It took me four days of isolating at home before I got the courage to go to school. Hugo was right, there were nightmares that kept me awake. No matter how much I try to convince myself that I am fine, I feel like one of my legs was already buried to the ground.
Within those four days, I looked for everything I needed to know. I dug up secrets.
I've never had enemies so I never knew how to bring up a fight, more so win it. But it was my life and death situation that pushed me to do this. I don't want to act solely on impulse, but I am aware that they've changed something in me. They've woken up something... dark.
I felt like time went slower on every step that I took along the hallway. My palm was sweating as I gripped on the string of my body bag. My schoolmates who know me gave me a brief smile as I passed by. All of them were oblivious of what happened to me.
When I reached our classroom, I tucked my hair behind my ear, sighing deeply. Hugo once said that the best revenge is to show them that I lived, so here I am. I hope everything turns out fine.
I pulled the door and looked around but the only ones here were few of my classmates. I didn't open my social media account for the past days so Nikki and the others won't get the idea that I got back, but I was able to know that they lived normally and totally fine after what happened.
Some of my classmates smiled at me. All were in a good mood and obviously feeling carefree. I envy them. I went to my seat at the back and pulled out my booklet for the subject, but instead of opening it, I leaned against my chair, gazing at the sky outside the huge window.
Am I lucky that it was Hugo? What if someone else took an interest in me, what if he's a rapist or a real serial killer? Will I be able to see the sun the next day?
I heard a familiar laughter so I turned to the door. Nikki entered the room and the one laughing with her was Katrin. They were laughing hard about something that they couldn't even finish their sentences. They laughed like they didn't offer a friend on a cold rainy night.
When our eyes met, they froze in an instant. Some of my classmates looked at them, then turned to me. I smiled to Zein and Cyan who were sitting in front of me before throwing a look at Nikki.
"Aren't you going to sit?"
I gave these bitches my sweetest smile as their jaws dropped. Like they just confirmed that I am alive and not a ghost.
Nikki was the first one who snapped back to reality, pulling Katrin to the seats on my right. "Ginny!" She gave me a hug as she sat beside me.
"You're alive," she whispered.
I gazed at the both of them and smiled. Nikki was looking at me intently as Katrin made herself busy with her booklet.
"No thanks to you," I replied.
Nikki's smile faded. Unlike before, they were both silent beside me with their eyes now glued on their phones. Seems like they've lost their voice as we waited for our prof.
A few moments later, the door opened and Von came in. He wasn't surprised when he saw me, probably because Nikki gave him a heads up. I smirked and waved at him, he nodded as a response and sat between Katrin and Nikki so he got out of my line of sight.
I gently leaned my head at the wall and heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm glad that you guys are alive," I declared.
Even with my eyes close, I can imagine their reaction and Nikki proved me right when she gripped on my hand resting on my armchair.
"Ginny, they don't know what happened. Can we talk about this later?" she whispered.
As soon as I opened my eyes, someone walked in. Dwight's eyes bore into me as he panted heavily. He must've hurried here seeing how his forehead turned oily. He took out his hanky and wiped his face before walking up to us.
Instead of sitting beside Katrin, he went straight to the seat on my left.
"Ginny," he muttered.
"Dwight, why are you there?" Katrin asked, finally able to talk.
I leaned against my chair again and rested my head on the wall, closing my eyes. Dwight didn't answer so Katrin must be rolling her eyes. A warm breath brushed against my cheek so I opened my eyes.
I caught Dwight curiously staring at my head so I pointed at it. "This? It's almost healed." Then I leaned forward and whispered, "But don't you worry, I'll show you what really hurts."
Our professor came in so class has begun. I was staring at my pen before deciding to purposely drop it on the floor. It rolled to Dwight's left side so he bent to pick it up. I took the opportunity to grab his phone from his desk and held it the whole time until he got called for recitation. I opened his messages and sent a text to Katrin before putting back to his desk.
When the class concluded, I quickly slid my stuff in my bag and stood up, but Dwight caught my wrist.
"Can we talk?" he asked. Then he glanced at the others beside me. "All of us."
I smirked at him and slowly pulled my wrist. "I think you have more important things to attend to."
I glanced at Katrin who was frowning now as she stared at me. I smiled sweetly and walked past her. In the hallway, the students gathered in front of a TV screen attached to the wall that was streaming the top five students per course. Our grades from the last semester were released last week.
In the corner of my eye, I saw Nikki and the others walking towards me so I decided to walk away until someone declared, "Here goes the Entrep."
I stopped and gazed at the screen as Nikki stood beside me. From top one, Nikki went to top four and this semester's top one... was me. Rankings don't matter to me but it does to Nikki so I looked at her.
Her mouth was hanging open as her brows almost formed into a single line. She looked at me and I smirked at her. "You can do better next time. Goodbye, Italy."
I walked away with a smile on my face and proceeded to our next class. It was another one hour and thirty minutes of silence for the five of us but I don't really mind the silence, in fact, I'm enjoying it. For them to be this quiet despite knowing how loud they used to be, it's satisfying to watch.
When it's time for lunch break, I took off first and went to the library. In just a few minutes, I saw the couple I expected to walk in. I was quietly browsing the book on a shelf as Katrin pulled Dwight on the other side.
"What the hell is this? You're breaking up with me? Why?" Katrin asked, almost whispering.
"What?"
I turned the book that I was holding and read its synopsis.
"You texted me during the first subject," Katrin answered, obviously irritated.
The two fell silent so I lifted my gaze and looked at them through the space where I took the book. Dwight was reading something from Katrin's phone, probably the text message.
He took out his own and compared the two phones before handing back Katrin's. I turned to the book that I was reading.
"Are you serious? Why? Did I do something wrong?"
"We did something... wrong, Kat. We got Ginny almost killed."
"Ginny? How was she involved here? I'm talking about us!"
"Didn't we just enter this relationship so you could piss her off? Because Yohann likes her and not you."
I quickly peeked through the space on the shelf. I returned the book that I was holding and took another one.
"But I... I told you that I wanted to take this seriously. You agreed, Dwight," Katrin uttered, her voice began shaking.
"Because I just want piss off Ginny, too."
Katrin gasped in surprise. "I like you-no, I love you, Dwight. I thought we were going to try? Do you want to stop now because she came back?"
"I want to stop now because my conscience won't let me sleep. We can't live our lives like nothing happened after what we've done to her. We expected her to die but she's alive!"
"Shut the fuck up, someone might hear you!'
Katrin looked around and before her eyes landed on my direction, I slid the book back to its place.
"Dwight, please, just... just give us another chance. She's Ginny. She will understand us. She always does."
"Do you notice how she looked at us, Kat? She's different! She's mad at us!" Dwight asserted.
"So, what? I don't fucking care. We can't compromise our happiness just because she's mad."
"But I won't be happy this way, Kat. I just want her forgiveness because my conscience is killing me."
"You're overreacting. You just sat there that night, you're injured-"
"I think I've killed someone," Dwight cut in.
I quickly grabbed a book and peeked at them.
"What?" Katrin asked.
There was a long silence between them before Dwight replied.
"At the window beside the fuse, I saw a kid in a room. There was a tube connected to his nose and there were medical devices around his bed. I was drunk, so I didn't figure that the kid was a patient..."
His confession sent me shivers. He must be really bothered for what he did. Something I expected somehow.
"What?! Are you fucking serious right now? Don't make stories-"
"I am not sure! But those devices needed electricity to work!"
They fell silent again as they stared at each other. Katrin, digesting what she just learned and Dwight waiting for a response. I didn't notice that I was gripping too tight on the book so I returned it and leaned my back against the shelf, staring at the white-tiled floor.
"But Dwight, I love you. Whatever you did, I will help you get through this-"
"Ginny is what I need. She and her forgiveness. We let her die, Kat. We gave her away."
"But that bitch deserved it! She flirted-"
"Don't call her like that."
"She flirted with him that why that fucking weirdo guy chased us! You saw it, right? They fucking kissed! She was desperate and when the weirdo wanted him, she would blame us?"
"Damn it, Kat. Did it not cross your mind that he chased us because I killed his son? And he never said that he wanted to get her." Dwight replied, emphasizing the last three words.
"Ginny will never see you as a man. She despises us. She won't accept you the way I do."
Her speech was followed by silence so I assumed that she already walked away. I sighed and took small steps to my left so Dwight won't see me, who will most likely walk to the left side to get out of here.
I froze when he suddenly showed up in front of me. I took a few steps back as he inched closer without taking his eyes off of me.
He pulled me and pinned me on the shelf so I tiled my head sideways.
"Did you send that text?" he whispered.
I slowly turned to him and met his gaze. He has these beautiful gray eyes, but it's been looking exhausted since this morning.
"Aren't you just fooling each other?" A smirk made its way onto my lips. "Oh, but she actually fell for you." I inched my face closer to his and stared at his lips. "She fell in love with a murderer."
I took a step forward and he's the one stepping back now. He leaned against the other shelf and I took my time staring at him, I can see guilt all over his face.
"You killed Don's child," I whispered. His shoulder dropped as he gulped and I've been resisting myself to slap him. "The kid's name is Hunter. Don't you ever fucking forget."