40. Zia's POV - Bully The Bully

40. Zia's POV - Bully The Bully
Zia's POV
My mind is raking with nervousness, but this time, I don't let it overwhelm me.
I don’t cower, because one, it would ruin my form and I would have to do more work to get it in better shape.
When I thought about how many planks and reverse crunches Cain would make me do, I straightened my back.
With no friends to share my joy with, I quickly turned my attention to scribbling on my book, getting lost in my dark abstract paintings even faster.
I filled page after page with ink and shadings until the background noise suddenly zeroed out.
What’s happening?
Thinking it was the teacher, I raised my head towards the door, only for my eyes to fall on Joyce.
Sometimes in the last two weeks, I would have flinched and looked away.
Fear would have overcome me and my mind would have thought over a billion hurtful things she could say and do to me.
A glance at my wrist displaced those feelings.
One punch and she would be down.
What was there to fear about someone who couldn’t hold a plank for ten seconds?
Someone whose diet mainly consisted of green leaves. Someone who would definitely pass out for days if she did half the workout I have been immersed in on a regular.
It gave me comfort, and confidence in having the upper hand in a fight.
With that in mind, she became an eyesore really quick.
She noticed my scowl and paused, strengthening her glare with all the veins on her face.
Those actions spelt one word. Weak.
Sure, I couldn’t manifest my wolf, but Gina would beat hers down if not for the unexplainable issues we had.
“How dare you look at me?” she asked.
“What type of question is that?” I asked. “Aren’t you looking at me?”
My nose scrunched up in disgust. I rolled my eyes and puffed hair out through my mouth.
She gasped and so did everyone else in class.
The first to recover from the shock was one of her minions who stepped forward and appeared in front of my desk.
How her skinny legs managed to carry her so fast baffled me.
“Her wolf,” Gina answered in my head.
I folded my hands and relaxed into my seat as I eyed her skinny figure in front of me. “Some people really don't deserve good things.”
“Are you referring to me?” she pointed to her skinny chest.
What in the world were these people eating?
For people who ate finger foods and were the most considerate about diets, her clavicle was as deep as a well.
Even I felt concerned for them.
Which brought the question.
How did I allow these people bully me for the past three years?
“Who else would I be talking to?”
I glared at her open-mouthed, gasped expression.
“She wouldn’t last an hour on Cain’s dungeon if a simple question has her looking like a dying fish,” Gina said. I coughed to hide my laughter.
“You seem to have grown some wings after skipping class these past weeks.” Joyce was in front of me, joining her fellow minions.
Her physical condition wasn’t in any way better.
“Why do you suddenly seem so concerned? Last I remember, we aren’t friends.”
I got bolder with each word that left my mouth and couldn’t stop talking.
“Who do you think you are?” she spat.
It was a pretty lame question. Didn’t she know me after all these years of bullying?
I would be hurt if I was just some side character in her books.
Her expression was beyond pained and even though her words were sharp and aggressive, her body reaction was anything but.
She relished in her minions holding her back and instead of raising her voice in my face, she kept stepping backwards.
I hadn’t moved a muscle, yet.
I swatted my hand in leisure across my face then twirled the tip of my pinky in my ear.
“Where is this noisy fly from?” I asked my pinky finger then blew at the oil caught in my nails.
I leaned on my desk, “Joyce. I’m not in the mood to chat.”
“You-” she struggled with her index finger pointed at the very middle of my forehead. Between my eyebrows.
“You really must not value your life, talking to the Beta’s daughter like that,” another minion stepped up.
The one who choked on her surprise, remained still, like a statue.
Everyone was pretty distracted with the drama unfolding, however my thoughts remained focused on one thing.
I’d called her by her name, without stuttering.
It finally dawned on me at that moment that we were mates. Truly and fully. Age mates and there was no need to fear them.
“I know,” I toyed with my pen in between my fingers.
“It’s why she never got punished for all her ugly crimes,” I replied, surprised at how calm I was.
I went ahead to list a couple of things I’d suffered under her hands, none of which she ever got punished for.
They all reacted like they didn’t watch her force my face into a dirty toilet.
While Gina was completely terrified by my calm. According to her, I sounded like I was narrating another person’s ordeal.
In the end, the only thing Joyce managed to pick up was the nature of her crimes.
“My crimes are never ugly! I am beautiful, and everything I do is,” she seemed to be throwing a tantrum.
An unintelligible one, which brought me to another question.
“How did I manage to get bullied by these adults with peanut-sized brains?” For someone who used to be a top student, my condition was really awful.
“Do you think just because you lost some fat, everyone will love you? I will continue to bully you until you get out of this school,” she ranted all in one breath, gasping.
“And you,” I rose up to my feet angrily, “do you think you could bully me because I was fat?” I asked.
“No,” I answered for her.
“You could bully me in the past. What makes you think I’ll let you now?”
“You still have the mouth to talk.”
“Of course I do!” I retorted. “I let you bully me because I had low self-esteem, not because I was fat. If anything, shouldn’t I be the one bullying you? You look so thin, I fear that one push would land you in the ER.”
My voice rose with my confidence, commanding the silence and attention of the whole room.
Surely this was the first time anyone stood up to our spoilt beta’s daughter. The only child believed to get anything she wanted.
“You are saying such big words,” she folded her arms with a sense of bravado.
The clicks and flashes of everyone’s camera reminded me of every time I got bullied. So I made a promise that this one would be different.
“Oh really?” I rose to my feet.
Being one head taller than the average girls my age meant I had to look down on them to speak.
This time, I didn’t hold back.
“Do you want to test the theory?”
I flexed my wrist and stretched. Ready for a head-on fight.
“Fighting is against the school rules. Everyone, return to your seats and pass your last week’s assignment to the front.”
Why did the teacher choose this exact moment to come in?
A flash of irritation crossed my eyes.
Cain always emphasized how I had more strength than I realized and that was my only chance to test the theory.
These girls wouldn’t be bothering me except they found a stronger backer.
But I had the strongest backers yet. No one would dare to go against the—My Triplet Alphas.
“You’re really lucky the teacher came in. We’ll continue this later!” she said but retreated faster than a rabbit getting chased.
I shrugged, grateful that she was out of my hair but a part of me questioned.
Who was the lucky one?
She lacked true combat experience. One swing of my hand would bring her down faster than a trip down the stairs.
All I had to do was sit on her face and she’ll never recover.
“Jemaya!”
I shot my head up to see Cain at the door with my bag. He was waving, despite the teacher.
“Thank you.” I got up to collect my bag and he stole a kiss before hurrying back.
This time, I lowered my head as I returned to my seat, but Gina wouldn’t have it.
“Raise your head! It’s just a kiss.”
The lessons drowned on and my heart thudded in anticipation.
What would Tyler think when he saw me?