There isn't a lot of children in the Foster family, but it's not a few either.
Including Chloe Stephens, there are five school-aged children.
Mornings are like going to war; everyone rushed to eat breakfast and then promptly raced out the door with their schoolbags.
Second Uncle and his wife left for work as soon as the new year passed. Only two elders, Uncle, his wife, and Yvette Foster were left in the house.
A big family of over ten living together, most of the energy and time is spent just on making food every day.
"Chloe, mommy will take you to school once I finish washing these dishes. If you feel unwell, just take a day off and come back home, understand?"
Yvette Foster took very good care of Chloe Stephens, but she had no idea that her daughter has been the victim of school violence.
Grandmother Gibson Megan couldn't help but nag, "Even Lindsay who's still in primary school goes to school by herself. She's almost in high school and yet still needs someone to drop her off and pick her up - are you trying to alert people that she's off in the head?"
"Mom, Chloe's just a slow learner, there's nothing wrong with her brain," Yvette Foster retorted from the kitchen door.
"Saying such things to your own granddaughter - you're really overstepping as a grandmother and it's hurting the child's self-esteem." Fred Foster came downstairs only to hear the harsh words of the old lady which was extremely displeasing.
The grandmother was not afraid of them, "What did I say wrong? She should be sent to a special school. She doesn't keep up with a regular school and instead causes trouble at home."
"I can go by myself, you guys are busy," Chloe Stephens picked up her bag of books on the chair and left.
"Chloe!"
Yvette Foster rushed out the door after her.
Chloe Stephens had already gone far away, and didn't appear to have heard Yvette Foster calling out for her from behind.
*
Soaring Mountain High School.
A high school brimming with youth on campus.
Chloe saw the laughing and chatting students who passed briskly into the campus. A bell resounded within the campus area, prompting the students to quicken their pace.
Year 3 Class 2.
She remembered this was her classroom.
She leisurely walked into the classroom and sat in her own seat, seemingly oblivious of the other students' horrified looks.
Morning reading class had already begun, so everyone had no leisure to pay attention to the slow-witted Chloe.
Chloe's seatmate placed his chair a great distance from her and took a book to obstruct the view between them.
His disdain was fully expressed.
As soon as the class ended, a chalk eraser flew onto Chloe's desk.
Chloe Stephens' figure reclined backward, causing her chair to make an ear-piercing noise.
"Chloe Stephens, why didn't you come in a skirt today?" A pretty girl came over, her hand propped on the corner of the desk, looking at Chloe Stephens with a smile.
All the surrounding students looked over.
"Chloe, you tore off my button the other day, how do you plan to compensate me?"
"And you dirtied my shoes. How do you plan to compensate me for my thousand dollar shoes?"
The other students who came with the pretty girl sneered at Chloe who successfully avoided the chalk eraser.
A boy sitting in the other row turned back and knocked on campus idol Oliver Gordon's desk, "Look, Oliver, it's starting again."
Oliver Gordon lifted his clean white face. The boy's black eyes shone with a charming luster. His gaze landed on Chloe Stephens who was sitting there, showing some indifference.
The youngster was handsome, with sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes. His skin was fair, but he radiated youthful warmth.
He took one look and then returned to his book.
"Chloe Stephens, because of you, our class's average score has fallen. Our class 2 is always at the bottom of the grade."
"If I were you, I would be so ashamed I'd want to run into a wall. Yet, you have the audacity to return here."
Even those who didn't speak had clear hostility in their eyes.
The whole class resented being in the same class as Chloe.
She couldn't even do a good job copying homework - people wondered how she got into class 2.
Chloe Stephens quietly wiped off the chalk residue from the eraser, tapped the dust off with a book, and centered herself again on her seat.
Seeing her dumb and vacant behavior, a few girls rolled their eyes in contempt. When the bell rung for class, they all dove back into their own seats.
"Oliver, don't you think Chloe Stephens is acting a little weird today? You wouldn't think she has been beaten stupid, right?"
Oliver Gordon didn't raise his head, "The teacher's coming in."
Mason Sullivan shrugged his shoulders, turned back, but couldn't help looking again at Chloe, who was sitting upright in her chair.
Mason and Oliver were coming back from playing basketball and went to the washroom. They heard sounds coming from the next-door washroom. They were planning to leave right away since they didn't care about girls' gossip, but then they saw a few girls throwing out a soaked Chloe. Oliver said something to them.
Those girls stepped back after encountering Oliver and left after throwing Chloe aside.
The class flower, Marcella Thomas, was also there.
Mason Sullivan clicked his tongue a few times in his heart, not having realized that the class flower had such a side, truly valiant!
Mason Sullivan couldn't help but look at the class flower, Marcella Thomas, who was actually not as pretty as that mentally ill Chloe Stephens.
But who could blame them, Chloe's mental deficiencies made everyone overlook her beauty.
During the break…
Chloe was called out by a girl.
Marcella Thomas, with a group of girls, cornered Chloe in the girls' bathroom.
Beautiful girls like Chloe always aroused jealousy.
Yet, a fool like her became the target of ridicule and bullying.
"Chloe, you have such nerves."
Someone brought black ink and red ink and mixed them into the water. One didn't need to ask to know what it was for.
"Did you really think Oliver Gordon would fancy you?, you should take a good look at yourself. You are not fit to be even a fingernail of our Marcella. The one Oliver Gordon likes is Marcella. It's hilarious how you, with your deficient brain, dared to imagine this."
"I really don't know why Oliver Gordon'd defended her that day. Doesn't he hate her?"
"Perhaps he just pitied her and was filled with sudden compassion."
Marcella Thomas came forward, a mop in her hand.
Without issuing orders from her, the girls who were stirring the black and red ink, lifted the bucket together and splashed it at Chloe.
A delicate white hand suddenly took hold of the two hands lifting the bucket and exerted a light but heavy pressure, causing the bucket to drop onto the floor with a bang, splashing the two girls in the face with the black and red ink.
"Ah!"
With a kick, she easily pushed the few girls who were rushing at her into the toilet.
Before Marcella Thomas could lift her mop, she felt her hand go empty as a blow hit the back of her head, thrusting her face into the red and black ink.
"Glug, glug..."
"Clatter."
Ping pong noises echoed through the women's restroom, which was locked from the inside.
From the outside, people were gathered at the door, taking joy in the misfortune waiting for the drama to unfold.
In the restroom.
The groveling girls were emitting terrified whimpers.
Chloe walked behind Marcella who was just getting up, lifted her foot and stamped on her head. Marcella, who had just started to rise, fell hard back into the ink bucket.
She was struggling in horror.
"Is it good?"
The cold voice rang beside Marcella's ear, causing her entire body to break out in goosebumps and struggle even harder.
Withdrawing her foot, Chloe opened the back window.
Behind the restroom was a river. The campus was built along this river. Unless one knew how to climb, it was absolutely impossible to jump out from the back window. Plus, the river was full of excrement. If one were to fall in, they would not die from drowning but from being grossed out.
However.
Chloe jumped out.
...
Chloe appeared again on the school basketball court, just as the bell rang.
However, some students looked towards the public restroom. It seemed there was some excitement.
Chloe calmly walked into the classroom, the girls who had left hadn't returned yet.
Everyone in the classroom saw her being called out, and when she returned, she was perfectly clean, unscratched.
"Hey Gordon, it's really strange, how did she return like this?"
This time Oliver Gordon looked at Chloe.
Chloe glanced over.
Oliver Gordon was stunned by the indifference and calm in the girl's eyes.
"Chloe, who's Chloe? Your headteacher is looking for you." A student from another class ran in and yelled in the classroom.
All eyes were on Chloe.
Chloe stood up and walked straight out of the door.
The slender figure of the girl was slowly walking away under everyone's gaze, with an unusual silence in the classroom.