Chapter 10
1323 Words
Joy’s POV
The mid-term exam is finally over.
I let out a deep sigh of relief and walked out of the classroom. I was deliberating on what I should have for lunch when I noticed today’s basketball court was unusually crowded.
Daisy could never hold back her curiosity. She strode to the court and got on tippy toes to have a better view.“What’s going on? Why are people gathering here? Is there a match today?”
“Yeah, and Ryan will play power forward.”
“OMG!”Daisy exclaimed enthusiastically and waved her hands to me, “Did you hear that? Ryan is playing power forward! We shall stay here.”
“To do what?”I asked unsurely.
“What about shouting his name to show we’re rooting for him?”Diasy suggested.
“On no condition.”I shook my head, terrified at her crazy thoughts.
The girl standing in front of us turned back and scowled at Daisy, “You know what, your friend is right. You two should just f**k off. Ryan doesn’t need girls like you to cheer him up. Diana will take good care of him.”
I frowned and was about to argue when Daisy tugged at my sleeves. She faked a smile at the girl and said, “Alright, you’re the boss. We’re leaving now.”
When Daisy dragged me out of the crowd, I asked, “Who was that? Why did’t you fight back? You shouldn’t let her be bossy around like that.”
“Shhhh!” Daisy lowered her voice and whispered, “That girl is Sue, Diana’s second hand. Fight against her? You’re gonna get us killed.”
“Really? Why?”
“How could you be so naive, Joy.””Diasy muttered as if she were a mature adult. She sent me an incredible look and explained, “Diana is the cheerleader and her social media has more than 20k followers. She is literally the most popular girl in our school. If we piss Sue off, we would face the music.”
I pressed my lips tightly and answered, “Then I will be all ears.”
“Stop joking. This is not funny.”Daisy laughed nervously, “Diana has been obsessed with Ryan and wants to be Ryan’s girlfriend. Well, who wouldn’t? The difference between Diana and other girls is that— if you get too close to Ryan, other girls will become jealous and treat you bad. Yet Diana, she would make you life hell .”
“Well, try me. My life is already like hell. I don’t see how she could make my life more miserable.”
“You’re so stubborn.”Daisy shook her head and sighed, “Anyway, I will find myself a safe place to watch the match. Better not to be spotted by Sue. What about you? Are you coming?”
“Sorry but I am not interested. This place is too crowded, making me suffocate. I want to find a quiet place to clear my thoughts.”
“Alright. I will enjoy the match myself. See ya tomorrow.”Diasy said.
“See you.”I waved goodbye to her and walked to the library.
In the corridor I met Tyler. Like me he is a regular visitor to the library, so we come across each other from time to time. Soon he becomes the only friend I could talk to besides my classmates.
“Hey, where are you going? Library?”
“Yep.”
“Mind if I join you?”
“No.”
“Can’t you say more than one words to me?” Tyler muttered as he reached out, offering to help me carry the books, “Let me.”
“Thank you.” I said.
“My pleasure.”He bowed a little and I couldn’t help but smile.
His classmates saw us and whistled. Tyler blushed, asking them to shut up and go away but the boys didn’t listen to him and their laughter even go louder. Tyler’s face reddened due to embarrassment. He sent them a glare and then mouthed “sorry” to me.
“It’s alright.”I said, ignoring the offending noise the boys made on purpose.
“Isn’t that disturbing you?”Tyler asked quietly.
“It is. But don’t worry. I can cope with it.”
“How?”
“They’re trying to provoke us. The angrier we become, the more satisfaction they get. So my strategy is to neglect all of them because they are just a group of ignorant boys who has no vision, no self-motivation, no ambition and the only fun they can find in life is to gossip and slander others. They don’t deserve our attention, don’t you think?”
Boys who were chatting sank in the silence. They gazed at me with angry face and then started to exchanged looks. It seemed that they were choosing a representative to debate with me but they failed to reach an agreement since nobody wanted to be the one to stick his head out.
“Well. They seem to agree what you said.”Tyler chanted enthusiastically. He grinned at me and said, “Let’s go to the library.”
“Sure.”I replied and followed him.
We were moving when a voice raised and broke the lovely atmosphere I had created.
“Out of my way."
Alert, I glanced over my shoulder and saw Ryan heading to our direction. He must had just finished the match and he haven’t changed his basketball jersey. The moment he strode to us, I knew troubles are coming. I held back the urge to step back and stood still.
Perhaps Tyler told my nervousness from my stance. He glanced at Ryan and back at my face, then gently pulled my sleeve as he stood forward and shielded me behind him.
Ryan stared at us and let out a short laugh. He didn’t say anything. But when he brushed past us, he shouldered me so forcefully that I was nearly knocked over. I rubbed my shoulder and to alleviate the pain while staring at Ryan’s back. I felt he was incredibly childish.
Stunned at what he saw, Tyler sent me a concerned look and asked cautiously, "Are you okay?"
My shoulder hurt like hell but what came out of my mouth was, “I am fine. "
“Why is Ryan acting like that? Do you know each other?”asked Tyler.
“Oh I am sure he knows nothing about me and I don’t want to know anything about him. He did this because he’s rude. Indecent. Antisocial.”I spat word by word, making sure that Ryan can hear my curse.
My words turned out to be effective. Ryan’s pace became slower and slower and eventually it came to a halt. Sensing that Ryan was going to turn around , I grabbed Tyler by his sleeves and ran.
After we moved to the safe zone, we stopped to catch our breath. Tyler muttered between pants,“I didn’t expect that you would curse him and then run!”
“Did I disappoint you?”
“No. I was surprised. I had thought you would stand there and fight against him like a fearless heroine.”
“Well, guess I am not a fearless heroine.” I grimaced and told Tyler, “A real heroine knows when to fight against tyranny and when to run for her life. For the record, this is not surrender.”
“What is this then?”Tyler asked excitedly.
I pondered on the question and coined the term,“Temporary retreat.”
Tyler laughed and said,“You’re incredible. You know that?”
“Nope. I am an ordinary girl." I smiled with a sense of pride, "But thank you for saying so. I will take that as a compliment."
- Writer
