Koushik looked at her with scared round eyes. His lips trembled.
"S.. sorry. I.." he gulped. His heart was still beating rapidly from the scare he just got and his face flushed from shame.
"I.." he tried to get up in a hurry when Olivia stopped him.
"Wait." She said. Then she put the barbell away.
"S.. sorry I... I didn't notice." Koushik sat up and looked down. He bit his lips to control his tears. His hands that were clenched in a fist were also trembling.
"I'm sorry I made a fool of myself before you again."
'Why? Why does this always happen to me? I just wanted to prove to her that I'm not weak but instead of that, I made such a mess of myself. She probably thinks I'm ridiculous. I'm just a clown jumping up and down trying to do something that I can't.'
Olivia laid down and started doing her set of bench presses.
Koushik got up shakily and moved to the side and started doing some squats but he lost his balance and crashed into a nearby rack and made a loud rattling noise.
Everyone stared at him including Olivia.
When Koushik saw her staring at him felt even more ashamed.
'Fool, fool. What are you doing Koushik? Are you here just to make a fool out of yourself?' He tried to get up by grabbing one end of the rack but his action made several weights fall over. Luckily they fell on the side rather than on top of him so that saved him injuries.
All the students who were watching him roared in laughter.
"Oh my goodness! He was so funny."
"Did you see how he fell flat on his butt?" One of them enacted how Koushik fell exaggeratedly.
"Isn't he a celebrity? Aren't they also trained with gym equipment to maintain their body? Why is he so clumsy then?"
"Gosh, that's so humiliating?"
"Hey, I saw him drop the barbell on his face too. Fortunately, that strong girl was beside him so she caught it."
"Huh? Really? That must be such a huge save since he needs his pretty face for his publicity."
They kept clamouring on and on.
'So noisy.' Olivia sighed and kept the barbell in its place. Then she stood up and walked towards Koushik.
Koushik felt his blood run cold when he dropped all those weights and everyone started laughing at him. His back was drenched in cold sweat and his hands became cold. He could feel his hands trembling and not just his hands, he felt his whole body tremble.
'Not now Koushik not now. You can't have a panic attack here. Get up. Be brave!'
Koushik clenched his hands so tight that his nails left marks on his palm but the pain helped him get a grip over himself. At first, he placed his hands on the ground and using that as a support he got up slowly although he was still shaking. Then he tried to walk but stumbled on his first step. Those students laughed again. Koushik took a few deep breaths and dashed out of the gym stumbling on his way.
Olivia, who had walked up to him to help him up looked towards Koushik's back. Her hand still hanging mid-air.
'Panic attack... he did not even notice someone was standing beside him. No wonder he stumbled so much, he's shaking all over.' She stuck her hands in her pocket and sighed.
Those students were still making fun of him. Olivia looked towards them with narrowed eyes.
One of the students was imitating Koushik when he stumbled while running outside when he felt a shadow over him. Seeing him halt the others also stopped and looked over. They saw Olivia standing there with her hands in her pocket lazily. But her geez was cold, very cold. Especially the boy at whom she was staring felt a bone-chilling coldness wash over him. He could not move under her gaze and just trembled.
Olivia moved her eyes over to the others who were also fixed at their places like a statue. That boy felt the pressure on him lessened a little when she looked away and tried to stand up but crashed on a rack. Just like Koushik. When he tried to get up he stumbled too.
When Olivia gazed at the others they also felt an overbearing pressure on them and a chill running down their spine.
"Mock others when you're better than them," Olivia said in a calm and soothing voice but the underlying mockery was obvious.
She then threw that boy lying on the floor one last look and slowly walked off. Nobody dared to breathe until she was gone. They heaved a sigh of relief once Olivia was out of sight. Then they realised that they had become statues just now.
"F*ck what was that? What did just happen?"
"I still feel cold remembering her look." Another one said shivering.
"I know right? But who is she?"
"Wait, she said something about mocking right?"
"Yeah, she was probably talking about that weak piece of sh*t from earlier."
"Hey, she's so strong why would she take his side?"
"Probably scattering generosity? B*tch how dare she threaten us? Does she think just because she's somewhat stronger than us she can look down on us? Who does she think he is?"
"Bro, we should do something about it. We can't let her walk all over us."
"Right, she cares so much about that little celebrity, right? Then let's play with him a little. We'll see how far she'll go for that weak little pink."
"What are you planning to do?"
"He's a celebrity, right? He must care about his reputation very much. Let's do something about that." he smirked
They all smiled sinisterly.