Chapter 8
Violet's POV
Sienna strode over, eyes viciously locking onto the case on my back.
"You're so confident just because of this broken violin?" She sneered, reaching for my case. "I want to see what you'll use to compete in the final round without this thing!"
"Don't touch my violin!" My head buzzed. All rationality instantly collapsed.
That violin was the only thing my grandmother left me, my weapon for survival in this city. I absolutely couldn't let her destroy it! I struggled free from one girl's grip with all my strength and whirled around to protect the case.
"Grab it from her! Smash it!" Sienna completely lost it. Her sharp nails clawed at the back of my hand, immediately drawing bloody scratches.
Four girls surrounded me, pulling and tugging. My knee wound tore open again in the violent shoving. Piercing pain shot up my nerves straight to my brain. Cold sweat instantly soaked my back.
But I held the case tightly in my arms, curling up on the ground, letting their fists and feet fall on my back and shoulders, refusing to let go.
"Let go! You bitch!" Sienna's high-heeled foot kicked hard at my calf.
I grunted, vision blurring from pain, but I still bit my lip hard, not letting myself make a sound of begging.
Just as the case strap was about to be torn off at the critical moment, a roar suddenly came from the end of the path.
"Stop! What are you doing!"
It was Professor Miller's voice.
He was the strictest disciplinary supervisor at the academy.
Sienna and her sister squad froze, quickly releasing me like they'd been electrocuted.
They immediately stepped back several paces, faces hurriedly squeezing out innocent expressions.
I sat slumped on the ground in disarray, panting heavily, clutching tightly that case covered in scratches.
Blood droplets seeped from the back of my hand, dripping onto the black leather of the case.
Professor Miller strode over. Seeing the mess everywhere and the dirt all over me, his beard trembled with anger. "Miss Cole! This is a school, not your family's backyard! Are you gang fighting?!"
"Professor, you misunderstand." Sienna smoothed her messy hair, putting on an aggrieved expression. "We were just joking with Violet. She fell down herself accidentally."
"Joking? Jokes can do this to someone?!" Professor Miller clearly wasn't buying it. "All of you, follow me to the administration office!"
Sienna bit her teeth, knowing she couldn't gain any advantage today. She glared hard at Professor Miller, then turned her gaze to me on the ground.
As she turned to leave, she bent down slightly and said in a voice only the two of us could hear, word by word in my ear, "You think this is over? Just wait. I'll make you pay the price."
Sienna's venomous warning was like a snake's flickering tongue, circling in my mind for days.
I knew her too well. That spoiled young lady of the Cole family never took others' dignity and efforts seriously.
To ensure I'd be foolproof in next week's city symphony orchestra final selection, I made compromises.
I called the manager at "Burger Bros" and with extreme difficulty asked for a week off, even though this meant next month's food budget would drastically shrink.
Not only that, I completely changed my routine.
I no longer stayed alone in the practice room until late at night. After school, I always stuck closely with Chloe to the bus stop.
Going to the bathroom, going to the cafeteria—I never went alone.
I was like a hedgehog with all its spines raised, carefully guarding against black hands that could reach out from the shadows at any moment.
After a few peaceful days like this, campus was calm. Sienna didn't cause me trouble again. Even her lackeys seemed to have disappeared.
Thursday evening, I carried my case back to that six-hundred-dollar monthly rental apartment, dragging my exhausted body.
The motion sensor lights in the hallway were broken again. I fumbled for my key in the dark and pushed it into the keyhole by instinct.
"Click." The door opened.
The lights were off inside, but by the weak light coming from the hallway, I keenly sensed something wrong.
There was a faint scent of menthol tobacco in the air—a smell that could never appear in my non-smoking room.
My heart clenched violently. My eyes quickly swept to the narrow living room.
Near the shabby venetian blind stood a tall dark shadow.
The streetlight outside slanted in, illuminating the person's dark brown hair and that familiar leather jacket.
It was Ethan Archer.
Panic shot through my body like electricity.
I didn't even think. Instinct made me step back and turn to run toward the hallway.
"Violet!"
The footsteps behind me were alarmingly loud. Ethan's reaction was much faster than mine.
I hadn't run two steps when a powerful hand grabbed my arm hard and yanked.
I lost balance completely, stumbling as he dragged me back inside.
"Bang." The apartment door slammed shut behind him, shaking plaster from the walls.
"Why are you running?" Ethan blocked the door, looking down at me, brows tightly furrowed, dark brown eyes full of irritation and dissatisfaction. "Do I look like I'm going to kill you? You avoid me like you've seen a ghost!"
"Don't touch me!" My stomach churned. I shook off his hand violently, backing up until my back hit the cold wall. I stared at him, chest heaving violently. "How did you get in? This is trespassing, Ethan. I can call the police right now!"
Ethan sneered and pulled out a brass key from his pocket, spinning it once on his fingertip.
"Did you forget? Junior year before you moved to my place, you gave me a spare key. I just never gave it back."
Looking at that key, I felt incredibly ironic.
I'd once happily handed over the key to my own space. Now it had become his pass to trample my territory at will.
"Now you're in, you've looked around." I forced myself to calm down, pointing at the door. "Say what you have to say. When you're done, get out immediately. I don't want to look at you for one more second."
Ethan's expression darkened. He shoved the key back in his pocket, crossed his arms, and spoke in a condescending tone. "I came today to show you a way out. Withdraw from next week's city symphony orchestra selection."
I froze.
Even though I knew how shameless he was, I was still shocked speechless by his thick-skinned audacity.
"Are you insane?" I laughed in fury, voice trembling slightly with anger. "You sneak into my apartment, corner me, just to make me step aside for Sienna? Ethan, to please your new girlfriend, you don't even want your face anymore?"