"How can you expect me to take in that filthy thing as my son?" The loud voice of a woman was heard from behind the expensive mahogany door. A man was with her too but his voice wasn't loud enough as her to be heard from the outside. He tried to reason the woman but she isn't having any.
"I shiver to look at it even! Ugh, so horribly disgusting!"
The little boy who was sitting on the floor leaning on the mahogany door stared at nothing with his lifeless eyes but his ears kept on picking the conversation that was taking place behind the closed doors, he could hear the woman's voice mostly. Upon the calling of his name, the boy looked at the source and saw an old woman.
Rio had a sinking feeling since morning. He wondered if he's sick but such is not the case. He didn't have fever, neither did he suffer from nightmares last night. He didn't have much appetite today. So he had a banana and kiwi before leaving for school. Still the sinking feeling would not go away.
Rio's sinking feeling increased even more as he started to see the school building from the street. Upon entering the hallways the atmosphere seemed different than usual. Most of the students were whispering and chatting excitedly about some sort of secret that they have found from internet jointly. Rio peeped in one of gossiping girl's mobile discreetly and immediately his heart froze.
It was a picture of him and Emilia!
It was clicked on the day when she forced him to accompany her to McDonalds!
"Ohhh as expected of a popular girl!"
"Oh she has it so easy, just stand or sit in front of a guy and he'll drop down in front of you."
"Ah~ how I wish boys would fall for me too…!"
"Wow as expected of a whore like her."
"Who's the guy by the way?"
"Mmm can't see his face properly no matter how much I zoom."
"Uwahh he looks like a nerd though. Does he go to our school?"
"As expected of Emilia! She always has a back up guy ready to hold the post as her boyfriend!"
"Huh. First it was Kenzy then Daniel and now who?"
"Ah what a waste I can't even see his face."
Rio forced his trembling legs to walk faster to his locker. Oh this is the end of his peaceful high school life! Ahh he knew that involving with a popular girl like Emilia Johannes wouldn't do any good for him! Now what should he do! People are already curious about his identity! What will he do if they recognize him? Should he get transferred to another school? No, that is not possible anymore. It has already been half of the senior year and he cannot even apply for an academic drop else he'll lose his clean record to gain a scholarship!
He locked himself inside a washroom stall after collecting the necessary books from his locker. There was still a bit of time left for his first class. Some boys arrived at the washroom, did their job and exited all the while discussing the same topic that had made Rio lock himself inside this stall. A while later the first bell rang signaling the students for the start of their first period.
"Rio? Riiiioooo? You there?" It was Luke's voice. He had come in search of his friend who hadn't showed up to the class even after the first bell that was unlikely of a studious person like him. Luke had searched all the probable corners of the school where Rio could hide or lock himself but to no avail. Last option was the men's washroom and he hoped to find him here. Even before Rio, Luke had already received that photo in the group chats that he is member of and he knew that Rio might react like this. Rio had always been the withdrawn type. He never showed his weakness in front of everybody and even though he is good at studies, remains in teacher's good graces, he keeps himself as a wallflower, drawing minimum attention to himself ever since he transferred to the same middle school as Luke. It has taken Luke quite an effort gain Rio's trust and friendship. Although he never asked about Rio's seemingly past that made him like this, but he had some few hunches of his own.
Luke found only one cubicle to be locked. That confirmed Rio's presence behind that locked door of the stall.
"Rio," Luke received a sniffle from the other side. He softened his tone; "Look Rio I know you're worried but locking yourself wouldn't solve anything, would it? Will you please let me in Rio? Please open the door. Please?"
Two minutes later the sound of opening the door lock was heard. Rio sat with his legs folded on the toilet. "Rio, don't worry we'll—"
"How c-can i-it n-not be m-my f-fault, t-they a-a-all we-were s-saying na-nasty stuffs about h-her a-and I---sniffle!"
"Wait wait, you're worried about her? Emilia Johannes?" Not yourself?
"Yeah."
"O-ohhh goody," Luke slumped back on his toes; "What will you do if they find out the cap headed guy's identity?"
"I-I-I….." Luke heaved a sigh. It is unnatural for Rio not to panic about himself of getting his identity revealed from the picture, but he is worried about a girl whom he was given responsibility for tutoring, that too, by a teacher. Just what magic had Emilia done to him?
"It'll be bad if people found out who she was with." In fact 'bad' is an understatement, Rio's life would be made a living hell.
"That's why we need to take precautions so to avoid trouble." Luke tried smoothen the real impact that might fall on Rio. Luke already had a taste of it and had it not been...
Luke hiccupped and blushed then shook his head. No, no, no this is not the time to think about anything else.
He made Rio stand up and a few seconds before the second and final bell for the start of first period rang, the two boys exited the men's washroom towards their designated homeroom class.
A class full of ignorant students and Rio were unaware what changes would befall the moment the two boys would enter the class.