Chapter 17
The sudden ipriet le fi thera
start at class. The crowd in the hallway scattered, and everything outside Class F’s door fell completely ne senute al what in de
ly silent.
instinctively looked at Autora. The adrenaline rush had faded, and in an instant, he felt completely lost.
Aurtra let out a chuckle and then turned and stepped onto the platform, her vice calm and steady, just like before. “Open your books, I’m about to
Evermor cuffed back to their seats
karim might any.
racked open their textbooks, grabbed their pens, and sat up straight, ready to pay full attention to
what
“Alright then, len s tom to the chapter m alytic grometry” Aunista wiped the previous notes off the board and drew a perfect ellipse, her voice dear and cringe sath don voiahful sharpness. Letc start with the equation for this ellipse…
The whole class listened attentively. By the end of the lesson, everyone had filled up three whole pages of notes. Even when the dismival bell rang, no one in Class E hodged Usually, they were the first out the door, but now they were all busy organizing their notes. This unusual scene ught the attemmin of some students passing by from either classes
“Wow, is the sun ring in the west tostay? It’s dismissal time, and Class F is still sitting their. Since when did they become such bookworms?” someone from another class sand, surprised to see the immisal scene.
way they’re letting that effort
“They re on the chopping block if they don’t shape up. After all the hoops they had to jump through to get in here, no way t go to waste. First day or not, they gotta at least make it look like they’re serious, another student said.
“You think that bet between Class Fand Class A has already spread around? I’ve never seen someone bite off more than they can chew like this before, another one scoffed.
from outside. She closed her book and said to the:
Aurora walked over and slammed the door shut with a loud bang, sealing off the mocking voices fro other students, “Alright, that’s it for today. We’ll cover the rest tomorrow,”
“Aw, come on, I was just getting into it. I haven’t been this
is focused in years. Keep going a bit longer, would ya?” Erik stayed planted in his chair, not willing to move. He was afraid that if he left, by tomorrow morning, he’d go right back to his old ways. Right now, he just wanted to hold onto this feeling
“You can’t finish a feast in one bite. Take it home and digest it tonight” Aurora wiped the board clean, sat back at her desk, and started packing her
“Alright, alright…” replied Enk
By the time Aurora left, the school grounds were almost empty. As she rounded a corner near one of the classroom buildings, she caught faint voices coming from inside. Curious, she glanced over and noticed a small group huddled in the shadows of the pillars. The figure in the middle seemed to be wearing a skirt
As Aurora got closer, the realized why the face seemed familiar. After a moment, it clicked. It was Margaret from their class, the one who was always a bit slow on the uptake. Right now, she was surrounded by a group of boys.
At the center of it all stood a hulking guy, easily six feet tall, broad–shouldered, with a cigarette hanging from his lips. He was rummaging through Margaret’s backpack, a look of disdain plastered on his face
“You come from a rich family, and this is all the cash you got on you! You holding out on me or what? shouted that guy in a harsh tone Margare lunged forward and snatched her bag back with surprising speed. Her voice trembled with anger. “You jerk! That’s mine!! The guy clearly hadn’t ex
expected Margaret to fight back. Caught off guard, he lost his grip for a second and she munaged to grab it Furious, he lashed out, kicking her hard in the gut and sending her sprawling to the ground in a flash, he yanked the bag out of her hands again. “You dumb idiot! You should be grateful I even looked your way, and you’ve got the nerve to hit back?
“Wanna see if kill you?” His r eyes gleaned with a nasty threat, and it seemed like any second he’d strike her again.
Margarri flinched, fear creeping into her chest. This guy is terrifying, she thought
But then she remembered what her dad had told her. “If someone bullies you, fight back. Don’t just stand there and take it, or they’ll get worse”
Biting back the pain, she forced herself to stand again, ready to grab her bag once more.
The guy had just dumped the contents of her bag onto the ground when he noticed her coming at him again. With a sneer, he spat on the ground. “You stupid idiot, what are you, made of strel? Don’t know when to quir?”
1/2
Chic of that means lai keys chimed in. Tuning if you don’t hack off, we’ll strip you down. How’il you like that
chool gets a good look at you, no clothes, and we’ll evenL SE
Il even snap a pic to post online. How about that, huh! You
Margaret minutively clutched her skin tighter. She was surely scared, but she stubbornly raised her chin and retorted, “You’re all so mean. I’m gonna tell the teacher“
Tell the te
Who’s gonna bebeve a dumbass like you” one of the guys replies.
They all burrit into boughts, clearly not taking her seriously at all. The lead guy seemed to take Margaret’s words seriously and said. “The teacher micht not believe her but I’ve brind her family’s pretty protective. There’s no telling if they’d buy her story”
So what do we do then?” one of lus lackeys asked
The lead guy keyes moved shamelessly over Margaret as he said, “We do what you said–strip her down and take some pictures”
With that, he yanked a fistful of Margaret’s hair and warned, “Listen up, you little bitch. You’d better hand over your pocket money to me every
(these poes will be front–page news,”
Immediately, a couple of the boys moved in to start pulling at her clothes, while two others were already prepping their phones, cameras ready to shoot
Margar
was tropen in fear, her eyes wide with terror. Dad never told ΠΕ fight back! she wondered
what
to do when so many people gang up on me. How am I supposed to
Just as one of the guys was about to yank her clothes off, he realized he couldn’t move his hand. He turned his head, startled, only to find someone cripping his writ
Aurora’s voice was ice–cold. “In broad daylight, and you think you can get away with this? You’ve got a death wish.”
The man, who was used to doing whatever he pleased around school, started spewing curses, thinking no one but Martin himself could talk to him like that. “I can do whatever the hell I want. If you don’t wanna die, get lost—”
He stopped mid–sentence when he finally recognized Aurora. His attitude shifted to cocky as he scoffed, “Well, well, look who it is here Martin, we’ve got another fat fish on the line
The new student
Martin Grayson, the guy in charge, took the cigarette from his mouth, flicked it to the side and ground it into the dirt with his heel. With his other hand, he shoved Margaret away and blew out one last smoke ring in Aurora’s direction
“So I hear the Crawford family just took you back. Bet they’re treating you real nice, huh? You don’t want this dumbass’s fate, do you? Be smart and hand over your cash,” said that man.
But what caught them off guard was Aurora’s complete lack of reaction. She didn’t move, nor did a hint of fear cross her face.
The guys paused for a moment, feeling confused. Why isn’t she scared! People are usually terrified of us, outnumbered and scared of getting beaten up, so they always coughed up the cash without a fight.
Suddenly, Margaret, who had been all but forgotten, lunged at them. “You’re bad! I’ll bite you to death”
Distracted by Aurora, Martin didn’t notice Margaret charging at him until her teeth sank into his
You idiot Get off me! Martin in pain and shoved her lard, but she clung on with her teeth like a pitbull. Martin’s Lackey hid to step 11, kicking her a couple of times before finally prying her loose. “Dumbass! You trying to get yourself killed, huh?”
