"Where am I?" the words I utter after opening my eyes.
"What happened?" I add but seem to have no answer to my questions.
I turn to my right still lying on the couch.
"What is this place?" I mutter to myself.
"Oh, you're awake," a voice of a man startles me. My eyes grow bigger when I realize who is in front of me.
"Mr. Martin?" I suddenly rise from the couch. I could not believe my eyes. Why would someone like him be with me? How is this possible? I look around and realize that I am in his house. In the jerk's house.
I try to recall what happened earlier and the scene in which I fell into the pool enters my mind.
"Long time no see," he tells me.
"Yeah, but..." I feeble and he looks confused.
"What's wrong?" he asks.
"How did I come here?" I say unanticipatedly.
"Did not you remember anything?" he asks again and I start to compose the words in my head.
"The only thing I remember is I fell into the pool," I tell him.
"I see," he utters then I look at him.
"Kawaki saved you from drowning that's what he told me. And I gave you two a ride home. We don't know where you live so we bring you home until you get conscious," he explains and I just give him a nod.
The jerk steps downstairs and he looks surprised when he sees me up already. I look at my clothes and I have changed already. Wait? Who did that?! I see no girls in the house.
"A friend from the neighborhood changed your wet clothes," the jerk tells me when he notices that I am feeling disturbed.
"I see," I mutter.
"Are you hungry or something?" Mr. Martin asks me. I shake my head. I don't want to add to the trouble I made.
"Can I go home already?" I am so ashamed. They took responsibility for me.
"Are you sure you don't want a bite?" he assures and I nod. I never heard the jerk speak again.
"Thank you for everything. I don't know how to show my gratitude to you," I say almost crying. I didn't expect things to turn out like this.
"No need to thank us. We honestly owe you much more than this," he smiles at his son and the jerk doesn't show any reactions on his face.
"If you are ready to go, we can drive you home," Mr. Martin sure is kind.
"Yes, thank you," I say and I get up from the couch to ready myself. The jerk with his dad leaves the living room and Mr. Martin prepares the car.
The gown is right beside the couch. The shoes are on the side of the chair. I pick them and rush out of the house.
"Kawaki, are you going with us?" his dad asks.
"Nope. I will stay here," he replies.
"Let's go, Sarada," Mr. Martin tells me, and before I leave, I talk to the jerk.
"Um... Thank you for saving me," I bow my head at him.
"Why so formal? You don't look like the dork I know," he says and I smirk at him.
"Is that how you respond to what I said?" I frown at him.
"Just go. He is waiting," he tells me and I pause.
"I'm sorry. I ruined your night," I tell him.
"You should apologize to the long blonde peevish for ruining her birthday party instead," he tells me. I suddenly feel bad about Yodo. What happened earlier was a disaster. He walks inside the house and leaves me at the doorway.
I walk toward the car to hop in and Mr. Martin smiles at me upon getting in.
"I'm sorry for causing you too much trouble, Mr. Martin," I say and he chuckles.
"No, don't worry about it. To be honest, I am happy to be with you. I think my idiot of a son too," he smiles. I think my cheeks flush. He starts the engine and then the car moves.
"Um... By the way, thank you for the autograph. I really appreciate your gift," I tell him and he looks confused all of a sudden.
"Oh, about that thing. Kawaki asked me to sign in the card. I didn't know it's for you," he informs. My lips hung in the air.
"Huh?" the only thing I utter.
"It's his gift for you, I guess," he adds. I think my face turn extremely red this time. I have stopped breathing for like a second.
"I see," I stammer.
"Did you know that you are the first person he had given a gift? He did not give me any before, he made gifts just for his mom," he continues. I clench my chest because I can feel that it's beating fast.
"Wait, I'm not sure about it but I never saw him make anything ever besides for his mom. He doesn't like receiving gifts too. He typically throws them in the trashcan after," he chuckles after saying those to me.
"He is truly a jerk," I say. I don't know but I feel so comfortable with Mr. Martin. It feels like I am talking to dad.
"Kawaki has changed, hasn't he?" he asks. Well weirdly, he has a bit.
"Why tell me all these? I mean to a stranger like me?" I ask. He looks at me then switches his gaze at the street.
A curve appears on his lips.
"You did not sound like a stranger to me when you tell me he is a jerk for the first time," he laughs when he says those. A flashback of my first meeting with him appears in my mind all of a sudden.
"Besides, you are the type who understands my son well, and despite knowing his flaws you still care about him. I am confident when he is with you. I know he is taking the right path now. And I'm very happy about it," he looks at me once again giving me his sincerest smile.
My heart skips a beat after hearing him say. His words were flattering in that they make my heart melt. Did I really do it? All I can remember is fighting with him all the time. Frown and yell at him when we're together.
Silence takes over. I don't know how to respond to that. The car stops.
"Is this your house?" he asks. When I look outside the window, it's truly our house. I open the door and get out. Mr. Martin follows.
Mom opens the door and realizes it's me.
"Sarada?" she utters them rushes to the gates.
"Mom," I say.
"Hey, what happened? And who is t-" she cuts off what she has to say when she sees Mr. Martin.
"Mr. Martin?!" she exclaims. She is surprised. Her eyes are wide open.
"Hello, good evening," he greets mom.
"Can you explain why Mr. Martin is taking you home?" she asks when we rest on the chair. We explained everything to her.
"Sorry for causing you trouble, Mr. Martin," she apologizes.
"It's nothing. I owe your daughter big time. If it was not for her, I still would have not reconciled with my son right now," he smiles.
"Thank goodness. I bet she is friends with Kawaki now," mom tells him. Well, we are not completely friends or anything. I don't know what's going on with us at the moment. He had saved me multiple times now yet I haven't gotten any good conversations with him.
"Well yeah, I hope they will continue to be friends and hang out more often," what is he trying to say now?
"Yeah, I would love to meet Kawaki," she states. Oh my...
"Well, Sarada may invite him here one day," he winks at me. I think I blushed hard. He caught me off-guard.
"That would be great. Please do, honey," she tells me. I just give her an awkward smile.
"By the way, I will not stay longer. I have to go. Kawaki's waiting for me," he waves goodbye.
"Yeah. Thank you for driving her home. Be careful, Mr. Martin,"
"Yeah. I hope to see you hang out with Kawaki sometime," he chuckles.
"Huh?!" I think I flush again.
"Good night," he says and gets in his car. We wave goodbye at him until his car fades away from our vision.
"SARADA!" Chocho shouts upon my arrival. We did not go to school together today because I told her I am a little late.
She drags me off immediately to my desk and whispers in my ear. I can feel the tension from the outside already. Don't tell me...
"I'm the headline of the platform, right?" I say. I did not open it over the weekend. I know it's a disaster.
"You and Kawaki and Yodo's rage towards you all for ruining her party," she crosses her arms.
"It was not my fault. It's an accident," I tell her.
"Yeah, definitely it was but still..." she shrugs.
"If she was mad then, it can't be helped. I'd too if that happened to me," I say.
"I have heard she got depressed and not coming to school today because she felt humiliated in front of everyone.
I feel bad for her. We did not intend to ruin her party though. I can see my classmates whispering. The gossip girls and boys meet at one place again. I try to occupy myself with other things to not stress myself out.
After meeting with our adviser, we head to the cafeteria to eat. I told Chocho about what happened after the incident. She could not believe what I told her.
"You're a lucky girl. Kawaki really brought you home?" she squeaks and I hiss and immediately cover her mouth.
"Don't talk loudly," I say and she cups her mouth.
"I'm sorry," she utters and I nod.
"It seemed like a dream," I say and she nods to agree with me.
"By the way, the prom is coming in two days. Did Boruto ask you to be his date?" she asks. Oh, true. The prom hasn't crossed my mind since Yodo's birthday party.
"No, but I don't expect him to ask me. He might ask someone else," I say.
"You think so?" she shrugs. Not sure though.
"And besides. I'll be so busy with the play by the time," I tell her. She just nods and did not bring up the topic again.
"That's all for today. You did great. We will just do the final touch tomorrow," the club's President tells us. Our practice just ended and everyone aims to go home early today. The juniors and seniors have been given a day to prepare for the upcoming prom. By tomorrow, we will be decorating the venue. I have to ready myself for a very tiring day.
I decided to go back to the classroom to see Chocho but when I arrived, nobody's there anymore. Someone from class B told me that they went to the oval for the activity conducted by the Sports Club.
I am walking my way to the oval when suddenly a group of guys appears and blocks me in the hallway. Who are they? They seem unfamiliar. I haven't seen them here before.
"Hey, the genius Sarada, right?" they look suspicious to me. They suddenly surround me.
"What do you want?" I ask. My knees start to tremble.
"Just don't resist," the blonde guy says but before I could shout for help the guy behind me covers my face with a handkerchief then my vision starts to blur, and suddenly everything turns black.
When I wake up, I notice that something is restricting my movements. I am tied up on a chair while my mouth was covered by tape.
Where I am? What is this place?
I look around and I notice that I am in the abandoned stock room of the Grade Seven class. Nobody comes close to this place because everyone believed this room is where a ghost lady shows when someone approaches this area.
Right now, it's not the ghost lady but monsters are here. Those guys slowly show themselves. It's quite dark in this place.
I try to resist but it's pointless. The ropes are just so tight.
"It's useless to resist. You can't get away from us," the blonde moron laughs.
"Shall we start the party?" the other guy says then they laugh together.
"Don't get so excited. Let's play with her for a while," the red-haired weird guy says and they laugh altogether again.
What are they planning to do with me? Dad, please save me. Please save me...
The black-haired guy approaches me and touches my face. I try to avoid his hands but he grabs my chin instead and looks at me with evil eyes. Fear wraps me.
"You must be a genius but you are no match against us," he says then he moves his hand to my neck. I start to feel terrible toward the guy. I want to punch his face. His group of morons laughs again.
"Hey, look at me. Don't you like hanging out with me?" he laughs. I look sharply at him.
"Want to fight back, huh?" he challenges me. But I am helpless.
"How could she fight back if you are tying her up? I didn't know a bunch of losers like dorks. What to expect from losers, anyway?"
Hey...
That's the jerk again...
Kawaki's POV
"Kawaki!"
Damn it! That psychopath so early in the morning again. She clings to my arm immediately upon reaching my side.
"Let go of me!" I try to take her hand off me.
"You're being grumpy again. We had not enjoyed the party last Friday night, so we are making up for it today," she says in full energy. Just what the heck she is?
"What are you talking about?" I snap.
"We are going on a date today," she tries to lean her head on my shoulder but I push her away and remove her hand from my arm.
"That's rude of you," she pouts.
"Just stay away from me," I tell her but she does not seem to listen. I walk away from her but she keeps following me. She's worse than a dog, to be honest.
"Hey, be my date at the prom," she asks me.
"I'm not interested," I say still walking away from her.
"Come on, you'll surely enjoy the night with me," she insists.
"Stop pestering me," I tell her.
"Why won't you come with me?" she keeps blabbering about it and it is annoying.
"I don't want to come with you," I keep refusing.
"If it's her asking you right now, will you say yes?"
Just what the hell is she talking about?
"Just leave me alone," I say. She stops following me and utters something.
"Why is it always her? Because she is smart and a genius? Is that what it takes to get your attention?" she almost yells at me. I stop from walking away.
"What are you talking about?" I ask. I don't get what she is blabbering now. Is she talking about the dork?
"I ain't that dumb, Kawaki. I remember that night when you saved her from the forest. I was there. When you gave her a gift at the veranda. I was there too. When you jumped into the pool I can see how you were so eager to save her," she pauses to catch her breath.
"You never treated other girls like that since the day I started watching you from the shadows. I always wanted to get close to you, walk beside you. It took me a lot of courage to stand up and get so cocky when you were around just to get your attention but..." her voice cracks.
"I can't win against her no matter what I do," no words coming from the tip of my tongue. I don't know why anyway.
"I don't know what you're talking about," are the only words I utter.
"Stop lying already. Stop pretending. Stop acting cool all the time!" she snaps. Based on her tone of speaking, she is upset.
"But I am not giving up just yet!" she yells at me. I can see how people around me look at us. It's so obvious that she is holding her tears back.
She runs away before I could even turn my head back. She was spitting odd things.
I head toward our classroom just to stare outside the window. I think this is the only thing I have done the whole year.
People around me tend to talk about this prom. Guys ask girls to be their dates and then suddenly the psychopath appears in my mind and her words flash back in my head too.
I try to ignore it then I unexpectedly glanced at the dork who is cheerfully talking to her fatso best friend.
"Thank you for saving me..." I remember her saying while bending her head at me.
"You never treated other girls like that since the day I started watching you from the shadows..."
Ah! That psychopath is tricking me again. After meeting with our class adviser, I head toward the direction of the rooftop. But before I could completely go upstairs, a group of guys is talking and blocking the way up. I hide from them when someone speaks.
"Boss said to just scare the girl and leave her while trembling in fear," just a group of idiots scaring a random girl. I have seen a lot of them before.
Wait up, did I just hear a familiar name?
They are cut off when students pass them and they get along with them so they won't look suspicious. Since they have left, I will go to my favorite spot to waste my time away.
The weather is fine. I love the fresh air at a place like this. I used to hang out with Kiwi here and fed him with what I got but he is peacefully sleeping on the couch by now.
I think I will take a short nap here. I cover my face with a book so I could fall asleep as soon as possible and I succeed.
A loud noise wakes me up. What the hell is going on down there? Are they racing? The brushy brow guy from my class competes with the other guy from another class. Cheers and yells are echoing and they hurt my ears.
It looks fun so I have watched it until it's done. And the brushy brow won.
I step down the water tank to get back to our classroom to pick my things up and go home.
I notice that the psychopath doesn't bug me for the rest of the day. I wonder what happened to her or maybe she is still upset with me. Whatever!
"Akira! Wake up! Are you okay?" a girl sounds like crying. I move closer to the crowd to see what's happening.
When I reach closer to them, I see the psychopath lying on the ground. She has bruises on her cheeks and arms.
"What happened?" I utter.
"She suddenly collapsed upon reaching this point. We don't know what happened to her," a guy responds to me.
"Go call the nurse or help me get her to the clinic now!" her friend yells. They rush to call the nurse and they tried to wake her up.
"Sarada!" the fatso girl calls.
"Hey, did you see Sarada?" she asks the girl she came across.
"I see. Thank you," she says upon not getting information.
"Kawaki, did you see Sarada?" she asks me. I did not respond. Something is bothering me.
"Bring her to the old stock room that's an order fro-"
"To the old stock room!" I mutter to myself then rush to the place. I leave the fatso girl behind.
What the hell she must be thinking?
She must be there. What do they want from her?
It's quite far from here. They planned to bring her there since it's far from everyone. The motive must be something stupid.
"You must be a genius but you are no match against us," I hear a voice from the inside. I was right, they are here.
"Hey, look at me. Don't you like hanging out with me?" honestly, he laughs like a moron.
"Want to fight back, huh?" his voice is more annoying than the dork, to be honest. I did not waste any more time hiding and I reveal myself.
"How could she fight back if you are tying her up? I didn't know a bunch of losers like dorks What to expect from losers, anyway?" I tell them. Their attention is switched to me.
"Who are you bastard?" the red-haired gorilla face utters.
"No need to know," I tell him.
"It's the leading man saving her leading lady against the villains of the story. Isn't it romantic?" the blonde idiot laughs while clapping his hands. He really is a damn idiot!
The dork is tied up on a chair while her mouth is covered by tape. I see now why she hasn't made any sounds earlier.
I move inside and stop midway. They are like five and are mocking me. Wait, why am I even here?
"You're so brave to come by yourself. I wonder how did you know about this," the black-haired moron says.
"Blame your stupidity for that. You know you are going to kidnap someone but you talk loudly in a public area," I tell them.
"That smart mouth of yours is impressive. I want to make it bleed," the blonde idiot threatens me.
"Then come at me," I challenge him. He gestures to one of the idiots to attack me. He punches but I evade it then I punch him in the face instead. He tumbles to the floor. Another attacks me and we are exchanging blows but in the end, I am making a solid attack on him.
"You are pissing me off!" the blonde moron yells.
He removes the tape from the dork's mouth. Then unravels the rope that ties her to the chair.
"What are you doing?" the dork finally talks.
"Just watch how your knight in shining armor gets beaten up," the blonde idiot laughs evilly again. The dork turns pale when he said it.
The two other guys held her in her arms. She keeps resisting but they are strong enough for her.
The blonde idiot gestures to his idiot of a friend to attack me then the guy from earlier attacks but I end up punching him again.
The blonde idiot moves closer to the dork and removes the ribbon from her uniform.
"Hey, stop it!" she shouts at him.
"Shut up lady! Just watch," he tells her.
"You moron!" she shouts at him but he ignores her.
"Keep attacking him," he tells the two idiots then they attack me all at once. I dodge the first attack but hit me on the second but I manage to punch back and the idiot tumble to the floor.
"Hey, don't!" the dork shouts and I check why she reacted that way. The blonde idiot tries to unbutton her blouse.
"Stay away from me!" she begs but the idiot finally unbuttons the top one. She is trying to escape but she could not.
He keeps giving them signals then attacks me. I manage to punch both of them then kick the other one resulting in them lying on the floor.
The idiot unbuttons the second one. Does he plan to take her blouse off? He unbuttons her blouse every time I get a hit.
Damn it! I get it now!
"What a cheap trick!" I say. Then he laughs.
"So, you noticed, huh?" he says.
"Idiot!" he laughs at me.
"Every time you hit them I will slowly take her clothes off in front of you," he laughs like an idiot.
The dork was surprised by his revelation. He laughs like a devil now.
"Show her how you beat the hell out of him," he tells his idiotic boys and attacks me again. I try to dodge them but it's quite hard to do it because they are attacking me at the same time and I can't even fight back.
"Come on, why aren't you fighting back?" he is mocking me.
His laugh echoes in the old abandoned room.
I was hit on my face, left and right. Kick on my stomach. An elbow blow at the back.
"Stop it, please!" the dork screams. I am down on the floor. I see him grab her chin and talk nonsense with her.
"You ugly face will pay for this!" she shouts at his face. Even in times like this, she is still the fearless dork I know.
"What did you say?" he slaps her which makes me shocked. How could he hit a girl like that?
"Hey," I say while getting up.
"Huh? Do you still want to fight?" he asks me while chuckling.
"Come at me you, ugly face!" I tell him and he grits his teeth in anger.
"You bastard!" he mutters and dashes toward me. I can barely move my body. My knees are trembling already.
He punches me in the face good thing I did not stumble and I fire back at him and he is thrown into the air coughing his saliva out. I save all my strength for that punch.
The blonde idiot is lying on the floor then he gestures to the other guy holding the dork to unbutton her blouse again.
"Stop!" I say almost dashing at him but the red-haired moron stops me by pulling my foot back so I stumble to the floor.
"Stop it!" she shouts.
"Her bra is almost visible," the brown-haired gorilla face laughs like it's something amusing.
"Damn it!" I mutter. The blonde idiot steps on my back and I am pushed harder to the floor.
"You still want to fight us?" he chuckles.
"You bastards going to pay for this," I say.
"Huh? What did you say?" he mocks me.
"Ahhhhhh!" I scream when his foot pushes me harder to the floor. I think my bones crack.
"Hey, stop it! Hey, jerk! Fight back! Don't mind me. Just beat the hell out of him!" she shouts at me. Are you kidding me? Does she want to get naked in front of us? Seriously?
"Shut up, dork!" I barely tell her. I am struggling to remove the bastard's foot behind me. He keeps pushing me off.
"Just do what I tell you," she screams at me.
"Beat that ugly face!" she screams at the top of her lungs again.
I suddenly grab the blonde idiot's foot and pull him down. He landed on the floor and I punch him on his face, left and right until I lost all the energy left in me.
His nose is bleeding already but I'm not stopping. His idiotic friends were knocked out on the floor.
I stop when I feel my knuckles numb. I'm drained. I slowly stand up and then I suddenly feel dizzy and my body starts to weaken. I tumble to the floor facing the dark ceiling which is barely reflected by the light outside.
"Jerk! Are you okay? Can you hear me?" she shouts. Yeah. I can hear you, dork.
I can see how the brown-haired moron approaches me and grabs the wooden chair and carry it as he walks in my direction.
"Hey!" the dork shouts. She is held by the other idiot.
I can barely see her now. My eyes are hurt too. The idiot keeps approaching me.
"This is to avenge my friends!" he says. He aims to strike me with the chair. I just close my eyes since I can't fight back anymore.
A hear the sound of clashing woods but I don't feel any pain in my body. Maybe it got numbed already.
Drops of water? Is it raining? They are dripping on my face.
One, two, three drops?
My eyes are forced to open and I see the dork's face. She is crying.
"Jerk! You jerk!" she sobs.
"Why do you always have to save me and be a jerk toward me at the same time?" she keeps crying.
So, she protected me from that strike, huh?
"Your tears are annoying. I thought it's raining," I barely make a sound but I know she heard them.
"I'm sorry," she wipes her tears.
"Hey, dork?" I call out to her. My voice has weakened too. Damn it
"Yes?" she says while still sobbing.
"About the prom," I say.
"Huh?" she utters in confusion.
"Will you be my date?" my voice faints. I don't know if she hears them. Suddenly, everything turns black and I don't know what happened after that.
I'm pretty sure I won't die... Not this way...
To be continued...