War of the Brats

Crash Course in Warefare

When I stepped out of the query room, a wave of relief washed over me. I knew I did well. I studied hard for this test because I knew my competitors were just as capable. I badly needed this one — and once I get what I want, I swear I won’t cause another chaos.

After all, this was a test to prove who’s the best. It wasn’t just about intelligence — it was about how great you were as an aspiring queen of the school.

“Yuri!” I smiled when I saw Gina waving at me from a distance. I immediately walked toward her.

“You’re done? That was fast!”

“Just finished. You?” I asked. I glanced at the room she had come from — everyone was still answering, including Mae and Pink. I looked at Gina. She was really smart. I still couldn’t understand why she didn’t take the examination for Queen — she perfectly fit every single criterion.

If it’s not me who gets chosen, then I’d be glad if it’s Gina.

“Just finished too. It was hard! I don’t even know if I answered them right — whatever.” She shrugged. “You guys just forced me into this anyway.”

I grinned. It was true — I wanted them to join me. If by luck I became the Queen, I wanted them as my princesses. It wouldn’t be hard; I knew the three of them were brilliant. It would be worse to work with people I couldn’t stand. At least if it’s my friends beside me, then everything would be fine.

My smile faded when I saw Britney walking toward us. I crossed my arms. We were in the same room earlier, so I knew she took the test with the same goal as mine. I wasn’t even surprised — she’s always been envious.

“Well, well…” she sang as she approached. I rolled my eyes.

“Are you prepared to lose?”

“I should be asking you that, Britney. Are you ready to step down from your throne? With your unjust ways, I’m sure your name’s already tainted.”

How did she even become Queen last year? Sure, she topped the exam — she was smart, I’ll give her that. And beautiful too. But her attitude? Trash. The school didn’t even improve under her reign. She’s just as corrupt as Wynd! Why did they even take the position? For popularity?

“Oh, look who’s talking,” she laughed. “Aren’t you the one who desperately tried to expose Wynd and did something so stupid against his sodality? How low.”

I clenched my jaw. God, I wanted to punch her, but Gina held my hand. Fine. That was a stupid move, but I was desperate to prove to everyone that Wynd wasn’t as good as they thought — not even to me. And that was a year ago! Everyone had moved on. Even Wynd, who made me look like an i***t in front of the whole school, never brought it up again.

He knew all along we were following him — that’s why he intentionally placed that powder on the table for me to see! They weren’t drugs, just plain powder!

The school wasn’t pleased, especially when the cops came inside the campus to check if there really were drugs involved. I didn’t even know the video reached the authorities. I went too far. And Wynd — he just stood there, watching me like I was the stupidest girl he’d ever met.

I thought I’d get expelled since my parents were called in. But thank God, after Kuya Ace’s talk with the school heads, they gave me another chance. He warned me though — if anything like that ever happened again, he’d tell Mom to pull me out of school because all I ever do is cause trouble.

That’s why I took the exam. I’ll be the Queen of this school — and if Wynd remains King, then fine. I’d still be glad to work with him. I don’t want another fight. I promised Kuya Ace I’d never cause any more trouble. I didn’t want to disappoint him. My parents were already busy with my sister — I had to do this on my own.

Britney gave a mocking laugh before leaving. Gina tapped my shoulder, trying to calm me down even though I was already ready to explode. I swear, if I could, I’d pull Britney’s hair.

“They’re here,” Gina whispered. I turned and saw Mae and Pink coming out of their room.

“Let’s go. I’m hungry,” Pink said right away. She looked completely drained, while Mae stared blankly at nothing.

I snapped my fingers in front of her. “You okay?”

“Stressed. I need food.”

Gina grinned. “Good thing I’m not the only one craving today. Let’s go!”

“I’ll treat you. Let’s go out since classes are over anyway. Pink, did you bring your car?”

“Yeah…” she muttered, clearly still stressed. “It’s in the parking area. Let’s go. I’m starving.”

I nodded and dragged the three of them with me. We headed to the parking lot and climbed into Pink’s car the moment we saw it.

“You drive,” I told Pink.

“Who else? You guys don’t even know how,” she rolled her eyes and started the engine. I immediately grabbed my seat. God, Pink drives like she’s being chased.

“Where are we going?” Gina asked.

“There’s a new restaurant that just opened. Let’s go there.”

“Yeah, sure,” I said. We deserved this. We’d been exhausted from all the schoolwork lately. We were seniors, but I already felt like a grandma from all the stress. Still, I knew this was nothing compared to college.

“Mae, can you stop saying you’re horny?” Pink suddenly snapped.

Mae frowned at her phone and slowly turned to us. “What?! I said corny! My chatmate keeps sending me cheesy pickup lines, I said they’re corny!”

“Where did he, uh, send it to, Mae?” Gina raised her brows teasingly, and I rolled my eyes.

“What the hell, guys,” I said, but they just burst out laughing. Honestly, Gina and Mae’s tandem could be the death of us. Sometimes I wanted to kick them both out of the car.

“Pink’s just deaf! You’re probably the horny one!” Mae teased. Then suddenly the car swerved — almost hitting the one in front. My life flashed before my eyes.

“Pink! What the hell! I’m chatting with someone! I’m not ready to die, I still have someone to—”

“You mother-freaking mouth, Maerinne!” Pink yelled, glaring. The chaos continued — as usual — and I just wanted to disappear.

“Pink! Watch your mouth! You’re facing food, show some respect!” Gina scolded while waving her burger near Pink’s face. My eyes widened. Where did she even get that burger?!

“Damn! That’s huge!” Mae suddenly exclaimed, staring at her phone. Gina gasped beside her, covering her mouth.

“What’s huge…” I trailed off, dreading the answer.

“It really is! Do you think that can fit in your mouth, Mae?!” Gina shouted. My eyes widened. Oh God. I didn’t even want to know what that “huge” thing was. My poor brain.

“Oh God. Gina, Mae, enough!” Pink barked, glaring at them again. I looked forward — and froze.

“Guys…” my voice shook. “Guys, we’re about to crash! Pink, stop the car!”

But when I turned to her, I almost fainted — she was already in the backseat wrestling Mae for her phone.

“Give it to me! That’s why you’re losing your mind!”

“Pink, stop! Don’t sit on my lap — only guys can sit here—”

“Guys, we’re crashing!” I screamed. I didn’t even know what to do. I didn’t know how to drive, and we were seconds away from hitting the car in front!

Panicking, I jumped into the driver’s seat and pressed whatever I could. My whole body trembled. If I damaged Pink’s car, I’d die — because she’s scarier than death itself.

They still wouldn’t stop bickering while I tried to save all our lives. My instincts took over. I turned the wheel hard and stepped on something — and the car screeched to a stop. My head slammed against the steering wheel, and for a second, I saw double.

I closed my eyes and groaned. I seriously thought I was going to die. “You guys okay?” I asked, still dizzy.

“What the hell,” Pink muttered, clutching her head while still sitting on Mae’s lap. “Did we crash?”

I nodded. “It’s fine. I managed to turn just in time.”

“s**t!” Pink cursed as Mae shoved her off. “What the hell is your problem, Mae?!”

“You broke my freaking phone!” Mae yelled, waving the cracked device. Pink swore again and pushed me out of the seat so she could drive again.

“And that’s what you care about? Your phone?! Why don’t you check if we’re bleeding first?! We almost got killed! Don’t you want to live?!” I shouted. Seriously, why were these people my friends? They’d be the death of me.

“Guys… I feel dizzy,” Gina murmured, holding her forehead. Pink just scowled.

“You’re just hungry.”

Before I could speak, someone shouted outside. A man stepped out of the car we’d hit and kicked Pink’s door.

“f**k! Get out of the car, damn it!” he yelled, kicking it again. I looked at Pink — I could already imagine smoke coming out of her nose. She stormed out of the car, and I followed.

“Get your filthy hands off my car! How dare you kick Seahorse!” Pink yelled. I wanted to ask who Seahorse was — then I remembered. That’s what she named her car. Seahorse. Of course.

“Seahorse?! Does that car even look like a horse that lives in the sea?!” the man shouted back. My jaw dropped. Oh my god. No way. That face was familiar — he was one of Wynd’s guys!

The man looked furious, face red with anger. As much as I wanted to help Pink, I couldn’t. I promised Kuya Ace — no more trouble.

I glanced at their car — the one we hit. Oh, no. This was bad. Really bad.

“Can’t you see, woman? You hit our car!” he shouted.

“It wasn’t our fault! Was it our fault your crappy car was blocking the road?!” Pink shot back.

“Pink, stop. Let’s just go,” I said, grabbing her arm, but she shrugged me off.

“No! He kicked my Seahorse!”

Gina groaned. “Pink, if you want a seahorse, we can just dive underwater and catch one. Or maybe Mae—she’s already an expert at diving—”

“I dive for something else!” Mae interrupted. I covered my face. Land, swallow me whole.

“Not done yet, Pip?” someone said. We all turned, and my lips parted. God. I hadn’t seen him this close since that accident. I’d been avoiding him since — I didn’t want to be reminded of my stupidity.

“Fuch, that’s Wynd,” Gina whispered. We all froze. They were with me during that mess last year — they were just as terrified as I was.

Then I saw blood trickling from Gina’s forehead, partly hidden by her hair. I was about to tell her when one of Wynd’s guys spoke.

“Oh, girls,” the tallest one whistled as he stepped out. He had piercings on both ears and deep eyebags, yet still looked good. Did they have beauty standards in Wynd’s group or what? They were all infuriatingly handsome.

“You!” the guy named Pip pointed at Pink. “You’ll pay for the damage your car caused. My car costs a million times more than your life.”

I raised a brow. “Isn’t it the other way around? Pink’s car costs a trillion times more than yours. Your life isn’t worth that much.”

He smirked. “You’re saying that like your life is worth anything. I’m sure you’re just one of those filthy girls who’d expose themselves just to get into men’s pants.”

My face burned in anger. He said it so casually, hands in pockets, not even bothering to look interested. Then his eyes landed on me — and he smirked.

Before I could reply, Mae stepped forward. “How dare you, Wynd! She’s not like you, who dives just to taste girls’ ‘precious’ things! Between you and her, you’re the disgusting one! Too bad — you’re cute, but you’re cute enough for me to crush!”

“If anyone here deserves to be crushed, it’s you,” one of Wynd’s other guys mocked. “Look at your body — stick figure much?”

“What?!” Mae shouted. “Let’s just leave before I actually break their faces!”

“We’re so scared,” the guy mocked again — but then his gaze shifted to me. My heart dropped.

“Wait… aren’t you the one who—” he turned to Wynd. “Isn’t that her?”

“Stop it, Cal,” Wynd said curtly.

“Ladies, you really are the ones at fault here,” Pip said.

Pink smirked. “Well, boys, we’re not here to take the blame for something we didn’t do. Let’s go.”

“We have no choice. Let’s report them to the police,” one of Wynd’s friends said. My stomach dropped. No, no, no! Kuya Ace would kill me! He already warned me!

“There’s no way we’re paying for something we didn’t even do,” Pink said sharply.

“Then it’s settled. Let’s take them to the station,” Cal said, glancing at Wynd for confirmation. Wynd didn’t answer — he just kept looking straight at me.

“Gina!” Pink suddenly shouted. We all turned to see Gina collapsing to the ground.

“Get her something to eat! She fainted, damn it!”