CHAPTER 5

In the canteen, Cassy and I were having lunch. And I told him about my job yesterday. She was happy to hear that I enjoyed working with Dave. And suddenly remembered,

"Cassy, I saw Dave riding a motorcycle yesterday, and he's incredible. I want to learn what he did yesterday, but I'm shy to ask, since he hired me to work, not to play." With a disappointed expression, I told Cassy.

Cassy gave me a friendly smile and said, "You can ask him for that; he's looking for a new member, anyway. Or would you like me to ask him instead?" Cassy suggested she assist me in approaching Dave about learning to drive.

"What if he rejects it?" I wondered.

"Let's wait and see what he decides." She said,

"Of course, we have to ask first," he added.

After our lunch, I told Cassy I would go to the record room to get files to deliver to the faculty room. And she nodded.

After going our separate ways, Cassy bumped into Andy.

"Excuse me, but I've noticed that you're always with Arien. May I inquire where she is now? I went to her classroom but I couldn't find her." Andy inquired.

"Why are you looking for Arien? Are you her suitor? With one brow raised, Cassy asked.

"Can I court her? Andy desperately asked Cassy.

"You better avoid her if you like her." Cassy remarked on it.

Cassy's magical words intrigued Andy. And he told Cassy, "I'm sorry, but I can't avoid her because the teacher assigned us to the same task."

"She's in the record room now." Cassy answered rudely to him.

After hearing the information, Andy rushed through the room. And he knocked on the door while calling me.

"You can open the door because it is unlocked." I responded.

"Have you been here for a long time?" He asked.

And I answered "no". I took out the file in order to deliver it to the faculty. Andy yelled at me to wait for him as I walked out the door. But I ignored his call. Because there are many eyes looking at me together with Andy.

While running away from Andy, I bumped into someone. I picked up all the files that had fallen to the floor.

"Hey! Are you blind? Look where you are headed to! Stupid! When I looked up and saw who I had run into, I panicked because I knew it was Isabella, a delinquent in school who had a crush on Andy.

"What an unlucky day!" I whispered to myself.

"What are you saying?" She asked in a loud voice."

"I'm sorry, Isabella. I'm in a hurry as well to deliver the file to the faculty room. "Please accept my sincere apologies." Before I could run, she pulled on my uniform and said, "That's all you can say?"

The bottom of my shirt was all pulled out. Andy saw what had happened to me and he dashed towards me. When he saw my shirt was ruined, he took off his blazer to cover me.

"Oh! What we have here is a hero saving a damsel in distress. Isabella said it in anger.

And it focused all the attention of the students on me. They were laughing and murmuring again because they thought I would seduce Andi.

"Do you pay attention to what people say about you? Are you that desperate to seduce all the boys here at school?" Isabella accused me.

"That's nonsense! Arien, never do that to anyone!" Andy defended me.

"Hmmp! We're not yet done, Arien! You're lucky now because of Andy. Isabella walked away.

"Can you deliver the file alone, Andy? I want to change my uniform into a P.E. uniform. I will return your blazer then. After Andy agreed, I went to the locker. When I was all changed, I brought Andy's blazer to his room. Luckily, Andy was outside his classroom. "I approached him and handed over the blazer.

"Thank you for lending me your blazer. Please keep it a secret about what happened earlier to Cassy? I don't want her to worry about it. After suggesting it to him, I turned back to my room. Then Andy suddenly grabbed my hand and said, "Don't mind what other people have said behind your back. I believe in you, Arien." He smiled and let go of my hand. And I nodded.

Cassy rushed into my room after the last class and said she had an emergency and couldn't accompany me to Dave.

"It's OK, Cas. It's my duty to clean the room, anyway." And Cassy went home.

I was on my way out of the classroom after cleaning when some students blocked my path. They cornered, and I asked them a question.

"What are you doing?" I asked them.

"Hee~ Not bad! But, accept our apologies; we have just received an order from someone to bring you to backyard." One of the students pointed out the direction.

They were dragged from the classroom to the backyard of the school. Some students were just whispering about me dragging someone in my T-shirt.

"Why are the students only watching me? They didn't even look straight at the students who dragged me. Who are they? Why do they appear to be afraid of them?" I raised my voice in my head.

Afterwards, we arrived at the location.

"Isabella, is she what you want? Isn't this girl correct? The one who's flirting with Andy?"

Isabella claps her hands and said, "Good, very good. Good job, everyone. "Bring that woman over here."

They drew me closer to Isabella. And Isabella yanks my hair. She was still enraged over what had happened earlier.

"I told you I'm not finished yet with you, right?" Isabella was enraged.

"You have the guts to get close to Andy!" she added.

"Did you use your pretty face on him to seduce him? You want me to smear your face." She made a toothy grin.

Isabella got a cutter in her hand and aimed it at my neck. I couldn't help but close my eyes. My neck has got a cut, and it's bleeding. I was trembling, but I couldn't utter any words. I can't fight them because my aunt would probably not defend me if they found out about this. Closing my eyes and calling for help in my head is the only thing I can do now.

Isabella continued to harass me. She cut my neck enough to feel the pain, ruined my T-shirt, and slapped me.

"Why, didn't you react? Know your place first when you make a move to Andy!" Isabella hinted at it.

Isabella's friend threw two spoiled eggs at my head. I feel so sticky and smelly. When they were going to throw another egg, someone was coming closer to us!

"Hey! What are you doing there? Time to home." A voice was coming from my back. Isabella and her friends were running away after they heard a voice. When I turned my head to look behind me to see who had yelled at us, it was a security guard.

"How come you're still squatting there? Go home now! Teenagers nowadays! Tsk!" the guard shouted.

I stood up and walked out of the school gate. And wiped my hair where the eggs had spilled before continuing on my way to Dave. I also wrapped a handkerchief around my neck.

"I hope Dave didn't notice this mess." To avoid more obvious stickiness, I tie my hair back.

I spray cologne on my hair to reduce the smell of spoiled eggs.

A moment later, I arrived at Dave's office.

Dave was surprised. He noticed that something was wrong with me. He stepped closer to me and said, "What is that smell?" And I responded, "I'm sorry." Dave was stunned because he didn't understand why. I said sorry. I lowered my head because of embarrassment. Then Dave suddenly smelled my hair.

"Arien, what happened to you, and why does your hair stink?" I didn't respond to him because I didn't want to talk about what had happened earlier.

Dave suddenly dragged me inside the office to go into the bathroom to take a shower.

"Clean yourself first, Arien."

"However, I don't have any clothes to change." I responded.

"I'll bring you my shirt. You can borrow it first. You can dry your school uniform in the laundry room to wear later."

After Dave instructed me, he left me alone. After I took a shower, "The pants are too big for me." I whispered and proceeded to the laundry room to wash my uniform.

Then, I called Dave!

"Dave?" I called him several times, but there was no answer.

"Perhaps Dave is out there riding his motorcycle again?" I mumbled. So I walked into the office to check on today's work. When I opened the door, I saw Dave was waiting for me, sitting on the sofa, reading some magazine. I called him to let him know that I had finished cleaning myself. When Dave looked at me, he was stunned and gulped.