SENSATIONALIZED

TRIGGER WARNING: Explicit/Disturbing content.

***

SOL watched Quest as he received the bottle of beer from her.

"Thanks," Quest said. Luckily, the dumbass looked like he wasn't suspecting anything strange yet. He took a sip of his beer without hesitation. "Refreshing."

She smiled at how naïve the supposed leader of the school gangsters was.

"How can I help you lessen your nerves?" he asked curiously. "To be honest, I'm quite surprised. I didn't know you were the type to get nervous about things like this."

"I don't sleep around," she said as she sat on the bed. "You will not be my first, but it's been a while since I've had sex."

Bullshit.

If Cloud and the other boys heard her, they would have laughed at her. After all, she often got teased for being a virgin. A seventeen-year-old virgin might be normal elsewhere, but not where she came from.

But of course, her targets didn't need to know that she was just a bluffing virgin.

[Fake it `till you hit them.]

"I appreciate your honesty," Quest said while laughing softly. "Most of the girls I've been with acted like I'm their first, even if it isn't true." When she didn't comment on that, he continued talking to her. "Will talking help?"

"I guess so," she said with a shrug. "Tell me a story."

"Like, my past with my exes?"

"Ew, no," she said while shaking her head, then she acted like in deep thought. But in reality, she knew exactly what she wanted to know from Quest. "Ah," she said, then she snapped her fingers. "I want to know more about Ma'am Aira, the teacher we saw last time. What do you mean when you said she let a student die?"

"Oh, that?" he asked hesitantly, then he took a sip of his beer before he talked. "It was all over the news. A female student killed herself before our batch's last summer vacation as junior high students. The victim was a Grade 11 student in Aira Pagtalunan's class."

She listened intently.

It was true that the sensationalized incident reached the national news. In fact, it shook their country. But of course, hearing the story straight from one of the people directly involved in it was different from hearing it from the news.

"Based on her suicide note, the victim reached out to her homeroom teacher about the bullying. But Aira Pagtalunan ignored her," Quest continued bitterly. "It's a wonder a worthless teacher like her wasn't fired. Still, she lost the respect of the students."

She wanted to laugh at what Quest said.

[I'm sure you and your little gang threatened the shit out of that poor teacher.]

Quest turned to her. "So, babe, if that bitch of a teacher scolds you again, just ignore her. You won't get in trouble because she knows she'll only get more ostracized by the students if she offends my girl in any way."

Ah, now she knew why Aira Pagtalunan endured it even though the students were treating her like shit.

Even the meek and diligent Kaia would often ignore their homeroom teacher in the class.

[A teacher being bullied by students? Interesting.]

"Who's this kid that killed herself?" she asked casually, pretending like she wasn't curious. "Based on your story, she seemed to be well-liked and popular among you. Because if not, why else would Aira Pagtalunan get ostracized?"

"She was special," Quest whispered as if he was talking to himself. For a moment, his face softened up as if he was reminded of some tender memory. But it was only for a moment. When he smirked, all the warm emotions on his face disappeared. "Well, she used to be the prettiest girl in school. But other than that, she was nothing more."

[You can't make that kind of face if that girl was "nothing" to you.]

"Aira Pagtalunan was just used as a scapegoat," he continued with his story. "Most of the students in our school just enjoy shitting on adults."

[I hear bullshit.]

"Who bullied that girl?" she asked carefully. "She was a grade above yours when that happened. Was she bullied like how Kaia is being bullied? Like selling her nudes online?"

"Let's not talk about the dead," Quest said with a smile, then he stood up and put the bottle of beer down on the night table. "Mind if I take a shower first?"

Sol shook her head and smiled. "Go ahead."

***

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