No words could describe the pain on Estella's hand and the grievance surging from within her after the fall. She massaged her little hand instinctively, almost breaking into tears.
After a while, she sniffled and got up to her feet. Then, she took out a notebook from the desk and started writing something in it.
All the other kids were not surprised by that. Since Estella was mute, she usually communicated with them by writing in her notebook. However, it seldom appeared as there was scarcely anyone to play with her.
Awhile later, she flipped her notebook toward Tammy after she finished writing.
Placing her hands on her hips, the latter snorted at the word "apologize" in it and questioned sardonically, "How could you have the cheek to
request me to apologize to you? Estella, you're asking for it!"
With that, she advanced toward Estella with her nose in the air and stretched out her hand, thinking of giving the poor girl another shove.
It never occurred to Estella that Tammy would strike at her again. Standing rooted on the spot, she was unable to react.
In the meantime, Archie and Benny had been keeping their eyes on them.
Nobody was aware when Tammy suddenly gave Estella a hefty shove a while ago. The realization only dawned on Archie and Benny when Estella fell to the floor.
Now that Tammy was going to shove Estella again, they could not hold back any longer.
"Enough of that! How could you bully her!" Archie stood in her way swiftly, glowering at her with a look of sheer grimness.
Tammy was stunned at his sudden emergence in front of Estella.
Archie stated sternly, "Didn't your mother teach you to apologize after making a mistake? Since you'd shoved her just now, you must apologize to her!"
Irked by Tammy's domineeringness, the young boy exuded an imposing aura surprisingly.
An intimidated Tammy looked around apprehensively, hoping the other kids would back her up.
Moments later, when nobody stepped forward to do so, she could only retort guiltily, "I..."
Nevertheless, she was at a loss for words to speak up for herself.
At the sight of Tammy blushing crimson, Benny advanced toward her resignedly. "You shouldn't hurt anyone as you like. It's bad behavior! We're not supposed to fight among ourselves. Apologize to her, okay?"
Benny's voice was not as authoritative as Archie's, but there was still an unmissable hint of sternness in his tone.
On the verge of tears, Tammy flashed him a glance timidly. Seeing that, Benny blinked a few times and relented.
"Don't cry. You'll look ugly if you cry. Bad kids tend to look ugly, too. Not to mention, only bad kids hurt others. If you don't wish to be one of them, apologize to her sincerely. You'll automatically be a good kid again after she forgives you!"
Tammy sniffled hard, restraining herself from bursting into tears. No way! I don't want to be an ugly girl! But bad kids tend to look ugly...
After much hesitation, she snuffled and apologized to Estella, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you just now. Could you please forgive me?"
Estella looked at Tammy for quite a while before nodding.
Benny grinned blissfully. "That's right! We're all classmates and should get along well with each other!"
Tammy nodded awkwardly at Estella's willingness to forgive her.
The other kids shared the same sentiments as Benny and echoed his words. Meanwhile, Archie turned to look at Estella. "Are you all right? Did you get hurt just now?"
Hiding her injured hand behind her back, Estella put up a front and shook her head.
The next moment, Benny leaned closer and stared at her suspiciously. "I saw you knock onto the desk just now. How's it possible that you're not hurt at all? Let me have a look!"
Without any waste of time, he grabbed hold of Estella's injured hand. The latter shrunk away, trying to pull her hand out.
Nevertheless, the tiny red patch on the back of her hand was utterly visible against her fair skin.
When the unsightly redness came into view, Archie questioned her again, "Do you really not feel any pain?"
Wearing a look of earnestness, Estella shook her head. Even so, her eyes were red-rimmed.
Archie and Benny furrowed their brows in unison. The part of her skin has turned relatively red! How's it possible that it's not painful? It has even started to swell. There might be a bruise later!
"We'll bring you to see our teacher now and let the school nurse attend to it." Archie sounded determined.
Estella wanted to withdraw her hand, but Benny gripped it. He dragged her and went after Archie, heading straight for the staffroom.
At the sight of the wound on Estella's hand, their teacher asked about the event that had transpired earlier before leading them to the school nurse's room in a hurry.
Estella's injury was not severe, but the school nurse did not dare to dawdle. After spraying some medicine onto her wound, she massaged it for a while gently.
When it was done, she looked at the two boys waiting aside. Impressed by their good looks, she asked their teacher, "Are these two boys your new students? I've never seen them before. Look at how adorable they are! I bet girls will fall head over heels for them when they grow up!
Look, this little girl resembles them too. Could they be siblings?"
Hearing that, Archie and Benny exchanged gazes intuitively and turned to look at Estella alongside them simultaneously.
The duo was not surprised. After all, Estella was their paternal sister. It was nothing unusual for paternal siblings to look alike. Furthermore, people tended to comment that their eyes did not resemble their mother's.
Estella also gazed at the two boys and could not help wondering, Do we look alike?
After the school nurse attended to Estella's injury, their teacher left together with them.
Back in the classroom, Estella followed behind Archie and Benny closely like a small tail attached to their backs.
Soon, they walked back to their seats and sat down.
Initially, Archie and Benny thought that their mission was accomplished. It never came to them that Estella would tag along with them wherever they went during class activities. My goodness! We can't seem to shrug her off! She even keeps stealing glances at us during class!
After a few times, Archie could not take it any longer. Furrowing his brows, he looked intently into Estella's eyes. "Why are you following us so closely?"
His tone was not harsh, but he sounded emotionless and aloof.
Intimidated by his abrupt query, Estella looked away hastily. Even so, she cast a look in his direction again seconds later.
Archie's forehead creased into a frown.
Undeniably, he had a soft spot for the adorable Estella. How nice would it be if she's not related to Daddy! If so, Benny and I would treat her like a little princess and protect her well. However, this Little Mute is Daddy's daughter with another woman. If we treat her well, we'll be betraying Mommy!
He wanted to get a grip of himself to pay no heed to the girl, but he was speechless when he saw the latter staring at them pitifully.
Just when he was about to ask Estella to stay away from them, he noticed that the latter started writing something in her notebook again. This round, she wrote: I want to be friends with both of you.
Shortly after, she lifted her notebook, covering the lower half of her face and only revealing her bright eyes.