hi ok this is my story i wrote fo rmy class its basically just cole and klint backstroy on hoiw they became freinds ok thanks

warning the part from "Birth." to "well then m,r schdmit shall we go over your missons" is reallllylllllllyyyyyyyyy cringe but everything after that i like a lot ok thanks bye

Birth. The mere concept of it is the worst curse any species could have upon themselves, but it’s most applicable to humans. Everyone is born with a role that cannot be changed, as this is how your life will be played out from your very first steps to your last, or at least this is my way of thinking. You are either the hero or the villain, but if you’re lucky enough, you could be just a background character. I can’t tell if it’s my fault, or if it’s really just my fate, but I was born as the despicable character to ruin the lives of everyone else. However, the life which I was designed to destroy the most is my father’s. If I hadn’t been born, the both of us would have been much happier, and the town of Point Oaks would most likely be less doomed.

The world seems slightly darker whenever I’m in this car, but that might be because the tint on this car is specifically made to conceal any visible movement inside. Somehow, my father gets away with it. I ponder my own reflection in the window. My hair is long for a guy. I'm surprised my family lets me have it this long. I’m grateful for their lenience though, as I totally abuse it. You don’t know how much you can hide with longer hair. 

I hate this part of my week. I hate going to this place more than I hate being home. I hate having to cover up my father's mistakes. The new summer heat barely gets into the car with the AC blasting in my face. With school just ending, a lot of people tend to be happier. The foliage outside is lush and sparkles with random flowers in every crevice. The people of this town have really worked their hardest to make it look pretty, appealing to the tourists, and it seems to work. I wonder if they know that this singular black car driving past them holds the two people keeping this town alive. Ironic, considering that both of us have souls that are dead. 

My father takes a road that most people don’t know exists in this town, and leads us to a back alley. He unlocks the door and glances at me through the rearview mirror. His sign for me to leave. I step out of the car onto the gritty concrete beneath my feet. The vegetation in the area is dull and dry, not odd considering it rarely sees the sun. A crow caws in the distance.  My father drives away. He knows when to come back. Each footfall echoes and deepens as I inch closer to the door. Before I confirm my arrival, I adjust my tie on this stupid suit. It eases my anxiety to some extent. Knock, knock. 

“Who’s there?” A monotone voice says from behind the door. 

“Schmidt,” I mumble.

“Who?” The voice questions again.

“Schmidt,” I say clearly. 

“I’m sorry, come again?” 

“It’s me, Cole Schmidt!” I yell, hoping this will be the last. 

The complete silence lingers in the air. I can hear the sweat roll down my forehead. I wait for whatever is requesting me behind this door. My dad dropped me off at the back entrance of the main building, which is usually closed off. The line of work that I’m involved in is something that I really didn’t sign up for. I only got in because my dad could just use me for things he’s unable to do. While his main job is a pastor at the church, he does this on the side trying to make the town one of the best in the state, even though it’s so small. The doorknob rattles and slightly opens. 

“Come in,” The voice says sternly. 

My legs feel heavy as I step forward into the dark room. The door closes behind me. A single light buzzes in front of me. The only things illuminated are a metal desk and a cheap metal folding chair. A woman appears in the darkness. She stands at the table. This is different from my usual visits, where I’m usually in an office space with a couple of people mindlessly working. But then again, that’s through the front door.

“Take a seat.” The woman insisted. 

“Yes ma’am,” I said softly. She comes into the light, her eyes wide and sharp. The woman leans in, making her gaze more intense. 

She randomly snaps and smiles sweetly. She backs up and acts as if she wasn’t threatening two seconds ago, “Was that too dramatic?” 

“Ah, well… I would just get used to it if I were you,” The woman pauses as she peers down at me, “I am the sole manager of you, your father, this town, this project, and this idea. I am Hyacinth. Without me and this group, nothing in this town would be the way it is today, but, I’m certain you’re well aware of that, correct?”

“Tch,” Who does this lady think she is? How come my dad never mentioned her either? You’d think if she was some sort of ‘manager’, I’d hear of her. Her attire is… kind of weird too. She’s dressed as a traditional wife from the 1960s, though she seems to be the same age as my dad, if not younger.  I never thought it would be a woman in charge as well, though it does make sense considering how shady the whole operation is. 

Traditionally, as my father says, a man should be at the top of any pyramid, otherwise the whole ordeal is unstable. Well… some of the guys on the hockey team disagree saying it's old conservative thinking and that anyone can lead, as long as they have all of the qualifications. I don’t know who I should really listen to. I mean, the majority of them rarely even go to church anymore and they’re all trying to stray away from whatever their parents told them. I’m smart at everything except social and political matters, so I really can’t be judging too much I guess.

“I assumed so. Cole, I already have a deep portfolio on you and your father’s work. You are the messenger. You grab information that is not easily accessible and give it to us to work with. The people of Point Oaks trust you. However, most of your work is simple, basic, and bland. You do a lot of… ‘here’s who didn’t pay their taxes’, and ‘this person knows too much’, but not a lot of… What I need.” Hyacinth tells me. 

From the moment I had to put on this suit, I knew this wasn’t going to be normal. She’s probably going to have me look through some old records and dig up some dirt on some random guy who she doesn’t like. 

“Well, what do you want from me?” I ask. 

She sighs. “Cole, my dear,” she takes my hands and rubs them softly, “I need you to help me ruin the Von Stahls.”

“Von Stahl?” I take a minute to think. I don’t think I’ve heard that name since… middle school? Ah, Victor Von Stahl. The kid moved to Germany the summer before 7th grade started. I have no idea why, or at least I just don’t remember,  “Oh, Victor? I remember who he is. I used to be one of his only friends as a kid.” 

“Perfect! This won’t be too hard for you then! It’s a large, but simple task. Victor’s family has committed grave sins in the business world, and I have to make sure they get the proper punishment. This requires breaking Victor to the point where—preferably his mental health—will impact everyone in his family. Then, I need you to find assets and weak points in Von Stahl’s company and tell me everything. I have to bankrupt them and destroy everything they’ve ever loved.” She smiles at me, looking at my face for a response.

“No,” I tell her clearly. “I don’t do that stuff. I don’t get physically involved with people.” I state. Hyacinth loses her smile quickly. 

“I assumed you would be afraid of the idea, but I didn’t think you would reject me.” She stands up straight.

“What are you talking about?” I ask.

“You know how I mentioned I have deep portfolios on you, and your father? I know everything about everything that either of you have thought, said, or did.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“April 12th, two years ago.”

“…What about it?”

“That’s the day you started defying your father’s religious preachings and beliefs. I mean, what would happen if your father saw those gauges you have in your ears? Or if he found out you’d been stealing your mother’s wine bottles to bring to ‘parties’ to impress your friends?”

“How!? How do you—” I clutch my ears. I know she can’t see my ears, it’s impossible! Was I too cautious?

“You broke up with one of your previous girlfriends because you were bored with her. You paid your hockey coach to make you the star player on the team. I told you, Cole. I know everything. And I can tell anyone anything.”

“I’m still not doing it.”

“Your dad. Pastor Schmidt of the Point Oaks Catholic Church.”

“And?”

“Oh you know… Well, actually I’m certain you don’t, but the multiple women he cheated on within the past few years do.” She giggles. 

What is she even talking about? My father would never do something like that. It’s against everything he’s taught me. I mean, he’s not the holiest person he claims to be, considering I am standing right here, but he would never defy marriage and betray my mother like that. That’s not a real mistake he made. Dad would’ve told me. Hyacinth slaps a folder down in front of me.

“It’s real, these are pictures and claims written by some of the women. Don’t worry there’s nothing bad, but it will change your perspective on your father.”

I glare at her as I hesitate to even touch the folder. My fingers trace the edge of the plastic before I gently flip it open. Pictures of multiple couples having a good time in what seems to be a restaurant or bar, fill the pages. Statements written by them can be seen underneath the pictures. One lady says, “I used to work with F. Schmidt when I was younger, I thought he had a wife, but it turns out he’s single! F. Schmidt is probably one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. You know, I’ve actually just started attending church just to relive some past memories.” But there’s one man in every single one, and she’s right. It is my father. 

There’s not a single way out of this situation, she genuinely has my life, and my parents' life in the palms of her hands. If I continue to reject her, she will just keep trying to coerce me. I’ve taken insane jobs over the years, and I’ve seen things that most people my age won’t ever see in their lifetime, but this is different. This is threatening. I lower my head in defeat and chuckling emerges from the voice in front of me.

“Splendid. Now then, Mr. Schmidt, shall we go over your newly acquired missions?”

Throughout the summer, Point Oaks High School hosts hockey training and practice in hopes of  becoming better than the previous year. It’s a great time for new players and the Junior Varsity team to improve their skills and see what their positions will typically look like. However, my coach usually uses these practices for elimination. Any fault on the team has to be “fixed” immediately, as my coach likes to say. He basically just means anyone who makes a mistake won’t make the final team. Thankfully, I’ve never been in a position where I needed to be scolded, as I’m the star player on the team. Though I do have a feeling that my title is partially biased… due to my great skills, of course! Totally not due to the part where my parents pay to keep me on the team and give me extra training. But in all seriousness, I am the best player on the team. 

Speaking of practices, today’s is a usual one, absolutely nothing special about it. The typical warmups, battle drills, shooting drills, stickhandling, skating, I could go on and on. The ice is a little soft today. I think to myself. I had noticed this earlier when I first got on today, but it didn't bother me much back then. The ice rink is located near the baseball center, which is on the complete opposite side of town from my school. It really sucks having to migrate back and forth during school. It’s a larger building, since Point Oaks mostly spends the school’s annual funding on the hockey teams, since we have historically always won state. There’s two rinks in the entire arena, the larger one is mostly used for the general public or hockey games, and the smaller one is for figure skating, school trips, and sometimes hockey practices if the other ones are rented out. I’ve always enjoyed how intimate the smaller one is.

“Raymond, are you going on break soon?” I asked one of my teammates. I skated over to him as he was finishing some drills. I’m not totally close with him, but he’s one of the more dedicated ones on the team.

“Nah, I was just gonna ride this whole practice out so I can skip the next one,” He responds. I pat him on his back.

“Wish I could do the same, man,” I sigh.

“Honestly, I would if I were you. I don’t mean to be a jerk, but like… there’s no point in being the star player with O’Donnell around,” he pauses. “I genuinely enjoy slacking off.”

“…Yeah, sure, whatever,” I mutter, my eyes narrowing at the mention of O’Donnell. My mortal enemy. 

I skated over to the bench door and hopped straight over it, plopping down right onto the cold metal bench. I actually can’t feel the temperature of the bench unless I’m sitting on it for a while.

Well, I was the best, then Klint O’Donnell joined the team. Usually, most people who move to Point Oaks never stay, because there’s absolutely nothing worthwhile in this town. I will bet my entire life away to make this the case for Klint O’Donnell. In my years of playing hockey, I’ve never encountered a single person who could match my level and be threatening to my title. To make matters worse, my coach already crowned him captain. All the guys on the team treat him like he’s some angel sent down from Heaven, he’s all buddy-buddy with them, so much so that no one even talks to me anymore. Wow, a new guy comes to town, and it's like winning the lottery, apparently. O’Donnell is actively stealing all of my friends.

Hockey is the one place where my fate wasn’t engraved into stone. I wasn’t the villain here; I was the hero. Everyone loves me and looks forward to my next performance. But everything changed when Klint O’Donnell made his way onto the ice. Because of him, I have to play the villain. 

“You seem lost in thought there, bud. How can I help?” A voice from beside me said.

I’d recognize that irritating Southern twang anywhere. It’s like he manifested before my eyes. Klint O’Donnell was looking down at me with a bright smile across his grotesque face. Well, I will admit he’s not ugly, but I just hate seeing him. Actually, he’s taller than literally anyone here, and our tallest for a while was just under six feet. Klint is tanner than most of us, too, most likely because he just moved from Texas and sees more sun than the usual resident of Point Oaks does on the most beautiful day of the year. He keeps his hair nice; it’s always shiny and soft-looking, even after he removes his helmet full of sweat. This guy really is a danger to my name. I’ve lost everything.

This is genuinely awful for me. Not only do I not have any friends, but I cannot focus on the game, and I can’t get my mind around completing my missions from Hyacinth for the life of me. Though she never gave me a specific time frame to complete anything, I assume she’d probably want me to take down Victor soon. Usually, this is no big sweat, but this time is different. With two obstacles on my turf, I’m sure it's reasonable as to why I’m not doing my best. Well, it could be worse. I haven’t seen Klint go to my church once. Actually, he doesn’t attend one at all. How ruthless.

“What are you talking about?” I scoffed. I adjusted my position to a more refined and distinguished posture, back straight, and legs parallel to the floor. It’ll show this country bumpkin who means business.

“I dunno, you just seemed pretty tense there. You got a huge frown on your face like you got intentions to kill,” Klint sat down next to me on the bleachers. I moved away.

“Why aren’t you on the field with everyone else? I thought you were supposed to be the captain,” I asked him.

“I mean, I could ask you the same thing,” He said. “But seriously, the coach just told me to take a break for today.” 

“Already? But you’ve only been here for an hour or so.” 

“I know! I thought today I would need to do some extra stuff, but I guess I’ve been doing good.” He twiddles his thumbs as he talks. 

“Sure,” I say, attempting to seem uninterested in this conversation. 

“…Mind if I ask you something?” Klint lowers his voice. 

“If it’s quick, then sure.” 

“How do you manage all of this? Like being the one everyone looks up to?”

“Huh?”

“I don’t know, I just find it really admirable that the guys here are training to be like you. Back at my old school, everyone just hated each other. I envied other teams that were kind of like this.”

“What are you getting at here? If you wanted to mock me, you could’ve just been straight up with it.”

“I’m not trying to—”

“Look, I really don’t care. You can take my position as the greatest on the team. It never even mattered to me anyway.” 

I clutched my helmet and my stick. Klint smiled at me. Disgusting. Following that, I decided the best course of action to separate myself from this fool was to go to the locker room. I assumed he wouldn’t follow me here, but alas, I was wrong. I stormed my way into the hallway, attempting to ignore the smell of dirty equipment and shoes growing stronger. My shoulder slammed the locker room doors open, then I found my way to my locker. Klint stands next to me. 

“Cole, I think we got off on the wrong foot.” Klint tries to explain himself.

I quickly unlocked my locker. My hands rifled through my bag, looking for my water bottle inside. 

“Can you leave me alone?” I groan.

“I will! If you hear me out.” He said.

“Okay, fine.”

“You can think whatever you want of me, but I am not your enemy.” Klint leans against the locker next to mine. Even though he’s not standing straight, he’s still taller than me.

“That’s all?” 

“That’s all.”

“Okay,” I unopened the lid on my bottle and took a deep drink from it. “I really don’t care,” I said.

“I care. Some of the guys have been telling me that you’re like, glaring at me all the time and not trying to do your best. If there’s something going on, I’d like to help. It’s my duty as captain anyway.”

 “We are not close enough for any of that ‘emotional’ talk,” I say sternly.

 “You won’t give me a chance!” He yells.

 “Maybe there’s a reason why.”

Slamming the locker shut, I shoved my helmet back onto my head. I took off for the ice. He’s shady. I can never trust him.

“Well, if you need me for anything, I’ll be here!” Klint shouted.

The reason why I’m so riled up about this situation is purely due to the fact that hockey is the only thing I have, and well, church, of course. Playing hockey makes me feel like I might be something more than an abomination made entirely of flesh. Hell, even just making rounds skating allows me to exist without being a byproduct of my father’s actions. The world seems slightly lighter whenever I’m inside this rink. I love this part of my week. I love going to this place more than I love not being at home. I love being able to play hockey. If Klint were to take away the one thing I could truly call my own, I’d probably lose the last few remaining parts of myself that I could call human. Despite my soul being dead, I can make do with the body on the outside, and at most satisfy its needs to be… something. As morbid as it seems, it’s my only way of coping with my entire life. 

I met my coach in his office after practice as per usual, but I could tell he was a bit more tense with me than most days. I assumed it was because of my terrible performance recently. I shouldn’t act surprised, I knew this was coming. I’m safe from his process of elimination anyway. I wonder if I can get Klint O’Donnell to be ‘fixed’. The office is decorated with pictures of previous teams, schedules, and pictures of my coach’s family. On the bulletin board is a list of names, including mine, of confirmed team members. Next to the list are several Post-it notes with random reminders, with one saying: “Buy dog food next Tuesday.”

“Sit down,” My coach said sternly. “Cole, we gotta talk,” I hesitated for a moment, not trying to acknowledge any sort of emotion. I decided to play it off.

 “Hmm, yeah, it was probably due to that stunt I pulled on the field yesterday. My bad, I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

 “No, that’s not what I’m talking about,” he said. I perked up.

 “Huh?”

 “What’s your deal with Victor? Why did you push me to keep him? 

“Just giving the guy a chance. What’s your issue with him?”

“He’s not bad, but he’s also not good. He’s just too new for this spot.”

 “Then give him more training and devote more time to him.” 

 “I can’t. I have to let him go.”

 “No, you’re not, coach. Victor is staying,” I pulled out a wad of cash. “I’ll pay you extra to keep him. But if you won’t train him, I will.” My coach hesitated to respond with the money sitting in front of him. 

“Cole—”

“Seriously, if you’re not going to take it, I’ll quit, and I’ll tell your boss you’ve been taking money from my family to give me the title of ‘Star Player’. I think he’d love to hear that you’ve been purposely teaching the team wrong things to make me look better. Victor is staying,” I said sternly, almost like yelling at a toddler. He grabbed the money from the table and shoved it into his pocket.

 “This is blackmail. I’ve never even done anything like that, " he muttered.

 “You have, if you make Victor Von Stahl leave the team,” I said, standing up, heading for the door. “Just make him a better player. I’m sure you’ve got worse on your plate.”

I slammed the door behind me. Bastard. I can’t believe he considered taking Victor away from the team. I worked incredibly hard for him to get here. 

Squeak!

My eyes dart to my side. A head poking out from the boys’ locker room quickly retracted inside. 

“Hey! Get back here right now!” I yelled. 

I ran inside the locker room and checked each section, including the bathrooms, but to my surprise, it was completely empty. 

”You can’t hide from me! Let’s just talk!” I shouted again, fearing the worst. All of a sudden, I hear footsteps trailing out of the door behind me. “Wait!”

I ran after the guy. He runs outside the school doors and halfway out into the parking lot. The hot summer sun beats down on both of us. I catch up to him at the edge of the asphalt and push the guy into the grass.

“Shit!” He yelps.

 “What are you doing? You—” I pause once I realize… “Klint.”

 “Hey, bud,” He grins.

 “Were you spying on me?” I asked. He didn’t respond. “How much did you hear?”

 “Listen—” he scooted away as I stepped closer to him.

“What are your real plans with me?” I grabbed his shirt and pulled him close to me.

 “Hang on!” He tries to push me away, but ultimately fails. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! I’m serious!”

 “Fess up, Klint. I know everything about you.” My teeth grit. Actually, he’s the one person I know nothing about, considering he just moved here and has no information on him. 

 “That’s not true! If you did, this would NOT be happening,” He shouts in my face.

“Tch,” I scoffed at him. I tightened my grip on his shirt.

 “Okay, fine! I was listening to your conversation,” he tells me. “But I didn’t mean to. I was only going there to recommend you for co-captain, or something along those lines. I just figured—”

BAM! 

I punched Klint in the face, sending him backwards. He groaned. I stood above him. I don’t feel too much remorse for him, after all, this is a part of the role I was born into. As I turned around, he jumped to his feet and managed to tackle me down by slamming his entire weight on my body. I managed to face him, but I struggled as he held me down in the grass. Klint raised his fist in the air like he was going to punch me, but lowered it once I made eye contact with him. I can’t believe he didn’t follow through. This guy is an idiot. Absolutely stupid. Just like his name.

 “I’m not going to hurt you. Cole, you have to calm down,” he says calmly. I’m definitely hurt. It’s not easy being tackled by an insanely tall beast. How is this kid the same age as me?

He stood up and held his hand out in front of me. Is this some sort of joke?

 “What’re you doing, huh?” I lowered my voice. 

 “Helping you.” 

I grabbed his hand, and he pulled me up.

 “…Thanks, I guess,” I mumbled.

 “I mean no harm, truly. I’m just trying to be a pal here, but maybe I’m going about this wrong. After all, people here are different from the part of Texas I was raised in,” he sighs.” 

“I doubt that,” I pause to wipe the dirt off my hands. My right hand stings. I can already tell I’m going to have Klint-shaped bruises all over my knuckles. “Fine, I’ll be calm about this. But you need to tell me what you’re really planning here,” I say to him. He starts to slowly walk around me.

“As I was saying before you interrupted me with a fist to the face, I just wanted to have you by my side. I noticed how the guys try to copy your techniques. They really look up to you, and I figured you would like to also be a leader,” He says. It seems like Klint talks with his hands and carries out most of his expressions through them. “I truly don’t understand what you’re talking about when you say I’m plotting something.”

“You’re trying to lower my reputation. Obviously there’s something you’re trying to do here,” I say. I step in front of him, stopping his circling around me. Hearing my words, he puts his hands on his head, and his eyes widen completely.

“Oh my god, Cole, you have to stop thinking that everything is a personal attack against you. Yes, I don’t know you enough to judge anything, but I am NOT trying to take your spot as the ‘Most Ultimate Famous Hockey Player In Existence’, or whatever the hell you said!” He yells. “Genuinely, how many times do I repeat myself? I am not trying to drag you down, that’s the complete opposite of my entire role as team captain! God!”

“But… I’m the villain and—”

“Shut up!” he interrupts me. “I’ve been so freaking nice to you Cole. If this is how you always are, then maybe it was a waste of my time to even try to form a connection with you,” he yells. He takes a couple of steps backwards and shakes his head, “I’ll see you at practice next week.” Klint starts to walk off. 

Am I making a mistake here? I’ve never had anyone admit they’re trying to be nice to me. Sure, I do have my fair share of friends, but they’re mostly a result of sports and the cliques that I’m involved in. Klint O’Donnell confuses me. Or perhaps, I’m the confusing one. I don’t hate a single person on the hockey team, and maybe things can stay that way. If my coach made him the captain, maybe I shouldn’t be so aggressive towards him. For some reason, my heart hurts. My hands feel tingly, and my feet are light. Watching him walk away makes me feel… Guilty. I’ve never felt this before, at least to this extent. I deal with people all the time who have had their lives ruined due to my decisions and my father’s, yet I never felt sympathetic towards them at all. 

There’s no way a simple conversation could make me feel like this.

“Wait!” I shout from the top of my lungs.

No… it can’t, it’s not possible.

“What?” He shouts back. He stops walking and allows me to catch up to him.

Could it be…?

“I have one more thing I want to say.” I lower my voice, since I’m near Klint once again. He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. 

“You’d better make it quick,” He tells me. 

I hesitate to speak, “...I’m sorry.” He drops his arms.

“For… What?” He asks.

“Honestly, I don’t even understand it myself, but I just feel bad that you had to deal with me like this. I really haven’t been myself recently, and I’m sorry that I’m pushing my insecurities on you. I barely even know you,” I admit. Out of all of the things I had ever said in my life, this may have been the most truthful thing I have ever meant. Klint looks at me. He’s gone quiet. For a moment, there’s just a strange tension between us.

“...Cole,” he says.

“Yeah?” I say.

“Does Point Oaks have any good ice cream shops?” He asks.

“Yeah,” I respond. 

“Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s get going,” Klint says softly. He offers me a smile. 

It sounds insane, but I believe that Klint O’Donnell has changed my fate.