Chapter-170 Cyrus Velasco

Jay-jay's POV

Flashback...

"You have a new classmate!" Ma'am announced.

Like I care!

She gestured toward the door, and a guy walked in.

He was tall, with slightly slanted eyes. Because he was good-looking, my classmates—who were apparently thirsty for the sight of a handsome guy—started squealing.

"Hello... I'm Cyrus Velasco. 16 years old. Nice to meet you all. I'm your new classmate." he said with a smile.

Tss. Obviously!

Our eyes suddenly met. I quickly looked away—I had no interest in him. He looked arrogant—correction, he was arrogant.

Ma'am said something, but I couldn't be bothered to listen. Too boring!

Suddenly, my classmates in the front row shouted. It looked like he was looking for a seat. I leaned my chin on my hand and stared out the window.

Watching the dust stuck to the glass was more interesting than this.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed my classmates looking at me.

What's their problem?

Annoyed, I glared at the idiots. That's when I realized all of them were staring at me. My eyes landed on the guy standing in front of me—smiling.

"Can I?" he asked, pointing to the seat beside me.

"It's taken." I answered flatly.

"No one's sitting there." one of my classmates interrupted, so I shot them a glare.

"Shut up!" I snapped. In response, they just rolled their eyes at me.

"By who?" he asked casually.

"By my bag." I quickly placed my bag on the chair. "...See?"

He burst out laughing.

For some reason, that laugh irritated me even more. There were so many empty seats, yet he just had to sit here. He was obviously messing with me!

"Don't laugh! I'm serious... It's studying, look!" I pointed at my slightly open bag, where some trash was sticking out like a tongue.

He laughed again, making my irritation skyrocket.

This guy is an idiot!

Without warning, he grabbed my bag and handed it back to me. Then, he sat down in the seat beside me—again with that stupid smile.

"You're cute." he said.

"Son of a b*tch!" I snapped.

"Ms. Mariano!" Ma'am suddenly yelled.

Oh, she was still here?!

"Yes?"

"To the Guidance Office, now!"

My classmates burst into laughter.

You're all dead later. So annoying!

End of Flashback...

Almost two years had passed since he walked into our classroom and introduced himself.

He looked kind, and because he was good-looking, many admired him. But all of that was just a façade.

Because Cyrus was insane—full of arrogance and desperate for attention.

"I knew you'd come back." he said, walking closer to me.

I stepped back. I never expected that we'd face each other here of all places.

I glanced at the door for a moment. I planned to run, but I didn't get the chance.

Cyrus grabbed my neck—fast. "...Don't leave just yet."

"C-Cy... rus..."

I struggled to breathe as his grip tightened. My feet slowly lifted off the ground. I grabbed his hands, trying to pry them off my neck, but I was too weak.

"Argh!" I screamed as he shoved me against the wall.

"Good thing you came back... because I really missed you." he said, emphasizing the word miss.

I knew what he meant, but given my situation, I couldn't focus on figuring it out.

"L-let... g-go... ugh! Of... me..."

He tightened his grip even more. My vision started to blur.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" he taunted. "...That's how I felt back then. You piece of sh*t!"

"C-Cy..." No more words came out.

Damn it!

Even my hands had no strength left to fight back. Was I going to die here?

Somebody help me!

Suddenly, Cyrus laughed and slowly released me. I collapsed onto the floor, coughing so hard it felt like my throat would come out of my mouth.

"I'm not stupid enough to kill you... I just want you to suffer like I did." he said before walking out of the Guidance Office.

Tears streamed down my face. I was scared—even though I shouldn't be.

My heart pounded so fast, and all I wanted was to hug my knees and cry out loud.

But I couldn't.

My whole body trembled. I nearly had to crawl just to reach one of the chairs. I took my phone out of my pocket, my hands still shaking.

I wanted to call Keifer or Yuri.

But... for what?

I wasn't a child who needed to tattle. They were already worried because of me—it was better if they didn't find out.

I forced myself to sit properly. I wiped my tears and fixed myself.

Then, I suddenly remembered the envelope. I immediately looked for it and saw it on the floor.

I picked it up and placed it on Ma'am's desk.

I fixed my hair and covered my neck. Even though I couldn't see it, I knew it would leave a mark. Thankfully, the Guidance Counselor took a while to return.

"Sorry if I took too long," she said as she sat in the large chair. "...Did you get bored?"

I shook my head, but she suddenly stared at me.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Y-yes..."

She shrugged and picked up the brown envelope from her desk, briefly scanning the papers inside.

"Did you run into Mr. Velasco here?" Ma'am asked, her eyes still on the documents.

If only you knew.

"Yes."

"That kid... ever since he got back from the hospital, he's been nothing but trouble. Looks like he replaced you here at school." she joked.

But I wasn't laughing.

"...If you don't mind me asking, what really happened between you two back then? We've heard so many different stories that it's all confusing."

I averted my gaze. That was so long ago—why did they still have to gossip about it?

"A-uh... W-well... Ma'am..."

Flashback...

"This one's so stubborn! Can I hit him now, Boss?!" one of Cyrus' friends shouted.

I turned to see what they were doing. They were messing with a first-year student—a small, dark-skinned kid.

I felt a wave of irritation. How many times had they done this already? Did they really feel no guilt picking on freshmen?

I walked toward them. "Cy!" I called.

Cyrus turned to me and smiled. I was so done with his smiles. I was so done with everything they were doing.

"Hi, Babe!"

Babe?

His friends burst out laughing. I knew they were just messing with me—especially with that Babe nonsense.

"You!" I called out to the freshman they were harassing.

"M-me?" he stammered, pointing at himself.

I immediately nodded. "Go back to your classroom."

"Wait a minute! We're not done with him yet!" one of them protested.

"Come on, Jay!"

But the freshman had already run off, leaving them with no choice but to drop it. I shot them a sharp glare.

Cyrus' friends didn't respect me anymore.

"Your girlfriend is such a killjoy, Cy!" one of them grumbled.

Cy walked toward me, grabbed my arm, and whispered, "Let's talk."

I followed him. I knew what was coming next—he was going to complain about how I embarrassed him in front of his friends.

"I hate what you just did," he said, facing me.

"And you think I liked what you guys did?" I snapped, crossing my arms.

"We weren't doing anything wrong. We were just having fun with him." he defended.

I raised an eyebrow. How many times have they 'had fun' like this already?

"You were scaring him! He's just a first-year!" I sighed, trying to control my anger. "...This isn't funny anymore. Your friends have no respect, and my name keeps getting dragged into this."

He chuckled. "And we're the ones ruining your name?!"

He ran his hand through his hair, looking annoyed.

"...You're the one ruining ours!"

Me?! Wow, really?!

"Me?! Oh, I'm so sorry for all the things you guys have done!"

"Yes! We're the ones getting dragged into the fights you start outside of school!"

I stared directly into his eyes. "Oh, my bad. I wasn't aware..." I replied sarcastically. "...Don't worry, to make sure you don't get involved anymore, let's just break up."

His eyebrows instantly furrowed. Oh, so he doesn't want to get involved? Then let's just end it. It's not like there were ever real feelings between us anyway.

"You can't break up with me!" he snapped.

He said it so loudly that his friends immediately gathered around us. A few other students also started watching.

"I can break up with you."

I was about to walk away, but he suddenly grabbed my arm. A sharp pain shot through me, and I let out a small gasp. I glared at him, and he glared right back.

"We're not done talking."

"Cyrus! I'm done with this!" I shouted at him.

Suddenly, he grabbed my jaw, squeezing hard enough that I instinctively shut my eyes from the pain.

Damn it!

"You can't dump me!" He pulled my face closer to his. "...I'm the only one who gets to say when we're over!"

I shoved his hand away with all my strength. Before he could react, I threw a punch straight at his face. He crashed onto the ground, and his friends immediately rushed to help him up.

They tried pulling him to his feet, but he pushed them away. I saw blood drip from his lip.

Tsk! Maybe I hit him too hard.

He wiped the blood away and looked at his hand. Then he smiled, but I could see the anger in his eyes.

I stepped back, but I was too late. His palm struck my face hard, and I collapsed onto the ground.

"Dude!" one of his friends shouted. "...What the hell?! She's still a girl!"

My face went completely numb from the impact. Slowly, I lifted my gaze and glared at him as I pushed myself up.

There was a strange taste in my mouth. I knew it wasn't just saliva. A stinging pain spread across my lips. I reached up to touch them, and—

D-blood?!

Shit! His slap was so strong that it split my lip! That bastard!

I was about to turn my glare back to him, but something felt wrong. My eyes refused to move away from my bloodstained fingers. My body started trembling.

For some reason, my heartbeat pounded faster and faster.

"Freeloader!"

Huh?! W-where did that come from?

A wave of overwhelming fear crashed over me. My breathing turned erratic.

"You should just die!"

WHERE IS THAT COMING FROM?! WHO IS SAYING THAT?!

"What's wrong? Scared of blood?" Cyrus mocked, but I ignored him.

Why... why does blood look so beautiful? Why does it feel... so tempting?

It was only then that I realized—my hand was moving closer to my mouth.

T-the taste of blood...

End of Flashback...

"We got into a fight, M-Ma'am. My vision... went dark." I answered.

Literally dark.

"Tsk, tsk! You kids these days. Whether it's boys or girls, all you ever do is fight." she said, shaking her head.

She placed the papers down and was about to sign them when she suddenly paused and looked at me.

"By the way, where is Mr. Fernandez?"

Kuya?

"H-he's at work. Why?"

She took a deep breath. "It's embarrassing to admit, but... he's actually one of the major sponsors of this school. When you left, he also stopped funding us." She leaned back in her seat. "...Maybe you could talk to him."

W-wait a second... What is she—

"...We're planning to construct a new building." she added.

What exactly are they trying to say? Why can't they just be direct with me?

"Y-you want me to ask my brother to donate to you?" I asked hesitantly.

"Something like that."

Son of a fishball!

I knew it! Coming here was a mistake!

I had overheard Ma'am and my brother talking once before. Since I didn't care, I ignored them.

But now it's crystal clear—my brother has been bribing this school!

"And why would I do that?" I asked, irritation lacing my voice.

"Because, Ms. Mariano... it wouldn't look good if I put multiple suspensions and an expulsion on your record." She smiled.

Huh?! But I was never—

"...Mr. Fernandez is the reason why you were never suspended, despite all your mischief." She leaned in slightly. "...He's also the reason why we marked your transfer as 'for transfer purposes' instead of 'expelled' on your records."

I glanced at the documents in front of me. They were resting on the table. Damn it!

So that's why my records were such a mess! They kept changing things! Wow. What a great school!

But I had no choice. I needed to get out of here. So, even though I hated it...

"F-fine... I'll talk to my brother."

Ma'am grinned widely. She quickly signed the papers, placed them back into the envelope, and handed them to me.

"We'll be waiting." she said with a smile.

"Alright. Thank you." I replied before hurrying out of her office.

Damn it!

I stopped at the stairs. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. My frustration was through the roof.

Isn't this just embarrassing? If I was called to the Guidance Office 100 times, then my brother bribed them 100 times too.

Very nice!

This school is pissing me off. If it weren't for—shit!

I froze at the sight in front of me.

Cyrus was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. He was smiling, and from the look on his face, I could already tell he was up to no good.

I tried to turn back, but his friends were already blocking the way.

"Can we have a little chat?"