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Chapter 6: Threat

A/N:

Content Warning: There is some minimal blood in this chapter. Nothing crazy, it's just from a nosebleed – courtesy of a punch.

There is also a moment of blackmail/intimidation/heavy angst at the end of the chapter, though I'm not sure how to descriptively tag it as a potential trigger warning, so viewer discretion is advised.

The cafeteria was buzzing with noise and chatter as a steady stream of students arrived for breakfast.

On a Friday morning like this, the commotion was amplified by excitable students with plans for the weekend. They eagerly conversed with their friends and expressed the need for a break away from school to have some fun. Perhaps have a party or two. Happy chatters and broad grins were on the faces of every student inside and outside of the cafeteria.

All except for one.

A yellow boy trekked to his destination in a slow, pensive walk at the back of the hallway leading to the cafeteria. While the other students were eager to get breakfast, the Yellow One deliberately hung back and kept a slow pace. An unusual sight.

Pac's head hung low as if to avoid being seen by any passing students, slowly making his way to the cafeteria.

The only reason he was not bounding excitedly down the hallway towards food was because of his new, unfortunate status as the school's food snitch. Even if the rumours couldn't have been any further from the truth. He decidedly delayed his route to the cafeteria in hopes that he could slip in afterwards to get breakfast when most of the students had left. He feared that, if he were to set foot into a busy and packed cafeteria, then all eyes would be on him. And additional negative attention was the last thing he wanted right now.

The day has not even properly started yet, and he's already garnered several stares from onlookers. And whispers behind his back.

And… an unusual encounter that took place just a few minutes ago.

Briefly, he thought back to when he was at the lockers, sorting his books while trying to ignore the snickers and haughty whispers from Rubix and his acquaintances. He remembered how he mentally pep-talked himself into tuning out Rubix's obnoxious remarks, when the next thing he knew, a familiar and feminine voice had entered the scene.

He didn't quite know what to make of the situation then, only that he had not expected Cylindria to show up. Then, she had told Rubix off…

'If I were you, I'd come up with a good excuse for yesterday and make haste to get to his office instead of picking on an innocent student.'

It was that last part of her words that had snagged a chord in his attention, taking him by surprise. He remembered turning around to stare mutely at the exchange, in disbelief that someone other than Spiral had suddenly deemed him innocent – and from someone who originally had not taken his side, no less.

And then they had looked at each other, and despite openly voicing his suspicions, she had stayed with him and surprised him again by acknowledging his truth and offering an apology.

It was a strange feeling. A spark of elation and hope upon hearing that someone else believed his side of the story, but a deeper feeling of suspicion coiled around that spark, muddling it with wariness. Just yesterday she had adamantly sided with his bully, only to completely change her stance a day later, seemingly overnight. It all felt too good to be true.

He was not sure what to make of her sudden hospitality. He knew that he shouldn't get his hopes up, but at that moment he truly wanted to believe that perhaps…she had changed?

A part of him had wanted to ask more, to figure out what exactly had made her change her mind about him. But before the conversation could go anywhere, one of her friends had appeared out of the blue and dragged her away. Rather forcefully, too…

"Hey, Pacster!"

Drawn out of his musings, Pac halted in his step and turned around at the familiar voice. Spiral came jogging up to him, slowing down until he caught up with his best friend. "Where have you been, bud?"

Pac shrugged. "Got up early to get my books ready for the day. Didn't wanna wake you up."

Spiral seemed to pause, taking note of his friend's posture and the tiredness in his voice. The red teen hummed thoughtfully, knowing that his yellow friend's demeanour was still deflated after yesterday's incident.

"Your cheek looks better at least. I thought the bruise would've looked worse today."

Pac absentmindedly reached up to prod at his cheek, where the faint remnants of a bruise remained. It was still a little sore, but at least it wasn't as noticeable anymore. Even after treating it yesterday, it had taken a while for the swelling to go down, let alone ease up the pain. Skeebo's punch may have been sloppy in his struggle to catch Pac, but his force was nonetheless brutal. The memory brought a bitter taste to Pac's mouth.

"You okay, bro?"

Pac looked up at Spiral's tentative question. His best friend was watching him worriedly.

"I mean, I'm sure you don't feel a hundred percent, but you seemed a little spaced out before I got here."

"I was just…thinking."

Spiral looked curious. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. He seemed to be waiting for elaboration, most likely not wanting his friend to bottle up his emotions. "Wanna share?"

Pac relented.

"Well… something happened a few minutes ago."

Spiral straightened up. A wary look entered his countenance. "Something happened? Was it another nosy student who doesn't know how to mind their damn business?"

Pac made a small, dismissive gesture with his hand, as though to keep his friend from jumping to conclusions. He knew how protective Spiral can get and wouldn't want him to get riled up unnecessarily. "No, nothing bad happened. Not exactly."

"What happened, then? You didn't run into Skeebo or any of his cronies, did you?"

"Not Skeebo, but…"

He hesitated, thinking back to what happened at the lockers. He still didn't have any conclusive thoughts on the matter, and so he was not certain whether the encounter had been good or bad. All he knew was that someone whom he nearly considered an enemy had come to his aid, and when questioned, she showed nothing but genuine remorse and sincerity.

After ruminating over it some more, Pac finally answered.

"I ran into Cylindria."

Unsurprisingly, a distasteful leer crept into Spiral's eyes. It was a look he often bore whenever the topic was about Skeebo or any of his associates, especially after what happened in the courtyard yesterday. He waited for Pac to continue, expecting to hear the worst.

"She apologised."

At that, Spiral's expression changed drastically, the red jock's eyes widening in surprise. He blinked rapidly, as though he had misheard. After some seconds, Spiral eyed Pac suspiciously.

"What did she apologise for?"

"For not believing me about the rumours. She…also said that she believes my side of the story now."

Spiral blinked slowly, hesitant to believe this new development. He looked at Pac, sceptically. "Cylindria? Thee Cylindria? Girlfriend of the biggest douche in the school? The one that took Skeebo's side and stood watching while you got pummelled? That Cylindria? You sure we're talking about the same girl?"

Pac raised a chastising eyebrow at his friend's disbelief. "Okay so her track record has not been the best, but I'm telling the truth. She really did apologise."

A thoughtful look came upon Spiral's expression. "I find it a little hard to believe, bro. Up until now, almost everybody has had it out for you. Skeebo's group specifically has been antagonising you since day one. Seems awfully suspicious that she would just suddenly act nice."

"I don't know… maybe she's not so bad anymore."

Spiral gave Pac a long and hard look, until the red jock sighed. "Well, did she at least mean it?"

The Yellow One fell silent, thinking back to his encounter with Cylindria at the lockers.

He remembered the way she stood holding her arm nervously, an unusual sight compared to how she usually walks with confidence. She had been meek and soft-spoken, with a guilt-ridden countenance as she apologised to him. He has had his doubts and reservations, but at that moment she truly had seemed remorseful. Almost desperately so. It made him realise that there had really been no deceit or folly in her intentions. She was truthful.

He was uncertain and suspicious about it at first, but after thinking back on it, a sense of clarity came through. He no longer had doubts about her sincerity.

"She meant it. I'm sure of it."

Pac could tell that Spiral was not entirely convinced, if the red jock's unchanged expression was anything to go by. He mulled over Pac's answer for a bit, before sighing reluctantly.

"I trust you, buddy. And hey, if you wanna accept her apology then I'm not one to stop you. But I'd like to see for myself if she's truly trustworthy."

Spiral pushed himself off from leaning against the wall to stand up straight. Both the red jock and the yellow orb started making their way down the hallway en route to the cafeteria, while Spiral voiced his thoughts and concerns.

"And as far as we know, she still hangs out with—…them?"

Their trek was cut short upon seeing a peculiar scene up ahead.

Several feet away and standing at the entrance to the cafeteria was a well-known group – Cubo, Rubix, Poly and Tetrah. Both Rubix and Poly were in an animated conversation with the other two, Poly more so, while Cubo and Tetrah only listened and watched with confused expressions. They were too far away for Pac and Spiral to hear what they were talking about, but judging from Poly's wild and frantic hand gestures, they could only guess that she was upset over something.

"Speak of the devils," Spiral muttered under his breath, only loud enough for Pac to hear.

While Spiral wore a distasteful frown, Pac's attention was drawn to the scene with quizzical interest. A question mingled in his mind as he watched Poly interact fervently with her group.

Had Poly not been with Cylindria just a few minutes ago?

The gossip had been adamant about dragging the pigtailed goth away, claiming to need her help for homework. The encounter at the lockers had taken place not that long ago. If Poly was here, then where was Cylindria?

That's when Poly grew excessively louder in her ramblings. Estranged and angry, her voice carried down the hallway effortlessly for all to hear.

"—and then she slapped my hand! Right before she practically spat in my face about how much better she was than us! She's lost her mind!"

"She also lied to me about Mr Dome—…—he wasn't mad—…—didn't miss football practice at all!"

Rubix voiced his own statements, but his voice was low enough that Pac could only make out titbits of his sentences, unlike Poly's. Nonetheless, their words snagged Pac's attention and he listened attentively.

He wasn't going to jump to conclusions, but something in his gut told him that he might just know exactly who it was that they were talking about. It was just a hunch, but the only person who confronted Rubix about an issue with Mr Dome and who had recently been present with Poly was Cylindria…

And by the tone of their voices and the angry glints in their eyes, Pac could only deduce that they were not happy with her at all. He got a sinking feeling in his stomach, something akin to worry.

The group of popular students started to move, Cubo ushering them towards the cafeteria while gesturing for Poly to keep talking. And talk she did. As the four of them slowly walked to the cafeteria's doors, Poly kept ranting to them about her distressed and disapproving opinions of a certain pigtailed goth. By the time they entered the cafeteria, it had gotten much quieter in the hallway, with barely any students around.

"Well, there goes the popularity club," Spiral said, crossing his arms.

Pac, however, was still ruminating over the scene and wondering what all their words meant. As they watched them disappear into the cafeteria's doors, Pac spoke softly and contemplatively. "They're missing two members…"

"Yeah," Spiral agreed, though his feelings of contempt never left his tone. "I wonder where their ringleader is."

"Right behind ya, losers."

When Cylindria arrived at the lockers where she and Pac had talked mere minutes ago, she found that the Yellow One had already vanished.

Undeterred, she didn't break her pace and ran off in search of him.

As she ran through the school's hallways, she quickly realised that it was livelier now that more students have come out of their dorms to roam and prepare for classes. At once she realised how much time has passed since she found Rubix and Pac at the lockers, and it was probably time for breakfast now. She sped up her pace, hoping desperately for a moment alone with Pac before classes could start.

It took a gathered effort not to bump or run into any students in her haste. Finding Pac now would be a lot more challenging, especially given the Yellow One's apparent knack for disappearing easily.

Would Pac be in the cafeteria by now, like the rest? She wondered, abruptly taking a sharp turn into a different corridor.

That's when she suddenly heard voices coming from a hallway to her left.

Familiar voices. So familiar that it brought a bad feeling to her gut upon hearing that they were angry and argumentative.

Cylindria turned on her heel and ran after the voices.

She reached the end of the hallway and rounded the corner, walking into the passage that would lead to the cafeteria, where the voices were resonating from.

Only to stop dead in her tracks.

Up ahead, standing outside of the cafeteria, were three students whom she recognised instantly, one of them being none other than her boyfriend. A pit of dread opened up in her stomach upon seeing what was unfolding.

Skeebo had zeroed in on Pac and Spiral, a cocky smile on his face. Pac stood off to the side while Spiral had taken a defensive stance in front of his friend, facing the blue jock. From what it seemed like, Skeebo had approached the two with the intent on targeting Pac again, resulting in another fierce stand-off. If looks could kill, then Skeebo would've turned to ash under Spiral's burning glare.

But ever blinded by his arrogance, Skeebo did not back down.

"I'm just saying, it's so obvious you're back to plan another food heist. Why you two aren't suspended by now is anyone's guess!"

"Maybe because we didn't do anything that's on grounds for suspension. Or, you know, we actually mind our business instead of doing whatever lies you've been spewing around about us!"

Skeebo's cocky grin was replaced with a snide look. There was a challenge in his eyes, riddled with sly intentions.

"Pretty fishy business you've got going on then since food is still going missing by the day," he said, shifting his focus away from Spiral to cast a mean look at Pac.

"Why don't you just turn yourself in already? It's obvious that nobody likes you. Everyone here would be better off if you'd just leave. Maybe grab a diet on your way out while you're at it!"

Skeebo snarked and snickered, seemingly amused by his own joke and taking great delight in talking down on the yellow boy. All Pac could do was glare back at Skeebo, trying to show indifference to the insults but failing to do so. The faintest hint of a pained wince tugged at his features.

As the blue jock kept snickering, he didn't see the unbridled anger that grew in Spiral's frame, channelling down to gather in the form of a clenched fist at his side. An act of retaliation was being prepared, one that had been coming for a long time.

Skeebo was still laughing when the red jock suddenly lurched forward.

WHAM!

The echo of a punch rang loudly throughout the hallway as a fist collided with Skeebo's face. The faint crackle of damaged cartilage was the only sound that accompanied the blue jock's cry of pain as he stumbled backwards, holding his nose.

Several gasps resonated in the air from the few students who had witnessed the act, including Cylindria.

Even Pac looked surprised, standing back and looking rapidly between his best friend and their bully.

Spiral stood tall, unflinching, and glared daggers at his opponent.

"Not so tough now without your buddies, are you, Skeebs?"

Having regained his footing, Skeebo grimaced and removed a hand to reveal a trickle of blood running down his nose. Promptly, he wiped the blood away with the back of his hand and looked up to glare scathingly at the red teenager.

"Oooh, you just LOVE getting into other people's business, don't you, Spiral?"

The atmosphere was suddenly laden with burning tension, the tell-tale sign of an imminent fight. Everyone within range could feel it.

"Spiral, don't–" Pac tried to pull his enraged friend back, but his protests fell on deaf ears. Spiral didn't move a muscle.

The red and blue jocks squared up. Spiral firmly stood his ground, fists clenched and ready to fight. Skeebo drew closer menacingly with every intent on beating up his opponent. He readied a fist, about to return that punch.

Cylindria's legs were moving before she realised what she was doing.

"Stop!"

Coming in from a run to a sliding stop, she swooped in and got between Spiral and Skeebo, arms outstretched and blocking Spiral from the attack.

Bad idea, bad idea, an inner voice yelled at her at the prospect of being caught in the middle of a fistfight, but instinct had overwritten all rationale in her urgency to prevent Skeebo from doing something stupid.

To her relief, both parties froze in surprise and held back once she was in the way, just in time before any punches were thrown.

Despite her racing heart, Cylindria faced Skeebo head-on, looking him dead in the eye before saying sternly, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"I could ask you the same thing. Get out of the way."

"You were about to instigate another fight! Do you really think you'll just be let off the hook again if Ms Globular finds out?!"

"Why don't you ask redface over here instead? He's the one who hit first!"

She opened her mouth to argue, but a voice from behind her spoke up before she got the chance to.

"Watch it, I'm more than willing to finish this fight if you don't back down, Skeebs!"

Cylindria took a quick and deep intake of breath, gritting her teeth in frustration. Finally, she turned around to meet Spiral's glare with one of her own.

"Two wrongs don't make a right. Keep fighting and you both could get into trouble. Once the principal finds out then it's over. You'll both face suspension!"

She knew that it was already a losing game for Spiral; he did hit first. But if there's one outcome that she'd advocate for in this situation, it's for both him and Pac to get out of it with as few consequences as possible. Skeebo had this coming for a long time, and him provoking the fight makes him guilty too, but if this was taken up to the principal then he's got more favourable odds because of not getting physical first. Both parties could get into trouble, nonetheless. And she didn't want either Spiral or Pac to get suspended.

Or Skeebo, but that was purely because she wanted to give him a piece of her mind first.

The red jock took in her words begrudgingly, not breaking his glare. There was plenty of fight still left in him, reluctant to be open to reason.

"She's right, Spiral."

The taller teen shifted backwards by the tiniest inch, aware of his yellow friend trying to pull him back and urging him to listen. It was clear in Spiral's eyes that he took great reluctance in allowing Cylindria to talk sense into him.

She didn't back down from his hard stare. They challenged each other through their eyes. But she could tell well enough that his mind has been swayed. He knows that she's right.

Knowing that her due words for Spiral were finished, she whirled around to glare at Skeebo, only to see he was smirking up at Spiral.

"And you!"

She grabbed Skeebo's wrist and forcefully pulled him away.

"You're coming with me, we need to talk."

"What-"

Skeebo nearly tripped over his feet as Cylindria marched them away into another corridor, using the momentum in her stride to keep him from stopping. She entirely ignored his protests.

"What do you mean talk? I wasn't done teaching that radish-face a lesson—!"

"You're not teaching anyone anything anymore."

Pac and Spiral watched them go, and soon the pigtailed goth and her abhorrent boyfriend disappeared around the corner.

Once she got them to a place away from prying eyes, she let go of his wrist and faced him again. His nose had stopped bleeding, but some blood was still smudged onto his face, all while he gestured wildly and madly over being pulled away from the fight. A pitiful sight, really.

Cylindria gathered herself. This was it. Now was the time to confront her boyfriend about everything he's done, hoping that perhaps a harsh lecture will get him to stop bullying Pac. IF he listens. It's the tiny bit of crumbling faith she has left that's holding onto the hope that he could change…

"But didn't you see what he did, Cyli?! He could've seriously injured me! He's the one who ought to get in trouble!"

The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"You deserved it."

Snapped out of his vehemence, Skeebo gawked at her, bewildered and affronted.

"You what? You think I deserved that?!"

"After how you've treated Pac these past few weeks? Yeah, I think you do."

She ignored the dumbstruck look on his face and continued, adamantly, "This has gone on for too long, Skeebo, you need to change your attitude about Pac. Ever since day one, you've jumped at every opportunity to make him look bad. You've either mocked, insulted, or downright bullied him. You've been horrible to him ever since he enrolled here!"

Offence and anger replaced the look of surprise on Skeebo's face, and he quickly regained his composure to retaliate. "So you're well and truly on his side now?"

"I just don't understand what's your problem with him!"

"Oh, I'll tell you what's my problem with him!"

With exaggerated body language, Skeebo began listing off several pointed statements, accompanied by a tap on each finger as if he were checking off a list.

"He's a glutton, an attention hog, and a total nobody who thinks he owns the place now!"

"No he doesn't-"

"And everyone just suddenly thinks it's sooo special just because the lemonhead is-"

"His name is Pac."

"Whatever! Everyone thinks he's the new top dog just because he's yellow! He's an over-glorified beach ball! He hogs all of the attention, he leeches off of our popularity, and he's stealing my status quo!"

Skeebo ended off on a furious outburst, slightly out of breath from his vehement ranting.

Cylindria stared mutely at him, mouth slightly ajar and eyes wide in shock upon hearing his words, especially the last few. His reasons for justifying his actions were alarmingly vain. Most of the things he listed are not even true.

At once, she realised the real reason behind his behaviour. The truth hit her as clear as daylight.

"You're jealous," she breathed, voice soft with revelation but with an undertone of disappointment.

Skeebo didn't seem to care for her look of disapproval, merely crossing his arms and intensifying the bitter frown on his brow. He seemed awfully convinced that he was in the right. "Now that you know the reasons why, do you get why he's nothing but trouble?"

Without missing a beat, she threw back, "But how is any of that his fault? He's not going around bragging or anything, it's the others who are placing that pedestal on him. And more often than not, it seemed like he doesn't even want any of that attention! What do you want him to do?! Just magically change his skin colour so that he fits in?"

Unfazed, Skeebo averted his grouchy gaze and scoffed. "Hmph. Him dropping out of school would be a start."

Cylindria gave a faint, disbelieving scoff of her own, lightly shaking her head in exasperation at his blatant cruelty. "I can't believe you…"

Skeebo didn't respond to her, nor did he meet her eyes with his spiteful gaze.

Fleetingly, a memory came back to her – one where she had once stood at Skeebo's side, defending him against Spiral's accusations at the fight they all had yesterday. She remembered the shame and regret she felt last night upon finding out that those claims were true all along. Now, looking at the boy whom she had so blindly defended, all she felt was repulsion and disgust.

After some silence, Cylindria decided to confront Skeebo on something else too. Something that's been brewing under the surface, waiting to bring a certain truth to light – a truth that she had desperately hoped was not true ever since she found out about it in his dorm.

"It was you, wasn't it?"

Skeebo looked back at her, still scornful but confused by her words. He raised an eyebrow.

"You started the rumours."

Within a heartbeat, Skeebo's expression hardened and a secretive look came over his eyes. He leered down at her, feigning obliviousness. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't lie to me," Cylindria practically seethed with barely restrained anger, taking Skeebo by surprise. She glared vexedly up at him before continuing, pointedly.

"The rumours were started by you, weren't they? All those rumours of Pac being a bad person. And the false facts about Yellow Ones, and the thievery. Those were all lies, weren't they?"

She didn't give her boyfriend a moment to explain himself. Her voice rose in volume with each accusatory word, dead set on getting the truth out of him.

"You fabricated a false narrative to frame Pac, didn't you? You were jealous of him, so you set out to completely ruin his life, didn't you?!"

She's never raised her voice at him like this. She never thought she'd be brave enough to. But any inkling of fear was shoved away by the need to uncover Skeebo's lies. She stood tensely, waiting for him to answer to her.

Skeebo looked well and truly caught off guard, like a mouse caught in a spring trap. The defensive posture and the blameful look in his eyes were enough to give him away. He uncrossed his arms and looked away again, acting like her accuracy didn't bother him.

"Pshf! When you put it that way, you make it sound like a bad thing."

"Because it is!"

His attention snapped back to her, startled by the volume of her outburst. Pink irises glared furiously up at him.

"What part of you thinks it's not a bad thing?!" She exploded, anger coming off her in waves. "Because of your jealousy, you've spread lies and given a bad reputation to a student who didn't do anything to deserve it! You thought with your pride instead of your head!"

Skeebo visibly grit his teeth, challenging her glare with his own. "Keep your voice down, no need to bring the entire school in the know! And how did you even find out about the rumours?! Er- not that I actually did anything of what you just said—!"

It took everything she had not to hurl a string of curses at him. He was stalling, trying to act like he didn't know what she was talking about, desperately grasping at an alibi to cover up his crimes.

Cylindria didn't buy any of it. She looked at him resentfully, and when it was time to speak, she hit him with a statement she knew would break down his guard.

"Spiral was right. Pac was never at fault for anything. You were. You are a bully!"

Ire flashed in Skeebo's eyes, indignant and angry that she would dare say Spiral was right over him. He hid his reaction poorly and gruffly tried to sway the topic.

"Quit it with the 'bully' thing! I've never lifted a finger against that lem-"

"Drop the act! I saw you hurting him yesterday in the courtyard! You're not fooling anyone!"

Skeebo froze.

His façade crumbled, as if realising that if she saw what happened yesterday, then there really was no point in trying to cover up his lies. He looked well and truly caught out.

But not a moment too soon, something eerie and sly came upon his countenance. Gradually, a dark look crept into his eyes.

"Oh, am I not?"

With a sardonic lilt to his tone, the atmosphere changed. Skeebo smirked down at her.

"Because it seems like I have in fact got the entire school fooled."

Gone were his attempts at putting up an innocent front. Like a mastermind about to reveal his evil plan, he steadied his stance and looked uncannily proud of himself. What he revealed next, shook her to her very core.

"You're right. I did start the rumours. I'm the one who came up with everything that got people talking badly about the Yellow Orb. And do you know how I did it? Ha, well, it was pretty easy when you're friends with the school's top gossip. All I had to do was whisper some choice information into Poly's ear and she took care of the rest."

He took a step forward, dauntingly. "And you know what else I did? I'm the one who stole food out of the kitchens. Security is pretty crap in this building, I didn't even need to cover my tracks. I knew that once word gets out, then the lemonhead would immediately be the prime suspect. Not that many Yellow Orbs left now, are there? Who wouldn't suspect the yellow glutton? And just like I planned, nobody suspected a thing and the lemonball went from being the talk of the school to the school's laughingstock in less than a week."

Cylindria staggered back, staring wide-eyed and astonished up at him. "You—You monster-"

"Not a monster, just taking back what was rightfully mine."

Skeebo was entirely indifferent to her horrified expression. He smirked pridefully from revealing his schemes. "Just watch. Soon the lemonhead will catch enough bad rep that the school will have no problem suspending him. Bonus points if they kick out that red sidekick of his too, ha!"

Amidst the shock and repulsion, anger flared up within Cylindria like it never did before. When she spoke, her voice was low and laced with fury…

"You once told me to stay away from Pac. You told me he was 'bad news.' And for far too long, I believed you. But now I see the truth. The only person I should've stayed away from was you."

Skeebo scoffed, "And what are you gonna do about it, huh?"

"For starters, I'm breaking up with you."

Had she not been preparing to go on a furious tangent then she would've laughed at the way his smirk melted away to form a stunned face. She took a step forward, threateningly.

"And furthermore, I'm not letting you get away with this! You fooled everyone into thinking you're some hero, when all this time you were nothing but a jealous bully! You lied to me, deceived me, and when caught, all you did was try to justify your terrible actions! I don't care what your excuses are, you're going to stop your bullying antics right now!"

Skeebo gathered himself to glare back at her. "Too late for that. I'm already on a good streak here, and I'm going to make sure that yellow brat gets kicked sooner or later. You'll just have to accept it."

She clenched her fists and stomped her foot. "No! I won't stand for it!"

"But you will," Skeebo countered, darkly and ominously. "Because you're not going to tell anybody about this… unless you want the same treatment."

Her angry zeal was snuffed out.

"…What?"

"You heard me."

Cylindria faltered, confused but unable to escape the foreboding feeling that came from his malignant glare. Something unpleasant prickled underneath her skin.

"You think you've got me caught, but I can very easily turn your reputation upside down too…" Skeebo advanced a step towards her. His smirk grew.

"Wouldn't it be awful if people just suddenly…found out that you're not the sweet and smart girl they all believed you to be?"

As he advanced, Cylindria took wavering steps backwards, trying to create space between them.

"What if, suddenly, everyone hears that you actually cheat your way through your tests and exams? Or that you copy other people's homework, or make them do your homework for you, taking the credit for yourself?"

A frightful dread settled in her gut upon hearing the threat in his words. Her stomach twisted.

"How about a rumour that you stole the answers of an exam out of Ms Globular's office? Or better yet, can you imagine the gossip it will create when people hear that Cylindria has cheated on her own boyfriend? You'll be known as a thief, a cheat, and an unfaithful slut."

"But I didn't—"

"I know you did not do any of that. But everyone else doesn't know, nor would they ever. I got everyone to believe in the little rumours I've spread around, and they've now accepted it all as fact. I made a Yellow One sound like a no-good delinquent; I can make you sound just as bad, too."

Despite backing up to try and put distance between them, Cylindria found herself cornered against two walls, staring at Skeebo in disbelief and fear over his threats. The blue jock stopped in his steps but never ceased his look of intimidation.

"Don't be fooled this time, babe, I just might do it if you keep getting in the way of my plans."

"You wouldn't…"

"Try me."

It felt like a million glass shards had pierced her heart.

The boy whom she had long considered dear and supportive, was now threatening her into a corner. Into blackmail and silence for his wicked actions. When she had brought him away to confront him about his bullying, she had expected the resistance. She expected the anger, the defiance, and the poor excuses. She didn't expect this. A complete turnover from boyfriend to villain, one who willingly threatened her without care for her or their past relationship.

In the midst of harrowing emotions, she felt frozen and speechless, almost in denial that he would do this to her. For a fleeting moment, she considered the odds of heeding his demands just to stop him from truly spreading around a false narrative about her too…

Until the memory of Pac's hurt and crestfallen face flashed before her eyes, and with it, came a slow swell of newfound anger and determination.

She can't stay silent.

Not when Pac has already suffered so much, not when Skeebo refuses to change his disposition. Not when he's going to keep lying to everybody like this. Not when people could get hurt by his actions.

She had to fight back. She had to stand up and make a difference, for her sake and everyone else's.

For Pac's sake.

Be brave.

She steeled herself and looked Skeebo dead in the eye.

"I'll stop when you stop."

For a moment, Skeebo looked down at her scathingly before he backed off by the slightest inch, still wearing a glare. She had him at an ultimatum, and he knew it.

She'll stop badgering him about it if he stops his bullying antics. Both of them are caught in this net; if she tells on him, then he's busted, and if he tells rumours about her, then she'll get in trouble, too. Time will tell which one is going to break the truce first…

She stood steady, unrelenting as she glared Skeebo down, despite the hurricane of emotions in her chest. Anger and betrayal, but mostly hurt. And the hurt ran deep.

Looks like Skeebo was never the sweet and honourable boy she once made him out to be.

A/N:

…Petition to chuck Skeebo into the Netherworld's lava pits?

This chapter started out sad, then hopeful, then switched to a scene of urgency, then wonderful satisfaction (good punch, Spiral), and now we're ending off with dread and anger. You're welcome? :'D

Sincerely hoping the next chapter won't have me struggling with writer's block as badly.

I took quite a few chances and creative liberties in this chapter, I'd appreciate it if ya'll let me know what you think by leaving a review!

To Hope: Kids can be cruel indeed. But things will work out for our main trio eventually ;)

To MALWARE10101: That username gave me pause for a moment XD Glad you're enjoying the story so far!

The Veil will now get an update next! When? Errmm hopefully before the end of the year!