Athaliah: The Unknown Luna

Chapter 1: Newbie

Chapter 1: Newbie

The class went silent when Athaliah stepped into the crowded room. White ceilings and cream colored chairs were the first things she noticed. Athaliah scanned the room full of unwelcoming faces. She hadn't had a good night sleep so she was not bothered by their bored gazes thrown at her. She wore a bored look as she entered her classroom. She had faded blue jeans and a black loose sweater. Her outfit was paired with brown ankle boots.

A pungent odor meets her nostrils.

“Wow! A newbie,” a blonde girl commented.

Athaliah had not paid attention to the girl. She just wanted to start over again and focus on herself. She fled from her home because it was attacked by a rogue wolf and now she stayed by herself. She had not had the strength to face it nor to fight it for her peaceful home. She chose to run away for good. She does not want war. She just wanted to live her life to the fullest and avoid getting into a fight with anyone.

Athaliah walked to her seat yet the shock and discomfort she caused made her uncomfortable. Her stomach tightened at the uneasiness she felt.

“Why are they staring at me?” she mumbled to herself.

She does not want to cause trouble so she better stay away from people. Everyone seems to focus on their studies except the blonde girl that keeps looking at her. The girl keeps staring at her as if she had seen a ghost.

Athaliah meets the blonde girl's gaze. She had a weird look plastered on her face. The blondie rolled her eyes in annoyance and smirked at Athaliah before pulling her viscous stares.

Athaliah wanted to pluck Blondie's eyes. That's the girl's pet name.

Blondie.

Minutes later, a rolled scratch paper was sent flying to her side. It hit her head and body. Athaliah was dumbfounded. She had not received this kind of treatment from her last school. This was the first time. A wet paper landed on her face. She hissed clenching her set of white teeth.

A round of laughter filled the room.

“What a pity!”

“She looks scared.”

“Woohoo!”

They chanted as if it was funny. For them though, but for her, it's not. She wanted to whack them but she control her emotions. She does not want a fight. She reminded herself to calm down before she do something unacceptable as if what they were doing to her is acceptable. She inhaled sharply and close her eyes.

She silently picked up the papers and lined them one by one. She might need them later.

“Hey, what are you going to do, huh?” said the blondie.

Athaliah looked at her with an unbothered and bored look. She's not interested in their silly behavior. She won't give them the satisfaction. Athaliah faced the front and waited for their teacher when an egg hit her head. It broke. The yolk and it's slimy egg white slip down to her sweater. She's sick at the sight of it. She almost puked but she refrained herself.

“Ugh! She looks dirty and rugged,” the blondie commented.

She scoffed. “What a brat,” Athaliah said in a low voice, almost a whisper.

“What did you say?”

Athaliah faces the blondie. She shrugged her shoulders, dismissing the girl.

“Amy, Mr. Caballero is almost near.”

The blondie, or Amy, retreated and seated back to her chair with a smug look on her face.

Athaliah sighed in disbelief. “What a day,” she mumbled in a tired voice. She just wanted to go home and curl herself into a ball and cover herself with a blanket.

No, she hadn't had a home for awhile now. She lives in a small apartment. Her life was there. Not here, but she wanted to prove everyone that she's worth every penny they had sacrificed for her.

They trusted her once, yet she disappointed them.

Now, she's on her own.

“Good morning, Class. I guess we have a new girl in class?” The professor scanned the room and her eyes landed on Athaliah. “Stand up. Introduce yourself,” she asked Athaliah.

Right away, she stood up and faced the crowd. “My name's Athaliah. Thank you,” she answered and slumped back to her chair.

The professor’s eyes were furrowed. “Is that it?” Athaliah nodded her head. The professor faced the class. “Well, Miss Athaliah seemed to exhibit a cryptic personality.”

Some laughed at the joke thrown at her yet Athaliah remained silent. She hissed as a response and they all fell silent, looking rather scared at her.

“Whoa. That was—unexpected.”

Athaliah blink. She looked intimidating and the class went speechless.

The class went on with Athaliah not partaking in each other's joys. She hated having to sit in a class full of immature people. She just wanted to go home and relax but she needs to mingle with other people to achieve her goal. Athaliah must continue to strive and move to higher grades in order to be welcome to the family again. She must do this to obtain her freedom—again.

It was time for lunch. Athaliah made her way to the cafeteria. Lots of curious eyes were on her and she doesn't like to have the attention. She always wanted to be unseen but looks like it’s not going to happen. She lined up for her food and silently walked away with a tray in her hand. She has spaghetti and two slices of pizza with an apple juice.

She sat down at one of the vacant tables and started eating. She had just consumed one slice of pizza when the atmosphere suddenly changed. Athaliah glanced at the entrance as three men entered. She had no idea who they were and she had no plan to know.

“Oh my God!”

“They’re here! Wait, is my lip gloss okay?”

Athaliah looked at the other table. Everyone seemed gawking at the three gentlemen who were walking like models. Athaliah smirks. “Tsk! They looked dumb,” she whispered. Luckily, no one paid attention to her.

“Duh! As if they would pay attention to us!” said the other girl, fixing her hair before rolling her eyes. “We don't have hope to be worshiped by that guy.”

Athaliah secretly laughed. She? She doesn't care and she just keeps eating. Everyone was silent when another three men suddenly entered. She was also stunned. As if something is wrong but she continued eating. Athaliah stopped when someone suddenly approached her table. It was Blondie, no, it was Amy. She had a smug look on her face.

“You like pasta?” she asked, her face almost touching Athaliah's food. Athaliah winced because of the stench of Amy’s perfume. It's sickening, too feminine, and too strong.

It sat right in front of him, which is why he was stunned. She just looked at Amy then continued eating. Athaliah moved slightly away from Amy. She gave her a bored look.

“What do you want?” she asked grumpily.

Amy laughed. “You’re stupid.” She leaned back.

Athaliah was not having her immature remarks. “Stay away from me,” she said in a threatening voice.

The woman laughed at her again as if she was saying something incomprehensible. Amy touched her food and picked up her cup of juice. “Would you mind if I?” Amy asked.

Before Athaliah could respond, Amy dumped the contents on Athaliah's head, making her shiver in cold. Anger immediately crept through her system. She only had a sip and Amy had the audacity to joke with her like that.

Loud laughter roared when the people there saw what Amy did to her. People applauded Amy for what she did and this frog-like-woman laughed hysterically as if she's a goddamn superhero. Athaliah was so annoyed by the way Amy laughed. It was sickening.

Amy stopped laughing when Athaliah did not do anything. She just silently, and slowly wiped the excess juice in her head. It stained her shirt. Athaliah dabbed it with a napkin. Glad she had one.

“What? You're not doing anything?” Amy asked, amused.

She just stared at Amy with a questioning look. It was as if she was asking what was so funny about what Amy did. Her expression hasn't changed, but Athaliahbadmits to herself that she wanted to punch Amy in the face.

Athaliah refrained herself from doing something that might bring her trouble.

“Just chill, Athaliah. Don't do reckless things that might ruin your plans.” She silently patted herself on the shoulder for calming down although the truth is that she wants to eat people because of annoyance.

“Oh? You're not going to do anything to me? I'm sorry, I already did it!” she said while laughing.

Athaliah sighed. She's tired.

Amy walked in front of her as if waiting for what she would do. Athaliah was just looking at the blond woman with a blank look.

“Bye, loser!” Amy walked back to her friends and Athaliah cleaned the mess Amy made. She slowly picked her food. It was a mess.

The laughter in the cafeteria had not yet ended. She wiped herself again and bought hot spaghetti and ice tea.

Athaliah sighed before sitting back in her chair. She took a sip of her ice tea before standing up again and walked to Amy's table. As she was approaching the table of the woman who annoyed her earlier, she only got angrier that they were talking about her.

“You're great, Amy! She looked funny earlier!”

“Good for her!” They laughed.

They didn't know that she was coming. That's why they were so shocked when she suddenly poured the spaghetti she bought on Amy’s head.

“Oh my God!” Amy squeals. She stood and turned around. “What did you do?” Amy shouted furiously when saw Athaliah standing behind her.

Athaliah shrugged her shoulders. “Sorry. My hand slipped,” she said with a serious tone.

Amy screamed. “I hate you!” Amy grabbed her hair but she managed to dodge. Amy lost her balance and she fell to the floor. Athaliah gasped in horror. Everyone was shocked and laughing at Amy's unfortunate state.

“Oops! My bad, I slipped again,” she teased.

“Serves you right, Bitch.”

Amy roared in anger but before she could grab Athaliah's feet, Athaliah already walked away. Amy helped herself and stood. She walked faster to Athaliah. She grabbed her hair and they both fell to the ground.

Athaliah cried in pain. She felt like her scalp are going to be ripped. “Let me go!” she pleaded but Amy had a grip on her hair making it impossible to move.

Athaliah managed to grab Amy's arm and twisted it. “Ouch!”

They rolled to the ground and Athaliah had the chance to step away. She held her necklace. She was afraid Amy might grab it and she doesn't want that to happen. She stood in front of everyone who was in awe at what they just witnessed.

“You, b***h! Come here!” Amy was about to slap Athaliah, but she quickly caught Amy's hand and held it tightly. She winced in pain.

“I may be a b***h, but I am beautiful! Unlike you, you look like spider web!” Athaliah added. She pushed Amy and her lower bottom hit the table behind her.

Amy gasped in pain. “You will pay for this!” she threatened.

“I will be waiting!” she scoffed. “I will not back down from you!”

“Aargh! I hate her!” Amy's friend rushed to her side but she complained more. “Why didn't you help me?” she angrily asked.

Athaliah felt restless as she walked out of the cafeteria. It seems that bullying was normal in this place and nothing could prevent it from happening. Everyone in the room was more eager to know what's going to happen than helping to stop the disturbing acts of students. She was just defending herself.

Athaliah headed home after class. No one seems to be talking about the incident in the cafeteria. She held onto her bag as if her life depended on it. Her surroundings were eerily silent and creepy. She held her necklace and whispered a prayer for safety. She doesn't want to be seen for who she is. She walked to her motorbike and put on her helmet before riding it. Athaliah started the engine and rode home.

After minutes, she parked it in front of the apartment. She breathed a sigh of relief when she reached home. She was tired of answering earlier. Their instructor asked a lot of questions and she felt like her brain was going to blow up.

She walked to her apartment and was about to open the door when she noticed something clink inside her apartment. She stopped at her track and looked for something she might need for defense. She found a piece of wood and held it tightly. She twisted the doorknob slowly and swung it open. She felt sorry about the person she might hit with the wood she's holding.

She opened the door and went inside. She was about to open the lights when suddenly, someone grabbed her hand from behind and pulled her back. She was pinned to the wall.

Athaliah let go of the wood she was holding before giving the person who pulled her a hard elbow in the stomach. She heard a woman's voice groaning in pain. The lady let go of Athaliah and immediately, Athaliah stepped away. She turned around and found a woman curled like a ball.

“Thaliah!” the woman groaned causing her to jump in surprise.

No one called her like that. The voice seemed familiar. Astounded, she asked. “Who are you?”