The 'Dark-Side'

Chapter 2 - School

"What is... friendship?"

Gloom.

It’s like a poisonous gas that spreads across the land, turning everything in its path into their own. I was one of the victims who’s infected. Or I am one of them from the start. Whatever it is, hopefully there’s a cure to it. ‘Cause this is not fun, but I was glad to have it. I couldn’t explain why.

Whatever’s in my sight is… dark and boring. The sky is gloomy, as always; the clouds are gloomy; the streets are gloomy, although it’s pretty crowded by cars and people. Huh. I wonder what’s going on today. Something big must be going for this much people on the street. Well, I was staring mostly at the sky, so whoever’s on the street, either I didn’t realise them, or I didn’t care about them.

I hate to look at this sky. It’s still the same from the morning when I saw it. But this time, it made me even gloomier. Or maybe I am gloomy from the moment I woke up this morning. Who knows...

I pulled the curtains, covering the windows. Just to move my sight from the sky, or else I’ll get more gloomy. I turned around and laid down on the rough cushion of the bumpy bus. I was sitting by the window. Why did I chose this spot? I didn’t like to look outside.

On a second thought, outside seemed better than the inside. And it’s god damn noisy in here!

I usually sits alone. Well, including my bag, which can be counted as my only companion, so far. Of course, I didn’t communicate with it. I’m not THAT crazy… yet. I do believe I will communicate with it… one day. Maybe it’ll have a mouth and a pair of eyes. I groaned softly. Creepy and illogical thoughts, shoo shoo.

I looked around the bus, as if something interesting is going to happen. Ugh… I hate being bored.

Students were chatting with each other, laughing and playing games together. Nothing much, really. It’s been like this since… I don’t know, from the start? And it’s still noisy! Oh, how ‘lucky’ they are, get to chat with their ‘true’ friend while I’m just killing myself with my own thoughts. Fun!

What’s the point of having a friend? It’s going to end eventually. Nothing can stay forever. That included our world. One day, it’s going to break and humankind will start to cry over what they’ve done. And probably I’ll be the one laughing at their stupidity for not realising it. Ugh… why am I having these thoughts? It’s… evil… kind of. Forget what I’ve said, I like those thoughts. A little.

Friendship only make everything worse, at least that’s what I believe. When you’re really close to somebody, and you don’t want to lose him or her, more hatred will be produced. Eventually, there will be fights saving the person you loved. And slowly, war. In the end, death or extinction. It’s foolish. I would rather stay alone, even if it’s until the end.

I’m still bored. Well, guess I’ll find something to do, th-

Have I told you that the bus was noisy that I could hear almost all of the conversations? It felt like playing a game, to choose which conversation I should listen to. Fashion stuff? Gaming? Jokes and memes? They really have nothing else to do, huh?

“…a glowing spark in the forest.” Wait, wait, wait, wait! Boring conversations. Shut up, this instance! This might be… interesting. I leaned closer to where the source of the conversation was.

On a second thought, I hate to be rude to eavesdrop somebody else’s conversation. Maybe I should continue to kill myself with my own thoughts.

“Really? What is it?” Or maybe not. Why is my brain denying my own orders? Stop listening, you stupid brain!

“I don’t really know. It was dark that time, and I only saw it for a moment.” I slammed my head onto my bag, covering my ears with both of my hands. Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!

“Could it be… g-g-g-ghost?” The voice was shivering in fear. Are you seriously kidding me? Are we, like, 5? My brain is still denying my orders and I give up to give ‘him’ orders. I just let out a breath and let the conversation flowed into my ears. I don’t care anymore.

“Nah, it couldn’t be. Must be a wild animal or something.” Thank God he wasn’t stupid.

“S-s-s-something?” The voice was still shivering in fear. Yeah. This is ‘something’.

“Yeah, like Aliens. Or maybe unknown creature.” I take back what I’ve just said. Everyone in this bus is dumb and stupid, excluding me. Oh, and my bag.

“W-w-what’s it gonna be?” The voice sounded… excited, this time. Still having the fear, though.

“We’re gonna find it out tonight. My brother and I have prepared the equipment to investigate it.” Well, if the younger brother is stupid, it’s totally normal that the big brother is stupid as well.

Wait, hold on. They’re going to investigate? Ooo… finally! Something to kill my boredom. I felt like I should follow them, but without them noticing me, of course. I didn’t want them to make me to be part of them. Hm… Maybe I should ask-

“Alrighty, kids! We’re here!” the bus driver shouted after the bus braked. My face slammed into the chair in front of me. When did I moved my head this close? All of these is your fault, brain!

I sat for a moment until everyone in the bus left, leaving only me and the bus driver at the front. After rubbing my face, I got up and picked up my bag. I walked towards the exit and looked towards the outside. The school was back into my eyesight again. Not good. It always brought an unpleasant feeling inside me. And I knew it that there’s going to be something bad happen later this day. There wasn’t any good thing in this school. Well, for me.

I started to walk down the steps, but was stopped by a pull on my shoulder. I looked over my shoulder at the bus driver. Oh, by the way, have I told you that he’s my uncle? After my parents decided to move me here, he’s been taking care of me since then, even now. He’s also my neighbour. What a coincidence to get a house beside his. He always asked me if I needed anything. Well, psychically, I didn’t need anything; mentally, yes, but something that I couldn’t possibly tell him. Probably, he could be my second father. Hell, he’s even better than my father. But, there are some parts of him that didn’t make me to consider him as my second father.

“Hey, Allen!” he said, giving a smile. First was his accent. He got a kind of like country accent, although he got a normal education as I was. Second was his appearance. I’m trying not to be offensive, but he looked like he came from the trash bin. His teeth were yellowish-brown and crooked. His shirts always have holes and stains everywhere. That includes his jeans, as well. So, tell me. Do you want this… person to be your second father? I think not.

I turned around and looked at him. His look was giving me a feeling of disgust. (No offense!) I shoved my bag onto my shoulder. “Hm?” was all I said to him.

“Look, this might be hard to ask, but…” he gave a worried expression. I’ve seen that a lot of times. “Make some friends, will ya?” I’ve heard this a lot of times, as well.

“Uncle, we’ve already talked about this.” I replied. Stubborn guy, he is. “And don’t ask why.”

“Well, you gonna give me a reason.” He looked away, checking the mirrors to see if his bus was blocking anyone.

I let out a sigh. “It’s…” I stared down, trying to think of a way to escape this. “Hard to explain. You wouldn’t understand it either.” Oh yes, that’s gonna burn him.

He gave a suspicious look. “Can I go now?” I asked, after looking at my watch. It’s almost time for my class to start, and I don’t want to be late. Of course, I’m blaming him if I’m late. “Please?” I added, just in case he’s still onto the lecture.

He let out a sigh as well. “Okay, fine.” I let out a breath of relief.

I gave a thin smile. “Thanks.” I walked down the steps and landed on the road. Another step forward, and I was in my school, again. Still have a bad feeling about this.

I heard the bus door closing. The sound of the mechanism working to straighten the door. I walked straight towards the door to the lobby of my school. There’s still some students chatting outside the door. And some are… uh… let’s ignore that. Suddenly, the bus door opened and I heard a shout, “Hey, Allen!”

I turned back and saw the bus driver waved at me with a big smile on his face. It was kind of embarrassing, but it felt warm. I hadn’t felt this warmth for a while. I didn’t felt ashamed; I felt glad to have him in my life… not entirely. I turned around and continued to walk towards the door, waving back with the back of my hand.

The day is on.

~*~ ~***~ ~*~

The glass door swung closed behind me. The air in here was different from the outside. It’s cold and wet. Almost everywhere in this school had an air-conditioner. I wonder how much is the electricity bill.

There’s a counter at the front of me, not far away from me. Usually, there’s an administrator sitting there, helping any passer-by who had trouble going to somewhere in the school. But today, nobody was sitting there.

I looked down, raising my wrist to look at the watch. I stopped, rubbing my eyes with another hand, just to be sure that my eyes weren’t tricking me again. Oh shoot… I’m late!

Then, what are you waiting for, silly? A bloody invitation? RUN! The little me in my head shouted.

I dashed towards the hallway that would lead to my classroom. Wait, is this the right one? I’m not sure. There’s like a million hallways in this school. Newcomers could possibly get lost in this labyrinth. There weren’t any students in the hallway. Of course, they’re already in their own classroom. Unlike me. I’m god damn late. I ran as fast as my legs could without stopping and catching my breath. I had to get to the classroom before the teacher did!

Okay, turn right! The little me in my head had been giving me directions to my classroom, although I already knew the way to it. I turned right.

BUMP!

I fell down, landing on the floor on my bum. I heard my books burst out from my bag. Apparently, I didn’t zipped my bag properly. First bad things of the day; checked. I hissed, almost screamed at whoever bumped into me.

“Ow…” an unfamiliar voice groaned. I slowly looked up and saw a girl, rubbing her forehead with her hand. She fell down on the floor, as well.

Okay, change of mind. I’m not screaming. I stood up on my feet and lent out a helping hand to her. She opened her eyes, still rubbing her forehead. She held my hand and with a soft pull, she stood up.

Now that I look at her more closely… gosh… how do I say this? She’s… different. I don’t know how I know it, but she’s different. Maybe from the touch of her hand, I somehow knew her? Or maybe… her eyes... I admit. Those are the most beautiful eyes I’ve seen so far. A pair of light blue lens… those are really rare eyes! Tell me you would drop your jaws when you see this!

Uh… Allen? She’s gonna get the wrong idea if you stare at her for too long. Right. Just… one last quick scan!

Her skin tone was fair. Not too fair, just fair enough. She had this long, black hair, dyed with two streaks of red. Cool… It reaches down until the back of her hip. Taking my little me’s advice, I scan down the rest of her body. Let’s not talk about the details. She wore a pink-ish sweatshirt with kangaroo pockets. There’s two thin ropes coming out from the neck part of the shirt proves that it has a hood. Okay, one last part. She wore a black skirt, which doesn’t fit her shirt. The skirt looks like it’s made of flower petals, only it’s black. Of course, she wore a pair of shoes that I couldn’t see it clearly. Wait, where are my glasses?

Oh, and she’s thin. Well, not extremely thin like from the TV. Just thin. Okay… enough scanning. Stop staring at her, this instance!

I gave myself a mental kick in the head and shook it slightly. “You’re okay?” was all I could say. Hopefully, I didn’t sound like a pissed off bull. She nodded, still rubbing the same spot.  I bumped into her too hard, didn’t I? Great. Now I feel like I’ve committed a crime.

“Mhm…” She slowly moved her hand out of the spot she’s been rubbing. Finally… no, I take it back. Put your hand back at the spot again, please. There’s a dark-purple spot on her head! Okay, I REALLY bumped into her TOO hard. Now I feel like going to jail!

Should I tell her about that? Or I’ll just keep quiet about it? It’ll disappear anyway. Yeah, it will. Definitely… right? Right?

Ugh… that’s another bad thing happen today. Checked! Oh, and another problem for me to handle. Written down.

“Uh…” I cleared my throat, trying to sound in a more softer voice. “I-it’s my fault. I was in a rush.” As if she’s going to forgive you for that. It’s because of you, she has a dark-purple spot on her head!

“N-no, it’s alright.” Her voice was smooth. I admit, she has a great singing voice. But by her looks, I’m guessing she’s not a fan of singing. Doesn’t matter. As long as I can get rid of that spot, my problem is solved and I’ll be on my way.

She crouched down and picked up her book on the floor. “The world’s Mysteries”, the book entitled. I tried to ignore what the book content was about. But some part of me want to borrow that book and read it until I finish it, without sleeping. “It’s my fault. I wasn’t focusing when I was walking.” And reading, at the same time. Shut up, brain! You’re the reason I’m in this mess!

Well, it’s part of my fault as well, anyway. I turned around. My books were scattered around the floor. Beautiful. This is just… ‘beautiful’. I was still blaming myself for not zipping my bag properly. I mean, I had one job. One god-damn job! “Oh, my.” She noticed my books as well. I crouched down and started to collect them. She collected the books that were further away from me.

“Thanks.” I said as she handed me the books. I still couldn’t get my thoughts off of the dark-purple spot on her head. I really had to find a way to fix that. More exactly, cure that. I didn’t really have time to keep my books properly, so I shoved all of them in my bag. After zipping it, I checked it again to make sure it’s zipped properly this time. I’m not falling for the same trick again, brain!

I looked at her. Not staring! I didn’t saw her in here before. Well, even though I wasn’t a social person, I still recognised faces. I’m not that dumb. Not the names, though. But not dumb! I didn’t even talked to most of them. She’s an exceptional, though. I’d bumped into her, and hurt her at the same time. Double guilt. The least I could do was giving a helping hand before I left. “Do you need any help?” I asked.

“Um…” she answered, looking downwards instead of at me. She’s hugging the book she’s reading. Yes, she’s hugging it. Literally. Like a teddy bear. The question is, why is she doing that?

Since she’s new, and usually new students would go to the principal’s or director’s office. So, I was guessing her going to there. Forget what I’d just said, she’s going in a totally opposite direction. Pffft. Newbies.

I cleared my throat, making her jump a little. Okay… now she looked like she’s scared of me. Had hitting her head made her like this? I hope not. That’ll be another guilt for me if it is. “Do you,” I pointed at her, “need some help?” I said it slowly, just in case she doesn’t understand me.

“Um…” Another ‘Um’ told by her. I noticed something else this time. She didn’t look into my eyes. And her distance between me was going farther away from me. Well, how rude. Hiding behind a book was rude enough for me. This is going to be a tough task.

I cleared my throat again. This time, with a softer tone, I asked, “Can you speak?” No reply. I tilted my head down to look her in the eyes. Her eyes went wide as I asked, “Do you seriously need any help?”

Okay, that didn’t work out pretty well. She’s shivering now. Great. Just great! Now I unintentionally scared a girl that I don’t know. Such a nice day to kill myself. I sighed, “If you don’t need any help, I’ll be on my way, then.”

No reply, again. She’s still hiding behind her book guardian. I turned my head around, to see if something else was behind me that was scaring her. Nope, nothing. It definitely was me that was scaring her. I tried reaching out a hand to comfort her, but she backed up, even further away from me. This is getting real awkward.

I slightly moved forward and kicked something. I looked down and it was a pair of glasses. Lucky I didn’t step on it. I touched my face around my eyes, checking if that was my glasses. Apparently, it wasn’t. The glasses was pink in colour. Yep, I’m sure it wasn’t mine. I picked up the glasses and asked, “Is this yours?”

She lifted her head slightly and I saw her eyes. She wasn’t looking back at my eyes, though. She nodded. I handed the glasses to her hand. As she wore it… dammit, I’m staring at her again… there was a glow in her light blue eyes. Those are definitely a pair of special glasses. She still didn’t look into my eyes, though. I snapped out when she hid behind her guardian again. I shook my head to clear my mind, to stop staring.

“If there isn’t anything I could help you with,” I said as I walked past her, towards the hallway, “I’ll be going back to my class.” I still felt guilty for not helping. I really, really wanted to help her… for some reason. At least, getting rid of that purple spot. Oh, idea! How about I drag her?

No, wait, that’s a terrible idea. That’s going to the dump. With a swoosh, the ball of ‘idea’ went into the bin.

There was a gasp coming from behind me. I looked back to chec- Wait a minute. She’s gone already? Wow. Was she THAT scared of me? Or was I THAT scary? Or both? Whatever. There wasn’t anyone behind me, so I was guessing it was my imagination.

Eh. Doesn’t matter. Carry on to my- Bwahh!

I turned back and she was there! Right in front of me! What kind of magic or sorcery did she just used?! Teleportation? Hold on, that’s still not possible in this era. Invisibility? Scientifically, yes. Physically, no. Definitely no.

Whatever she just used… or did… she made me jump and almost fall on my bum again. Luckily, something was holding my wrist, preventing me from falling.

“Where did you get these?” a voice said with a sense of… excitement? I stared at my wrist as I balanced myself.

My eyes went wide and, instantly, I jerked my hand out of her hold. She startled and shrank back behind her book. Why did I just did that?

Sucks. So much for making her out to her guardian. I calmed myself with a steady breathing. “Sorry,” I apologised. “I didn’t mean to be so… scary.”

She peeked out from her book. Come on. Think. Think think think. I looked down at my wrist, then at my wrist chain. Was she admiring at this?

“You mean this?” I asked as I showed it to her. She nodded slightly. “I’m sorry,” I apologised again. “This is a precious thing to me. It would be sad for me to see anything happen to it.” Hopefully, this is enough explanation for her and I don’t have to explain furthermore.

She looked at the chain, then back at me. As she took down her book from covering her face, I was satisfied. Task 1, complete. “I-I’m sorry, as well,” she said. “I didn’t know…”

I shook my head and gave a gentle smile. “It’s okay. It’s not like you know me or anything. It’s not your fault.” I said. Technically, it’s not anyone’s fault. It’s just a bad thing that happen. No big deal. “Oh, and this,” I said, pointing at the chain, “can be bought from a stall at the streets. I can bring you there, if you want.”

She gasped again. “Really? Y-you can do that? For me?” What? Is it a big deal? Well, maybe for her. I nodded. She’s back to her “excited” mode. “Oh, thank you! Thank you!” she said, multiple times, clasping her hand together around mine. I jerked back again. And, of course, she’s startled again.

I sighed. “Please,” I said with a soft tone. “Don’t touch me.” Now her eyes went wide.

Ugh… I should really get a title as the Best Scarer in the History.

“I’m very,” I said, trying my best to comfort her, “sensitive.” Oh, and please, no more questions or actions that make me have to explain. I hate explaining stuff.

She gulped and nodded. “O-okay,” she said in a terrified tone.

“Look,” I said in a softer tone, looking into her eyes. “I know you’re scared of me, but I’m not a bad person.” Nor a good person. Count me neutral. The middle guy. That didn’t convinced her much. I sighed again. “You’re new to here, right?”

She nodded slightly. “Then you must be searching for our principal.” Who was he again? I can’t even remember the principal of my school. Great achievement. “Do you want me to show you there?” She nodded again.

I have a feeling that this journey is gonna get ‘better’, and ‘better’. Maybe some butter. Yeah, that would help.

~*~ ~***~ ~*~

The rest of the journey… as exactly I guessed, was ‘better’. Ooohhh, that’s a lot of butter, right there.

She didn’t talk to me and I didn’t talk to her. This journey… I don’t even know if it’s a journey anymore. It’s like, somebody that I don’t know… which I really don’t know, following me everywhere! It’s not just creepy, it’s downright awkward. Don’t even get me started on the people that were looking at us!

She’s following me from behind, but closely. Her book guardian’s still guarding her. I couldn’t think of something to talk to her. Something, anything at all, just kill this awkwardness!

“So, uh…” I said, looking at her over my shoulders. “How was your journey to this school?” Incoming random questions coming right at your face.

Nothing. She wasn’t replying… at all. This is just getting more awkward. Wonderful. More butter, please!

I cleared my throat silently. “What do you think of this school?” I asked. At least, she could answer this, right? Terrible. Stinky. Cruel. Evil.

Still. Nothing. Thank you for the extra butter!

Well, at least I tried. I sucked at starting a conversation. Awkward ones, yes. Another reason why I’m not a social person.

Plus, why did I get myself into this situation? Why was I helping her? I could just dump her and let get lost in the school’s maze. Wow. Evil thoughts.

Jokes aside. Helping somebody, especially somebody I don’t know, is something that I wouldn’t do. Really. Just… give me reasons… any reasons.

I sighed softly. Well, whatever the reason is, let’s get this ov-

Our… ‘journey’ was stopped by a shout coming from behind and far away. I’m surprised the shout can reach us. “Hey!” a deep and familiar voice… Wait… Don’t tell me...

I looked over my shoulder and saw her did the same. “Stop right there!” another voice shouted. This one’s familiar too. I have a bad feeling about this.

Two of them… no, make that three… slowly walked towards us. This doesn’t look good. It couldn’t be them, right? I thought I had get rid of th-

“Well, lookie here!” the deep voice said as he approached us. Shoot. It’s them, alright. Can’t believe they’d be back this quick.

Better have an escape plan rather than regret. I moved closer to her and nudged her with my shoulder and whispered, “Get ready.”

No replies… again. This is a serious matter! Reply me, dammit!

I looked at her. Yep. This is really bad. Make that extremely bad. She’s shivering in fear. Her eyes were wide and didn’t move an inch.

“Why, if it isn’t our favourite Allen!” he pronounced my name with a fearful tone. Speaking of name, what’s their name again?

I nudged her a little bit harder this time. No answer. This really isn’t the time to be scared!

“Oh, what’s the matter?” the other one said. Let’s put it this way. Starting from the left, Skinny, ‘cause he’s skinny. Asshole, ‘cause he seemed like the boss of this… gang? Fatso, ‘cause he’s fat. He’s Skinny, but times ten thousand. “So surprise to see us that you can’t even talk?” the skinny said. Look who’s talking. I bet a punch can send him flying for 10 metres.

And here on, I thought everyone supposed to be in class. Well, they’re a bunch of idiots anyways. Why bother attending the lessons?

I realised something else. Something that would make “extremely bad” conditions to “doomed”. She’s shivering. Not a normal shivering. Even I could see her hand shaking slightly!

The Asshole walked up to me. “Remember last time?” Which time? “The time… where we get caught by the principal?” Oh, that time. Best time of the year.

“The punishment we got…” Yep. I’m doing a mental dance right now. Oh, and by the way, we should run! “It all thanks to you!” The rest of them readied themselves to charge. I didn’t expect Fatso to run as well. Ooohhh, I’m going to make you sweat like a 10 pounds pig... if only she wasn’t here!

Gah! Forget it! I grabbed her wrist and started to run the other direction.

The chase began.

~*~ ~***~ ~*~

Have I told you that running is good for your health?

Oh, I’m not talking to you. I’m talking to the Fatso.

I turned back just a moment to see if they’re still chasing me. Pfft, duh. Would they ever give up? They’d never let me go. Especially after what I did to them.

Actually, scratch that. The Fatso gave up.

I remembered there’s a hiding spot I found useful since I came here. (Don’t ask me how I found it. I have senses towards hiding spots.) If I just turn this corner, it should be there.

Of course, we’re screwed if my brain somehow messed up the map of the school. Which is pretty common, even for the students here.

I turned the corner and leapt into the gap between the lockers. Whoever made this gap, and if I survived this, I need to thank that person.

Of course, if he’s dead, I’m not going to find and dig his grave just to see his skeleton and thank him. On a second thought, maybe I should… or maybe not.

I covered her mouth with my hand and lifted a finger to my lips. I need to be careful not to suffocate her. She barely ran throughout the escape. I really can’t blame her. Whatever had happened to her, I didn’t want myself killed because of her.

As soon as I saw them ran past us, I let go of my hand and breathed. Woah. I almost forgot to breathe! I coughed and hacked a little. I hadn’t ran like this before. I think that’s a new record in my book!

Oh, and both of us sucked up our breath when we saw Fatso ran past. Yep, he’s also getting a new record.

And I think I’ve covered her mouth for too long. She coughed harshly. Oh, that’s bad. “You’re okay?” Wait. That’s the first thing I’ve said to her, right?

She nodded. She sniffed a little, then coughed again. I lifted my hand and sniffed it. Gross! Why did it stinks this much?!

I scratched the back of my head a little and gave an apologetic look. “Heh. Sorry,” I apologized.

I peeked out, looking at the front and back of me. They left. Well, it’ll take some time for them to realise that we’re not in front of them.

“Best be moving before they came back.” I said.

I looked back to see her. She’s shivering at the spot. Maybe just by thinking of the… gang… fright her enough. Whatever’s the reason, as I said, I don’t want to die because of her.

Well, I could leave her here. I mean, I could pretend like nothing happen-

No… I’ve bumped into her, making a purple spot on her forehead and even saved her from just now. I sighed softly. Well, since she’s frightened of them, maybe they did something to her before she met me. And I don’t like to see anyone get hurt. That’s my most hated thing.

“Look,” I held her shoulders, making her jumped a little. She slowly looked up to me with her teary eyes. God, how can anyone bear with this look? I could just slumped into a mud at this rate. “I don’t know why you’re afraid of them, but we really gonna keep moving.”

Her shivers slowed, then stopped completely. She wiped her teary eyes as I let go of her shoulders. She nodded, “O-okay,” she said.

I peeked out again. Nothing. They’re still not here… yet. Our only escape here is the Principal’s office. My classroom was too far from here, and we won’t be able to make it.

“Come on,” I waved at her to follow me.

Hopefully, we could survive this.

~*~ ~***~ ~*~

I kept checking behind me, ‘cause my pinky was twitching.

And everything it twitched, they’re something bad that’s going to happen.

But luckily, there’s nothing behind me. So, why is it twitching?

Plus, we’re almost there. It might be broken, maybe due to the fright from the gang. Though, it’s fun to see Fatso run. His face is priceless.

Just a few turns of corners and we’ll be-

“Well, well, well,” a voice said, and it’s really close. My eyes went wide. “Where do you think you’re going?”

I turned to see, and there’s another gang of them blocking the way to the office. No… this… isn’t good.

I turned around again, to the other path of the T-junction hallway. There’s another gang blocking.

Shit.

I turned back and started to pace, but stopped as another gang appeared. They came back!

Oh, and Fatso was huffing at the back.

“What?” Asshole said. “You think we’re idiots?” Honestly? Yes. “You think we’re letting you to go to the Principal again? To let her protect your ass again?”

Slowly, all of them moved closer to us, surrounding and backing us to the wall.

Shit, shit, shit. Why didn’t I thought this through? I’m an idiot!

His eyes moved, not looking at me, but beside me. I looked to where he looked at, and she’s there, shivering again. He broke into a sick grin, “Oh?” he said, moving closer to her. He lifted her chin, showing her face full of tears. “Well, how you’ve been?”

Wait… what? He knew her?

“Are you enjoying our school?” he said softly, still wearing that grin of his. He moved his lips to her ears, “We’ll give you some more fun, if you want,” he whispered.

That’s it. He’s getting on my nerve. I grasped his wrist, squeezing it as hard as I could. He swiftly turned his head to me, breaking the grin of his. “Back off,” I said, filling with anger.

“Oh?” He let go of her and slowly moved up to me. He moved his wrist freely, like I wasn’t even holding his wrist. He grabbed my wrist and pressed with strength. My hand suddenly felt numb, like he just broke a nerve from my wrist. “You want to have some fun as well?” I tried to move my hand, but whatever commands I gave, it wouldn’t move.

“Fun?” I said, grinning back at him. “Oh, shall we play a game, then?”

“A game?” he said, raising his brow.

“Yes,” I gritted my teeth slightly. I felt like there’s electricity in my hand. “A game of gentlemen.”

He lowered his brow, grinning even more. “Fine, then,” he said as he slowly let go of my hand. The electric feeling was gone instantly. There’s purple marks of his hand on my wrist. Okay… that’s a damage. “How about we make this more… interesting?”

“Oh, you’re so kind,” I replied.

“You’re very welcome,” he chuckled. Oh, I’m so going to punch him in the face. “Let’s make a bet. If you lose,” he looked back at her, “we’ll take her,” he said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder.

Wow. They lost interest on me already? Just because of a girl? Wow. What a wuss.

But it’s a hard choice. I couldn’t just bet somebody’s life for my own good. This isn’t fair! No, I couldn’t agree with this.

He cleared his throat. “Scared?” he teased.

“Just taking my time to catch my breath,” I looked at Fatso, “like your friend over there.”

He chuckled. He really just chuckled! I made the right choice to name him Asshole.

“What if I win?” I looked back at him. My hand was twitching so bad. That’s gonna take a long time to recover.

“If you win,” he raised a brow, still grinning, “we’ll leave you and her alone,” I gave him an unimpressed look. “Forever,” he added. Now that’s a bet.

Honestly, I would’ve bet my life for this. But for them, my life is as worthless as they are. And if I don’t accept this, they still going to beat me up and she’s going to… get the “fun” they’re talking about. Either way, it’s doom for me.

But I wouldn’t go down without a good fight.

“You assholes,” I said softly, shaking my head. I knew that this day would come. The day where everything ends.

I walked past Asshole and left my bag beside her. I crouched down, looking at her teary face. Seriously, who could resist this? I bet her parents couldn’t even say ‘no’ to her. I chuckled slightly, and stood up.

Just as I started to walk back, something pulled me by my shirt. I looked back down, her teary eyes looked into mine. “Don’t,” she said with a voice filled with fear, “Just… go.” Her voice was weak and soft.

I thought. Yes… I could leave her here, and I’ll be off, with my daily schedules. I could be my boring self again. Waking up, looking at the gloomy skies that would never change, getting lectured by my uncle and going to school. Well, that sounded normal, isn’t it? My boring schedules.

I chuckled again, “What? So I can sit down the next day, thinking why did I left an innocent girl behind with these assholes? And maybe, tomorrow, the newspaper said there’s that innocent girl who died.” I looked back and felt tears starting to fall down my right eye, “and it’s all because of me… again,” I shook my head, smiling at her. “It wouldn’t happen again,” I turned back to Asshole, started to walk towards him. “I promise.”

I stood, facing at him, feeling the tense going around me. This is it. The day where it would come, and I knew it would come. The time where nobody suffers, anymore. The time where freedom is by my side. The time for me to fly.

I readied myself in a battle position. I was going to lose. I was going to get beaten up badly. Maybe even get sent to the hospital. Maybe I won’t survive. But I know, that this battle… I’m going to have to force through the wall between me and the trophy. Even if my fists are broken, I’ll use my legs to kick his ass; even if my legs are down, I’ll use my body and my head to knock him out; even if my body is broken, I’ll bite off his skin, until nothing’s left; even if I die… I’ll come back again to haunt him.

The end started. And the crowd started to cheer. Everything went silent for a moment as I closed my eyes. Am I willing to take this risk, a path of no return?

…

Yes.