"Oops, sorry, on purpose!"
The voice made Ayla look out of the toilet, three twelfth grade girls standing in front of her arrogantly, crossed her arms, then smiled with satisfaction.
Ayla was still silent, her eyes glazed over. On purpose? Ayla didn't hear wrong, right? What if they did it on purpose?
"How? Fresh huh? Yes, at least it can clear your insane brain and keep it away from Devano!" said the tallest and slimmest girl.
Ayla didn't think that there were so many people who hated her just because of a sentence from Devano.
"What did I do wrong, sis?"
"What did you do wrong? Yes, it's clear, how come you don't understand? You're Devano's girl!" replied the curly-haired girl who was now standing in front of Ayla, looked at Ayla ruthlessly, and then pushed Ayla's body until Ayla fell perfectly on the floor.
Pain, of course.
But, it was Ayla's heart that hurt more than anything else.
Slowly, the children began to gather, the bullying began to spread by word of mouth. An unimaginable thing even until then.
"You should know, yes, that Devano is ours. Dare you approach Devano and pretend to be Devano's girlfriend, we assure you that your life will be bad in these three years of school. Got it?"
"But, I—"
"I, I, what? I'll hang your neck on a tree for a long time too!"
"Enough!"
Everything immediately stopped, and Ayla was silent again, a man with a sturdy body came in, covered Ayla's wet body with a jacket, helped Ayla to stand up, then embraced Ayla's tiny body that was shivering. His sharp gaze looked at all the girls who were there, and it was enough to make the three bullies fall silent, with their pale faces.
"Whoever hurts my girl, they will deal with me," firm, short, and solid. That's what the figure said, pulling Ayla's body out until all the children made way for Ayla and the figure.
The two of them walked quite far until the sturdy hand released its grip on Ayla when she realized that the atmosphere was quiet. Yes, right behind the eleventh-grade building, it was deserted and there wasn't a single person there.
The boy stood a little away from Ayla, and put his hands in his pants pockets, making Ayla still feel that this was all like a dream.
Ayla grabbed the boy's jacket, and she smiled. What could he have imagined more than that? She can wear a jacket from the guy she likes so much. Ayla then remembered that the boy had embraced her. Even more than the most beautiful dream, Ayla did not think that she would be embraced by the boy she liked so much. Yes, that guy is… Devano.
This isn't a dream, is it?
This is reality, right?
Ayla rubbed her eyes, pinched her cheeks, and what she was experiencing was real. Not just dreams or hallucinations.
Ayla looked at Devano who was in front of her, a tall figure with slightly long hair that covered the back of the uniform collar looked so real. The tall, sturdy posture looks dashing and perfect.
"Devano ..." called Ayla, she took a few steps forward to be right behind Devano. However, the boy didn't turn around at all. That figure really is Devano, right? "Thanks, yes, I've—"
"Give me back my jacket tomorrow, laundry, because I don't want your hand marks to stick to my jacket,"
Ayla fell silent hearing the words that came out of Devano's mouth. Devano's gaze was really sharp and cold as if hatred was clearly reflected in Devano's eyes. After saying that, Devano immediately left, without giving an explanation or saying anything else.
Ayla can only stand like a fool, she is silent and frozen. Devano's words earlier were really so cold and heartless. Ayla, now turned around, Devano seemed to be walking then his figure disappeared after turning in the thirteenth-grade building. While holding her sad breath, Ayla could only lower her head deeply.
So, is that actually a Devano? Not only cold, Devano turned out to be a heartless guy. However, for some reason, Ayla's chest still gurgled every time she mumbled Devano's name. A thing that was completely unimaginable, and something that made Ayla unable to think even with herself.
"What are you doing here? I thought there was a monkey after pouring out the sewer," said someone who managed to make Ayla turn around.
Apparently, she didn't know if on the wooden bench right under the mango tree there was someone sleeping while covering his face with a hat, and who would have thought that someone was Arka?
Ayla snorted, why in every misfortune in her life, Arka is always everywhere. And now for sure, Arka would laugh at him again, this was not a good thing at all even by anyone.
"Where did you come from? I think today is sunny, cloudy or not, let alone rainy. Why is your body soaking wet like that? Did you clean yourself up in the catfish pond in the middle field?" Arka taunted again.
Ayla finally looked at Arka. If possible, she really wanted to throw Arka with her shoes and gag Arka's mouth so that the boy wouldn't talk too much. Ayla was upset, she was angry mixed with shame, couldn't Arka just for once not talk much and just be quiet?
"Or maybe you were tricked by those Devano-loving girls, huh? Isn't it?"
"Noisy! It's so cool you're a boy! I hit my shoes to you!" annoyed Ayla in the end.
Arka laughed instead, he didn't have the slightest fear of Ayla. Seeing Ayla angry with her face as red as a tomato actually made Arka even more excited to tease Ayla.
"Why? Is there something wrong? I have the right to ask you, do you remember what Daren said? Take care of you like my own sister, so I definitely have to take care of you with all my heart. So don't expect you to get out of my sight. I will be your CCTV camera while at school, do you understand, Monkey?"