Chapter 23

Sidereae was putting away the bowls and wiping the table at the ramen shop where she works.

It's been two days since she got her one-week suspension from the school. Linda and Marianne also received a one-week suspension and community service as punishment.

However, Sidereae knew that Linda and her friends would never change. She hopes that when their punishment is over, the bullying will not worsen.

She sighed.

'I wish I had a strong mentality like Krynt and a high status like Roesia.'

It was disappointing that she didn't manage to give a proper payback on Amira. It would be satisfying to get revenge on someone who looks like Marianne.

After cleaning the table, Sidereae took the dirty dishes to the kitchen and put them in the dishwashing area.

"Sid, please deliver this to table 09," Diego said, putting down two bowls of tonkatsu ramen and a plate of gyoza and fried dumpling.

"Okay."

Sidereae took the tray and quickly left the kitchen to deliver the food. It took him two minutes to arrive at the table because the restaurant was busy, and the people were walking in and out.

"Thank you for waiting. Here's your order," Sid politely said and carefully placed the food on the table. After asking the customer if they got the correct order, Sid quickly went to the kitchen to fetch orders, ready to be delivered to the tables.

The time slowly passed, and finally, it was time for Sid to get off from work. She changes her clothes in the locker room and places her uniform inside her backpack. Sid opened the inside pocket of her bag and took her phone out to check if Mathieu had sent her a message.

She planned to meet Mathieu to borrow his notes as she had missed two days' worth of classes. In all honesty, Sid became unenthusiastic about attending classes and studying in general. She was only doing it for the sake of passing and graduating from school because she knew that her father wanted her to finish her studies.

"Maybe he's still at the school," She murmured after seeing that there was no new message from him.

She started tapping her keyboard to write a message saying that she'll be waiting for him at the train station.

After pressing the send button, Sid put her phone inside her pocket and left the restaurant to go to the train station.

She briefly stopped by the convenience store and bought a few bags of chips and two bottles of soda to share with Mathieu later.

"Meet me at the water's edge tonight

Running out of places to hide

You say that these are nothing more than words

But they're all words from old songs."

Sid quietly sang along as she listened to the song Junior by Stateless playing on her earphones.

"Hmm...hmm..mm," she started humming the tune as she turned right on the street when suddenly someone appeared and blocked her path.

"Well, well, look who's here. It's the bitchy freak who got us into trouble," Linda said and snatched her earphones from her.

"Hey, freaky eyes! do you think you got us this time, huh?" Julie frowned before spitting on her.

'What a lucky day for me to run with these girls,' Sidereae thought as she wiped Julie's spit. 'Why can't I get a break?'

She turned away, ignoring them, and continued to walk. She doesn't want to fight nor confront them because Sid will be the only one to suffer in the end.

"Ugh!" she groaned when Marianne grabbed her hair, stopping Siderea from walking away from them.

"Please, let me go."

"And why should I do that?" Marianne snorted.

"I don't want to fight. So please let me go," Sid responded.

"So? Do you think we care?" Niña laughed and slapped her. "You're the reason why we're doing this stupid community service! So it's only fair if we get back to you."

Sidereae laughed inwardly. Why is it became her fault? Aren't they the ones who started all this mess?

"But aren't you the one who started it?"

"Shut your trap! How dare you talk back to us?" Marianne growled, pulling Sid's hair.

"What did I ever do to you?! You were the one who kept on bothering me?" Sid yelled at them. She couldn't hold it anymore.

"This bitch!" Linda kicked her on the stomach, making Sid curl in pain.

"You are so annoying! You're a freak, and your presence is such an eyesore. I don't know why you were even born!"

"Your eyes are so ugly and creepy. It's so disgusting to even look at you."

She gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand. Sid jumped on Linda, pushing her down to the ground.

"Kyaah!"

Julie and Niña tried to pull Sid away from Linda. However, Sid grabbed Niña's arm and bit it.

"Ugh! Let me go! You fucking bitch!" She screamed while hitting Sid's face. But Sid didn't yield, and she even dug her teeth deeper into her skin.

Julie and Marianne tried to pull Sid, but she grabbed Linda's hair.

"Aaah, It hurts!"

Julie punched Sid's face freeing Niña's arm from her bite. Linda also managed to free herself under Sid when Niña kicked Sid's side as revenge for biting her arm.

The four of them worked together to beat Sid. They destroyed her phone, tore her work uniform, and stepped on the snacks that Sid bought.

"Damn! This rabid bitch really gave us a hard time," Marianne complained after they got tired of beating her.

"Let's go," Linda said before turning to Sid, lying like a dirty rug on the ground.

"I hope you die."

* * *

I could feel the heavy drops of the rain falling on my cheek. The ground where I was lying is now wet because of the rain. I stayed still, watching every raindrop with my blank eyes as they crashed and lost their form once they hit the ground.

My whole body aches, yet I feel numb at the same time. I forced myself to get up and slowly gather my broken phone and torn uniform inside my bag.

As I stood up, a sharp pain jolted my foot. I winced as I slowly trudged forward with my backpack hanging on my bruised shoulder.

"Pfft! Puahaha. Ahahaha!"

Have I gone mad? Maybe. Because I wouldn't laugh like a madman if I weren't gone crazy yet.

"Hahaha!"

I couldn't stop laughing because it was funny to see myself in this pathetic state.

With no destination in my mind, I walk and walk and walk as if I am lost in nowhere while searching for something that didn't exist under the cold heavy rain.

The surroundings began to blur, along with the busy people escaping from the heavy rain. The loud sound of the rain and the noisy honks of the vehicles were suddenly drowned by the constant ringing in my ear until it became a complete silence.

"...Sidereae, Sid!"

"Hey, Sid! Can you hear me?"

A blurry figure appeared in front of me. I felt something grab onto my shoulders and shake me.

"What happened to you? Why do you look like this?!"

As my vision cleared, I saw Mathieu's face wearing a hard expression.

He looks worried. Why does he look worried?

"I am okay," I said.

I don't know if I was telling it to him or if I was saying it to myself, but it was the only words that came out of my mouth.

"Ha, hahaha." I laughed again as I felt a heavy sensation surging inside my chest.

I don't know anymore. I don't know anymore if I am laughing or crying.

A warm and tight embrace suddenly envelopes me.

Mathieu didn't utter a single word. He kept me under his embrace as if he was telling me that he was here for me to lean on.

"Ah, Aaaaahhh!" I let out a sorrowful cry while tightly clutching Mathieu's shirt.

I couldn't stand anymore as I lost my strength and almost flumped on the ground. Thankfully, Mathieu was there to support me. He kept me under his embrace as we sat under the heavy rain.

"Aahh... It hurts. It hurts! What did I do wrong? Why? Why?"

I cried my heart out, trying to ease the painful feeling.

Damn, Sid. I couldn't believe that you became this weak and pathetic.

Why, Why, I must feel this way? What did I do for the world to treat me like this?