Chapter 15- Bully

Natalie was really surprised because she didn't know many people and wasn't sure many knew her either. She saw a guy walking hastily towards her, finally catching up with her. At a closer look, she immediately recognized who he was.

"hey Natalie, recognize me?" the guy asked, his eyes carrying a glint

"mm.." Natalie nodded with a small smile on her lips . She did remember. Ray, the second year guy she had helped to the clinic a week ago. She had gone to see him the day after she had taken him to the clinic. Then, he only stayed awake for less than thirty minutes and Natalie wasn't even sure he heard her name when she told him. She could only find out his name from Kira.

"I'm Ray. Thanks for your help the other day",he said with a seemingly satisfied look

"You're... okay now?", Natalie asked with uncertainty. Asides from a little bandage on his forehead, he looked perfectly fine like the incident a week ago never happened. She secretly marvelled at his speed of recovery. Ray nodded to her question while still smiling. She hesitated a bit before asking, "I didn't tell you my name so how... did you know it was me". She was pretty sure he was nodding off last time she went to the clinic. He couldn't possibly have heard her.

"I asked around and you're not really hard to spot. You're probably the only one in Mourline with your kind of hair ". Natalie smiled,red faced. She didn't know whether to see her hair as a blessing or burden. Breaking any rules in the future was impossible because it'll be easy to spot her. Not that she was considering breaking any.

"Are you free now... how about I treat you to lunch to thank you"

Natalie shook her head immediately" oh... no, don't worry I... ",she started but was interrupted by Ray

" Please, don't say no" he pleaded. Natalie was literally crying in her heart. She just wanted to go back to the dorm for a nap but she didn't know how to reject this kind gesture. Ray found the junior in front of him nice. She was polite and easy to get along with. Moreover, she had helped him greatly. He felt warm inside and insisted on buying her lunch to repay her favour.

"what do you say?",he pressed on.

Natalie sighed internally. Now she didn't have a choice.

"Okay, I agree".She saw his eyes lit up. They made small talks on the way and when they arrived Natalie saw Kira wave at her from a distance, a wide smile plastered on her face. Natalie waved back.

"uh... that's my friend Kira. You should know her. She's the top student in the third year and a paramedic in the clinic". Natalie informed Ray who nodded.He had seen Kira a few times before. At the same time, Kira motioned at her to hurry up. When they got to the table, Natalie introduced him and Kira eagerly shook his hands. Just as he had said earlier, he paid for their lunch. They chatted away and didn't bring up the past incidence regarding Rays injury to avoid making him uncomfortable.

"How was the exam?" Kira asked enthusiastically

"Great. The next text should start in about an hour". Natalie understood that as her senior and friend, Kira was concerned. After all as her best friend, she even knew Natalie's dislike for the language course.

"the test in the clinic is quite easy",Ray said, "they just need your blood sample. The results should be out by the end of the day or perhaps tomorrow".Kira nodded in affirmation. At this, Natalie's face turned a bit ashen. Needles!. She almost forgot that the blood test would require needles. How was she going to pass the exam when she couldn't stand one. As a matter of fact, she was afraid of them that she could possibly faint at the sight of one in a worse case scenario. But she didn't tell Kira about it or the latter would be worried about her. They continued their meal in a comfortable silence.

After a while, they heard a commotion from a table a bit farther from theirs. Two guys where entangled in a fight but on a closer look, it was a one sided pummeling scheme. One of them had unruly blonde hair and a scar below his eyes. The other guy was frail looking and was being beaten up as countless punches rained down on him. It was obvious that the blonde haired guy had the upper hand. No one bothered to separate them or made a move to report to an instructor.

"who's that... and why isn't anyone trying to stop him?" Natalie asked while watching the unfolding scene with a perturbed expression.

"Edan Caine" Rays expression darkened, the name rolling off his tongue in a discernibly loathsome manner. Natalie turned to him and blinked as he continued, "notorious dude with a pretty bad attitude".

"He got the scare on his face after a huge fall out with Derek Gallagher. Talk about public enemies, they're the true definition of that ",Kira spoke up. Ray narrated to the girls the reason behind his injuries a week ago . He got beaten up by Caine's lackeys when he had approached him for bullying his good friend. Natalie and Kira's eyes widened in shock when they heard the reason behind him ending up in the clinic. Natalie couldn't help but feel abhorrent towards this bully. She hated these kind of people the most. People without the slightest bit of sympathy for others. Kira was already used to such things since she had stayed here for three years.

"no one is that stupid to stop them. They'll probably be made the next target if they tried to intervene. The only solution is for an authority to walk in here, if not... ",Kira trailed off as shook her head. " I wonder what he did to make Caine mad", she sighed .

Caine stood up and gave the frail looking guy a kick in the abdomen. Natalie felt really sorry for the guy groaning in pain. Ray clenched his fist under the table unbeknownst to the girls, his eyes growing darker. Suddenly, he pushed back his chair and stood up. The girls where startled.

" Uh... I have something on. I'll see you girls tomorrow ",he said forcing a smile that didn't reach his eyes. They nodded and watched him strode off. Soon after the bully and his lackeys left, the boy was helped off the ground and taken to the clinic for treatment. Natalie and Kira finished off their lunch and Natalie in an undeniably sour mood decided to go to the clinic immediately. The earlier she was done with this ,the better.