The encounter, from Travis' point of view:
Hmmm?!
She was way too close!
"Hey... are you okay? Hello?"
"Oh... hi... hello... what did'ya wunt frum me?"
Damn it! My tongue tripped over itself in my haste to reply. I already wanted to die, and I hadn't even spoken more than a sentence yet!
"I was wondering if you could help me with carrying some printouts..."
She put on a weak smile, her eyes darting in the direction of the kneeling stooges that followed her over. The icy stares they threw at me when she approached were absolutely terrifying. If I were to read between the lines furrowed into their contorted faces of rage...
"I'll kill you."
"Who do you think you are, ugly ass loner. Get a clue and leave her alone!"
"Your eyes are defiling our beautiful Goddess, burn in the flames of hell, heretic!"
A cold sweat formed on my skin from the two immense pressures that bore down on me; the one from Melissa, whose strained smile indicated a desperate desire to ditch the phonies, and the Melissa cultists' combined hatred for my very existence.
"Ah...um, I'm sorry...I-I have somewhere to be right now... yeah, I'm not feeling all too well, I need to go take a nap in the infirmary..right, we'll go with that."
It wasn't a lie. My stomach was in knots. I hastily packed up the pencil and eraser back into my desk drawer, mere seconds after getting them out.
"S-Sorry about this, but I really am sick."
"Hey, wait!"
I may not have any blue quills, but I'm almost positive that speed records were broken while I ran to the infirmary. I was a panting, sweaty mess, and my uniform was in shambles.
"Gahh, why did I have to post where I went to school. I'm such an idiot!"
Head held in my hands, I cursed my hubris. I got too ahead of myself, and because of it, my already lonely school life is going to be that much worse!
"...Can I help you?"
The infirmary nurse asked, with a puzzled expression on her face as she leaned in her chair to peer out at me. I was standing in the open doorway of the infirmary, panting, my clothes a mess from the long run from my classroom, cradling my head in my hands. To the casual observer, I probably looked like a raving lunatic.
"Ah...puff...stomach...hurts..."
"...I see."
Her expression told me she thought I was in a lot more trouble than a simple stomachache. I put on an awkward smile.
"I'm in a bit of a hurry."
-
The encounter, from Melissa's point of view:
"Melissa, you said you loved me right? Let's go out some time!"
"Shut up, you aren't the author!"
"No, I am!"
Ugh, why did I even go through with that confession? I should've waited until I found out who it was first. But I was too impatient, and after trying to flush him out with bait, it only made things even more confusing!
"I don't think all of you can be the same person, you know?"
"She's right!"
"Yeah."
"I agree."
"IT'S ME!" They all shouted in unison.
"Aha... right."
This is getting out of hand. I need to find a way out of this as quickly as possible... Right! I have those printouts I need to hand out to the other classes. After all, I am the student council vice president! But... they won't let me get a word in edgewise. If only there were someone I could shift their attention to...
I quickly glanced around the classroom. It was still relatively empty, as there were only a handful of students other than myself that come to class early. But there was one that always arrived a little bit after I do. What was his name again? Trevor? No, it was something else.
"Could you excuse me for a second, guys, I need to go talk to someone really quick?"
"Sure, anything!"
They say that, but they're following me anyway. How annoying.
"Hey, um, Travis, right? Could you do something with me?"
I leaned my weight on the boy's desk. His head snapped upwards to face me like something out of a horror movie. It was hard to keep a straight face, because of how creepy it looked.
"...hmm?"
His eyes glazed over. They seemed to look right past me!
"Hey... are you okay? Hello?"
"Oh... hi... hello... what did'ya wunt frum me?"
He's shaking. And what kind of dialect is that?
"I was wondering if you could help me with carrying some printouts..."
That's only the face of the operation, I had ulterior motives in store. Sorry, but I'm going to have to use you, Travis...
Though I didn't expect him to freeze and stare at me, with a horrified expression that screamed "Why would you even talk to me?"
"Ah...um, I'm sorry...I-I have somewhere to be right now... yeah, I'm not feeling all too well, I need to go take a nap in the infirmary..right, we'll go with that."
Is he scared of me? Am I that scary?
"S-Sorry about this, but I really am sick."
He's leaving! My only escape route is already leaving me behind!
"Hey, wait!"
He ran out of the classroom, his book bag dangling about in his wake, unzipped. I was devastated. Not only did I lose my only means of leaving, but I also terrified the poor boy. This is the worst.
"Huh? wait, where did they go?"
During the minute I stood in shock, my problems already left.
"Well, it wasn't what I intended, but it all worked out. Now, to get to those printouts..."
-
Back to Travis' point of view:
"I couldn't find anything wrong, but if you still feel queasy after an hour, take these."
The nurse handed me a couple of white pills.
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
I didn't need them though. But that was beside the point, I managed to escape that mess. After hurriedly grabbing my bag from one of the infirmary beds, I left. There was no way I could go back to the classroom after that, not while those posers were still there. I had to find somewhere to wait out their patience.
The warm breeze leftover from the previous summer still wafted about, even though it was technically Fall, when it was supposed to be cooler. Its soothing warmth helped to calm my nerves.
In desperate need of respite, I wandered around campus in search of a secluded spot to hide, which led me to sit down on the back steps of the gymnasium. Here was as good a place as any to wait. My only concern was that they might out-wait me, all the way until class began.
"What the hell do you think you were doing, huh?"
I started at the sudden voice. Oh no, did they leave the classroom to follow me?
"W-W-What do you mean?" I stuttered, terrified.
There were four of them originally in the classroom, but now there were seven. Their new allies were all tall, and one of them had arms that looked like they could crush a watermelon between his biceps. They all seemed to have one thing in common, and that was their condescending, hateful glares. I'm in trouble, aren't I?
"Do you know what happens to losers like you when they try to get away with talking to our goddess?"
"I-I-I wouldn't k-know. C-Could you tell me?"
They all grinned devilishly.
"They get pounded. So how would you like it? Five in the gut, two to the face, or one in the groin? Just so you know, the one to the groin is going to be a lot worse!"
I gulped. This was bad. There was no escaping them, as they had circled the stairs, and at this time of day, the gym door behind me was locked, meaning I couldn't run inside and lock it from the inside. There wasn't anything I could do.
"T-Then five to the gut...please?...Ghrkk!"
A fist flew into the side of my face. One of the other goons had decided to make my decision for me, and the next thing I knew, I was knocked off the stairs, and skidded on my face across the concrete below. My cheek scraped across the rough surface. The bitter taste of iron crept around my tongue.
"Oops, sorry, didn't hear that. Did you say you wanted all of them? Oh my, how greedy of you. But don't worry, we have plenty more where that came from!"
"Gaghh!"
The one that spoke kicked me in the stomach. That, combined with the stress-induced sickness from earlier, summoned the breakfast within my stomach in attack mode. His shoe was completely covered in its stench.
"Gross, what the hell?"
This was the worst. If only I had never posted where I went to school online, things would have never come to this. I wouldn't be a bloody, vomit-covered mess right now. Is this how the rest of my school life was going to go? Ruined by a single, unassuming post online? I couldn't believe it.
"Hey, what the hell is going on over here?"
The new voice could barely be heard over the goons' jeering.
"I said, what the hell are you all doing!"
"Who the fuck are you?"
Wanting to see the speaker's face, I slowly turned my head. My neck was sore from the punch from earlier, making it somewhat difficult to crane my neck from my position on the ground.
"I don't think my name is important. What is, though, is the fact that you're assaulting a fellow classmate. You should be ashamed of yourselves."
He was... short. From what I could make out from the ground, he had long, blonde hair, the bangs of which covered the majority of the left side of his face. Other than that, he was at least half a meter shorter than his adversaries.
"You're telling us to be ashamed? Hear that boys, he's telling us off! Look how cute he is!"
They all roared with laughter at the stranger's admonition. The short blondie, however, was unamused and continued to advance on them.
"You are breaking School Code article four, section six, which states that aggravated assaults are prohibited on campus, and are treated as felonious offenses. It also includes that any and all incidents will be registered in the offender's records, and will be directly reported to the necessary authorities for immediate disciplinary action."
His hawkish glare raked across each of the goons in turn.
"For your information, ignorance of the law does not exempt you from said reprisals."