Let's Boycott Lucas Martin!
Chapter 36: Let's Boycott Lucas Martin!
After Lucas and Principal Lyns have left each other, he started parting ways with the Principal and started to walk away. In his mind, he has to see Moon. He has been acting strange since the day of Doll's abduction.
As he turned right to the next chamber, a pair of hands took him next to the wall and grabbed his arm above his head. "What do you think you're doing?"
Lucas saw Zanc glaring sharply at him in anger. He took a big step forward, still holding his arm.
His right wrist was held in his vice-like grip and was extremely painful to him, but his eyes were cold and trained on Zanc. This was the spot where he usually assault since he knew he was injured with this. He doted on his brown face, his left cheek was swollen.
That punch he gave him; he made sure that Zanc's face will be in this condition, blood appearing at the edge of his lips. He remembered how he laid on the floor where he fell with Maru, looking pitiful and confounded.
To think about that, where was Maru?
He let Zanc hold his wrist like that as he started to search for Maru near the area. As he spotted that familiar Asian face, he saw that he was covering his face with his hands, and his cheek was swollen as well. It must've been too harsh that Maru had received some hard punch.
"Lu… why zid zu hit me tu hard?" Maru's face looked numb from the pain and, as a result, he was unable to pronounce the words properly. But Lucas understood him clearly.
Still being held by Zanc beside the wall, he managed to smile. "Why did I hit you? Because I never accept words from outsiders."
As expected by him, Maru was speechless. He can be tamed easily. Zanc was more aggressive than him.
Zanc looked on, his mouth was agape. He almost crushed the bones in Lucas' hands with his grip. "Lucas, you will pay for what you have done," he whispered with grit, his teeth grinding. "Protect yourself! We will show you what wall you were crushing to."
"Who is going to pay for what he'd done?" another voice rang out, the iciness in his voice was clear. It was intimidating already. "Zanc, what do you think you are doing? Grabbing onto White Day High Student?"
Everyone turned their heads and saw Coach Clive hurriedly walking over with five or six White Day staff in tow. His expression looked colder than a ten thousand-year blizzard, and he walked over to grab Lucas' hand out of the grip from Zanc.
"Lucas, are you hurt anywhere?"
Lucas lowered his head and lifted the sleeve of his uniform. An ugly greenish-purple bruise was starting to form on his wrist, and juxtaposed against his scarred skin, it looked alarmingly serious.
"Coach Clive!" Zanc let an uproar roam the hallway.
Coach Clive looked at him in disdain. He ordered Lucas to stay by his side, as the Two Bastions stood on one another.
"You think that moron can just swagger in here to hit someone, and then swagger out as he wished? We ain't leaving this school at any time! You are going to give us a good explanation for his actions! Is that White Day?"
Lucas didn't answer. He knew Coach Clive can deal with these two.
"You can speak to the Principal if there are any problems." Coach Clive said dejectedly. He couldn't care to deal with them. He hurried Lucas. "Are you coming? I want to finish my errands and return to the office. It's meaningless wasting time with these Bastions that weren't even enrolled in White Day High anymore."
Maru's face was badly swollen and couldn't speak. He can see that he has something on his mind but his injury wasn't letting him. He just gave him a sideways glance with a half-smile, not saying anything.
But the message in his eyes was clear. As long as Clive was willing to back him up, they have nothing to do about it.
Zanc was furious and wanted to run forward to throttle Lucas, but froze in his tracks, maybe remembering how powerful Coach Clive was. It was their fault for picking up a fight with Lucas. It was not compatible for them now.
Hence, the two could only swallow in their fits of anger together with the blood from the punches earlier.
Seeing the Two Bastions' badly swollen faces, Coach Clive started to feel better as well. It seemed like he was pleased that Lucas was able to anger his rivals with just a few punches. With his change of mood, Clive decided that he should get back to the office. Hence, he called the rest of the staff to follow him and left together, leaving Lucas unaware if he has to follow them or not.
It took him a while before realizing Coach Clive's hand signal, so he hurriedly followed. He turned his back to see Zanc staring angrily at him, but Coach Clive stopped and shouted a sentence that shocked them.
"I don't want to see the Bastions in this school ever again. Leave this place or I'll help you get away! To you, Lucas, there was a meeting tomorrow at the Conference Hall."
Lucas hurriedly followed to level the pace of Coach Clive's walking. He heard that he was scolding him, but he neglected what he was saying. He stared at his wrist that was bruised. Zanc used his fire while gripping his wrist, yet it caused swelling? He has to be immune to fire. What fire did Zanc use?
Hmph.
Lucas ended up in the hallway where Moon was supposed to be practicing. The Two Bastions have left the school after that incident was witnessed by Coach Clive. Their exact whereabouts now were unknown. Lucas didn't know where the school they have transferred to.
Meanwhile, he opened Room 467.
He barged in and was shocked as upcoming swords and daggers rushed through him as he evaded. He ducked down and moved back to the door; Moon was practicing with the simulator he used before!
He was wearing the training suit that was given to all of them, but by looking at his cousin, his suit was tattered and ripped. The swords and daggers continued rushing through him, some were small but some were sharper from the others.
By evading all of them at once, Moon almost collapsed with exhaustion when the last dagger pointed to the wall, where the simulator round came to an end. He heard the metallic sound of it as the knife fell on the marble floor.
Moon was panting repetitively as his hands rested on his knees. His sweat dropped one by one on the floor as Lucas was staring at him from the doorway. His cousin was drenched with sweat where even his brown hair was messily sticking on his face. He tried standing, but his legs were shaking because of exhaustion. Unfortunately, the wounds it caused Moon started to bleed.
He heard Moon laugh, though. Well, that laugh seemed fake. Moon used his power to unleash some crystals to turn off the simulator and sat on the floor.
As Lucas started walking inside the room, he saw multiple daggers drawn through the wall like Moon had gotten into so much difficult training. After all, they have only tomorrow to practice, and that next day after is the Overall Skill Selection.
He walked to his cousin and offer him a hand. "Nice show," he said, as Moon grabbed his hand and stood straight before him, as he wiped his training suit.
"Never mind. This time I failed to handle it well, Lucas." Moon reflected on himself, something that he did not do often.
"About Doll?" Lucas shook his head. "It's not your fault."
Moon's forehead was pulled into a deep frown. "No, the news of his abduction and your broken reputation. This was a problematic situation."
He asked, "What should we do?"
His cousin gave him a stare. "I want to hear your thoughts."
"Let's get back to the apartment."
Yes.
Lucas talked to Mister Vacio back at the Southern Woods.
He raised his head, wearing a smile on his face and coldness in his eyes. Right now, he was laying on his bed. He was at the apartment with Moon.
"I talked to him, yes! It isn't a big deal, I'll just admit it," he said in nonchalance.
Moon broke into a slow smile, as he laid on his bed as well. He had visible wounds. This young man's attitude was just what he was looking for. It was also expected.
Lucas admitted that he talked to Mister Vacio. This admission did not mean he admitted to all the allegations, but—
"YES, I TALKED TO HIM, AND SO?"
This sentence with his signature was displayed all over the school before they went back to the apartment and immediately incited a ruckus. The rumors and gossip went crazy. Before they can even go back, Lucas had received a lot of emails from the students, all roasting over him.
As they sneakingly went home with a disguise, they both glued the last sentence on the front of the school's ground floor before escaping. This was all part of Moon's plan. They have to see how far the edginess of the students will lead them.
The sentences that Lucas and Moon glued last were captured by some editors and were posted on every social media platform, including the School's Social Media Channel. There, not only the mails were roasting Lucas, but all of the users from all the media platforms.
Soon, everyone including onlookers who knew nothing at all about the truth or only had a vague idea of the situation started to criticize 'Lucas' after looking at the School's Social Media post. They said that he was a hypocrite and that he should not become a part of the competing team for the tournament. They spoke as if they were standing on a moral high ground, and wrote with eloquence as they criticized everything about him.
In just several hours, Lucas was now considered as notorious in all of White Day High. He also received a call from Principal Lyns and Coach Clive, both at different times, but both have the same reason for calling him: asking him why he did such things.
To defend himself, he didn't need to give them reasons. Being silent was enough to give them the answer they want to receive from him. They should go and browse any media platform to look for what was truly happening.
Even Lucas' official Social Media channel was full of angry people scolding him, leaving all the platforms he can use filled with all of the haters he had garnered. Every update was filled with the worst insults and wrong hearsays.
He browsed dejectedly as he sat in front of his laptop, reading those Media posts and insults with his cousin Moon inside the apartment.
Moon said, "This is maybe just the start. Are you afraid?"
The blue light from the screen reflected on Lucas' face, making a light shadow under his head. It almost hurt his eyes, but he just turned his head slightly and faced Moon. "What is there to be afraid of?"
His voice was very low, as always. It was also thick and raspy. He had been through greater storms and waves than from before. What was this compared to those?
Moon smiled, "Then, let's put the plan into motion."
"What plan was that?" Lucas unknowingly asked. Moon just grinned as a response.
Maybe he knew where it'll go.
Okay!
Lucas raised his hands and stretched to relax his bones. He laid back on the chair before the table beside the wall and gently typed a sentence on the keyboard of his laptop. Moon stared at him in excitement.
"I talked to him because I need to. As to why I need to, Vacio would know it in his ass. He would also know whether or not he actually had a second degree or a mere burn to presume."
He unhesitatingly pressed POST and turned to Moon. He saw his laughing face which he cannot contain. It was fun to do this.
He tried not to laugh, as he waited for the uproar to blow up. He stood from his chair and jumped to his bed. "Moon, what was this? Do we need to do this?"
"You need to, trust me," Moon replied as he peeked on the laptop placed over the table. It popped with sounds and notifications! Sure, there was a great commotion on Social Media again. This time, he didn't want to look on, as more people will start to curse at him for sure.
He closed his eyes as he lay on the bed. Moon left his bed and stood up, checking the laptop. Multiple notifications popping out still, and the post that he posted sure had garnered so many comments.
Moon sat on the chair that Lucas previously sat on, facing the laptop. Lucas peeked and saw that Moon scrolling through the screen with the computer mouse. He checked his feed, and he knew he had seen multiple notifications about who commented on the post.
"Commotion, really?" he asked Moon sarcastically. "I'm sure they would curse me more than they did earlier."
Scrolling through the comment section, Moon can't help but gasp with its uproarious contents. He laughed hard that made Lucas stare at the laptop screen.
"What it said?" he asked Moon.
"Let me read their comments for you," Moon said with a wide smile. Lucas didn't know that Moon would be this excited. He hasn't seen him this way for too long, and not for this commotion.
"Okay. But if you don't mind, say it loud," he told expressionlessly, and rested comfortably on his bed, hugging his white pillow. He stared at the ceiling fan as he waited for Moon to speak.
"Be ready. So here it is:"
Lucas heaved a sigh before readying himself. Sure those comments were harsh—
"What do you mean by you need to? @lucas.martin, explain yourself clearly if you're truly innocent!"
"Why aren't you telling us the reason? That's because you have a guilty conscience, Fire Starter!"
"Yeah, it was clearly you who had insisted on sabotage for White Day High. @Vacio.1012 was avoiding himself from getting into trouble. And you also burned him, stop lying!"
"You're scared and looking for an excuse now, that's why so many of us are scolding you!"
"Exactly! A coward that is trying to accuse others! Putting the blame out of him!"
"Coward at its finest."
"@Vacio.1012 had a deep burn all over his body all because of you! How come you are still trying to frame him up for faking it? You shameless Aspho-still-man!"
"You're rubbish of a person without a single cell of a White! You're an Aspho!"
"You're so cruel! I regret watching your Godly Potential Evaluation!"
"Let's boycott @lucas.martin!"
"Let's boycott @lucas.martin! (1)"
"Let's boycott @lucas.martin! (2)"
"Let's boycott @lucas.martin! (3)"
"Let's boycott @lucas.martin! (4)"
Moon ended with a gasp.
"Well, I'm shocked." Moon shook his nape as he faced Lucas. "That was a dinner topic!"
"I didn't expect them to be this raging," Lucas said and stood from his bed. He turned to the door and touched the doorknob.
"Where are you going?" Moon asked, and stopped scrolling through the feed.
Lucas made a face. He opened the door and left. "Some water, in the refrigerator," he said as he closed it.
Facing left and heading to the kitchen, Lucas tapped the switch and turned on the lights. His eyes squinted as he cannot adapt too quickly to the light. He just shielded his eyes as he continued.
He barged into the kitchen and picked up a glass. He turned and opened the refrigerator and grabbed a pitcher with cold water. He poured the water into the glass and drank.
Hmph. This cold water gave him a sensation he missed. It relieved his mind, at least a little.
He headed back and turned the lights off. He opened the room's door and saw Moon continuing to read those comments that were raging in numbers. He walked towards him and checked the feed.
All the boos culminated in one chant. "Let's boycott @lucas.martin!" This was repeated non-stop in the Social Media thread. Countless reposted this Social Media post together with the chant. The scale of it was massive as if they were not going to stop unless he had been chased out of the School Division.
Lucas abruptly closed the laptop screen. "What a pain in the ass!"