The moment Max's words reverberated through the room, everyone stopped whatever they were doing, and instinctively every gaze shifted toward the bully. Then their heads tilted downward, avoiding any chance of making eye contact with him.
"Gary, what are you up to?" He asked.
Gary quickly turned around to face Max, sweating profusely, fear clearly all over his face.
"Absolutely nothing sir! Just playing around with my classmate." Gary said as he bowed down.
"Hmm. Come here." Max said, asking Gary to come to him.
"Yes sir. Coming!"
Gary approached Max, stepping into his range. Instantly, a sharp slap landed on his face, sending him sprawling to the ground from the force. Max glared down at the fallen Gary, cold indifference filled his eyes.
"Act like the insect you are."
As soon as this happened, the remaining four members of Gary's group deliberately avoided meeting Max's eyes. Instead, they stood there, looking at the ground with fear in their eyes.
Max then started looking around the classroom as if looking for someone. His eyes stopped on a certain individual standing in the corner of the classroom, just behind Gary's group.
"You are Zenil, right?" Max asked with a smile on his face, his voice was calm as compared to before.
"Yes." Zenil nodded without any hesitation.
It would be a lie to say that he was not afraid, no he was indeed scared shitless, but, due to his prior exposure to such bullies, he could easily put on this poker face.
If he acted scared he would be hit twice every day, but with his poker face, he would only be tortured ten times only once. This poker face was a kind of animalistic, life-saving instinct Zenil had developed. His mind would go blank for a few seconds at a time, but not even a single muscle on his face would change.
"Come with us. Someone is here to meet you." Max said as he gestured for Zenil to come with them.
'Meet me? What the fucking fuck?'
***
Zenil calmly followed Max and his men and was now standing in front of the door to the terrace of the school.
'Are they gonna throw me off the building?'
'Frame my death as a suicide?'
'Should I run away?'
Various thoughts ran through Zenil's mind, as he looked at the pale green-coloured metallic door.
One of Max's men opened the door, bathing the relatively dim staircase in brilliant white sunlight. This flash of sunlight blinded Zenil for a few moments. As his eyes slowly readjusted to the bright light, he spotted two figures standing near the protective steel railing installed on the terrace.
***
When he entered the terrace, he was met by two individuals, one boy and one girl looking at him, with disappointed looks on their faces. Both of them were wearing red-colored blazers, different from Zenil's lush-green-colored uniform. Their eyes scrutinized Zenil as if attempting to pierce through him.
"He is Zenil?" the boy asked with a heavy emphasis on the word "He".
"Indeed, Dexter." Max said.
Dexter cast a disdainful gaze at Zenil, as though finding him utterly repulsive.
"Max, you can leave now." Suddenly, the girl said with clear indifference.
"Sure, do tell me if you need anything in my domain." Max said, as he slightly bowed down. Then, he left with his gang.
Now it was just the three of them standing on the terrace. Feeling the wind blowing on their faces.
"Nice to meet you Zenil. I am Audrey Houle, from Aurelian Academy, and this right here is Dexter Warren from the same school." The girl said.
Audrey, she was a girl with a moderately beautiful face, moderately long blonde hair, and a well-maintained figure. She sported a red blazer featuring her school's embroidered symbol, a crisp white shirt, a coordinating red tie, a knee-length formal skirt, and complementing black stockings. Her blue eyes shone with confidence. All in all she indeed looked like someone from the prestigious Aurelian Academy, where only the elites of the city could go.
"Nice to meet you as well." Zenil said.
"Audrey, is it really him?" Dexter asked Audrey completely ignoring Zenil's existence.
"That's what it seems like. Whatever the case may be, we will have to go through with our task."
"But-" Dexter said but stopped midway due to the fierce, yet cold look Audrey gave him.
"Why do I hold the pleasure of meeting you guys?" Zenil asked.
"You won the event yesterday, didn't you? You are the one who defeated Kyle, aren't you?" Audrey said.
"Yeah, I did." Zenil nodded a second or two later.
"I don't believe it! This fatso can't-" Dexter once again shot up, but was once again extinguished by Audrey.
"Can't you shut your filthy ass mouth for a minute second?" Audrey said.
Hearing this, Dexter walked away a few feet, with his hands in his pockets, and his short brownish hair danced due to the wind. His tall stature and slimmer structure made him look handsome in his red-themed school uniform.
"Sorry about that." Audrey said, "We are here to invite you to meet someone and give you an offer. No, not an offer, but an ultimatum."
As soon as these words were heard by Zenil, his calm expression flickered a little bit. He gulped and asked, "What do you mean?"
"As you defeated Kyle yesterday, soon the organization will surely launch a warrant against you. I'd bet you are already a target."
"What about my reward?"
"Well, you got your reward. You are no longer a victim to be bullied, instead, you have achieved the great rank of the target to be crushed, forever."
"Homicide? They'll kill me?" Zenil asked with his eyes widened, his poker face long gone, and terror in his voice.
"We all are under eighteen, you know that, right?"
Zenil understood what the girl meant. In this country, regardless of the severity of the offense, minors usually faced lenient punishment, typically spending a few months in detention centers at most. So, homicide was a simple option for them. Blame could also be simply shifted towards a less affluent student with the help of some hefty capital, and the school groups, being financially well-off, had no concerns about money, as their pockets were overflowing with it.
Zenil gulped and nodded.
"So, will you guys help me remove my name from the list of targets?"
"Something even better."
"..."
"Well then, are you coming with us, or will you come later?" Audrey asked.
"Let's go together." Zenil said.
"Not so quick Fatso." Suddenly Dexter said.
Both Zenil and Audrey looked at him. Zenil had the usual look of indifference in his eyes, while Audrey looked at him with fury in her eyes.
Dexter was currently looking downward at the school grounds, where four boys, clad in yellow blazers, stood with bats in their hands.
"Seems like you are already a target. Look, boys from Autumn Grove are already here." Dexter said while pointing towards the group of boys clad in yellow blazers. All of them were wearing black face masks.
Dexter walked towards Audrey and tightly grabbed her wrist. He then started moving towards the exit of the terrace, forcibly taking her with him.
"What are you doing?" Audrey said irritatedly.
"If he truly defeated Kyle, then he can easily get through those four thugs. Don't you think so?"
"Yes-Yes, he can."
"Then he can take it as a little test. If he can't even get through these four, then what's his use? Don't you want to test his strength?"
Audrey slightly nodded.
"Then it's the perfect opportunity for us to test him."
"Hey, fatso! Defeat those five, and then come to our academy!"
"Be quick! I don't think you have more than ten minutes, soon more men will arrive to hunt you down!" Dexter shouted before exiting the terrace.
Zenil stood there blankly.
'The fucking fuck.'