Quan struggled to school his expression into the semblance of a malicious sneer as he gazed at the crying girl crouched on the ground a few metres from him. His two friends flagged at each side of him snickered as they hurled hurtful words at her. He wondered why he was getting irritated at their words. Giving both of them a look that implied they should shut their trap, he shifted his attention back to Celia.
Was she still crying? He thought. This was by far the least humiliating thing he has done to her u she’d never as much as shed a tear at the previous, more hurtful things. Why was she now crying just cause he’d stuck his leg out for her to trip and proceeded to empty the cup containing strawberry juice on her? That too on her birthday.
Okay, he conceded to himself. Maybe that was a little mean. But still, she was usually much stronger than this. Could he have succeeded in finally breaking her?
Could he dare hope?
He watched as Celia slowly got up, the humiliation formerly etched on her heart-shaped face was now replaced with barely concealed rage. Interesting, he thought. He’d expected her to cower in fear or run away in shame like she usually did but here she was, chest heaving with undiluted fury and glaring at him like she’d like to stick a dagger in his heart if she had a chance.
Too bad she didn’t have a dagger.
And he also didn't have a heart.
Arching his brow with mild interest, he waited for her next move.
“You!” Celia spat. “You have no right treating me this way.”
Quan smirked, obviously amused. With all that huffing and puffing, he expected her to say something insulting at the very least.
“I won’t indulge you.” Celia continued. “In fact, as of this moment, I wouldn’t bow to your low-class bullying. Of all the things you could have done. You had to choose the most cliché thing in the book.”
Quan’s amused face gave way to his usual stoic expression except for that twitch in his left brow, which Celia would have recognized for fury if she knew him. Too bad she didn’t. Which is why she kept rambling on.
“Really? The bullying quarterback and his bitchy cheerleading girlfriend? How freaking original.” She sneered. “I’m sure you probably have an abusive dad at home too which is why-"
She didn’t get to finish when she found herself slammed into the wall in the hallway. She let out an unintentional squeak, mortified more so because of the crowd of students they had drawn. She hated attention and she’d just wanted to be the new girl that would simply blend into the background till this stupid school’s unofficial king picked interest in her. For reasons, she was unaware of.
Okay, she’d mistakenly bumped into him and sent his tray of food crashing to the floor on the first day she'd transferred here, but did that warrant all the torture she’d been subjected to by his hand since then? And now, even her birthday was not an exception. She doubted he even knew that but was convinced he would still bully her even if he did.
She was drawn to the present by his painful grip on her shoulder as he pressed her into the wall like he wanted her moulded into the wall. She fought the blaring urge to whimper as she knew it would swell his already inflated ego into thinking she was at his mercy. And if she was being honest to herself, she actually was.
“Listen to me you nerdy little wimp” Quan seethed. “This is my school and in my school, my word is law. You had better understand that because if you as much as raise your voice to me again, you’re dead.”
“Do you hear me?” he said, shaking her with each word. “Freaking dead.”
Satisfied with the look of terror that swept her face, Quan turned to leave when he heard her mutter something under her breath. Turning around, he narrowed his eyes at her.
“What. Did. You. Say?” he asked, with enough ice to freeze the Atlantic ocean.
“I said…” Celia started rising to her feet. “Daddy issues much?”
Quan let a sick smile spread across his face as he looked at the five-foot minion. Celia went cold, realizing what she said a little too late. And just like that she’d sealed her fate.
Copyright©️ Jhymi || 2023
