Twisted: This Instant

CHAPTER 1

"I'll f*ck you up. I'll make sure that you will never want to return to school again. ", Ren threatened Julia after receiving a punch from her.

"Try me, f*cker.", Julia said after raising her middle finger to Ren Garcia and releasing her hold from his collar.

How did they end up in that situation? Let's go back to 9 hours ago.

It was a peaceful start of classes for the students of Salvador College. Salvador College is a private school named after the owner, the great and righteous-Segundo Salvador. Unlike other privately-owned university, Salvador College only has two sections per year level. The acceptance rate is also low since they strictly filter their students. Money has no power here since Segundo Salvador aims to produce quality students. He also does not hesitate to give scholarship if he deemed the student or applicant worthy of studying in his school. The reputation of the school was known nationwide as its strict policies helped in producing topnotchers in different board exams. It really is an top-class school. However, since Segundo is almost past his prime, the power struggle within the board of directors has been obvious as ever. Because of this, the school has become a little bit unstable. Though thankfully, because of this instability, our heroine, Julia Perez was able to disguise in this school.

'Segundo is indeed a righteous man, if I enrolled to other schools, they will surely bring me to my parents. I'm glad I listened to Noah's suggestion...I was able to experience being happy and peaceful', Julia reminisced while waiting for her friends. Today marks her second year in Salvador College and she is already in Grade 12.

The past year remained uneventful for our heroine, which was in favor of what she wants. Although there was a few bully, she was able to handle herself much better than when she was at her family's side.

"Good Morning, Juls!", her friend Kisses said then they hugged. Beside her is their other friend and Kisses's cousin, Raya. These girls became Julia's friend after she saved them from bullies. Even though the cousins are born from a well-known family, they are a target of bullying because of their physique. Kisses is a little bit on the plump side and Raya is on the skinny side.

"Oh come on, Juls! Stop pinching my cheeks!", even though Kisses sounds annoyed, she knows that Julia just love her as well as her cousin Raya.

"But you're sooooooo cute!!", Julia said then when she noticed Raya staring at them she proceeds to hug Raya too.

"It's nice to see you energetic, Julia..But please.. I'm dying because of your tight hug..", Raya said then Julia broke free from them.

While they are on their way to the auditorium for their short orientation, Raya asked Julia, "How's your summer? Did you really help on your landlord's salon?"

"Yeahh, they were so nice to me. They even gave me food so my salary was saved only for my school expenses.", Julia answered.

"Well I'm glad your aunt allowed you to work, Juls", Kisses said then they sat on a monoblock chair at the back of the auditorium.

Part of Julia's disguise is her living at the city with her-"aunt". The said aunt is actually a friend of Noah and her name is Josephine Perez. She is one of Julia's ally.

"She's worried at first but after seeing that I am doing fine, she allowed me to work in the salon.", Julia told them.

After the short orientation, the students proceeded to their own respective rooms. They spent the whole day introducing themselves to their new professors and doing short activities. Some professors already started their lessons and some prefer to keep their first day light.

While they were having their lunch, Julia remembered what Noah told her.

["Just survive your senior high school peacefully, miss. I will take care of everything. You will no longer need to worry about your family following you. I just need 2 years and after that, you will be completely free from your family."], the Noah she remember was almost faceless. She only remembers his multiple piercings and his black suit as her bodyguard.

'Just pass this year uneventfully... I hope it's as easily said than done..' she thought to herself then she sighed.

After their lunch, the students are scheduled to select their respective clubs for this year. They may choose to enter the same club or choose a different one.

"So... Art Club again??", Raya asked them while they are returning their used plates.

"Hmmm.. I would like to try joining Symphonia.", Kisses said. Symphonia is the name of their school orchestra.

Raya and Julia's eyes lit up because Kisses has finally move one step ahead of them (moving out of their comfort zone).

"Then I guess, I'll try track and field!", Raya suddenly proclaimed while smiling. The cousins looked at Julia who actually haven't had a single thought on which club she should join.

"Hmmm...Maybe I'll try visiting other clubs while you're both trying out on your own chosen club..?", Julia said while laughing wryly.

***

Not much time has passed but Julia has almost visited every possible club that she can join. Most of them are clubs that don't require her to be present all the time. She needs to be almost invisible anyways.

"How about joining us? We could really use your beauty here, Julia!", the president of cheerleading club asked Julia.

Yet no matter how hard Julia tries to hid herself, she was always caught by people who was awed by her beauty. She is indeed beautiful but this is not what she looks like back when she was with her family so she is not used to being called pretty. She hadn't done any plastic surgery, she only followed a strict diet and exercise. And now that more people are acknowledging her good looks, her feelings and trauma of being called ugly was coming back. She can handle it now but the trauma still resurfaces whenever she hear compliments regarding her looks.

"I'm sorry, but my aunt will not allow me to wear cheerleading uniforms..", Julia said. The president of the cheerleading club noticed that she is lying so she asked her to at least try some of their routine.

Julia tried to fail the cartwheel and other difficult routines and she even staged a sprain.

The club members shouted and they all blamed their president for being forceful. Some of them assisted her in the clinic.

The principal trusts the school nurse so they both agreed to staged either an injury or illness in order to protect Julia's secret.

When the nurse saw her, she asked the cheerleading members who assisted Julia to leave everything to her.

"Miss Kaye, thank you so much", Julia said while shaking both of Miss Kaye's hands. Miss Kaye laughed and then she even told her that she can sleep on one of their beds.

Julia woke up after 30 minutes and when she tried looking for Miss Kaye, she noticed that she was gone. She was about to stand up when she heard someone open the door and the sound of arguing.

"What the h*ll, Ren!? I WAS WOUNDED BECAUSE YOUR BESTFRIEND ACCIDENTALLY HIT ME WITH HIS MOTORCYCLE BUT YOU ARE MORE WORRIED FOR HIM?!? I AM YOUR GIRLFRIEND! YOU SHOULD PRIORITIZE ME OVER YOUR BESTFRIEND! LOOK AT MY BEAUTIFUL AND SMOOTH LEGS, THEY NOW HAVE A WOUND!! ", the voice came from a girl. She was crying while shouting at the person she was talking to.

'Yikes, lover's quarrel.', Julia thought to herself while covering herself with the sheets.

"I know, but that's just a wound, Elize. Damian is still unconscious and your friends are still looking for people who can carry him here. You know that he knocked his head while trying to avoid you, right? Besides, I already told you to not get close to me since I'm helping him ride a motorcycle. I already told you that it is dangerous but you still insisted to get close to us.", the guy answered calmly.

"Hah? It's not my fault that he didn't use his stupid red helmet. He's really clumsy but you're still defending him, Ren", the girl said. She sounds annoyed and jealous.

"Red helmet? How did you know that his MISSING and NEW helmet is color red?", the guy said.

"Did I said red? No, you're imagining it." the girl denied.

'What a lousy liar.', Julia thought to herself.

"So you were the one who took his helmet? What was that for? And now, is this wound really an accident or you're just setting it all up in order to make Damian look bad?!?", the guy sounded angry.

Both of them became silent. Then the girl sighed and answered him," I only want your attention, Ren. Ever since we got together, you're only taking me out whenever you feel like. You never asked how I was doing and it felt like you were never interested in me to begin with. I noticed that you're much closer to your best friend, and I felt... disgusted. It's disgusting how you're using me and other girls because you can't seem to be honest with yourself regarding your feelings for your best friend!"

She pushed him then she opened the door and left. Our heroine, who was listening silently was flabbergasted.

The door opened again and this time it sounded like 2 students are carrying someone on the clinic bed next to Julia. Her eyes widen and she immediately pretended to be asleep. Although the clinic bed is separated by a thick curtain she began to be nervous because of how scary the voice of the 'Ren' guy is.

"Where's Miss Kaye and Elize?", the first guy asked.

"I think Ma'am Kaye left for a while and I think Elize broke up with me.", Ren told them.

"What did you just said?!?", the second guy asked.

" I said Miss Kaye--", Ren was interrupted by the second guy.

"No, wait. Did you just said that you broke up with Elize?!?" the second guy asked.

"Yep, I just said that.", Ren calmly said. His voice is too calm for a person who's supposed to be broken hearted.

"Okay, goodbye everyone, I will now try my luck with Elize. Aki and Ren, BYE!", the second guy said then he left.

"Then Ren, I will also take my leave. I will help you look for Damian's helmet then I also wrote a note with my signature for Miss Kaye so that you guys will not be punished. Look, I wrote my name and I also signed.", the guy named Aki said while showing the note to Ren.

"Thanks, Aki... But aren't you abusing your power as Sir Salvador's son?", Ren asked.

Julia's eyes widen when she heard that.

'Aki...is that...a nickname for Akila Salvador?!'

Due to her surprise, she turned around immediately and to completely cover herself in the blanket. Julia didn't notice that the curtain on the other side was caught with her back and because of that, the curtain divider fell on her.

"Are you alright?", the person who asked this is none other than the person she is avoiding, Akila Salvador. He immediately removed the curtain divider with Ren Garcia.

"Sorry. Are we loud? Did we wake you up?", Ren kindly followed up.

Julia is about to panic but she got ahold of herself by mildy biting her tongue. The slight pain made her breathe.

"I'm fine...It's just a curtain divider..", Julia said. She avoided Aki's gaze and decided to look at the person named Ren.

Akila "Aki" Salvador is one of her classmates from her previous school. Her school when she was still with her family. When she was regarded as "ugly" and "different". She has been avoiding him since Grade 11 because she thought he might recognize her.

However, this interaction made her realize that her drastic change/ disguise is so good that even the smart and sharp Aki was not able to realize who she really is.

Julia's reminiscing was cut-off when Aki touched her face, "You have a small scratch on your forehead.. can I treat it while we are waiting for Miss Kaye?", he said. Julia's heart almost dropped because of how kind Aki is.

Suddenly, Aki's phone started ringing. "Ah, I'll just take this call.", he stood up and left the room.

Ren took the medicine box and started tending to Julia. He put a medicine in a small cotton and started putting it on Julia's wound.

"Ouch.", Julia said when Ren pressed the cotton a little bit too hard.

"Sorry... but... are you awake all this time? Did you hear my conversation with Elize?", Ren said. Julia looked at his eyes and she slightly flinched.

'This guy is dangerous'...

'His eyes are telling me that he will shut me up once I spread what I heard from their conversation...'

"I just woke up... I fell from my try-out in the cheerleading club..", Julia said while trying her best to look as dumb as possible.

Suddenly, Miss Kaye entered the clinic.

"Oh hey, Julia, are you okay now?, Miss Kaye asked Julia.

'Saved!'

"Yes, ma'am I just woke up!", Julia said while trying to stand up. She wants to leave the room as fast as possible.

"Ren, how about you? What happened with your best friend here?", Miss Kaye asked.

"We're trying his new motorcycle in the parking space when... Elize run in front of the motorcycle... While trying to avoid her.. Damian lost his balance and his head hit a parking block...", Ren said.

"Let's bring him to the school hospital!", Miss Kaye immediately moved the clinic bed when the unconscious person named Damian suddenly opened his eyes.

Miss Kaye decided to do tests such as ask him what happened before he lost his consciousness and asks him what his name was. The student named Damian answered all of them correctly. Miss Kaye and Ren sighed in relief.

Meanwhile, Julia was caught in the panic and lost her timing to say goodbye.

"We should run some tests just to be safe..", Miss Kaye advised.

"Miss Kaye... can I just go home?? I don't want Ren to be punished with me..." Damian immediately said. These guys know that they are also at fault.

Suddenly, Aki opened the clinic door, "Hey--Oh, you're already awake Damian. Here is your helmet, we found it in the west building trashcan."

Ren's eyes lit up and decided to ask Aki for help.

"Well, this all started because of your girlfriend being jealous... and honestly it feels stupid for me so okay don't worry, I got you guys.", Aki said assuring Ren and Damian.

Aki decided to accompany Miss Kaye and Damian. Ren was left in the clinic with Julia who decided to stand up and leave the clinic too.

"Wait, where do you think you are going, *****?", Ren called her.

Ren called Julia, by her real name.

HER REAL NAME

'HE KNOWS THE TRUTH?!'

Because of panic, Julia immediately run away from him. Ren immediately followed her.

There are only a few students left in the building that's why no one is batting an eye to these two running.

"That cast on your feet... That is freaking fake too?! Even your identity here?! JUST LIKE YOUR FAMILY, YOU'RE ALSO F*CKIN FAKE!", Ren shouted. Julia's eye widen and she decided to punch him in the face.

And that's how they ended up brawling.

"I'll f*ck you up. I'll make sure that you will never want to return to school again. ", Ren threatened Julia after receiving a punch from her.

"Try me, f*cker.", Julia said after raising her middle finger to Ren Garcia and releasing her hold from his collar.