27. Escandalos

27. Escandalos
. Zia

But there were still there and he was nowhere to be found, not after another 4 hours had passed and the losing bell woke me out of my sleep.

My wrists hurt and the points on my thighs where my elbows dug into hurt even more, as I got up to my feet, held onto the wall so as not to fall because of the dizzy spell that suddenly befell me.

I managed to get out of our spot, feeling dejected at being abandoned.

Not literally, however, him not showing up was same as abandoning me.

The plan was to grab my bag and be out of this damned school then go home... No, not home, I'd go to my spot, enjoy nature in solitude then go home later.

Simple, right?

That's what I thought as well, until I failed at the first step.

My feet were rooted to a spot like gum on wood.

Why, you may ask?

I smelled Joyce.

My bully and the number one person that I hate the most because often times, when I wonder and think in 'what ifs' I have thoughts like, "What if Joyce didn't start to bully me? Would everyone have just let me breathe without hating on my oxygen?"

Because Joyce whose hate for me sprang out of nowhere is the reason why everyone else finds a comfortable excuse to jest at me.

And right now, she was standing with my stepsister; they seemed to be deep in chat.
My number one bully and my number two bully, plotting my demise?

"Don't be too dramatic," Gina scolded, but I couldn't help it.

Celine had her own clique and it wasn't Joyce's, so seeing two people who never hesitated to bully me come together to talk about anything was not only unusual, but it also filled me with dread.

What were they planning? Was it about me?

My heart thudded at the thought of the amplified evils that would happen to me if these two collided.

As if she sensed my gaze, Celine turned her head and I quickly ducked.

Or at least I tried to, because the slightest movement of me turning my back led to a huge collision between me and a set of girls giggling on their phone.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," it didn't register to me that they were juniors and should be the ones apologizing in the first place.

All I knew was that everyone was staring at me like I'd suddenly grown two heads just because I fell. Neither did it help that they thought it best to laugh at me instead of help me up. And I promise, I'm not even being entitled.

Then someone mocked from the closest distance.

"First she broke the bed, and today alone, she has broken the chair and my phone. Looks like she's about to cause an earthquake next," her clique of friends laughed while my head rang with one question: how did they know?

The chair had broken in front of so many people, but the bed? That was in the clinic. There was no one there, not even the school nurse.

"Are we safe?" the crowd grew bigger around me yet they were the ones asking that question when it was my own heart hammering in fear.

If they knew that the bed had collapsed while I was having sex with my own mate, shouldn't I be the one fearing for my safety?

Tyler had said that he knew everything about me and also told me to break up with Terri, so what if...

I tried to shake my head off it, but it just wasn't working.

"What are you going to do about my phone now? You might be a senior, but don't think just because your size is three times my own that I would be intimidated. I need an explanation for this," she folded her arms and impatiently tapped her feet on the ground.

"Exactly, if you bully us, then you'll break our hearts," her friend cheered and they all burst into laughter at a joke I wasn't part of.

Wait, I was in fact the joke.

Tears slipped down my cheeks as I tried to scramble away from the crowd, but there were pairs of legs everywhere I tried to turn to. They were ready to bully me, to push me into a corner just for what?

As I turned backwards and tried to get up on my knees as the space started to close in on me, I noticed the phone that fell.

"I'm sorry," I apologized as I picked it up.

No one seemed to hear my apology nor the sincerity in it and soon their voices droned out.

My head started to ring louder from the racing sound of my heartbeat in my ears. My tears burned hotter as they rolled down my jaw.

I swallowed hard but it felt like stone grazing the inside of my throat.

"Why do you have this?" My hand shook as the phone fell back to the ground, but as if to mock me, the video automatically replayed, forcing me to watch the reason why I was a joke.

The face was blurred, but I was the only one who looked that big or even close in the whole pack.

And then the bed collapsed in and the video meme slid into one of the chair breaking in class; the scene changing from the clinic.

Tyler!

It had to have been him.

The angle of the video was from the window side. Only someone close to the door at least would have seen and recorded us.

Tyler must have seen us after he went to call the nurse and then...

"First Alpha Tyler is not one to use such a dirty hideous means to get back at anyone. He would instead shed blood," Gina's voice defended, tying a knot in my heart.

Why would she defend him even when all fingers pointed at him.

My lips trembled as I fought to get to my feet only to feel a kick on the side of my stomach.
It was harsh and it hurt and when I fell I just wished the floor would open up and swallow me.

It was the only way I could escape from this public humiliation.

At least that was what I thought until the crowd suddenly became silent.

Did they find something else to jest about me?

I hated that even at this moment, they were excluding me. But when I turned in the direction everyone was looking at, I felt numb.

"Zia, what is going on here?" Cain's eyes were trained on me as he hurried towards me.

A frown deepened on his forehead the closer he got.

A minute ago, I wouldn't have had the answer to the question. But now that I did, it felt too heavy for my lips to communicate.

"I..." All I could manage was a stammer.

I simply didn't have the words for "a video of me having sex with your brother and breaking the clinic's bed" is going viral, but the junior whose phone had fallen from the hit stepped forward between myself and him.

"Step aside," Cain said coldly and she happily did.

"It's just that this fat senior broke my phone and I was trying to ask her to talk about the repairs, but she ignored me instead," she said with a pout, certain that he would take her side and I would become an object of mockery for the whole crowd again.

"Oh really?" he asked just in time for the auto-replay button to play and the whole thing started again.

"Yes, please get justice for me. I'm just an innocent junior being bullied by her just because she is bigger than everyone and breaks things with her body," she continued. Her words were pitiable but her eyes were filled with glee and at this point I couldn't bear to look up to Cain anymore.

After all, we were mates but he hadn't marked me. Every meeting we've had had been in public and my sister was very much in love with him. He definitely wouldn't stand up for me.

His image would probably be destroyed and honestly I would understand but my heart still tightened in pain.

It still hurt from knowing that no one would take my back.

Sudden exclamations from all around snapped me out of my thoughts as I saw the scene of Cain ruthlessly stomping into the phone.

The screen cracked beyond repairable damage then it went black from ink and then the phone itself caved into numerous pieces the size of the granite on the sidewalk.

"What? My phone. I..." the girl started to whine and cry, but her confidence from earlier was nowhere to be found.

Instead, she looked aggrieved and beyond horrified while I stared at the whole thing from where I sat on the floor in confusion.

"I broke it, who will stand up for justice for you now?" Cain asked, but not with the usual calmness and softness everyone associated him with.

He looked genuinely scary that the girl started to cry, her friends walking backwards to escape the whole thing.

The horror in their widened eyes was evident.

"I...I'm sorry," she dropped to her knees and started to rub her hands in apology.

"Indeed the anger of a quiet person was scarier than that of someone who was always aggressive.

"Why are you apologizing to me? Shouldn't I be the one apologizing?" he asked as his eyes flashed a dark shade of his emerald green. And having seen that before, I knew it was his wolf trying come to the surface, except this time, it wasn't to fuck my mouth, but to unleash his anger on this girl.

My heart went out to her and I wanted to plead for her.

However I was obviously in no position to.

The whole crowd was silent and despite their fears, everyone remained frozen like a spell had been cast on them.

Even at a distance, I could still see Celine and Joyce. Their eyes glued in our direction.

"And this should sound a warning to any and everyone who dares to bully Zia." he said as he gave the phone one last kick before facing me with a softness that...

He first made an attempt to help me to lift me in his arms, but after huffing with no result, he gave up and helped me to my feet instead.

I was too embarrassed to say anything, but my back straightened with borrowed confidence and my tears dried up.

"Senior Zia," as soon as I got up to my feet, I felt her slender arms wrap around my ankle.

The suddenness shocked me to a jump, but she wouldn't let go.
Then I looked down to see the three of them on their knees.

"We are sorry, please forgive us," they started to plead and I noticed as everyone else started to hide their phone out of sight.

Cain noticed, but he clearly wasn't satisfied because he raised his voice to spread around the whole car park areas as he said, "if anyone else plays that video on their phone, then it might as well be the last thing you use your eyes to do. Let's go," he dragged me out of the crowd and the girls knew better than to continue to hold on.

I felt a particular pair of eyes filled with ferocity and hatred, staring daggers at me from the back and when I turned I came face to face with Celine.

Surely, she would ensure to make the house a living hell for me alongside her mother tonight.

The clouds darkened and rumbled as if in agreement and my stomach sank.

"You get in first," Cain said as he opened the door of his green car for me.

Through the tinted window, I noticed him call the girl whose phone he had trampled forward.

Her legs were visibly shaking as she walked up to him, her eyes still streaking tears filled with regret.

Then after a few exchange of words, he flaunted a thick wad of cash, shook it in the air and smacked it on her face.

Then his eyes somehow managed to meet mine through the tint in the window and he smiled.