'The h*ll's her problem?" Eliana scowled, crossing her arms. "I tell her off because she's bullying someone and she acts like I made fun of her obviously fake boobs or something.'
'Huhhhhh... Did I go overboard? Well, it's not like she didn't deserve it.' She thought.
"Hey… Umm… Thanks." Eliana heard the girl call out from the corner behind her.
Eliana shrugged and tried to dry out her cuff with some brown paper towels.
"To be honest, she was irritating the sh*ts out of me. I may be a pacifist and all, but even I have my limits too."
She looked behind her shoulder.
"Nadia, was it?"
The black-haired girl nodded.
"So, you ghostwrite papers for her?"
Nadia lowered her gaze.
"I do."
"Does she pay you for doing so?" Eliana asked, squeezing her cuff with a paper towel.
"No."
"Good. You could report her, you know. If she beats you all the time like this, you could show the bruises, cuts, and or marks you have to back up your testimony. You could also show the school's office the master copy for all the papers you wrote for her and the private messages she sent you." Eliana tossed a brown paper wad into the trash can.
"You have more than enough evidence you could use against her. All you have to do is report to the school office."
Nadia clutched her arm and considered Eliana's advice. It sounded pretty reasonable and Christine needed to finally be punished for all her wrongdoings.
But it wasn't enough.
Nadia didn't want to see Christine only get a four day suspension or something of the sort. She wanted something more… personal.
"Yeah, sure I guess… But won't you start the rumor and destroy her so-called perfect image? I know you could do it. You're not ugly, you have good grades, and you haven't done anything wrong since you transferred here. I know people will believe you."
Eliana seemed to pay no mind. She was too busy catching every strand of her dark emerald hair and securing them into a neat high bun. She faced the mirror
"I sure as h*ll know the real her and this godforsaken school needs to stop treating her like little miss perfect!" The black-haired girl fumed.
"The b*tch needs to go down!" She spat. "ASAP!!!"
"That may be so and I won't say I don't agree, but I won't." Eliana shook her head.
"Why? We can finally get rid of the menace and also her fake image!" Nadia tried to reason.
"First of all," Eliana held up a finger. "'I'm too tired to keep up all this drama."
"Second. Gossiping, not spreading rumors (there's a difference), is like a double-edged sword. Not only does it destroy the victim, but more times than not, also the wielder too. Meaning that if I do start it, she would know it was me since I 'threatened' her about it and possibly try to seek some form of revenge on me. It's just a never-ending cycle waiting to happen."
"True, but still… I can't just let her go free like this. It's not just me. What about all those other students she beat up? Plus, she could just delete all the messages and it would be like all this never happened."
"Ah, that's where she messed up." Eliana snickered. "She thought about the present, but not the future. You see, whenever you send or search anything while using an email created by this school, the school logs the data, or texts, images, videos, anything made from ones and zeros, underneath that email. This is personal data and no one else can even take a peek at it because of strict privacy agreements."
"But," Eliana held up her hand. "The only exception is only if needed for situations such as this, the law or school's office can pull up a record showing all the data collected. Even if she tries to delete her messages, clear her search history, or whatsoever, it will never just 'disappear' out of your electronic device. It's just been transferred somewhere else where you can't see it from your screen anymore. So think twice before you press that send button."
"If she does proceed with the trial date, she's basically running blindly into a trap she made for herself. Best thing to do at the moment? Do nothing and let her destroy herself." Eliana shifted her neck to the right, feeling a bit content when she heard it pop.
･~.♤.~･
When Eliana came back to the classroom, she was just in time to hear the bell ring.
'The sweet sound of freedom…' Eliana sighed in relief. She just had to deal with some stupid crap in the bathroom and sitting in a lecture about psychological trauma wouldn't sit right with her.
"Hey! If it isn't Lead-Piped Elie! Been awhile, huh?"
"Well, if it isn't Wonder Boy… I see you're doing okay." Eliana rolled her eyes and faced her locker again to hide a tiny smile forming on her lips.
"Wonder Boy? Is that supposed to be my nickname?" Timothy grinned. He leaned his head on the locker next to Eliana's and watched as the science books in her hand disappeared into her locker.
When she was sure her face was neutral again, Eliana turned and scanned him from top to bottom.
He seemed different somehow.
Did he just grow two whole feet taller? Last time she checked, he was about one and a half inches shorter than her. And his broad shoulders… Did he have such shoulders before?
All traces of the cute young boy she knew a couple days ago was replaced with a handsome young jock.
Eliana even watched how he ran his fingers over his curly brown hair.
What about his adorable little stutters? His voice tone and sentences sounded confident now.
'What in the world? Did he go through an evolution in just a couple days?' Eliana wondered, still examining him.
Eliana felt like she was looking at and talking to a new Timothy. As much as she missed the adorable timid one, this new confident handsome one was just as interesting to her.
"Don't think too much about it," Eliana quickly replied, trying really hard to keep a poker face. Timothy raised his eyebrows and Eliana's cheeks somewhat felt hot.
'This guy…' Feeling a bit awkward, Eliana looked away.
"There's really nothing to it. It's just that you never cease to amaze me…" Eliana's voice slightly trailed away.
Timothy suddenly clasped her cheeks and started to massage them.
He couldn't help it. They were extremely soft and seeing them slightly flushed was pretty cute.
Somehow it reminded him of a hamster's and he wanted to keep kneading them.
"Huhhhhh… Whaaat are you doing?"
"It seems your cheeks are telling me to think otherwise, hmmm? Elie, you're not telling me something." Timothy smirked.
"H-HUH! What are you talking about-
Timothy pulled them apart and pinched them.
"Ah! Ah! I am serious! Ah! I really don't know what you're talking about!"
Someone cleared their throat and both Timothy and Eliana turned their heads.
A familiar black-haired girl stood in front of them and she raised her eyebrows at how Timothy was 'groping' Eliana's cheeks.
"… Am I interrupting something?" Nadia tilted her head.
"Please… Help mehehehe…" Eliana cried as she tried to free herself from Timothy's grip.
"So, you two are going to Homecoming together?"
Timothy and Eliana paused for a moment from this sudden question.
Eliana just blinked in surprise while Timothy released her inflamed cheeks and took the liberty to speak up.
"Ye-
"Homecoming? Already?" Eliana asked, turning to face Nadia.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure the teachers announced this at the end of every lesson."
"I must've missed it then." Eliana tapped her chin, remembering the drama in the bathroom.
"Do you have a dress picked out yet?" Nadia crossed her arms.
"… No?"
"A date?" Nadia said, slowly shifted her eyes at Timothy.
He placed his hands in his pockets, then he whistled as if he was trying to be noticed. Then he made some weird coughing noises that sounded like he was saying "me" or "over here".
"No." Eliana replied. Then quickly responded after remembering that Timothy existed, "I meant… As of now, not yet. But do I really need one?"
Timothy facepalmed and Nadia couldn't tell whether it was at himself or Eliana.
"Well, yeah. So get yourself one and a dress cause' the Homecoming is right around the corner." Nadia patted Eliana's back as Eliana closed her locker.
They exited the school building with Timothy following close behind and Eliana felt her stomach slightly rumble.
'I guess what happened earlier in the bathroom made me hungry? That's pretty odd.' Eliana thought, thinking about what she should eat.
For some reason, she had a strange urge to eat something with noodles and a warm broth. Speaking of which, apparently there was a brand-new ramen restaurant just down the street.
Maybe she could dine there and grab a cup of coffee while she was at it since she felt tired all of the sudden.
"So, what about the jock over there?" Nadia winked, pointing behind her.
"What about him?" Eliana shrugged.
"Damn… Harsh girl." Nadia chuckled.
Eliana stuck out her tongue playfully at Timothy and seeing him slightly pout, made both Nadia and Eliana giggle.
Afterwards, Eliana clapped her hands and smiled,
"Let's all grab something to eat, guys… I'm kinda- actually really -hungry…"