Chapter 4.1: "Stalking a delinquent and saving his dumb ass"

"Hey Mongs, here! I have an extra merch shirt in the bag. You can borrow it for the mean time," Jannie handed me her spare clothes from outside the cubicle where I was.

"Got it Mongs," I replied as I accepted her shirt. I just took my uniform off because it got drenched in mud when the stupid, hali-Maou poured a bucket of it earlier as I walked into the building. Gladly, there was a shower in the girls' comfort room and Jannie always carries extra clothes with her so I had no trouble in changing.

By the way, Mongs is what we both call each other now, which is shorter term for "Mongrel." I know it’s a bit absurd and slightly offensive if anyone may hear that kind of endearment but I find it unique though, and I like it.

"Mongs, thank you very much. I know I can rely on you in these circumstances."

"You’re always welcome Mongs, who else should you count on? I can not be a Girl scout if I wasn't always ready 24/7 after all. Plus, we both know that Maou and his beloved minions' favorite target is your clean outfits and uniform, so I will always bring spare for you like the usual," she said so I smiled. The school bell rang just as we left the comfort room.

"The class is about to start. Come on girl." She pulled me away.

RIGHT AFTER that check scene on the school’s open field like the last time, my life has gradually changed since then. And when we say ‘changed,’ I mean a lot of changes. But if you think it is for the betterment, well you are quite mistaken there. In fact, it’s even worse compare from the previous encounter, and that all happened because I accidentally messed up with the wrong notorious monster.

Maou Isidro Montega, that is the jerk’s effin' full name according to Jannie. We’re on the same age apparently, apart from the fact that we’re also studying in the same bloody school. From his freshmen years up until now, he is known because of his image as the campus bad boy of San Ignacio High School — the most typical archetype for a delinquent stude like him. And when we say bad boy, that could mean a lot of WORSE things possible. But don’t worry, I’ll break it down to you gently, and specifically.

Let’s talk about his demeanor first. If you’re a person who pays attention on small and not-so relevant details, you’ll notice that his aura and the way he dress actually displays a natural, sociopathic vibe around his whole being. Shaggy hairstyle, rugged outfits, ear-piercings — and although he looks an old-fashioned sort of a thug, unfortunately it doesn’t affect his damn good looks. However, it is no wonder why every time he passes by the school hallway, people automatically retreat and are distracted from his path. Aside from the fact that he looks like a wild animal because of his gloomy and beastly countenance, his appearance also seems to invite trouble on the way. If the atmosphere circling around him had the chance to talk, it would probably say, DO-NOT-GO-NEAR-THIS-MAN-UNLESS-YOU-WANNA-DIE or something even more threatening than that.

Next thing is his ACTIONS. Based on his previous and current records in the faculty, he already have done countless of taboos such as inflicting violence, vandalism or destroying school properties, cutting classes, and even forming an illegal organization they called brotherhood where he is the king and the members are all his loyal subjects within the school premises. He is also the head or the first one to initiate the major offenses that occur and take place on campus, and some of those examples are: burning the school laboratory, stealing answer sheets from the teacher's office during examination periods, deflating the school principal's private car and last but not the VERY LEAST is that rumored “almost killing” a female teacher after she failed him in one of her subjects in his class, which I think is what he deserved in the first place anyway. It's horrible to think that gender or position does not matter when it comes to this guy. As long as you did something that aggravated him, then expect that he will come for your soul in return like a death reaper. He has made so many women cry and beaten up countless of men so I can see no reason why he mostly spends his time wandering alone at school, because even his "underdogs" only approach him when he gives them orders.

But although he had that bad reputation, he is still quite popular with the girls. Because aside from his handsome angelic face — which highly contradicts his demonic behavior, he’s not just all brawns according to rumors. They say that if only he was hardworking and studious, he would surely get even greater grades than the smartest students in our batch (except for me of course, ‘cause I know within myself that I’m smarter than the rest of them). Apart from that, he is also musically-inclined and has a band where he is the lead guitarist, and his bandmates are the same three musketeers who played music back in Bigbeard when my older brother Matt got wasted. Base on a source, they rarely have gigs which only depends on which bar they were invited to, and basically it was that gorilla man's primary source of income. But of course he also had other sideline jobs — temporary or permanent — that helps him earn a lot, such as being a one-time waiter at an elite social gathering or joining basketball leagues during barangay fiestas.

(A/N: Fiestas are annual, religious celebration prepared by the Roman Catholic Christians which are held to honor a particular patron saint depending on the place. Each barangay celebrates a fiesta and one of the fun activities during its commemoration is a street basketball competition.)

I tried to run a thorough background check on him and ask Lupert for more valuable information I might need to know about that prick, unfortunately we can’t dive in any further because that guy is too mysterious that if he becomes a popular celebrity in the near future, even the most talented and professional paparazzi will not be able to acquire even just the slightest bit of information about his secrets.

He is also quite a vigilant that the private investigators I send just to spy on him, do not succeed and always got caught by him to beat their asses in exchange. They can't even locate where he exactly lives because he keeps on misleading my intels. He's so good in keeping his private life private that we couldn't see a weak opening from him no matter how hard they try to. So yeah, indeed he’s a keen, enigmatic moron with a lot of undeciphered secrets.

It’s been a week now and eversince that day when I kicked his huge freaking balls, there's never a day where he won't mess with me and leave me alone. We drastically became mortal enemies for sure and because of that he bullies me all the time. Yes, he is bullying me. For the very first time in my life I just experienced this kind of belittlement which I never expected that would happen to me.

Even though we have different classes and rarely meet in the school ground, he still has his own demonic ways on how to piss me off each and every single day. I go to school at morning only to see that items I left under my desk were destroyed by him or his underdogs. During lunch break when I walk down the pathway of our building, I'll most often find myself soaked in dirty water, and every time I look up I always see his face holding an empty bucket on the second floor. Then, there's also another rare scenario where I skirt almost got ripped off after he asked his minions to secretly apply superglue on my seat, and on that moment we happened to had a recitation at Comm Arts. So, even if I don't want to, I refused to stand up till the end of classes just to avoid becoming a laughingstock to my peers and classmates.

Regarding Jannie, Elica and Arlo by the way — of course we’re still hanging out together at school, especially every lunch time. I finally met their other friend, Lyan, who is also strange like the rest of them. Why?

Because Jelly Ann Martinez aka Lyan is a certified gamer and anime weeb. If Jannie is addicted to books with erotica contents, then Lyan is addicted to watching anime in addition to her passion for playing online or mobile games. I have no issue regarding of them both being a super fan to the things they are interested for, but my concern here is about her inhumane size. Yes, she’s extremely overweight, to the point that she can be mistaken as a human-sized volley ball with her extra body fats. Plus, she's a food maniac, a HEAVY EATER to be particular — as if her monster-like stomach does not know the meaning of 'enough.' She never deserts her plate as long as there's still a grain of rice left. No wonder sometimes she's a bit scary to hang out with, especially if you brought food with you, because she's like she's about to lose herself when it comes to food. But anyway, in general she seems to be a nice friend — all of them.

Speaking of them, yes they are also aware of what’s the real deal going on between me and Maou the Monster. When I get targeted by him again, they always back me up quickly although they don’t fight back at him literally. They even told me that I should report this issue to the Principal or the teachers, knowing that only us students knows about what's happening. However, I still refused to accept their suggestion. Besides, I already wasted a lot of money because I payed all the students at campus — excluding my friends — to shut their mouths up and don’t tell anyone about the bullying thingy, not even spreading it across social media or telling it to their own parents. I know, right? I'm guilty as charged for being a foolish lunatic because it looks like I am still tolerating that bastard's evil schemes against me which is supposed to be not.

In fact, I can actually take him down in just a single snap of my fingers you know, but I decided not to do that because of two major reasons: First, I don't want that idiot to think that he's right about me depending for my parents' money, societal power, and wealth, 'cause I want him to see that I am different from the rest. Second thing, I don't want to use my status as an upper hand against him because I know better and I am merciful to animals like him.

Just kidding, it’s true that I’m sympathetic and overly sensitive (Sometimes, it’s just that it wasn't that obvious) so I don’t want to retaliate even if it’s just easy for me to get back from him. Yes, let’s say he is indeed a bad and ruthless guy, but don’t forget that I’m still an elite, from the upper-middleclass society. Nobody, not even him, should underestimate what we can also do especially my family when they'll discover about him — and I am certain if that time truly comes, he will be more miserable than I did with him, probably even worse. After all, my family is not that easy to mess with either, and when the Cortez family takes their turn for vengeance, anyone who opposes us will definitely suffer tenfold. I'm sure the trouble is only men.

And besides, instead of getting irritated, I am actually amused by what that monster is trying to do to me. I mean, for years I’ve always been treated like a princess and no one dares to go against me, not until I met that jerk. He’s the only one who treated me like different, which made me feel more human rather than a perfect material. It's like somehow, what I was asking for was already given to even if it's sort of a negative way, and that is to feel even just for once about what it's like to have normal life. Also, he doesn't do too much cruelry, so far I can still handle it. All of his schemes are actually a mere child’s play. Hence, it's pretty manageable.

As long as he is not hitting anything below the belt or hurting me physically, then I’m fine with to play along with his nonsensical games.

We just finished classes today and as my friends and I are parting ways, I happened to find Maou's silhouette from a corner of the parking lot here at the exit while I was just getting into the car. Speaking of the devil by the way, it’s been a while since we last saw each other.

I was planning to ignore him but when I saw him looking around in a strange manner as if he is trying to avoid something, my urge of following him got stimulated immediately.

Why is he looking so suspicious right now?

"Uh Mr. Baldo, I just remembered that I have something else to do for a while. I'll be back later but if not, I'll just call you instead, is that okay?"

"Pardon young miss? Where are you goi—" I didn't let him finish and just quickly ran out of the car to follow Maou secretly.

To be honest, I haven’t tried stalking him personally, not even once before so this will be the first time. Yes, I will not deny the fact that I used to hire private investigators to stalk him before but I have never experienced that I myself will actually do it on him. I hate to say this but if I’m gonna judge myself right now, I felt like I was one of his obsessed secret admirer who had an intention of raping him. Well, if he is the one I've got to force myself into, then why not? I mean, I won’t deny that he’s awfully attractive either.

Okay wait, allow me to precede you. I am not a horny person, rather I was just stating a fact — or perhaps a possibility.

"Argh, darn it! Stupid! Son of a fucking bitch!" he cussed violently out of the sudden which made me flinched a little bit. I shouldn't be surprised though, knowing that I immediately noticed that the tire of his motorbike was flat, as if someone had punctured it. No wonder why he got so fuming mad after seeing it. On the flip side, I find this situation even more amusing after I realized that this monster dude might actually have ‘other enemies’ who could have done that to him — because I swear to God, that wasn’t my doing. As I’ve said earlier, I don’t want to retaliate against him even though he bullies me and does bad things on me inside the school.

And come to think of it, I have never expected that someone in their sane minds would do something like this against Maou, the secret king of the underworld himself. Apart from my sole existence, so far I’ve never met anyone at school who defies him or go against his accord. Everyone is so afraid of him to the point that they even tremble just by hearing his voice across the room, so what's the worst thing that could happen?

Aside from the fear, he was also highly respected by the students at the school. If I am the ‘queen’ here, then he is the ‘king’ who sits right at the top of the social pyramid above the entire student body. Even a mythical deity has no match for him in terms of the amount of his followers and disciples, and if I'm not mistaken I will surely proclaim that he actually formed a religious cult in the campus and not a brotherhood. He’s feared and worshiped, so I don’t think there’s anyone who is even capable to ll commit this kind of act unless they want to die in his filthy hands.

But then, remembering about his reputation as a bad boy supposedly, I can say that it is also not impossible that there is someone out there who hates him and also wants to squash him dead like a head lice. And I was having a hunch that this person might be someone who has secret grudges upon him and this is his way to get back from him. I mean, this is just usual for gangsters, right? They have a lot of opponents and rivals so basically it’s just a normal thing for him to have other enemies apart from me.

But I wonder who could it be.

I snapped back to reality when I saw him crumbling a small piece of paper (which I think is a sticky note pasted from the side mirror of his motorbike) before he marches away away as if he's about to crash into the barangay hall, leaving his motorbike unattended in the area. I'm stuck in between choosing whether I should continue following him or not but in the end I decided to pick the first option. After all, it’s still too early to go home and I’m kinda bored when I’m at our house. Besides, I'm hoping that this time, I might discover something ‘new’ and interesting about the latter and use it to my advantage.

I don’t know what place are we heading exactly but it was in a street which is not so far from San Ignacio avenue, where our school is obviously located. Not many people nor vehicles pass through this area and strangely, I also noticed that most of the stores beside the sidewalks are either closed or open but not that crowded enough. This place is like a ghost town whatsoever. Or perhaps just now it became like this here.

When I peeked again at Maou's last direction from here in my new hiding place, he suddenly disappeared there which made me confused for a short while.

Where the hell did he go? Did he suddenly vanished into the thin air like how I wished it to be? Or did he catch someone following him again?

I looked around hoping that I could see even just his shadow and gladly I did. He enters a hidden alley to my left, between the three-storey buildings of two closed shops. Before you pass through that alley, you’ll see a thick and tall fruit tree standing proud on the right side and beside it there's a big trash can. So, from the bush where I was currently hiding as of the moment, I swiftly run behind the trash can and the tree, while watching Maou walking inward that narrow path.

‘Where is that freak going to? Don’t tell me there’s a secret portal here that will allow him to transport straight to underworld so he could re-analyze about his plans regarding world domination?' I thought at the back of my mind.

And then, what I saw next makes my mouth popped open. He was now surrounded by three bulky men and seems to be in a big trouble.

Or maybe not?!