[Ealier that morning]
In the early morning, Garette sluggishly prepared for school as instructed by Dami.
Despite the circumstances surrounding him, Dami emphasised the importance of keeping his life moving forward.
With his sister abducted by a Dominic Ferrari and his parents seemingly away on a business trip, Garette regretted not paying closer attention to their conversations.
Perhaps then he would have understood why their phones were unreachable and when they would return.
Despite his strong desire to remain at home instead of facing the problems of hell-fire in disguise as school, Garette knew he had no choice.
He half-heartedly wore his black hoodie over his uniform and slipped on his white sneakers, neglecting to clean them as he should have.
As he slung his empty backpack over his shoulder, Garette made his way to Arette's room, pausing to stare at her belongings.
After a moment's hesitation, he decided to wear one of her high-school bracelets, not caring about its feminine appearance.
Though it was obvious to anyone from a distance that the bracelet was meant for a girl, Garette paid no attention to the judgement of others.
Just as he was about to leave, he ran into Dami. "I wanted to check up on you and make sure you were going to school," she said, but Garette merely rolled his eyes.
"Whatever, Dami," he replied dismissively, and continued on his way.
"Hey Garette! School is important, you can't slack off just because your parents aren't home!" She scolded him.
Garette arrived at school and, as usual, three boys were bothering him. "Hey, it's ciGarette!" they jeered, prompting laughter from some students in the hallway. Garette, however, was in no mood for comebacks.
The boys continued making remarks and laughing about his situation, pushing Garette to his limit. "Here's a moral lesson: Don't have smokers as parents," they taunted.
Fed up, Garette looked one of the boys straight in the eye and retorted, "Here's a moral lesson for you: Don't have criminals as parents," referencing the known criminal activities of the boy's parents as drug dealers.
"What the fuck did you just say?" The boy Garette had targeted with his words stepped menacingly close, his anger palpable.
The surrounding students began to form a circle, pulling out their phones in anticipation of a fight so they could get it on video.
"Did your hearing leave the world like your mom did?" Garette retorted sarcastically.
Enraged, the boy lunged at Garette, but Garette, used to dodging Arette's flying purses, moved swiftly out of the way.
"You dimwit!" the boy screamed, attempting to grab Garette once more, but his efforts proved fruitless as he only succeeded in embarrassing himself further.
Garette's witty comebacks had the students cheering instead of anticipating a fight. It wasn't a brawl anymore; it was a showcase of Garette's sharp humour against a wannabe bully.
The whole incident ruined Garette's mood and killed any desire he had to be at school that day – not that he was keen on attending in the first place. Deciding to head home even before the first period, he made his way to the school gate.
Just as he was leaving, his crush, Dyanne, who harbafored feelings for him as well – though neither was aware of the other's affections – called out to him, running towards him.
"Garette!"
"Oh, hi, Dyanne," Garette replied, lacking his usual enthusiasm.
Dyanne, the epitome of the school's social scene – head cheerleader, top student, stunningly beautiful – was every boy's dream girl, including Garette.
Despite her wealthy background, her last name remained a mystery.
"I've noticed you haven't been around much lately – not that I've been keeping tabs on you or anything," Dyanne began, her words flowing in one continuous stream, betraying her careful observation of Garette.
"It's just that people have been talking, and I overheard. I wanted to check in and make sure everything's okay. Are you alright?"
"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. And you?" Garette replied, feeling awkward.
Despite his concerns about Arette's situation and his parents' absence occupying his mind, he couldn't ignore the rush of teenage hormones making his legs weak and his heart race.
"Yeah, I'm good too. Are you skipping school to have some fun?" Dyanne asked, but Garette shook his head.
"No, just heading home," he answered.
"Can I come with you? I, uh, have a presentation in English class today, and I'm totally unprepared," she fibbed, hoping to spend time with Garette, despite not having any presentation at all.
Unbeknownst to Garette, many of the girls had crushes on him.
His combination of good humour, stunning looks, and refusal to associate with the class troublemakers made him all the more desirable.
What particularly intrigued the girls was his mysteriousness – apart from his name, Garette Choi, no one knew anything else about him.
With no friends and no intention of making any, Garette remained a lone-wolf, leaving many attempts at friendship from the boys in his class in shambles.
Garette's absence from school didn't go unnoticed, as he was the subject of much gossip among the girls.
Everywhere you turned, it was Garette this, Garette that – his name on everyone's lips.
Dyanne couldn't bear it any longer.
She was disgusted by her teammates shamelessly discussing Garette in such inappropriate terms and blushing over it.
"Garette is so tall, and his hands are big too. I heard guys with big hands have big dicks," one of them remarked.
"I bet the veins on his dick are as beautiful as his hands," another chimed in.
"Just imagine him choking me with those hands," yet another exclaimed.
"Fuck, I miss Garette so much," added another.
"Do you think he's slept with more than twenty girls?"
Garette was hers, and those girls needed to back off. Dyanne was determined to lock Garette down before those sleazy girls got to him.
"You want to come to my place?" Garette thought he must be hearing things, as he couldn't understand why the pretty and popular cheerleader would want to come to his home.
Unlike Dyanne, who was aware of her popularity and status as the boys' dream girlfriend, Garette remained oblivious to his own popularity.
He didn't realize that his classmates knew his name; he simply thought they recognized him as the guy not to mess with if you didn't want hang yourself.
"Yes," Dyanne confirmed, and Garette nodded, still perplexed.
The two quietly made their way to Garette's home, and upon entering, Dyanne instinctively scanned the entire living area. Her gaze fell upon a family portrait hanging on the wall.
"I didn't know you had a sister," Dyanne remarked, breaking the silence.
"No one knows," Garette replied.
"She doesn't resemble you much. Maybe she got more features from your grandparents, because I can still see a slight resemblance between you and your mom," Dyanne observed.
"Not only does she not look like me, but we also have completely different personalities. We have absolutely nothing in common. She's the princess type, and it really gets on my nerves, seriously," Garette remarked, finally feeling a bit less moody.