"Dude, what's up with you? You didn't pick up any of my calls yesterday," Ben called out to Abel, hurrying to keep pace with his friend's quick strides.
"Oh… sorry, man. I was probably dead asleep—I was tired as hell."
"Shit," Ben muttered, pulling out his phone. "So, you're saying you never saw this?"
Abel took the phone from Ben, his eyes widening as he recognized the video.
He didn't need to watch for long to know what it was, the one Todd's goon had filmed.
"Fuck," Abel whispered, feeling a cold dread settle in his stomach.
Todd must've uploaded it online, probably as a way to let him know that he was onto the fact that Hilsa had lied about streaming the video to the teachers' WhatsApp group. He handed the phone back to Ben, his mood crashing from the high he'd felt during his morning run.
"The cowards left out the part where they got beat by a girl. Typical bully," Abel spat, loathing thick in his voice.
"What? What girl?" Ben asked, looking confused.
Abel suddenly realized he hadn't told Ben about the whole incident involving Hilsa. He hadn't even mentioned how he survived that toilet disaster.
He'd been too pissed off to talk to anyone about it. "Can you imagine almost five guys getting freaked out by Hilsa?" Abel turned to Ben, noticing the bewildered look on his friend's face. "Of course you can't… no one can."
They entered the locker room, and Abel immediately noticed the way people were staring at him, their faces twisted in disgust as if he had maggots crawling all over him. Some even called out "Poo Man" as he walked by, heading to his locker. But he generally ignored them all.
When he reached his locker, though, his stomach twisted in knots. A snapshot of him with his head in the toilet bowl was stuck on it, with big red captions beneath it that read, "I love shit, I am the Poo Man." Laughter erupted around him as people saw him staring at the poster.
"You know, you can always go to the principal," Ben said, knowing very well how Abel felt about that idea.
"Yeah, so that tomorrow, a poster of a wailing dwarf will be here with 'Cry Baby' on it? No, thanks." In truth, it wasn't that Abel was against reporting the bullying to the principal. Actually, there was nothing he would love more than to do just that, it would certainly make his life easier.
The problem was, doing so would definitely drag his mom into this mess, adding more stress to her already crazy life. Or worse, it might lead to a transfer, which Abel dreaded more than anything.
Banging the locker shut in anger, Abel stormed across the locker room, his eyes scanning the crowd of whispering students.
Most of them were murmuring in harsh tones as he passed, their eyes gleaming with the excitement of witnessing his humiliation. To them, his suffering was just another dose of entertainment in an otherwise boring day.
"Hey, Abe, wait up!" Ben called out, jogging to catch up with him. Abel felt a wave of relief wash over him. Ben sticking by him was a comfort, though he knew that most people would rather avoid being friends with a guy on Todd's radar. Abel would have done the same for Ben, but the reality was, many others wouldn't.
As Abel walked, his eyes landed on the locker where he usually spotted Hilsa in the morning. There was no sign of her colorful hair, but knowing Hilsa, she'd probably felt suffocated in the crowded locker room and hastened to the classroom already.
Abel also noticed that no posters had been pinned on her locker by Todd and his goons. It was just as he thought, they weren't keen on dragging her into the mess, probably because doing so would mean admitting they had been outplayed by her.
However, someone else caught his eye. The familiar head of shiny golden hair stood out even though it was surrounded by a group of girls. Jessica, just like the rest of the students, was deeply engaged in some conversation with her friends.
Abel couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about, but judging by the giggles the girls kept directing toward him, he had a pretty good guess. They were probably laughing at him, too.
He couldn't see if Jessica was laughing along with them, but then again, why would it matter? She was dating his assailant, and in Abel's book, that was worse than treason.
Abel began to suspect something was wrong when their homeroom teacher called out Hilsa's name and received no response. Still, he held onto the hope that she might have wandered into the wrong homeroom and would show up soon.
However, as the classes progressed, his fears solidified into reality. Both Ben, Hilsa, and Abel were in AP English together, and when Hilsa didn't show up for that class, Abel knew she was indeed absent.
He couldn't tell if this was a frequent occurrence since he hadn't paid much attention before, but now that he had, something felt off.
It couldn't be because of the bike issue—surely, she could have taken the public bus and still made it to school. His thoughts drifted back to the conversation they had the previous day, and he couldn't shake the feeling that something had been off in her behavior.
Abel didn't know why he had suddenly taken a keen interest in Hilsa. Maybe it was nothing, but there were some experiences people couldn't go through without getting closer, Saving someone from taking a drink from a toilet bowl was definitely one of those experiences. He swore to somehow find out where she lived.
He wasn't sure what he would do, but pretending to pass by her place and accidentally bumping into her didn't sound like a bad start.
By midday, Abel was feeling quite lucky as he had managed to dodge Todd and his bullies so far. But he chose not to celebrate just yet. After all, he was a junior, and Todd was a senior, so their paths didn't naturally cross for a good part of the day. If only his luck would carry him through the rest of the day...
True enough, Abel's luck continued through the rest of the day. By the time the final bell rang, he felt a rare sense of accomplishment. Without sparing a second glance at Ben, who had stayed behind for the drama club that his parents had bullied him into joining, Abel bolted from the school.
His mind was set on finding out what had happened to Hilsa.
Earlier that day, Abel had managed to get the address he needed through some quick thinking. Normally, in cases of consistent absence, the teachers responsible submitted the names to the secretary for processing as the school usually sent both emails and letters when they got no answer.
He'd overheard his homeroom teacher, Ms. Daniels, instructing one of the students to take the details she had scribbled on a paper to the secretary, and knowing how much students hated running errands for teachers, he had offered to do it instead as he was headed there anyway.
The address brought Abel to a modest two-story building that was a little away from the rest of the neighborhood.
It stood out slightly because of its quiet, unassuming appearance and the small garden in front that had seen better days. The paint was a bit chipped, and the lawn was overgrown, but it had a certain charm to it.
Abel walked up the cracked sidewalk, feeling a mix of apprehension and determination.
The building looked like it had been here for decades, with old-fashioned brickwork and a wooden front porch that creaked underfoot.
He took a deep breath as he prepared to ring the doorbell.
Before he could make up his mind, the door was yanked open by a man who looked like he had stepped out of a storm.
He was tall and broad-shouldered, his face hardened with lines of anger and exhaustion. He wore a disheveled shirt and worn-out jeans, his dark hair unkempt and streaked with grey. His eyes, cold and piercing, fixed on Abel with a mixture of confusion and hostility. it seemed his arrival had been already noticed
"What do you want?" the man barked, his rough voice carrying clear menace.