Marzia couldn't speak for a while and just bit her lower lip. Perhaps, now that she knew why Chan was acting like that, she felt guilty and understood his troubles a little. To be honest, Marzia could say that she could relate to Chan. Just like him, when she was a kid, Marzia just wanted to feel loved by her parents—to be accepted by her mother and to feel the comfort of a father's embrace. Chan might have wanted the same thing, but it's impossible now because even though he has an uncle who gives him what he wants, the feeling of a complete nuclear family hits different.
Besides, what does Ian Harrison know about being a parent? That man had no intention of becoming one. And because of this, his ways and assumptions of what he thought would be good for his nephew are a bit skewed. After all, spoiling a kid is not the way to go.
A bit dazed, Marzia muttered, "T—That's sad… No kid deserves that."
"Uh-huh. Sometimes, I can't help but pity the kid," Cassandra said, grabbing a spoonful of apple pie and chowing it down.
The corner of Marzia's lips curled down. She twirled the spaghetti with her fork and lifted it to her mouth. But even before she could take a bite, a commotion outside ensued. The two teachers stopped eating and looked in the direction where the noise was coming from.
Dropping their utensils, Marzia and Cassandra saw a student coming toward them. It was Brian, and the little suck-up reported the ruckus. He was palpitating as he struggled to find the right words upon entering the faculty. "Miss Marzia, t—they're fighting outside!"
"What? Who?" Cassandra asked the kid with knitted and worried brows.
Brian pointed his finger at the entrance door. "There! On the playground! We tried to stop them, but they wouldn't stop! It's Chan again!" he dropped the bomb, immediately alerting Marzia.
She peered through the window and noticed a cluster of kids surrounding the playground area. With this, Marzia and Cassandra ran to the spot of the scuffle and were rendered stunned upon seeing Chan verbally bitching it out with three other kids.
Of course, Marzia hurriedly intervened in the fight while Cassandra dashed out to the head's lounge to alert the principal. At this point, Chan had bruises on his cheeks and arms, as did the other three kids. Marzia sprinted in front of the melee and drew them away from each other. "Hey, kids! Stop it!" she warned with great restraint, but none of the little dipshits listened.
"Come on, bro! Fight it out. That kid doesn't have any parents anyway! Beat him up!" The tall, skinny kid, blurted out of spite. He sounded like a regular high school bully, which shocked Marzia to her core.
To make matters worse, his friend beside him also chided, "Yeah, this loser! You deserve a beating! Just because you don't have guardians doesn't mean you can say anything you want!"
Chan's eyes bulged out in anger, and red-blooded nerves were spiking at the corners of his eyes. "Shut up!"
Marzia tried to calm the situation down to talk it out with the children without hurting them. "Kids, this is not the way," she muttered, using herself to shield Chan.
However, none of them listened to her as all of their attention was transfixed to the fight. The clustered kids went wild when one of the three bullies moved closer to Chan. Since some of them were in sixth grade, and all of them were rich kids, it was extra hard for Marzia to handle this. One wrong move and it's a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Cackling a big laugh, the stout bully sneered at Chan. "Look! He's crying! What? You're going to tell your uncle this? Wimp! Wimp! Wimp!"
Then a kid from the crowd stepped out and raised his hand and followed through with the bully's words. Soon enough, everyone was chanting the word, "Wimp! Wimp! Wimp!"
At this point, Chan could only hunch his head down, fisting his palms into a tight ball. Ever since he transferred here, this has been an ongoing occurrence. Granted, Chan isn't the most stable kid and have a potty mouth for a boy his age, but this level of bullying isn't something he deserves.
"Hey, stop that!" Marzia yelled, but the chant overpowered her tone.
"Coward!" the tall kid spat, pushing him on the chest.
A kid with glasses in the crowd shouted, "Yeah! Fight!"
Marzia was still shielding Ian's nephew when one of the bullies encircled her and pushed Chan. The kid's back landed on the dirty ground with his bum pressed against the soil. "My gosh!" Marzia dashed out to help Chan, but the kid shoved her away.
"Get away from me! I don't need your help!" He hissed.
The three children did not stop. They stepped closer to Chan with their hands on a fist and their gait in attack mode. Marzia quickly noticed that she was holding her arms in the air.
"Stop this right now! Or all of you will be in detention!" Her high-pitched voice sank into a lower and cavernous tone. The kids stopped chanting in the instant when Marzia pointed her index finger at the three kids who had fought with Chan.
"You three, in detention!" Then, she shifted to the crowd and bellowed, "All of you, go back to your rooms before I end up sending all of you to detention!"
The children groaned as they slowly went back to their rooms. Simultaneously, the three kids didn't move from their places and just tilted their heads down. Marzia sighed in relief when the ruckus finally died down. However, unbeknownst to her, Chan hastily stood up, and without notice, punched one of the bullies in the shoulder.
"Chan!"
She was too late to stop him when her shout reverberated in the entire vicinity of the playground. To her disappointment, Cassandra, the teachers, and the principal caught Chan's action when they arrived at the location.
"What is happening here?" Principal Lewis squalled in anger and stepped forward, crouching down to level with Chan. "Harrison, this is the nth time you've insinuated a fight! We've already told you that if this happens again, we won't tolerate your actions." He warned Chan, who barely flinched at him.
"He's a menace!" The other teacher whispered as she shook her head, glaring at Chan with censure.
An old teacher in his sixties also commented, "That kid should be expelled. He really needs to be punished…"
"Well, I'm not surprised Chan is involved again," a woman in her late forties chimed in, her gaze solemnly fixed on the boy.
Cassandra, however, came to ask Marzia first. "What happened, Marzia?"
Marzia then stepped between Chan and Principal Lewis. "With all due respect, Sir… I witnessed the fight between the kids, and I think it's not entirely Chan's fault. The three were the ones who instigated the fight, so they also had a fair share of faults, too."
"We understand your concern, Miss Marzia. But you're just new here. You don't know how horrible this kid is. He's the proponent of all the ruckus inside this school," the other teacher explained to her. It was the same red-haired woman who had ignored her a while ago in the faculty room.
Principal Lewis interjected. "Enough, Miss Dana. We'll settle this issue in an orderly and peaceful manner." Then, he got back to look at the kids. "You four, come with me to my office!"
Marzia looked at them with dejection. Cassandra came to her side and patted her back. Her friend's eyes were solemn as she uttered to Marzia, "It's alright, dear. We all have our first days."
She forced a smile at Cassandra and went back to gazing at the principal. Lewis turned his back to Marzia, and he quickly informed her, "You too, Miss Delta, you're coming with me to the office as the witness."
Shocked, Marzia glimpsed at Cassandra. "I—What?"
"It's fine, Marzia. Mr. Lewis is not that bad, actually. Just don't let him notice you disagree with him," Cassandra stated as she pressed her hand to Marzia's arms.
After a few moments, the parents of the three children who fought with Chan were called by the principal. Chan's guardian, his uncle Ian, was not yet there, though. At this moment, the principal sought to fix the issue first with the three kids.
Meanwhile, Marzia sat beside Chan outside of the guidance council after her statement with the student's parents. She just told them what happened and nothing more. She looked at Chan with gloomy eyes and waited with him.
Thirty minutes had already passed, and the coveted CEO was not yet there, despite calling him for the fifth time. Marzia took a deep breath as she looked at the ticking of the clock.
'When the heck is he going to come?' she thought.
Marzia couldn't help but be curious about Chan's condition as a result. He was hit by three kids, thrown out onto the ground, and humiliated in front of almost everyone. To know that this is a regular occurrence is hurtful enough.
She moved closer to the child and asked him, "Are you okay? Would you like to go to the clinic first while we wait?"
"I'm fine!" Chan grimaced, drawing an enormous gap between them.
Marzia ignored his chides. She broadened her patience with the kid and asked him another question. "What happened back there, Chan? And why didn't you attend your first class?"
Chan bit his lower lip and balled his fist. He then lifted his head, giving her an annoyed look. "Because they'll just bully me and tell me I'm a loser!"
"Why would they do that?" Marzia calmly questioned the kid. She didn't want to add to the anger Chan already had and just wanted him to open up to her.
"Because I don't have parents! And I'm a monster because I was the reason they died! Now, can you please shut up because you are so irritating! You're just like my uncle! And he can't even come here on time!" He grumbled, lowering his reddening head and hiding his face from Marzia.