HATE OR LOVE: Devils In Obsession

Ruined On My First Day

Sydney.

The alarm went off and the next thing I'm reaching for is my backpack. Today did go the way it shouldn't, so many eyes were judging me, gossip was active in the corner. I knew because I know the sound of my name.

"Sydney... This new kid..."

"Sydney..."

"...Sydney."

"A Waldorf?"

Not so hard to guess the topic. I was a stepchild. A new life I have to accept since Eve got rid of the nightmare, my own mother. But I'm not quite sure how I feel having a gangster as my mother. The night be murdered my mother in cold blood, a new fear surged within me, my mother may have been wicked but Eve, she's a cold hearted person. Yes my new mom is a cold blooded gangster, she probably has no soul or empathy but she not my mother, she's kind to me and my brother, I'm selfish enough to be satisfied with special treatment. But then there's this question...this voice... What if? What if I end up just like my mother? This is the mafia. A criminal organization... I might be new here but I'm not naive. What if I end up as a murder case? Will my brother adapt to this environment... How does he feel about our new home... I haven't gotten the chance to ask him probably. Does he hate Eve?

Right now what matters is finding my brother, his class must have ended earlier than mine.

While I was rushing through the buzzing hallway, I sighted my brother Alan heading down from the opposite direction, quick on his heels as he sighted me too.

As I wove past another student, we ended up brushing shoulders, hard enough that she fell backward, and I caught her just in time before her back hit the floor.

It's only been my first day, but I'm no novice, I was able to grasp and understand the school's social system already. My eyes assessed her badge; she was a senior prefect, top tier.

"Watch it, young man," she narrowed her eyes at my long arm still around her shoulders even after she'd found her footing.

"The name's Sydney," I said, letting her go.

"Ruth Waldorf. Why were you running in crowded hall, you could have injured me."

"Oh dear cousin... is this jerk bothering you?" came a voice from behind. Turning, the first person I caught sight of was Eric, behind him was chubby Frederick, approaching.

It so turns out I share a class with the school's brainiac, top students since grade one, according to rumors I heard from a seatmate. Yes, they were intelligent, looked the part even, tucked shirts unlike mine, ironed pants and straight neck tie, mine was somehow in my backpack, it was just too uncomfortable to wear.

Fredrick and Eric were said to be smart, yet when they were solving equations in the math challenge class, I noticed some errors. And I regretted pointing it out, because not only the students but the teacher gave me the attention I never begged for. I wished I'd remained quiet.

Now, since I didn't just start an attention competition, I'd gained enemies who now stood before me and Ruth, menacingly.

"He's an outcast. Don't associate with him, Ruth," Frederick added, backing his brother.

"Firstly, I don't know any of you," Ruth glared at the three of us, then turned around and walked out.

Eric and Frederick narrowed their eyes at me as they swept past. When Eric's test paper slipped out of his shoulder bag, he didn't pause to notice, and neither did I pick it up. Generosity wasn't my thing, not when they'd just chased away a potential crush. My eyes shifted to the direction the girl had disappeared to.

Apparently she was a Waldorf too, so I'd be seeing her soon as family. She was different from the rest I'd seen, though, her hair was in cornrows, hair edges laid in style, her skin catching the sun rays that penetrated the hallway's floor-to-ceiling windows. It was just a glimpse, but she was somewhat ethereal in the light... She was right? Was this on in my head?. Now I feel awkwardly awkward for zoning out.

"Hey, you forgot your test results!"

Alan's voice drew my attention back to the hustle and bustle of the hallway. The illusion of her was gone finally, and so was the thought.

My eyes almost flared when Alan skipped over to Frederick and Eric just to hand over the papers.

"Give me that. Get your sweaty hands off my papers."

Eric snatched the papers. What happened next had me charging at him, gifting him the same punch he'd thrown at my brother that left his nose gushing blood.

"Get to the school hospital Alli—"

I was still speaking when a hit sent my neck tilting the other way, face burning red, hand curling into a hot fist. I ran my tongue along the inside of my cheek, sucking in the pain as I sniffed back blood from drooling down my nose.

"Oops, did that hurt? So sorry. You shouldn't have run into my fist. Did you guys see that? This guy needs glasses, always colliding into things."

Eric ridiculed me in front of the student bystanders, his chuckle making my ears hurt and the long walls echo.

No one was going to call a teacher? The authorities? The principal?

Of course. A school like this only favored its premium precious, the only way they'd interfere is if someone really got hurt. I couldn't be the one this time. I had to stand up for my brother.

The punch earlier, that was for my brother. This one was for me.

"Go to the school clinic, wait for me there," I said to Alan, rolling up my sleeves.

"Don't start a fight—"

"Go now!" I warned Alan.

When he ran off, I faced Eric. The first punch he dodged, but the second one hit his lower abdomen. He stumbled a few times until he was down to the floor, moving like a worm, groaning in pain.

I pounced on him, raining punches on his face. Jerks like him, I hated. Belittling the little to feel better about theirselves, boost their ego. Just like my mother, disgusting.

"You could have just accepted the paper and said thanks," I seethed as he pressed his hand against my neck, trying to choke me the same time I was choking him.

I wondered why his brother wasn't helping. I glanced at Frederick only to find him holding out his phone horizontal with a mischievous smirk on his lips. He was recording the whole thing on his phone... Not just him— everyone.

Oh no. This is bad.

I released Eric, and for the second I feared, he flipped the situation, overpowering me and returning the punches, except his were harsher, tighter, until my nose cracked.

"Enough! Both of you. Principal's office. Now."

Ruth's voice cut through the crowd of onlookers.

At the end of the day, I was expelled. And he was... let go. No suspension, no punishment.... No nothing.

What have I gotten myself into this time.