"Yumi? Are you alright? You're like a statue," Zaranaia asked Yeonica once again after hearing no response from her. She waved her hand in front of Yeonica, checking if she's okay.
Yeonica, on the other side, became more alert. She thought that Zaranaia probably knows now that she is not really a student of Olkizia and is undercover, so pretending to not know something is just a waste of time.
Even so, she managed to lift up her lips. "Nothing. How about you? Are you okay?" Yeonica asked Zaranaia back.
Confusion covered Zaranaia's face. "Huh? Of course. Why won't I be?" she innocently asked. Or is she really?
Yeonica shrugged her shoulders off. "Just because. I just thought hiding behind a luxurious mask was probably tiring."
"Huh?" Zaranaia became more confused. In her mind, she thought the fever must have gotten really serious.
On the other hand, Edem, who doesn't understand anything, just quit listening to them and went to her seat. Meanwhile, Zarco also went to his seat, but his ears were all open. He silently observed Yeonica and Zaranaia. He noticed the sudden change in Yeonica's behavior towards Zaranaia, which also made him confused, as those two are almost inseparable in the classroom. At least for the sake of Yeonica's cover as Yumi, which no one knows.
"Sit down, class. Good morning."
Everyone got back on their seats, including Yeonica and Zaranaia, when Mrs. Estiva came inside the room.
During the whole day of class, Yeonica did nothing but observe Zaranaia's actions. While Zaranaia just looked occupied the whole day, she never noticed Yeonica's deadly eyes on her.
Yeonica arranged her things and packed them inside her bag. Once again, she stared at those pictures she found in Zaranaia's notebook. She can feel her emotions building up inside her. She just sighed deeply and put it in her bag. She'll need those later.
"Yumi, do you have time? Or you'll go home early?" Zaranaia came to Yeonica and asked her. She ignored her.
Zaranaia tapped her back. "Hey, should we get another food at the convenience store? I got a story to tell," she talked to her once more.
"What story? Like about someone who's playing dumb and acting like the nicest person on Earth but is really hiding dark things?" Yeonica sarcastically said without turning to her.
"What? Where did you get that from?" Zaranaia asked. "Come on! My treat! Why are you ignoring me anyway? Are you mad? Did I do something?"
Yeonica was about to answer her, but Edem called her name. "Yumi, Mrs. Estiva said go see her in the faculty room. About your papers of transferring," Edem told her in the most calming way.
"Is that so? Thank you," Yeonica simply answered.
"Wait, Yumi!" Zaranaia said and went her way. "Can I come with you?"
"No. What for?"
"Please. Why are you mad at me?"
"I'm not. I'm just not in the mood for chitchats. Get out of the way," Yeonica firmly said.
"But—just let me go with you, oh? We'll go eat after," Zaranaia continued to nudge her.
"I said I'm not in the mood. Let's just talk tomorrow."
"Yumi—"
"Here comes the teacher's pet. Loser just went to Mrs. Estiva." Both Yeonica and Zaranaia stopped when they heard Mezily was bothering Edem again. They looked behind them; Mezily was cornering Edem from going outside.
"What do you want?" Edem softly asked, almost no voice coming out of her mouth while looking down.
Mezily laughed. "Nothing. Wanna eat outside? Come with us."
Edem refused. "N-no, thanks. I've got things to do. Enjoy," she said and was about to go, but Mezily stopped her.
"Hey, don't you want to? Don't worry, it's my treat this time," Mezily said, showing Edem the wallet she's holding. It's not hers, though.
"I got this from a loser earlier. See? I won't get money from you today, I promise. Come with me," Mezily urged her, locking her arms with Edem's.
"Hey, beasty bitch. Leave her alone. Go on your way," Yeonica loudly said, interrupting even though she's not in the mood to deal with obviously a spoiled-brat bully kid at the moment.
Zaranaia immediately pulled her arm. "Hey, don't interfere. Let's just go," she said, pulling her, but Yeonica pulled her arm back.
Mezily rolled her eyes and slowly turned around. "You go on your way, bitch. This is our business. Go fuck off. Mrs. Estiva is calling you, right?"
Yeonica walked towards them. "How about you go with me, then? You deserve a beat from a teacher anyway."
Mezily chuckled. "Woah, I never saw a transferee as brave as you. Yumi, right? Sounds like the name of trash," she said, and her minions laughed with her.
Yeonica also answered her with a sarcastic chuckle. "Ah, trash. At least it's not my attitude, though. Being highly proud about stealing a student's money," she said, snatching the stolen wallet from Mezily's hand. Mezily looked at her furiously.
"Give it back," Mezily said. Yeonica shrugged off.
"I said give it back. Give it back while I'm still being nice, Yumi."
Yeonica turned to Edem, who was quietly standing behind her. "Hey kid, go on your way now."
Edem turned her face up and looked at her. "But, how about you?"
She gave her a small smile. "I'll be fine. Just go."
"Fucking bitches. Just give it back!" Mezily shouted. Edem obeyed Yeonica and finally went outside. She saw Zarco, who was about to go back inside the room, but just looked at him and went away.
"What? This?" Yeonica swung her hand, holding the stolen wallet. Mezily was about to reach it, but Yeonica threw it at the door, seeing that Zarco was there. Zarco managed to catch it, even though he's clueless about what's happening.
Mezily exploded. "Motherfucker," she said, lifting her right hand, about to slap Yeonica.
Yeonica, on the other hand, caught her hand quickly and slapped her instead—definitely a strong slap. Students who are still inside the classroom gasped in shock.
"I'm not in the mood to deal with bullies like you right now. So go. Fuck your own life and don't bother other people with your stinky attitude," Yeonica said with authority.
She went outside, ignoring Zaranaia's presence and stopping at the door, looking at Zarco, who completely looked unbothered by what just happened. "I don't know you, but since you're protecting Edem from those brats, I'm trusting you today. Turn it over to the guidance or whatever office inside this darn school. It's stolen," she said and finally went away. Zarco and Zaranaia just looked at her back until she's gone from their eyes.
—
"Mrs. Estiva?" Yeonica called as she went inside the faculty.
Estiva, without looking at her, signaled for her to come over while she was dealing with several papers on her table.
"Edem said you want to talk to me about my documents."
"Ah, yes. But there's no need, actually. I just found your documents before you came here. They were nowhere to find earlier," she replied.
"Sorry, ma'am. I just came. I had something to deal with before I went here," Yeonica said, apologizing for being late.
Estiva piled the papers and put them all on her desk. "Anyway, how's your experience in Class 3 so far? Are they treating you any better today?" she asked, turning her eyes to Yeonica.
Yeonica just gave her a plain smile. Aside from seeing bullies inside the room, there's not much to call an experience.
Seeing Mrs. Estiva as close as this today, Yeonica remembered that she almost got caught by her at work yesterday.
"Ma'am Estiva, did you know that some bullying is happening inside your room? Among your students?" she asked. She never saw her bond or talk with her students before.
Estiva looked at her, slightly surprised. "Why? Is Mezily at it again?"
"You know?" she asked her back.
"Of course. I'm your class adviser. How would I not? It has happened before. Many times, not mentioning that," Estiva stated, showing Yeonica how tired she is dealing with bullying issues.
"But why is the school letting it happen? Don't they take action? Some bullies are getting crueler. They might just as well take someone's life due to what they are doing," Yeonica said, almost venting out. She recalled the photographs again, and she couldn't be more pissed.
Estiva stopped for a moment, staring at Yeonica intently. "Yumi, not all things that are happening are controllable. Sometimes, other people might just give up, fed up by the things they can't change as they have no control over them."
"No matter how many times we tell and remind students to never bully their schoolmates, no matter how many times we urge the victims of bullies to stand up and ask for help, if those students choose not to, they will just act according to what they want or what the circumstances tell them to. It's frustrating as a parent who has a child who also experienced bullying, and it's devastating as a teacher who continuously witnesses my own students being bullied or bullying one another," Estiva said. Yeonica just listened to her.
"But, as your adviser, rest assured that I am doing everything just to stop, or at least lessen, the bullying happening inside the room. You students might not see it, but I hope it really changes something soon, especially if there's a student like you who doesn't turn a blind eye," she continued, smiling at her.
In that moment, Estiva's statement about Margareth's death came into her mind. Margareth was undoubtedly a bully. But she still expressed the suspicion she had about her death. Like Yeonica, who's currently seeking her killer despite Margareth being a cruel kid. They both want to know the truth.
—
"WHAT THE FUCKING HELL?!" Leana almost threw everything around her after seeing the pictures Yeonica had shown her.
"I got that from Zaranaia. It was inserted between the pages of her notebook," Yeonica explained.
"What? That Zaranaia Watson? Who the fuck is she?"
Yeonica sighed. "I don't know. I'm actually frustrated. Of all the people in Class 3, I thought she was the only nice kid in that class. Turns out it's too early to tell."
"It's always the most unexpected people. There are times that someone is not really the person we thought he or she was."
Leana put the pictures inside an envelope, securing it with covers in case it will be used for future purposes. "What will you do with these, then? We should submit these to that old man."
Yeonica nodded. "You do that. I need to collect more evidence, to confirm if Zaranaia is really involved in Margareth's death."
Leana agreed. "Alright. Leave this to me. Go rest. You look like a student whose research paper isn't done yet and the deadline's tomorrow."