Chapter 07: "I Challenge You!"

"Hey, the enemies are hiding on the bushes!"

"Move!"

"Bro, go around them!"

I just arrived in the classroom and the first thing that greeted me was the deafening voice of my classmates that were playing on their phones.

It seems like they were playing the famous online game these days. A lot of people was addicted to this game, especially students. Some even sacrifice their sleep just to play.

And I'm no exception to that. I used to be addicted with this game back then.

I put down my bag on my desk and went to them. "How did you guys brought your phones? Isn't it prohibited?"

"It's not allowed when you get caught." One of my classmates said while clicking aggressively on his phone.

"You guys never learn, do you?" I sighed and went back to my seat.

"You didn't bring your phone with you?" Luke asked and sat on Chet's table.

"Of course not. I told you I'm a new man now."

"Woah~ I thought you were just talking gibberish." Chet said while sitting on his seat and playing on his phone.

"Hmm..? You're not even wearing your wristbands and piercing anymore. It looks like someone's turning into a new leaf. Is it because of the council president?" Luke teasingly point out.

"HAHAHA are you hitting on him?"

"What the hell?! I'm not doing this because of him! I'm doing it for Miya!"

"Yeah, sure. HAHA!"

These two really love ganging up on me.

"So, what's progress between you and Miya?" Luke asked with his arms cross.

"I never got the chance to talk to her again... Plus, I don't know what to tell her. I'm still not that close with Zen Liang."

"Why don't you ask her what she like about him?" Chet suggested.

"Right!" An idea pop-out on my mind. "You're a genius, dude!"

"Heh... Tell me something I don't know—" Chet proudly shrugged.

"DEFEAT"

"The heck?!!" Chet complained as the computer declared his defeat.

"There, there." Luke tapped Chet's shoulders to comfort him.

Well, I guess he's good at other things at least.

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"What did I do this time?" I mumbled as I walk on my way to the dean's office.

As I was about to grab the doorknob, the door already opened. Zen Liang went out of the office. We stared at each other for a second.

"Hey, there—" I raised my hand along with a warm smile to greet him, but he just walked pass me and left. He look annoyed.

"This guy is being a jerk again. I thought that we'd at least grown a bit closer."

"Whatever." I sighed and went in the office.

"Yes, yes! Thank you for your kindness Mr. Liang." The dean was talking with someone on the phone with his back facing on me.

"Mr. Liang? Is that Zen Liang's father?"

"Excuse me, sir?" I interrupted.

The phone call ended. The ear to ear grin he had faded as he put down the phone and turned around to face me.

"Mr. Jian Tan." He sat down and took out a folder. "Some students reported that you and your gang had been making mischief lately."

"What?" I was surprised about what he said. "What gang are you talking about? And I wasn't doing anything!" I exclaimed.

I don't know what kind of rumors had been running around and who dumped the blame on us. But I'm pretty sure we'll get in trouble because of this.

The Dean sighed. "It's alright. I understand that you guys from the lower class are always looking for trouble. You don't care about your future. I can understand that, I was once your age too."

"Although, this must not be taken lightly. Punishment is a must." He continued.

"We didn't do anything!!" I snapped out slam my palm on his table.

He flinched out of surprise. "Mr. Tan!"

I can't believe we're being framed up.

"Go back to your classroom or I'll call your parents!"

"Damn it..." I stormed out of rage.

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When I was about to go back to our classroom, I saw my classmates running on the field. It is a hot day, some of them had already passed out.

"Hey! What the hell is this?!" I approached the members of the student council that were standing on the shade while watching my classmates run under the burning heat.

"This is your punishment for stealing the exam papers" One of them answered.

What the hell?!

"This is not right! You don't even have a proof— ugh..." I fell down as one of them push me off.

"Tch. We don't need proof. Lower class like you are all the same. You're all trash." A student from Class A said as he look down on me.

"You piece of—" I was about to punch that guy when Luke and Chet held me.

"Dude, just ignore them." —Chet.

"Calm down."—Luke.

"Go back to running!"

"Let's go, dude." Chet and Luke took me with them.

We ran the entire field for almost two hours under the heat. I can see the whispering and giggling from the students that were watching us.

"What's wrong with these people?! Why are they enjoying this crap..."

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"My legs hurt as hell!"

"Ugh... I'm so thirsty!"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah.. I'm fine."

"What happened back there?" I asked our class president as we cool down from running.

"Some of the exam papers were missing, and it turns out there were students who told them that it was someone from our class who stole it." She sighed.

"So that's what the dean's been talking about. How did they know that it's someone from our class though? I don't think anyone here has the guts to do that."

"We're from lower section, we should expect something like this to happen." One of my classmates said before taking a sip on his water.

"Even if it's not us, we can't do anything about it."

"Right. It's us against those damn higher sections. Geez, so annoying."

Hierarchy is inevitable, especially in this school. When you're in class A, you're considered somewhat special. But if you're in class D and below, you have no future.

"Hey! We aren't the worst! I mean section E might be behind this. That class is full of gangsters."

"I know, right? Why are they picking on us?"

I need to find who's behind this and clear our names.

"Hey, Jian." Chet and Luke called me out from the corner.

"What did the dean told you?" Chet asked.

"It's about the stealing incident. He's accusing us."

"Argh..! Seriously?"

"Do you think the council president had anything to do with this?" Luke asked while wiping his glasses.

"I don't think so..."

I didn't even saw him back there. And he seemed pissed off awhile ago.

"Guys!!" He exclaimed while panting from running.

"What is it?"

"The student council are going through our bags!"

"Damn it! My phone!"

"What the heck are they up to now?!"

We all went back to our classroom and found the student council confiscating my classmates' phones.

"H-hey! That's mine!"

"Don't take it away!"

He is here, Zen Liang. He doesn't look like he's in a good mood.

"Ugh... The council president is here." One of my classmate whispered.

"He's the worse."

He's about to leave when suddenly my classmate attacked him and grabbed the collar of his shirt.

"It's you! You're behind this, aren't you?!" My classmates grabbed him away from Zen Liang.

"Dude, chill out. You'll be in trouble!"

"This bastard is always troubling us!"

Zen Liang fixed his shirt and glared at him. "It's you who's bringing your own trouble. If you don't want to be treated this way, then be responsible with your own actions." He said and left, along with the other student council members.

"Damn that bastard!"

"Hey, don't do something hasty! You're gonna get us in more trouble!"

It doesn't seems like Zen Liang is doing this on purpose. He need to abide by the rules and besides, he's the council president.

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"This sucks! My precious phone is gone!" Chet whined.

"I told you not to bring it."

"Argh... Maybe I can steal it back from the council?" He enthusiastically said.

"No." Luke opposed and softly smacked his head.

"Oww!" Chet pouted.

"It looks like they will be implementing the rules more strictly this time. What do you plan to do, Jian?" Luke turned his gaze on me.

"I'm still figuring it out." I need to figure things out.

"Do we really have to dye our hair?"

"It's that or they will shave your hair bald."

"What?! No way!"

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"Ugh... This is exhausting!" I lay down on my bed while staring on the ceiling.

"What should I do..."

"Brother?" My sister opened the door and went in.

I sat up and looked at her, "What's up?"

"Are you good?"

"Yeah, it's just some things from school."

"Oh. Anyway, mom told me to give your allowance. I'll put it on the table."

"Yeah, thanks."

"Alright."

"Oh! Wait, Jia. What would you do to prove someone that what they thought about you was wrong?"

"Hmm..." She paused for a second, "I guess I'll challenge them."

"Huh? Why?"

"To prove my point. If you show them that you are more capable than what you seem, then they wouldn't have a choice but to accept that." She directly answered.

I didn't knew how fierce this kid is. She even speaks more maturely than me.

"Agh! You've grown up!" I stood up and hugged her.

"Please stop." She coldly replied.

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The next day, all the students gathered in the gymnasium for an announcement.

The area was filled with murmuring and whispering from the students. It suddenly went silent when the council president stepped on the stage, followed by the other council members.

"Good morning, my fellow students." He started his announcement with a greeting.

"The council had received a lot of concerns about the implementation of rules in this institution. We figured out that most of you are taking the rules too lightly." He paused for a moment.

"Therefore, from today on. For those who will not follow, they will receive a heavier punishment. As this had been the request of the majority." He continued.

"What the hell?! Who would want that?"

"This is bullshit..!"

It must've been the influence of the higher sections.

"You only have this week to fix yourselves. Males must remove the unnecessary accessories. Females must wear the correct uniform. And the hair must be cut neatly, with its natural color."

"Ugh, I don't want to dye my hair!"

"My piercing has nothing to do with my studies!"

"I guess I need to dye my hair black again." Chet mumbled.

"I love your hair no matter what."—Luke.

"What?"—Chet.

"Hmm?"—Luke.

The students are now reacting negatively to the announcement. Most of them were from the lower sections.

Zen Liang is about leave, but I can't make him leave it like this. I slipped my way to the front for him to notice me.

"Zen Liang!" I called out for him, making all eyes turn on me.

"I guess there's no going back..."

"Hey, go back to your line—"

"What is it?" He answered, making everyone silent.

"I want to challenge you."

Everyone was speechless and shocked. I can feel their eyes boring on me.

"Is he insane?!"

"Who's that guy?"

"GO GET HIM, JIAN!" Chet shouted.

"This damn idiot! Now everyone knows my name. Haha. Goodbye, peaceful high school life."

"Don't talk nonsense. Go back, now!" A student council member ordered.

I stood firm, "No. I want to make a deal with Zen Liang."

We stared at each other's eyes.

"Rules are important in order to discipline the students. Without rules, everyone would be irresponsible."

Everyone was just silent while listening to me attentively.

"However... We should also have the freedom to be what we want or what we are comfortable with. Piercings or dyed hair does not have anything to do with how we perform in class."

"That's right!"

"Hell yeah!"

"The red head is right."

The other students agreed.

"The things you wear and do affects the image of our school. Therefore, those rules were included." The council's vice president responded.

I can't deny that. We are in a prestigious institution after all...

"He got a point..."

"Right."

"Then the Class A must also abide by the rules!" A student shouted. "Those two students have tattoos! I've seen it when they were flexing it in the bathroom!" She pointed them out.

"What?! T-that's not true!"

"Y-yeah..."

"Hey, that girl's skirt is shorter too!"

"Mind your business!"

"When we're late, we get punished. But those Class A students always get away with it!"

"For real!"

"That girl is not brunette!"

"I am!!"

The crowd were filled with the students' complaints. It looks like everyone's been holding it all in.

"Tell me." Zen Liang finally spoke up once again.

Everyone turned their gaze on us.

"Huh?"

"Tell me, what's on your mind."

He's actually willing to listen. Alright, I can't mess this up!

I smirked and pointed my finger on him. "Let's compete, Mr. Council President."