Chapter 8 people like me

Chapter 8 people like me
Madelyn’s P.O.V. (Continued)

His tone was casual, but I could sense sinister motives under that casualness.
His deliberate slow steps, that slight thud of his soles on the floor—my heart thumped with that sound.
Gone were my peaceful days.
He stopped right behind me.
“What is it? Are you scared?” he asked in a low and husky voice from behind, his breaths fanning my ear, but I trembled hard, clutching those books tightly as if they would save me from him.
He chuckled lightly, but the darkness of his voice increased my heartbeat.
We were in the middle of a deserted corridor with two closed classrooms. The stairs were also a bit far from us.
What did he want to do? Why did he corner me here? I was still hurting, and goosebumps rose all over my body when the fear of getting an injury crept into my heart.
“Wow! So many books!!!” he exclaimed, feigning surprise. There was still distance between our bodies, but I could feel the heat of his breath as he was breathing in my ear.
“I wonder what exactly you want to do by reading so many thick books, huh? Do you really think that the people like you can achieve something big in life, huh?” The taunt pierced my heart like a sharp dagger.
“People like me.” I mumbled the phrase that hit worse than a knife wound.
Silence stretched, which was suffocating, but the fear seeped out of my heart bit by bit.
“Just because I have a full scholarship and no parent figure in my life, leaving a tag of orphan on me, you think that I am worse than a gutter rat who should be crushed under your shoes, huh?”
I didn’t know what came over me, but I taunted back in a low and shaky voice.
He didn’t speak, but I felt tears in my eyes.
People like me…..
Like they taunted me when my grandma died.
A jinx like me….
Their cold faces; gazes filled with contempt and disdain reeled in front of my eyes.
My mother’s cold face with an indifferent reaction, as if my feelings and my existence didn’t matter to her, stopped in front of my eyes, making me breathless.
Oscar didn’t utter a single word and just kept on breathing behind me.
“I earned that scholarship with hard work, Oscar. They don’t do charity. They make you compete. They make you practice your subjects day and night so that you can win. People like me earn their every breath, Oscar. Tell me what gives you the right to judge me based on…on.” I couldn’t speak more because I choked.
The pain in my chest was unbearable, and I was now breathing heavily, clutching those books so tightly that my chest felt crushed by their weight.
“You bully; I don’t fight. Not because I can’t, but because it doesn’t let me feel alone. I don’t know the reason for your hatred towards me, but at least you have that feeling for me. It…. It’s still better than finding yourself alone in a jam-packed room, Oscar. So, tell me what you think of people like me.” I asked him in a choked voice, slowly moving my face in his direction.
His cold, hazy green eyes were right in front of me. His face was so close that I felt his breath on my face.
For the first time, I wasn’t afraid of him.
I should have cowered under his gaze by now, but the people like me…..
That phrase snapped something in me.
“I earned that scholarship, Oscar. What about you? Can you confidently say that your admission to this school is purely because of your hard work?” I asked him coldly, voice still choked, tears blurring my vision, but I had had enough of his taunts.
The coldness in his eyes was enough to freeze me to death. The fear started creeping inside my heart again, but I refused to back down.
“People like me are nothing in front of your family status and wealth, Oscar. With the help of your family’s influence, you can crush me under your shoes at any time, but I ask you to live one day….. only one day of the hardship that people like me face every day. I guarantee you that you will give up within a half day.” The challenge in my voice was evident.
His nose flared, but it only made me smile internally.
Living a lavish life with luxury and a full belly for a day is far better than starving yourself to death and still working so that you can earn enough to have one full meal at the end of the day.
“You mean to say your life?” he asked me sarcastically, tilting his head a little, but didn’t move away from me.
I could see light freckles at the base of his nose, but I kept my gaze locked with him.
I chuckled and smiled this time, with a little sniff.
“Not my life, Oscar. The only bad thing in my life is solitude. Except for that, I have enough money to give me all the necessary luxuries of life. So, no…. I am not talking about my life. I am talking about your version of people like me.” I clarified calmly, a mocking smile creeping on my lips.
He suddenly grabbed my neck, making me gasp aloud in fear. He tightened his grip on my neck, making me drop all the books from my embrace.
“You think you are smart, huh?” He taunted angrily, taking one step towards me, closing the remaining distance between our bodies.
I was now gasping for air as I saw stars dancing in front of my eyes. I grabbed his wrist with one hand and tried to remove his fingers from my neck. He was choking me badly.
“Let…g….go off me.” I yelled, but my voice didn’t come out properly.
“You are right. I have everything. I am not like you, who has to work his a off for some mere changes. People like you are born to be crushed under our shoes, Maddie.” He continued yelling at me while tightening his grip around my neck, cutting off the supply of oxygen in my body. His hatred was evident in his voice.
“Even if I kill you right now, I will walk away unscathed. You are nothing but a gutter cockroach.” I couldn’t even register a word coming out of his mouth.
My head spun harder. My eyes had already lost their focus.
“I don’t know about her, but surely, I can make you crawl like a cockroach. Do you want to test it?” I heard someone speaking in a very low and cold voice, but I was too unfocused to register a thing going on around me.
I only felt Oscar’s grip around my neck tightening again. The darkness started consuming me. My lungs were about to burst at any time because of the lack of oxygen.
“You are only 18. So juvey is definitely not for you.” I heard something again, but soon my neck was out of constraints.