being a certain way or doing a certain things makes us happy and in that process we are hurting someone else then it is okay. If the other person truly cares about you then they will see why you did what you did and will still support you. The only important things in life are care, kindness and forgiveness, because after we die, we only leave people with memories, memories of how we made them feel. So be kind and gentle with everyone, try to make yourself and others happy but never sacrifice your happiness for others. If you are not happy, you will not be able to make someone else happy." Cooper finished.
"You should be doing a podcast or something" I joked and Cooper chuckled. We sat there for some time before we had to go back inside the pack house to complete our duties.