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“Hey, Cooper!”
Cooper turned at the sound of his name, grimacing when he saw it was the entire Wolves team approaching. Those guys were at least cordial during soccer practice, mostly because their coach wouldn’t tolerate slacking off, but the rest of the time they were downright nightmares. They hadn’t bothered him before he started hanging out with Logan, or while he was tangentially part of the group, but since he went back to being friends with Mateo they had been getting on his case.
“What do you want, Dallas?” Cooper groaned.
“What, I can’t say hi to my old pal?” Dallas said, throwing an arm over Cooper’s shoulders. Cooper shoved him off, taking several steps back. It was just after the end of the school day, and Cooper had been one of the last ones to leave the classroom. The other dream chasers were already long gone; Logan to soccer practice, and Mateo and Izzie to study.
“Not when you’re supposed to be at practice,” Cooper countered.
“So are you,” Dallas said. “Relax, man, if we’re all late Coach will only yell at us a little bit!”
“Uh huh,” Cooper said, dubious. “If that’s all, I’m just gonna get going-”
He turned, only to find another of the wolves right behind him. And another to his left, boxing him in against the lockers.
“C’mon, we’ve barely gotten a chance to chat!” Dallas said. Cooper was very keenly aware of the fact that the hallway was empty aside from them, all the stragglers having long since left the building.
“Seriously, dude?” Cooper said, bumping into the lockers as he tried to back away. “Do you not have anything better to do with your time than harass me?”
Dallas’s expression abruptly changed from a friendly smile to a scowl.
“Nah,” he said. “See, I’ve got a bit of a bone to pick with you, Cooper.”
Here we go, Cooper thought.
“If it wasn't for you,” Dallas hissed, “Logan would still be on our team. If you hadn’t turned traitor and joined Matty and his group of wannabes, everything would be just how it used to be.”
“I don’t know what world you’re living in, but no one actually liked that situation,” Cooper said.
Dallas surged forward, shoving Cooper against the lockers by his shoulder. Cooper bit his cheek, hissing as his head slammed against the hard metal.
“You used to be a nobody,” Dallas said. “Then Logan started hanging out with you, and you were cool. But you know what you are now? You’re worse than a nobody. You’re a traitor, and a target. ”
It was at this moment that Cooper realized he wasn't getting out of this with only a few bruises.
Dallas looked away from him, still keeping him pinned. “Did you get it open yet?”
“I got it,” another of the Wolves said, holding up an open radial combination lock. One of the unused lockers was wide open, and Cooper realized what was about to happen a second too late. He flailed, trying to break free of Dallas’s grip, but he wasn't a match for all four of them at once. They grabbed his limbs and stuffed him into the locker, metal pressing in on all sides and squishing his arms against his body. He had enough room to stand, if barely, with his hair brushing the ceiling.
The door slammed shut in front of him, and his fate was sealed as he heard the telltale click of the lock closing him in.
“Have fun, Cooper!” Dallas chuckled. “Maybe we’ll come let you out in the morning.”
Cooper tried to breathe evenly as they left, their footsteps and laughter echoing down the hallway. Then, once everything was quiet, he wiggled himself sideways enough to pull his phone out of his pocket to call for help.
His phone turned on for all of ten seconds before going dark again. Crap, he had forgotten to charge it the previous night. He wouldn’t be able to call for help.
Well, maybe someone on the soccer team would come looking for him? Logan would notice he was missing- but then again, Cooper had mentioned he might be too tired for practice earlier. Logan might assume he’d just gone home. And Mateo and Izzie wouldn’t have any idea he was missing, either, not until-
Until tonight, Cooper realized. If he could just fall asleep in here, somehow, he could talk to the others in the dream world and get them to come find him.
But it would take hours for them to go to sleep, wouldn’t it? They all went to bed fairly early these days, but the earliest any of them would sleep was nine o’clock, and that was still five or six hours away.
Which meant Cooper would be stuck in this locker for six hours, minimum. Trapped in a small, dark, cramped space, with only a sliver of light coming in from the slats on the door. With no room to move, no room to breathe, and no way of getting out.
Cooper squeezed his eyes shut. His heartbeat was rapidly speeding up, and he could feel it pounding in his chest, sending adrenaline through every vein of his body. Panicking wouldn’t help, but he couldn’t stop it; the walls were pressing in on every side, closing him in, and tears began to run down his face. Cooper barely had room to move, but he had some, and he tried throwing himself at the door to break it down. These lockers were old and the locks were shitty, surely he could break through with enough time.
Frantic and almost definitely hyperventilating, Cooper slammed his shoulder against the door repeatedly in the same spot. It hurt, but he kept going, trying desperately to find a weak point. But the metal didn’t even dent, not appreciably, and his shoulder hurt too much to continue.
Cooper was starting to feel dizzy. No matter how much he gasped for breath, he just couldn’t get enough air into his lungs. He slumped against the back wall, unable to even sit down in the cramped space, pinned between the walls and the door in a slightly slouched position. His vision started going dark around the edges, dimming what little light he had in the dark space.
For a moment, Cooper passed out.
When he came to only a few seconds later, his breathing had slowed down, but his heart rate was still through the roof. He breathed slowly, trying to keep calm; working himself up and passing out again wouldn’t help anything. Unconsciousness was not the same thing as sleep; as much as he’d like to try that to escape into the dream world, it wouldn’t work.
Cooper watched the sliver of hallway he could see forlornly, desperately wishing that he was anywhere but here.
Cooper opened his eyes to the sound of footsteps. He wasn't sure how long he had been in the locker; a few hours at least, he thought. He hadn’t been able to sleep properly, too uncomfortable and too anxious, so he had been stuck there with his thoughts. He’d dozed slightly, the hours blurring together in the cramped space, but that was all he’d managed to do.
“Cooper?” A familiar voice called from down the hallway.
“Mateo?” Cooper said, his voice raspy. It came out quiet and hoarse; he couldn’t be sure that Mateo heard him. He kicked the locker door, making a loud clang sound.
“Cooper, is that you?” Mateo called, his footsteps getting louder.
“In here,” Cooper called as loud as he could. His throat was raw and hoarse from crying, and he was sure he looked like a mess, but at this point he didn’t care.
“There you are,” Mateo said, stopping just outside the locker. “Shit, how long have you been in here?”
“Since just after school,” Cooper said, then coughed roughly.
“Okay, don’t talk, I’m getting you out,” Mateo said. Cooper heard the quiet clicks of the radial combination lock as Mateo undoubtedly picked it; those things were so easy to pick that just about anyone could open them.
The door swung open, and Cooper collapsed through the opening, not caring that Mateo had to catch his entire weight. Mateo stumbled, but stayed upright, and Cooper made a passing attempt at supporting himself on his own two feet.
Mateo didn’t say anything, just kept an arm around Cooper while he pulled out his phone. They started walking, Cooper stumbling and keeping most of his weight on Mateo until they reached the science classroom. It was empty, of course, but it was familiar and safe.
Mateo deposited Cooper in one of the chairs, keeping a hand on his shoulder for some reason. Reassurance, maybe; Cooper wasn't really all there, but he appreciated it.
Izzie and Logan appeared in the doorway soon after, each carrying their backpacks. Izzie immediately set her backpack down on the closest desk and pulled out a first aid kit and a lunchbox, while Logan approached Cooper and offered the blanket he’d been holding. Cooper blinked after a moment, realizing that Logan was waiting for him to take it, and just nodded at him. Logan draped the blanket around Cooper’s shoulders, and Cooper shifted slightly so that he was sitting on the end of it, putting a soft barrier between him and the hard chair.
“Okay,” Izzie said quietly, breaking the silence. “You’ve definitely missed dinner, so I brought you some food. Eat what you can, okay?”
She set the open lunchbox on the desk in front of him. Cooper stared at its contents for a moment. She had packed a burrito from Mrs. Castillo; it was even his usual order. She’d also packed an apple and a churro, and a water bottle.
Slowly, Cooper grabbed the water bottle and uncapped it. He was hungry, but he wasn't sure he could stomach food right away.
“Are you hurt at all?” Mateo asked when he set the water bottle down.
Cooper pointed to his right shoulder, which had a fairly substantial bruise. Mateo gently pushed his sleeve up to get a look at it, wincing at its appearance. Cooper glanced over, but could only see the edge of the bruise. It was mottled black, and looked pretty nasty. It hurt when Mateo pressed on it, though Cooper couldn’t bring himself to react beyond an automatic flinch.
Izzie brought over the first aid kit, and Cooper took small bites of the apple while they wiped off his shoulder. It stung, so he must have broken the skin at some point. Cooper hadn’t noticed.
Mateo put a bandage over the cut and spread some kind of balm over the rest of the bruise. It stung at first, but quickly settled into a cooling numbness.
“Better?” Izzie asked.
Cooper nodded. It was all he could muster, at this point.
“Dude, you look exhausted,” Logan said. Yeah, duh. “What happened?”
“Logan!” Izzie hissed, slapping him lightly on the shoulder.
“What?” Logan said.
“You don’t have to tell us now if you’re not up for it,” Mateo said to Cooper, shushing the other two.
Cooper shrugged. There wasn't really much to tell, was there?
“Dallas,” he said quietly. They could figure out the rest.
“He put you in there?” Izzie said. Cooper nodded. “That jerk!”
“And the rest of the wolves?” Logan asked, resigned. Cooper nodded again.
“They went too far this time,” Mateo said.
“Oh, definitely,” Izzie said. “We have got to take them down a peg! They can’t get away with doing this to our best friend!”
“We should go into their dreams and get payback,” Logan said. “Make them just as scared as they made Cooper.”
“For once, I agree,” Mateo said. “We can use Oz’s locator to find them.”
Cooper blinked. He reached out and grabbed Logan’s hand, successfully getting his attention. Deliberately, he shook his head.
“You don’t want us to get revenge?” Logan said, confused.
Cooper shook his head again. “Oz,” he said.
“Oh yeah, Mr. Oz!” Izzie said. “We can tell him what happened and he can get them in trouble!”
“Won’t they just come after us again, though?” Mateo asked. “If we go into their dreams, they won’t remember when they wake up.”
“But they might still be mad at us,” Logan said slowly. “People remember emotions from their dreams, just not what actually happened, right?”
“So that’s a bad plan anyway,” Izzie said. “Maybe having actual consequences will make them back off?”
“We can hope,” Mateo said. “And until everything cools down, none of us go anywhere alone, alright?”
“Definitely,” Logan said.
“I’m calling Mr. Oz,” Izzie declared, pulling out her phone. Cooper started eating the burrito as she dialed, finally starting to get a little bit of energy back. Logan pulled up a chair and sat beside him, their shoulders just barely brushing, and after a moment Mateo did the same on his other side.
“Hey Mr. Oz!” Izzie said.
“Izzie, what is it? You woke me up, you know!” Oz said; Izzie’s phone volume was high enough that Cooper could hear him.
“We have a situation,” Izzie replied. “Can you come to the school? Your classroom.”
“I’m on my way,” Oz said. “But please, tell me what happened.”
Izzie glanced over at Cooper, asking for permission. He nodded.
“Cooper was locked in a locker by Dallas and his friends,” Izzie said. “We only realized he was missing when he didn’t show up on the landing tonight.”
“Oh, dear,” Oz said. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
He hung up, and Izzie pulled up another chair to join them, sitting next to Mateo while they waited. Cooper continued eating slowly, passing the churro to Logan at some point; the sugar smelled nauseating. The time passed slowly, but it was comfortable, sitting here surrounded by his friends. He ended up leaning against Logan once he finished eating; he only got through half of the burrito, but at least that was something. Mateo took his right hand, mindful of his shoulder, and Izzie placed a hand on his knee. It was grounding, to have them all right there, soft and real and warm.
“Thanks,” Cooper said into the quiet.
“Anytime, dude,” Logan said.
“We’ve got you,” Mateo said.
“You’re never getting rid of us!” Izzie said cheerfully.
Cooper smiled. Finally, he was starting to feel a bit better.
Oz showed up not long after, and the others relayed the story for him, Cooper only chiming in to correct them or add details when he felt like it. His voice came back to him as they talked, and Oz pulled an incident report form out of his desk to formalize the whole thing. He was assured that Dallas and the wolves would be facing detention at best, suspension at worst, and that they would likely be expelled if there were a second incident.
Cooper walked home with everyone, even Logan tagging along despite living in a completely different neighborhood from them. They walked him right to his front door, not leaving until he was safely in his own home. Cooper slipped upstairs quietly, not making a sound in the silent house, and went to sleep exhausted and shaken but rather content.
They had no missions that night in the dream realm. They stayed on the landing, dream-crafting useless little things and generally having fun. Cooper mostly stayed curled up next to their tree, watching the others and absorbing their energy. They came over one at a time to check on him periodically; Cooper just smiled and waved them off. He needed some time, but he’d be alright eventually; he was certain of that.
The next day, Dallas and his crew weren’t in class, and the dream chasers shared gleeful grins at the announcement of their suspension. At soccer practice that afternoon, Coach gave a speech about respecting each other and how getting marks on your record could impact the team, and how Dallas and the others would be on thin ice when they got back. Cooper was grateful for that; the waking world might be his least favorite place to be, these days, but it seemed like it was getting better, and hopefully nothing like that would ever happen again.