1.16

That day, a terrible argument broke out between Jin and Joseph, in which the friend judged him of drugging, and the roommates have not spoken to each other since. Both of them acted too aggressively toward each other at the time. If Jimmy and Tom hadn't been with them, it could have ended far worse.

It's another day as Jin leaves the room slamming the door. For some time now he has been perpetually swollen with bad energy, getting up with his left foot and everything irritating him. He realizes it's due to his body running out of powders.

Lana did this on purpose. She wants him to be a ticking bomb.

— Can we talk? — The boy tightens his lips in anger, when he hears Solar's voice behind him. Lately, this girl has been annoying him to the point where he feels like screaming for her to get away from him. She walks behind him like a shadow, as if she has nothing else to do.

He turns to face her and forces an overly fake smile. She notices that he is again out of humor.

— What do you want? — He asks in a raised voice, leading him to look like a frightened child. — It seems to me that lately I can't even take a breath because you immediately appear by my side. Give me a break.... find other friends.

Her eyes look sad.

— I wanted to ask you for help.... — she says uncertainly, afraid of his reaction.

— So start coping on your own, dammit! Stop being a scared kitten and show your claws! No one will protect you all your life! — Tears run down her cheeks, and her heart hurts so much that she gets the impression that it will break in half shortly. — Don't cry and give me peace of mind! Stop following me twenty-four hours a day as if you were obsessed! You're getting me to the point where I've got you up to my eyeballs!

The students who witness Jin's outburst are discussing among themselves, clearly laughing at the scapegoat who gets punched right in the heart.

Solar takes three steps back, being completely shattered.

— I just wanted to ask you to talk to Danielle. She sent the girls at me again. I already have so many wounds on my body that I am in terrible pain — she says quietly, wiping away tears with the top of her hand. — She is the one who is obsessed with you, not me.

She turns her back on him and walks away. Pressing her lips together, she tries to control the searing pain in the area of her left breast.

She gets the impression that as she walks past people she feels as if everything around her is playing out in slow motion. As if through a fog, she sees students pointing their fingers at her, laughing brazenly at the fact that she is a loser in life.

They are right. She is.

These corridors make her choke. She runs outside, not caring about the cold winter air. She bursts out crying the moment she spots Johnny walking from across the street. The boy crosses the gate door and heads towards her with a quick step through the school yard.

He takes off his jacket and throws it over the girl's shoulders, then takes her in a bear hug, letting her cry herself to sleep.

— I showed up as soon as I could. Your phone call made me distressed. What's going on, Solar?

She sobs in his arms, realizing that Johnny is the only person who sincerely cares about her.

— This school is hell. I can't stand it here any longer.

— Get it out of your system. Tell me what's going on and I promise I'll help you.

Jin, who is watching them from the window, closes his eyelids, realizing that he has exaggerated, however, he has been a bundle of nerves lately. He has no self-control and berates anyone who comes near him.

He makes no secret of the fact that Solar's company tires him out more and more every day. It seems to him that recently the girl does not leave his side. That's why, during their last argument, he chided Joseph that he wasn't going to take it any further. This reignited the extra fire between him and Scott, who told him to hold out a little longer and break up with her in a gentler way.

Jin glances at his phone when he sees a call from Danielle on the display. He puts the cell phone to his ear and waits to see what the 15-year-old will tell him.

— I read your text message. Are you kidding yourself at this point?

— And aren't you acting like a child? You send on Solar girls who beat her! You are not serious, Danielle! — yells at her over the phone. — I realize that you are fifteen years old, and your brain is still developing, but these are already psychopathic urges!

Sitting on the windowsill, the boy worries a passing schoolgirl. He has been a volcano of anger for some time now and berates anyone who gets in his way.

The teenage girl glances at him with frightened eyes and escapes from his field of vision as quickly as possible.

— Are you defending this bitch? Are you saying I'm a psychopath? — He hears disbelief in Danielle's voice. — Be that as it may. I'm not going to put up with it anymore. I'm going to leave her alone, and you too. I'm no longer going to chase after a moron who sees the worst flaws in me! Live with that ugly bitch in Horace Mann! — After these words, he breaks the connection, and an exasperated Jin throws the phone in front of him. The cell phone crashes into the wall, but he is in no way sorry for this device.

He can live without it as well.

He is furious, and in large part because he has quarreled with Danielle. Things have been getting worse and worse between them lately, and Solar has a big part in that.

He intends to end it all tonight. He wants to do it at the evening party, where they will be choosing the Miss and Mister of the school.

*

Solar is grateful to Johnny for the care he gives her. He is the only man on earth who cares about her, although she flies in the face with him. She feels remorse toward him, especially since she fell in love with a younger boy who turned out to be just like the other, popular students.

He ridiculed her in public and yelled at her, thinking she was obsessed with him.

In fact. She is enchanted by him and has these strange shivers of excitement when she looks at him, she wants to be around him twenty-four hours a day, but isn't that exactly how love works?

It seemed normal to her, so why did he make her hope if she now teases him? He made her heart break in half.

She is a mess.

— It was too good to be true — she whispers under her breath, looking at her reflection in the mirror with tears in her eyes. Her short hair is frayed in all directions, her pale complexion looks ghastly in the white light, and her eyes are puffy from crying.

She is as ugly as ever.

So why did she hope that the handsomest boy attending Horace Mann would be interested in her?

She got her hopes up, while he apparently mocked her.

Once again, she bursts into tears when she thinks of all the students now having a great time at the party. So is her roommate, although she has long insisted that Solar go along with her, since Joseph has been feeling unwell lately and has been lying in bed with no desire to party.

It dawned on her ears that they had quarreled, and it was largely about Lana.

The hallway is empty. Everyone is out partying, so Solar intends to go outside to get some air.

This is undoubtedly the worst day of her life.

She zips her puffy jacket up to her neck and walks out into the school yard. It's already dark at this hour, so the only source of light is a lantern by the gate.

She stops in mid-step when her attention is caught by Queen Horace Mann, who embraces a mature man. She kisses him passionately, looking as if she wants to eat him.

Solar gets sick at the sight because after a longer observation she recognizes that the man is Joseph's father.

He hides behind a tree.

— Are you sure you'd rather spend this evening with me?

— One hundred percent. And so I know who will become Miss and Mister of our school.

— My son is also participating in this party?

Lana wrinkles her eyebrows.

— Joseph? That boy loves to be the center of attention, so sure. Since I've been stuffing him with powders, he's becoming quite a decent guy. No doubt he will become the king of Horace Mann after I leave. After all, he must have power like his father.

How is it possible that Mr. Scott is having an affair with Lana?

— I think he's had enough of these powders. Stop stuffing him with them.

— As you wish — she replies, putting her hand in the back pocket of his pants. — Do you have a delivery for me?

— What do you think I came here for?

— And that's what I love you for, Mr. Scott. — She hides the package in her coat pocket, looking at him with seductive eyes. — Before we go to my room, will you give me the rest of the stuff from the car?

— Again, you will not pay me....

Solar puts her hands to her mouth, clearly shocked by the overheard conversation.

Joseph's father and Lana are drugging the popular Horace Mann students. Now the girl knows why this change in the behavior of her former friend and Jin. But how can a father allow his son to be poisoned?

— Oh my god — she utters with concern in her voice and pulls out her cell phone from her pocket. She intends to take a picture of them and show it to Joseph, but forgets about the flash that betrays her presence.

— That little bitch... — Lana speaks up, pointing her finger at Solar.

The 17-year-old feels like being electrocuted when she notices Mr. Scott's gaze. She knows his dark secret — she knows the secret with which she can destroy his life.

She can't move on. She is trapped.

— I didn't hear anything.... I didn't see anything. I swear — she says in a trembling voice, then clumsily runs toward the entrance to Horace Mann. She hears Mr. Scott yelling at Lana, claiming it was due to her irresponsibility. He pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and makes a call to someone.

Solar knows full well that Mr. Scott is a man who removes dirt his own way.

Pale as a corpse, she rushes into Joseph's room, noticing that the boy is lying in bed. He looks at her with indifference in his eyes, in no way surprised by her visit.

— You must know something... — she says in a panicked voice.

— It's okay — he says in a donkey tone. — He will no longer make an idiot out of you. Jin is tired of messing with you. I'm the one you should judge. I'm the one who persuaded him to seduce you.

— I have to tell you about something else. I just witnessed something terrible....

— Yes, yes, Solar. He didn't even like you. You were naive to think that you warmed his heart. You are a boring girl, there is no life in you, so how did you want to keep him with you? Even I was sick of your company.

— Joseph, stop talking about it! I want to tell you something important! I'm in trouble, I'm in danger!

The boy sighed loudly.

— It's your fault that you wanted Jin. Do not resent me that his staff would like to kill you now.

He acts as if he is an entirely different person. He doesn't resemble the same boy she knew before he joined Horace Mann.

The 17-year-old tightens her lips and tears run down her cheeks. Finally, she can't stand it and screams:

— You have no heart! You are a monster! I hate you, Joseph Scott!

She leaves, slamming the door.

*

Breathing heavily, she rushes into the hall, where the Miss and Mister elections of the school are in progress. On stage are her roommate and Jin, who have crowns on their heads.

The boy wants to say something, but just then his gaze finds her. She is pale and frightened. She looks lost and looks around her as if she is afraid of something.

Danielle emerges from the crowd. People are charmed by her appearance as she faces a surprised Jin. She embraces his face with her hands and kisses him in front of everyone.

— Ignore my earlier words. It doesn't change anything. You are still mine — she speaks, then grabs the microphone and addresses the party participants. — Hi everyone. This is a very nice evening. I am happy that you appreciated my handsome boy and elected him Mister of the school. You are right. He is deadly handsome. — She glances at him out of the corner of her eye, and he crinkles his eyebrows, not understanding what Danielle is planning. — A certain Solar, who looks like a little boy, tried to bounce him off me. The poor girl didn't realize that he had been messing with her all along. — Her gaze finds the seventeen-year-old. — Did you think he would trade me for a chick who is not feminine at all? It's not a fairy tale that a prince falls in love with an ugly duckling. It's reality, moron. — She taps her finger on her forehead, letting her know that she is pathetic. Someone hands out cards that Danielle has prepared. Everyone laughs looking at the picture of Solar, who instead of a mouth has a vagina overgrown with cobwebs. The caption says it's her waiting for her first time with the prince of her dreams.

Jin looks at Solar's face and, despite the distance, it seems to him that her eyes are empty. She does not react in any way to what is happening around her. She simply watches him for a long moment, as if to memorize his face, then turns her back on him and walks away.

At this point, the girl has a hole carved in her heart. She is in a strange amok and can't think about anything.

Walking down the dark corridor, she bangs against the walls, wanting to be in her room as soon as possible. She is terrified to the extreme. This fear paralyzes her body, making her not fully aware of her actions.

A scream erupts from her mouth when, on the stairs, someone grabs her from behind and covers her mouth with his hand to keep her silent.

— Sometime soon it will be over — he whispers in her ear, pulling a syringe filled with a strange substance from his pocket. — It will be a quick and painless death. Don't worry, you're not the first one Mr. Scott is hastily disposing of.

The seventeen-year-old closes her eyelids from under which tears are flowing. Her last thoughts focus on her parents, Joseph, and Jin, with whom she unhappily fell in love....

This was apparently to be the fate of her worthless life.