Cyrus Velasco
Jay-jay's POV
Flashback...
"You have a new classmate!" our teacher announced.
As if I care.
She motioned toward the door and a boy walked in. He was tall and had narrow eyes. Because he was good-looking, my thirsty classmates immediately started squealing over him.
"Hello... I'm Cyrus Velasco. 16 years old. Nice to meet you all. I'm your new classmate," he said with a smile.
Tss. Obviously.
Suddenly, our eyes met. I quickly looked away. I had no interest in him. He looked cocky.
Ma'am said something, but I couldn't bother to listen.
Then my classmates in front suddenly shouted. I guess he was looking for a seat. I rested my chin on my hand and stared out the window.
Even the dust clinging to the glass was more interesting to look at. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed my classmates staring at me.
What's their problem now?
Annoyed, I glanced at the fools. That's when I realized they were all looking at me.
My eyes landed on the guy now standing in front of me, he was smiling.
"Can I?" he asked, pointing to the seat beside me.
"It's taken," I replied flatly.
"But no one's sitting there," one of my classmates interrupted, so I glared at her.
"Shut up!" I shouted, earning a sharp glare in return.
"Taken by who?" he asked casually.
"By my bag." I quickly placed my bag on the chair. "...See?"
He laughed loudly. His laugh irritated me even more. There were so many empty seats, yet he wanted to sit here. He was doing it on purpose.
"Don't laugh! I'm serious... He's studying, look!" I pointed at my bag, which was slightly open and had some trash sticking out.
He laughed again, making me even more annoyed
What an ass!
Suddenly, he took my bag and handed it back to me. He sat beside me and smiled again.
"You're cute," he said.
"Son of a bitch!" I muttered, irritated.
"Ms. Mariano!" Ma'am yelled.
She was there?!
"Yes, Ma'am?"
"To the Guidance Office. Now!"
My classmates burst out laughing. You're all dead to me later. Damn that guy!
End of Flashback...
It's been nearly two years since he first walked into our room and introduced himself.
He seemed nice, and because he was attractive, a lot of people admired him.
But all of that was just a facade.
Cyrus is insane—full of arrogance and addicted to attention.
"I knew you'd come back," he said, walking toward me.
I stepped back. I didn't expect we'd come face to face here. I glanced toward the door. I was planning to run out, but I couldn't.
Cyrus quickly grabbed my neck. "Don't leave just yet."
"C-Cy... Rus..."
I was struggling to breathe from how tightly he held me. My feet began to lift off the floor. I tried to pull his hands away from my neck, but I didn't have the strength.
"Argh!" I cried as he slammed me against the wall.
"Good thing you came back... because I really missed you," he said, stressing the word missed.
I knew what he really meant, but it was hard to think in that moment.
"L-let... go... Ugh!"
He tightened his grip on my neck. My vision was starting to blur.
"Hurts, doesn't it?" he asked mockingly. "That's what I felt before. You bastard!"
"C-Cy..." No voice came out anymore.
Damn it!
Even my hands had no more strength to fight him off. I might actually die here.
Please, someone help me!
Suddenly, Cyrus laughed and slowly let go. I collapsed to the ground. I coughed and gasped for air like my throat was about to rip open.
"I'm not stupid enough to kill you... I just want you to suffer the way I did," he said, walking out of the Guidance Office.
Tears fell from my eyes. I was scared, even though I shouldn't be. My heart was racing and I just wanted to curl up and cry loudly.
But I must not!
My body trembled. I practically crawled to one of the chairs. I took my phone out of my pocket.
My hand was shaking too. I wanted to call Keifer or Yuri. But... what for?
I'm not a kid who runs to others for help. They're already fighting because of me, so maybe it's best I don't tell anyone.
I forced myself to sit on one of the chairs. I calmed down and tried to fix myself. I had forgotten about the envelope. I immediately looked for it and found it on the floor. I picked it up and placed it on Ma'am's table.
I fixed my hair and covered my neck. Even though I couldn't see it, I knew it would leave a mark. Thank goodness the guidance counselor hadn't come back yet.
"Sorry I took so long," she said, quickly sitting in the big chair. "...Did you get bored waiting?"
I shook my head, but she suddenly looked at me.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Y-yes..."
She shrugged. She picked up the brown envelope from the table and glanced over the papers inside.
"Did you run into Mr. Velasco here?" she asked, eyes still on the papers.
If you only knew.
"Yes."
"That boy... ever since he came back from the hospital, he's been nothing but trouble. He replaced you here at school," she said jokingly. But I wasn't amused.
"If you don't mind me asking, what really happened between you two? We've heard all sorts of stories, it's confusing."
I looked away. That was a long time ago! why the gossip?
"W-well... um..."
Flashback...
"This guy's so annoying! I'll hit him now, Boss!" shouted one of Cyrus's friends.
I looked at what they were doing. They were picking on a first-year student. He was small and dark-skinned. I felt anger rise. How many times have they bullied someone? Don't they feel any guilt?
I approached them. "Cy!" I called.
He looked at me and smiled. I didn't like the smile he gave me anymore. And I hated what they were doing.
"Hi, babe!"
Babe?
His friends started laughing. I knew they were just teasing and that "babe" thing wasn't serious.
"You!" I called to the freshman.
"M-me?" he said nervously, pointing at himself.
I nodded. "Go back to your room."
"Wait! We're not done with him yet!" one of them protested.
"Jay, come on!"
The freshman left, so they couldn't do anything else. I glared at them. Cyrus's gang didn't respect me anymore.
"Your girlfriend is such a buzzkill, Cy!" one of them said, annoyed.
Cyrus walked over to me. He grabbed my arm and whispered, "Let's talk."
I followed him. I knew what he was going to say—that he didn't want to be embarrassed in front of his friends again.
"I hate what you did," he said, facing me.
"And I hate what you did," I snapped, arms crossed.
"We weren't doing anything wrong. We were just messing around with him," he defended.
I raised an eyebrow. How many people had they "messed around with" like that?
"You scared the poor kid
! He's just a freshman!" I sighed, trying to keep my anger in. "It's not funny anymore. Your friends don't respect me, and now my name's being dragged into all your messes."
He chuckled a bit. "We're ruining your name?!" He ran his hand through his hair. "...You're the one ruining our name!"
Me?! Wow.
"Really?! How shameful of me to ruin the image of a bunch of bullies!"
"Yeah! We're the ones getting dragged into your fights outside of school!"
I stared straight into his eyes. "Sorry, I didn't realize... In that case, to save you the trouble, let's just break up."
His brows furrowed. Didn't want to be involved? Then let's break up. It was obvious there were no real feelings between us anyway.
"You can't break up with me!" he snapped.
He was so loud that his friends quickly came over. Some students nearby were also watching us.
"I can break up with you."
I was about to walk away when he suddenly pulled my arm. I cried out from the pain and glared at him.
"We're not done talking."
"Cyrus! I'm done!" I yelled.
He suddenly grabbed my jaw tightly, making me wince in pain.
Bastard!
"You can't dump me!" He pulled my face closer. "...I'll be the one to say when we're done!"
I pushed his hand away with all my strength. Before he could say another word, I punched him. He fell to the ground, and his friends quickly ran to help him up.
They tried to help him stand,
but he shoved them off. I saw blood dripping from his lip.
Tsk. I must've hit too hard.
He wiped it and looked at his hand. He smiled, but he was clearly furious.
I took a step back, but it was too late. His palm smacked my face, and I dropped to the floor. His hand was heavier than mine.
"Dude!" one of his friends shouted. "...She's still a girl!"
My face went numb. I glared at him as I slowly stood up.
I tasted something odd in my mouth. I knew it wasn't just spit. I felt a stinging pain on my lip. I touched it and—
B-blood!
Damn! My lip split from the slap! Bastard!
I was about to look at him again, but something was wrong. I couldn't take my eyes off the blood on my hand. My body started trembling.
For some strange reason, my heartbeat quickened.
"Leech!"
What?! W-who said that?
I felt a deep fear. My breathing tightened.
"You should've just died!"
WHERE'S THAT VOICE COMING FROM?! WHO SAID THAT?!
"What's wrong? Scared of blood?" Cyrus taunted, but I ignored him.
Why did the blood look... beautiful? Why was I... drawn to it?
Before I realized it, my hand was already moving toward my mouth.
T-the taste of blood...
End of Flashback...
"We had a fight... Everything just went dark," I answered Ma'am.
Literally dark.
"Tsk, tsk! You kids... girls or boys, you fight so hard," she said, shaking her head.
She placed the papers down and was about to sign them when she suddenly paused and looked at me.
"Where's Mr. Fernandez?"
My brother?
"H-he's at work. Why?"
She sighed deeply. "It's embarrassing to say, but... he's actually one of our school's major sponsors. When you left, he stopped supporting us." She leaned back in her chair. "...Maybe you could talk to him?"
W-wait... What are they trying to say?
"We're building a new school building," she added.
What are they trying to make me do? Why can't they just say it straight?
"You want me to ask my brother for money?" I asked, unsure.
"That's pretty much it."
Son of a fishball!
I knew it! I should've never come here!
I once overheard Ma'am and my brother talking. I didn't care back then. But now it was clear—my brother was bribing this school!
"Why would I do that?" I asked, a bit irritated.
"Because, Ms. Mariano... it would be quite unfortunate if I had to put on your record that you had multiple suspensions and an expulsion," she said with a smile.
Huh?! But I don't—
"...Mr. Fernandez is the reason you were never suspended despite all your mischief." She leaned closer. "He's also the reason why we wrote 'transfer due to personal reasons' on your record instead of 'expelled.'"
I looked at the paper I had brought. It was sitting on her desk. Damn it!
No wonder my records looked so good. They altered everything. This school is something else.
But I had no choice. I wanted to leave this place. So even if I didn't want to...
"F-fine... I'll talk to my brother."
Ma'am smiled wide. She quickly signed the papers and handed them back to me.
"We'll be waiting," she said with a smile.
"Alright. Thank you," I replied and quickly left her office.
Damn it!
I stopped halfway down the stairs and took a deep breath to calm myself. I was beyond irritated.
Wasn't it shameful for them? If I was called to the Guidance Office a hundred times, then my brother probably bribed them a hundred times too.
Very nice!
This school is so frustrating—oh shit!
I stopped in my tracks. I saw him.
Cyrus was waiting at the bottom of the stairs.
He was smiling, and from the look on his face, I knew he was up to no good.
I tried to go back upstairs, but his gang was already there.
"Can we talk for a second?"