Just wanted to dedicate this chapter to my friend, Vibi master_of_positivity
Go save Cole, you simp! 😉

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Armor
~~~~~~~
Landon Austin

Maybe I'll crash into you
Maybe we'll open these wounds
We're only alive if we bruise
So I lay down this armor
I will surrender tonight
Before we both lose this fight
Take my defenses, all my defenses
I lay down this armor for you

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Pop music blasted out of the speakers as morning dawned on the Brookstone household. Neither the twittering of the birds nor the low hum of the suburban traffic could be heard as Katy Perry's 'Smile' boomed throughout the messy bedroom.

A tall yet athletic-looking boy of sixteen, wearing a black tank top, boogied along to the music. His charcoal hair fell haphazardly across his forehead as he rocked about his room, getting ready for the day. The outside sunlight shone onto his light brown skin, throwing into view the dragon tattooed on his defined bicep.

The boy mouthed the words of the song as he capered along. His dance wasn't excellent. It was more of a freestyle jig; his preferred style of dancing. He pulled off the tank top and donned his favorite black hoodie, his hair becoming even more wild and disarrayed.

Noticing it, he bounded over to his dresser and seized the hairbrush. He quickly tidied up his dark mop before smiling excitedly as the song reached the chorus. He jumped onto his bed and began belting out the lyrics using the brush as a mic.

Summer had a way of making him more zealous than usual even when vacations were about to end in a week. However, this specific day held something dear to him and he always felt good when it rolled around.

"COLE!" a shout roared over the speaker's din. "Turn that thing off! If my ears weren't attached to my head, they'd be running away!"

Cole smirked, rolling his eyes playfully. He moved to reduce the volume of the music and called out, "Good morning to you too, Dad!"

His father yelled something back but either he was too far to be understood or Cole had become engrossed in tying up his shoes that he didn't get the message. Satisfied with himself, Cole unplugged his phone from the sound system and paused the song. He stuffed the device into his hoodie pocket and trudged over to the open door of his room.

As Cole walked out, he kissed his first two fingers and pressed them onto the picture of a woman set up on the low shelf by the door. "Happy Birthday, Mom. I love you."

The boy approached the stairs and peered down into the living room below. He could hear his father shuffling about somewhere but he wasn't in sight. Cole hoisted himself onto the banister and slid down the wooden rail, hopping down on stable ground once reaching the bottom.

He crept down the passageway and stayed close to the wall. Poking his head into the first room on his right, he saw an older man wearing a button down shirt and dress pants and fumbling with something around his neck. The man grumbled as he tried to perfect his red bow tie and didn't see the boy approach him from behind.

Cole tip-toed over and advanced upon him, wrapping his arms around the man's chest and laughing while doing so. "How's the world's hippest dad doing?"

Mr. Brookstone was startled to a little extent but recovered quickly. He chuckled and gently pried his son's arms off him. He twisted around and smiled at Cole. "Trying to give the world's hippest dad a heart attack, are we?" he commented.

"Sorry, Dad," Cole grinned, guiltily clasping his hands behind his back.

"It's alright," his father mumbled, discarding his bow tie on the bed and reaching for his blazer instead. "Anyway, what was that infernal noise you were listening to?"

"Uh, music?" Cole laughed, leaning against the dresser frame.

Mr. Brookstone appeared astonished with a smile playing on his lips. "Music?" he wondered, "It sounded like a construction site up there. What my group does is what you call music, my boy."

Cole rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "Give it a rest, Dad. At least my music actually makes people wanna dance."

"Well, in that case, I'd appreciate anything that makes you want to dance." Mr. Brookstone gave his son a smirk that seemed triumphant and Cole internally groaned.

Cole's father, Lou Brookstone, was an influential member of one of Ninjago's front-page barbershop quartets known as the Royal Blacksmiths. Their cappella music was well known and they had a successful album in the works.

Lou always seemed very proud of his progress and talent in this field and because of this, he wanted his son to turn out just like him. He had enrolled Cole at Dragon Willows Academy last year since it offered a dancing programme with renowned teachers alongside a top-notch education.

But Cole, unfortunately, was anything but good at dancing. Properly, that is. He tried his best to be proficient but by some unusual force, he always failed. Personally, Cole had no problem with it but when it came to his father's expectations, it was the main reason of contention between them. So, when Cole even remotely refered to something related to dance, Lou would use that as a gateway to impress his underlying disappointment on him.

Talks about Cole's inability to 'break a leg' always led to disagreement, so the boy attempted to change the subject. "Where are you off to anyway?"

Lou pulled up the blazer and adjusted the cuffs. "I'm off to have brunch with the boys and discuss the new album."

"What? No way!" Cole declared indignantly. He marched over to the calendar on his father's nightstand and jammed his finger at the date marked with a circle. "Today's Mom's birthday. See? I told you we were gonna make this day all about family."

Lou sighed. "Son-"

"You make excuses every year, Dad," Cole huffed, placing the calendar back on its perch.

"Son, listen-"

"I'm doing all that you're asking of me. I'm taking dance lessons, I'm practicing at home, I'm giving up football for this-"

"Will you please-"

"All I'm asking is for one day where the two of us can put aside our differences and just be a happy family-"

"Cole!"

The boy stopped his rambling, wide eyes staring at his father. Lou took a deep breath . . . and smiled. "At least give me a chance to say yes before you start complaining."

Cole couldn't believe his ears. Had his father actually considered giving his son more importance than his job? Was he finally ready to include his mother's memory in his life even though she was no longer alive? Cole felt more excitement than he had initially expected.

"Thanks for understanding," he breathed out, moving to give his father a bone-crushing hug. "We're gonna have an awesome time!"

"But don't forget," Lou broke the hug, adopting a serious look. "Your end of term report card is due this evening as well."

Cole rolled his eyes. He grabbed his father's shoulders and led him out of the room. "We'll worry about that later. Family first!"

Lou shook his head, a faint smile growing on his face at his son's enthusiasm. He let Cole drag him all the way to the kitchen for breakfast whilst telling him to inform his dance group of the change of plans.

"Today is gonna be great!"

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

"So, are you arriving during settling week or on the first day?" Seliel asked, hanging upside-down from her bed.

Cole grinned at his friend's childishness through his phone screen before shaking his head. He flopped onto the living room sofa, letting out a huff of air. "First day," he mumbled, causing Seliel to raise an eyebrow. "My dad promised a three-day trip to the lake before school starts so I'll arrive later."

Seliel pulled back her pink-dyed hair and brought it over her right shoulder. "Aw, that's so sweet! I hope you have fun."

"Yeah," Cole replied distractedly.

"Have you got your scores?" Seliel suddenly asked, pulling Cole into an alert stance.

He frowned. "You received your card?"

Cole saw Seliel reach for something off camera. She grunted as she stretched her arm, but before long she fell back onto her bed and displayed a laminated paper.

Cole ran a nervous hand through his hair. "I haven't got mine yet." After a pause, he asked, "How did you do?"

The girl on the other end shrugged. She twisted the paper around to look at it before dictating aloud to Cole. "Nearly flopped Maths and Physics. Did good in Bio and Chemistry. Rocked Geography, History and Literature and pretty much ruled dance and riding class like a dang queen!"

Seliel tossed the paper away and smirked at Cole's scrunched up nose. "How well did you do, twinkle-toes?"

"I think I did satisfactory in practically everything . . . except dance class," Cole answered, keeping his voice low lest his father was in earshot.

Seliel snorted. "Oh, yeah. We all know how that went."

Seliel Emerson was the daughter of the mayor of Nom. She was a sophomore at Dragon Willows Academy who, after summer break, was going to start her junior year. She was in Cole's dance class and was the first person he had made friends with. All necessary pieces of information regarding dancing that Cole would forget would be jogged in by her.

Spending almost the entire day doing activity after activity, Cole and Lou had decided to have a little rest before they started planning their trip out of town. Cole ended up calling Seliel to relate all that happened over the summer (not that they hadn't called each other every third day for the past two months).

By some force of nature, the bell rang at that moment and Cole heard the mail slot snap. Hoping for the best and fearing the worst, he shot up to his feet. Seliel was busy recounting an event from before summer when Cole headed for the foyer. Sure enough, there was an envelope on the doormat with the DWA insignia stamped on the front.

"Sel, I'm gonna have to call you later," Cole uttered into the device, not taking his eyes off the letter. "I think it's my report card."

"Ooh!" the girl perked up, her face completely filling the screen. "Well, good luck, twinkle-toes! I hope your dad doesn't kill you. Bye-o!"

Cole directed a faint smile at his phone before backing out from the app and stuffing the thing into his pocket. Then, he proceeded towards the door. He found himself stepping slowly and hesitantly as if the envelope would explode if he hustled. Feeling no different than Harry Potter, Cole picked it up and took a deep breath.

He was just about to rip it open when Lou called out from his room. "Cole? Who was at the door? Is it your report card?"

The boy winced. No point in stalling, he thought and begrudgingly carried his year's result to his father.

A few minutes later, Cole made himself comfortable at the foot of the loveseat while his father sat above, going through his scores. Cole felt more and more relieved when Lou kept chuckling and patting him on the back. It turned out he had done far better than Seliel.

• Mathematics: B
• Biology: A
• Chemistry: B+
• Physics: B
• Literature: A
• Geography: A+
• History: B+
• Phys Ed: A+

It all went downhill when the score of his dance class came up. Lou's smile dropped quicker than Cole would like to admit. Within a matter of seconds, his cheerful disposition had vanished, replaced by a stern, intimidating countenance. When he spoke, his voice was calm and steady.

"You got D in dance class?"

Cole gulped. "I- I did?"

He reached up and knelt over the armrest to look at the card. His insides tingled when he took in the burning "D" branding the last row. He was ashamed, yes. But he also felt a seething sense of indignance spark up in his chest. This year, he had tried his best and pushed past his limits to ace dance class. But the hardwork didn't payoff.

"Dad, I swear," Cole spoke up when greeted with a poisonous glance from his father. "I gave it my level best! I- I don't know why-"

Lou sighed dejectedly. He placed the paper on the coffee table and proceeded to get up, ignoring his son's attempts to make him stay. "Son, if you really had given it your best then you should have at least earned a B grade."

Cole hated his voice for shaking over such a minute matter but it trembled all the same. "Dad, believe me, I did. I'm not lying! You can ask Seliel. I spent every afternoon trying to get it right!"

Lou regarded the boy with a thoughtful expression. Then he suggested, "Maybe we should cancel the trip and focus more on your skills in the week before school starts."

"No!" Cole threw out, fists clenched. "I've been working hard all summer. I've had enough. This week was supposed to be about Mom, about us."

Lou scoffed. "Cole, surely your parents' wishes must be more important to you than fun and frolic."

Cole dared to raise his voice a little bit, wanting to have dominance in the argument. "Are you seriously not considering how well I've done in the things that actually matter?"

Lou completely ignored him like he always did when Cole made a point. The father inserted one hand into his trouser pocket while the other drummed its fingers on the table top. He scrutinized his son for a moment before slowly stating, "Your mother used to love dancing. That and the excellent voice of hers were the reason that drove me to fall in love. I just want to keep her memory alive this way. Like you always nag me to."

"I know she loved dancing," Cole muttered softly, "I do too." The boy picked up the report card and glared at the bothersome grade. "And I dance perfectly fine until I can no longer seem to follow the steps. I know it sounds ridiculous but halfway through, my feet tell me to do something else . . . and I just do it." Cole looked up at his father, hoping his words made some sense to him.

It made the matter worse, if anything.

"Cole," Lou began, sternness bleeding into his tone. "I want you to take these foolish thoughts out of your head and follow the rules. If you do that, you succeed and if you don't, you spiral straight down to failure. We are not going anywhere. We'll stay here and try until you fix your mistakes."

"I don't need fixing!" Cole retorted, the paper crinkling in his tight grip. "Throw your effort into the remaining strands of the relationship we have, Dad. I want you to understand me and be okay with who I am."

"You want me to be okay with the fact that my son can't do anything right?" Lou seethed, taking a step closer to the boy. The comment struck a nerve. Cole could imagine steam practically shooting out of his ears.

The one thing he had experienced in his life was that as long as you're bad at one thing, your good qualities are overlooked and you're designated as nothing but a failure.

"If Mom were alive right now, she'd believe in me. She'd tell me that it's okay to be different. It's okay to change things and be your own version of perfect." Cole bit his lip when he noticed the red face of his father. He didn't stop though. "And you? You never cared about me from day one! No matter what I do, you're never satisfied. And I'm done with that!"

Cole didn't see it coming. The hand moved back and came hard on his left cheek in one blur motion. The boy's head turned to one side due to the force.

"Go to your room," was the cold command that erupted through the brief silence.

Cole's cheek stung from the hit as he looked up at his father with moist eyes. No retort, no insult, no retaliation of any kind came to him. His mind spun and heart raced, shattering his resolve. Without a single word, Cole walked out of the room, leaving Lou alone to deal with the aftermath of his conduct.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

It was past midnight and his father should be in bed by now. He won't know a thing.

The boy tore open his bag and began shoving his clothes inside. Half done with it, he pulled his wheeled suitcase from under the bed and threw in his books, stationary and other school items. His uniform wasn't ironed but he didn't care. He simply went back to his bag and packed up the green and gold blazer, white buttoned shirt, ties, shoes and black pants.

Warm tears rolled down his face every now and then and he wiped them away so furiously, his cheeks were stained red in various patches.

He pulled out his phone and dabbed at the screen, scrolling down his contacts and stopping at Seliel's number. Finger hovering over the name, Cole decided whether to call her or not. She was most definitely asleep. He settled on a text. She could see it in the morning.

Sel, guess I'm coming during settling week after all
See you at school :)
00: 34 a.m.

Dragon Willows Academy reserved a week right before the start of term in which all the boarding students could arrive at school, settle in and prep themselves for the upcoming year. They had the choice to come during the week or the first day.

Cole had initially thought of the latter but it seemed like a change of plans was due. Lou's words still circled his mind and he tried hard to keep the anger caged. He kept muttering under his breath as his shaking hands fumbled with the padlock of his suitcase.

Cole seized his mother's picture and stared down at the woman trapped behind the glass. A tear fell splattering on the flawless surface and he hastily rubbed it off.

"I tried, Mom. I really did. I just can't anymore. I'm sorry."

He planted a kiss on the glass before carefully securing the frame in his bag. He pulled open his bedside drawer and extracted his school ID card, wallet and the note. Stuffing everything into his pockets, Cole grabbed his luggage and quietly made his way downstairs.

Once down, he rushed to the kitchen to prepare a quick breakfast before placing it in the microwave. He grabbed a few packs of biscuits and a water bottle for himself to keep him sustained. Cole stepped into the hall when he noticed the door to the study standing ajar. Frowning, he peeked in.

His father was bent onto the desk, head in his arms. Soft snores sounded as the man slept. Cole saw bills, pencils and a calculator spread on the table top. Not making much of it, he went to grab a comforter from Lou's room. He draped it over his father's shoulders before slowly placing the note next to him, different thoughts clashing in his head. He read over the message one last time.

I left for school. You don't have to worry, I'm gonna be fine. I'm just tired of all this fighting. It will lead us nowhere. I know your ego is too big for you to give up so I'm surrendering for us. I don't care what you say. I've realized that it's better to live with mistakes than destroy yourself while trying to fix them.

I've decided to stay away from you because it's better for both of us. Instead of fighting you, I want to protect you from the regret. I'm still your son and you're still my father and I don't want this to end.
Goodbye, Dad.

I made breakfast, it's in the microwave. Your car keys are in the third drawer of your dresser, in case you forget like always. Remember to take your pain tablets. I'll see you next summer as I won't be coming home for the weekends or any other holiday.

Love,
Cole

Satisfied, Cole left the room and went to get his bags. Packed and loaded, he gave his house a last goodbye before exiting the front door. He quickly trudged down the driveway and made his way to the nearest bus stop, not glancing back once.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Oooooooohhhhh! DRAH-MAH!

Nothing without a little drama and angst. Don't worry, y'all. If I'm being honest, what you read is a common aspect in Asian, or more specifically, South Asian households. Not in mine but I'm speaking of the majority. Gotta keep the kids in their limits XD.

Inspired by Kristen from Barbie in the Pink Shoes-
Secretly plays "Keep On Dancing" from the above mentioned movie . . . . .

The title is taken from "Armor" by Landon Austin.

I hope you liked it!

Have some candy! 🍭🍬🍭🍬🍭🍬