V

THE ASSHAT ENDED UP IN THE SCHOOL CLINIC UNTIL DISMISSAL.

Laia decided she absolutely had no regrets punching the asshole straight in the face. Her fist did bleed, and it was painful, but she knew that the asshole was more hurt than she is. She took that as a win.

She was called to the principal's office as well. But she immediately convinced the principal that it was the boy that aggravated her first and even brought up a sensitive topic (which was true). Since she had always been the principal's favorite student since she was a first-year, the principal let her off the hook easily. However, Laia still had a ten-minute session with the principal explaining to her the importance of keeping the peace in their school and that being a star student the girl should avoid fighting with her fists and instead should settle it by talking to the other person peacefully.

As if she can even be in the same place as that asshole at the moment, Laia thinks but kept her smile steady even as she was already bidding farewell to the kind, old principal. She knew the old lady meant well but Laia could barely even manage to keep her thoughts straight whenever the face of the asshat crossed her mind. Does the principal even think she can talk to him peacefully after she made the asshat's nose bleed?

Laia hoped that the principal would not tell her mother. The girl did convince the old lady to not call her mother as it was not a huge matter of importance but she can never be too sure. Maybe she should turn her mother's phone off the moment she arrives or maybe she can block her school's number.

The rest of the girl's day went on without any problem. Sure Brie did call her a few times but she turned her phone off after receiving a text from her best friend that Samuel might not go to school tomorrow since Laia might have had broken the boy's nose. Laia laughed in glee and decided she would take a break from studying tonight because of how happy she is after finally shutting the boy up.

She hopes the boy would decide to change schools out of fear that Laia might kick him in the balls next time if he tries something funny. Or maybe change classes. Anything is better as long as she won't see his annoying asshat face again.

*

Apparently, Laia's happiness did not last long. The boy was immediately back after a single day of him being absent. Contrary to what the girl thought of the boy finally deciding to change seats with someone else or just deciding to sit anywhere else except beside her, Samuel, the asshat did not.

The asshat even had a band-aid with a bunny on it. Some of Laia's female classmates cooed over how cute it was, and some even offered to lend him another band-aid if he had to change. It was all rainbows and flowers beside Laia, and it made the girl want to puke.

Thankfully, their adviser arrived. Upon seeing the state of the asshat beside Laia, her smile immediately turned into a frown. She turned to Laia for a split second, probably debating whether to call the girl out for what she had done to the teacher's relative (or at least what Laia thinks). Luckily, she did not and Laia did not waste any more minutes of awkward staring as she stood up from her chair, walked to where the markers were placed (since she was early and borrowed markers from the class next door in advance), and handed one to her adviser.

Her sudden actions made her adviser blink in surprise but she regained composure straight away and then decided to start the class.

Her class was boring as usual. Laia fought the urge to yawn and sleep instead. The competitive side of her brain argued with her, insisting that she simply cannot let the asshat have any more advantages than he already has. Not only did his pitiful act make most of their classmates offer to take notes for him for the rest of the week (and some female classmates even offered to do it until his boo-boo heals, yuck) he even managed to convince some of their subject teachers to extend their deadlines for him.

Disgusting, the girl thinks as she shook her head in distaste.

"Is there a problem, Laia?" Her adviser suddenly asks, her voice obviously laced with concern. It's not often that the girl is distracted in class.

Laia rolls her eyes subtly, which went unnoticed by her adviser but not by the boy beside her who smirked. Laia pointedly ignored the asshat's smirk and smiled at her teacher so brightly, as she wanted the older woman to go blind.

Kidding, the girl thinks. "Of course none, Ma'am Anne. I just had something on my eye," Laia even acted that something was indeed caught in her eye, and subtly plucked out a single eyelash, showing it to her teacher. "I'm sorry for disrupting the class. It won't happen again,"

Laia's act convinced her teacher easily and she continued her discussion. Laia blew on the eyelash, wishing that the nuisance currently beside her would somehow trip on his feet and fall down the stairs, resulting in an injury that would eternally paralyze him.

A classic way of getting rid of an enemy. Her thoughts made the girl chuckle, and fortunately, no one noticed it once again except the boy beside her, who has been staring at her since she started laughing at her own jokes.

Laia was indeed one of those people who enjoyed dark humor. And memes. But of course, nobody knows except her (and her mother, but her mother does not tell her that she is aware of her child's weird addictions besides studying immensely even if her exams are still months away).

The rest of the girl's classes were uneventful. Most of their subject teachers asked the asshat beside her if he was already alright to attend classes, and would pointedly turn to Laia in a futile attempt to make the girl guilty of what she had done to Mr. Perfection but definitely a Horrendous Monster when no one else is around.

Miss Abigail, one of the teachers who definitely doted on the asshat in Laia's most humble opinion, even tried to humiliate the girl during her class by making her answer a question that was not even discussed yet.

Laia smirked as she stood up, and stared at her teacher which looked at her with undisguised anger in her eyes. It was very obvious she wanted the girl to fail, however, Laia had already studied and made notes on her subject for lessons that would probably be discussed next year.

"I would like to answer your question with yet another question, ma'am," She heard Brie from the back cheer, which was joined by her other classmates. "What makes you so sure that nihilism is a concept that should be denied by us students? Don't you know that even in the 20th century, nihilistic themes such as epistemological failure, value destruction, and cosmic purposelessness have preoccupied artists, social critics, and philosophers?" Laia even started walking around, showing off her superiority in the current topic. "Even Nietzsche himself noted that if we can survive the process of destroying all interpretations of the world, then perhaps through nihilism we could then perhaps discover the correct course for humankind."

Without waiting for her teacher who was looking at her with widened eyes and an open mouth, Laia sat down on her seat, crossing her legs. She wanted to look smug as her class cheered at her response, but she hid her smug and excited reaction behind a book.

Miss Abigail did not even discuss further on the topic after that. She just gave them an assignment and left with her tail tucked behind her legs.

As she should, Laia thinks as she rolled her eyes. It's unfair enough to make a student explain a concept that has not been discussed yet, and she even had the audacity to look at Laia with obvious anger and the motive to humiliate her in her eyes?

Laia wondered if the asshat slept with the teacher. There had always been rumors of the teacher allegedly sleeping with her students but they were never proven.

Well, innocent till proven guilty.

Brie excitedly jumped to her best friend's side after their teacher left their room in a hurry, obviously humiliated by her own doing. "I cannot believe you did that!"

Laia told herself to stop smirking smugly, but she could not stop it and she did. Brie shrieked even louder, even tugging her boyfriend alongside her and telling him repeatedly how Laia smirked. "I wanted to do that since she flirted with Jake last month!"

Jake rubbed his neck, embarrassed by how his girlfriend brought up the topic. "Love, not that again,"

Brie glared at her boyfriend. "You know that she was flirting with you! Don't tell me you liked it?! I swear to God, Jake--"

The boy pulled his girlfriend close and kissed her to stop her from ranting. Laia looked away, as she had always not been a fan of public displays of (unneeded) affection. After the kiss, Brie smiles at her boyfriend flirtatiously and whispered something that Laia missed since she already turned away from the (disgusting) couple and started fixing her things inside her bag since the witch Abigail's class was her final class for today.

Finally, she can rest as tomorrow is a weekend.

But before the girl can leave the room unnoticed by her best friend and her best friend's hopelessly in love boyfriend, someone's hand grabbed hers, ruining her hopes of escaping being the third-wheel on another date again.

"I swear to God, Brie--"

"You should do that more often,"

Laia grimaced. Of course, it had to be the asshat. Of course, out of all the thirty-something (Laia did not bother to count how many classmates she had) other classmates the girl had it just had to be the asshat who grabbed her hand with his own. Laia wonders if she had sanitizer in her bag.

"Don't tell me what to do," Laia pulled her hand away from the asshat's hold and even wiped it on her skirt. She might get contaminated by a disease called narcissism and fakeness if she did not. "Or you might get another punch."

The asshat smirks and was about to say something when Brie interrupted them with a squeal. "Oh my gosh, perfect! Babe," She pulls Jake to her side. "We can make Laia and Sammy go with us to the movie so we can get a discount!"

A discount? Movie?

"What do you mean, Brie?" Was only what Laia could ask her best friend. However, with the smile on Brie's lips, Laia should have known the girl in front of her would be up to no good.

"There's a discount if two couples come in to watch the new romance movie me and Jake wanted to watch," She claps excitedly. "You and Sammy should act as a couple and we would all get discounts and free popcorn!"

Sometimes Laia really just wants to choke her own best friend.