"What a disgrace!" The teacher said as he glared at Aiden, who just looked down at the floor. He clenched his fists behind his back as he heard the cold, harsh words from the headmaster's mouth.
"You are really shameless and an awful person!" he said, "worthless. What the hell were you thinking? Stealing? Is this what your family has taught you? Are all the people in your family like you?"
Martha and her gang just smirked while Harlan just stood at the side, with his hands crossed in front of his chest as he stared at Aiden, who was looking at the floor. Finally, the headmaster said, "Apologize to Martha right now!"
Aiden stood at his place for some time, not moving, and then the headmaster yelled, "Apologise to her right now!"
Aiden flinched as he turned to Martha and finally said, "I am sorry."
Martha smirked. "It's alright; I understand beggars like you sometimes do pathetic things like these; it's in your nature after all."
The headmaster said some more harsh and cold words to him before warning him that if something like this happened again, he would be rusticated and that because of his grades and well-behaviour, he was being let off.
The others had already walked out of the room, and Aiden was the last one to come out of the room, with his head down in shame, even though he hadn't done anything.
He closed his eyes and sighed as he looked up and saw Harlan standing right in front of him, leaning against a pillar, looking at him with no expression on his face.
Aiden walked towards him and said, "I didn't steal her necklace."
"What proof do you have?" Harlan spoke.
Aiden became silent. Hurt appeared on his face as he was reminded of something extremely dreadful and painful about his past.
He looked at Harlan, who was looking at him with cold eyes. Aiden's heart dropped as he gave up on trying to prove himself from the start. This wasn't about him being a thief; it was about reminding him of the past he wanted to forget and the hurt and pain that he had caused to the person in front of him.
"How long are you going to keep this up?" Aiden finally asked, "How long do I have to deal with all of this?"
Harlan smirked as he said, "Oh dear, we still have a long way to go; there are still some months left for graduation. You just have to hold on till then; after that, you are on your own, and I am on my way; perhaps we will never have to see each other again."
Aiden nodded after he heard that, and the two stood there in silence before Harlan suddenly moved. Aiden became stiff when he saw him move, and suddenly Harlan kept his hand over Aiden's shoulder and lowered a little to look at his face. Aiden was so scared that he wasn't able to look at Harlan; he was terrified.
"That girl, was she your girlfriend?" Harlan asked.
"Why does it matter?" Aiden replied.
Harlan applied some pressure on his shoulder, making Aiden frown with pain as the former said, "How much more time do you need to understand that when I ask a question, I expect an answer and not another question? Just. Answer."
"She is just a friend." Aiden said, "I am not that close with her."
Harlan seemed pretty satisfied with that answer, "It's good that you are, you wouldn't want someone else to experience what you are going through right?
I know that you are a vile person, a lying bastard who betrays their friend, but that girl seems fragile and innocent; she wouldn't be able to tolerate the bullying, right?"
Aiden's lower lip quivered when he heard those words, and his eyes watered as he said, "Just leave her alone, please."
"I haven't even done anything, I should be the one to tell you, leave her alone. Your jinx self will only bring her bad luck."
"I will," Aiden said in a broken voice. Harlan suddenly pinched his chin and made him look up at him. Harlan saw his red tearful eyes and smiled. "it's alright, it's going to be over soon; that's what I used to tell myself after you pushed me into that hell."
Aiden took a deep breath and said, "Can't you forgive me? And give me one more chance."
"To what? To betray me again? To steal from me again? I trusted you a lot, Aiden; you were probably the only person in a long time who was able to come so close to me.
And I foolishly let my guard down and told you about my plans. See where that got me that day, if I was able to get away, if only." Harlan paused as he closed his eyes, pain appearing on his face and Aiden knew that he was the reason for that pain.
However, Harlan was able to gather himself as he said, "I won't trust you again; I won't listen to your reasons or excuses; it's only fair that you suffer just like I did; only then will I be satisfied, and when I think that you have suffered enough, maybe we can sit and talk, but until then, just brace yourself.
Because I am not done yet."