Aria's P.O.V
I woke up early, just like Cairo said. I needed to leave the gym before their coach arrived. I was inside the cabinet where I had slept and slowly opened it.
As I was about to leave through the storage room door, I heard voices, they must have arrived.
I peeked out from the storage room and saw the varsity players on the benches, apparently having a meeting. I thought I could slip by unnoticed if I was quick.
So, I did just that. While they were talking, I exited the storage room, and thankfully, they didn't notice me. I successfully got out of the gym. I went straight to my locker, planning to change into my uniform. Luckily, I had an extra one stored there.
After changing, I went to the restroom to check if the cut on my lip was still visible. When I looked in the mirror, it wasn't too noticeable unless someone stared closely.
I figured if I went home later, my brother wouldn't spot it. Once I changed into my uniform, I headed to class. I needed to get there early because we had a quiz today.
As I was in the corridor, I noticed Damian's group at the classroom door. I suddenly felt anxious. Before I could think of what to do, one of his group members looked in my direction.
I realized that Damian, the one I had fought with, was a gang leader at school and came from a wealthy family of gangsters. It would be tough to face his group.
"There's Aria." the person said.
Wow, they actually remembered my name. I hadn't meant for things to turn out like this. I had been carrying a chocolate coffee while walking and looking for a free table when some students started running around.
The cafeteria was crowded because it was lunch break, and as one student ran, they bumped into me, causing the chocolate coffee to spill onto the uniform of a girl I happened to bump into. That's where the trouble started.
Damian and his group quickly approached me with sharp looks. I took a step back.
"Where's that Asher? We haven't received any compensation." Damian said seriously while looking at me.
"I'm sorry, but Asher has nothing to do with this. I'm the one who caused the problem. I apologize for what happened." I said, hoping that apologizing would resolve things and not involve Asher any further.
He had already helped me a lot, and I felt embarrassed about causing more trouble.
"Do you think it's that simple? If you had apologized yesterday, it wouldn't have escalated like this. I don't need your apology; I need money as compensation for my forgiveness." Damian said arrogantly.
I didn't respond right away. I didn't know what to do, especially since money was involved, and I didn't have any.
"I-I don't have any money." I said.
"Oh, really? Well, I'm easy to deal with, Aria." he said.
Then he slapped me hard. I almost went deaf and felt dizzy from the force of it.
My classmates came out to watch, but none of them intervened or helped. Probably because they didn't want to get involved. There were no teachers around at that time.
"Does it hurt? That's not enough…" he said after slapping me.
"From now on, I'll make you my toy! I'll slap you whenever I want! You're my servant now." he said.
I felt like crying, but I held back. My face was throbbing, and I was dizzy.
"Here's another one!" he shouted, preparing to slap me on the other cheek. But suddenly, Damian was kicked and fell to the floor. His group was shocked.
Cairo had arrived from behind me and had kicked Damian in the chest, making him fall to the ground. I couldn't believe it. I was stunned, staring at Cairo in amazement.
"You don't get to play with Aria! She's mine! I'm the only one who has the right to mess with her!" Cairo said seriously while glaring at Damian.
I didn't know whether to be happy that he defended me or angry at what he said. What did he mean by saying he had the right to mess with me? Do they see me as just something to play with because they feel like it? These people are really getting on my nerves.
"Tsk. Cairo Hayes, you really don't want this to end, huh? Fine, if that's what you want… after all, you and your friend are both meddlesome." Damian said angrily with a threat.
"Who are you threatening, Damian? Tsk." Cairo said defiantly.
"I'm easy to deal with! You'd better watch out, especially that woman." Damian said, pointing at me.
He then stood up from where he had fallen and dusted off his uniform from the dirt and dust from Cairo's kick to his chest.
Damian and his group left. But the fear from his threat didn't leave my chest.
"Hey! Cairo! What were you saying earlier? Let me make it clear to you. You don't own me, and most importantly, you don't have the right to mess with me. None of you do. Are you out of your mind?!" I shouted angrily at Cairo.
"What the hell, can't you just say thank you? I saved you earlier, Aria… why are you acting like this?!" he said with a frown and even holding his temple.
I thought about it, he did save me… but his words were really getting on my nerves.
"And it's true! I'm the only one who should be bullying you." he added, which only made me more annoyed.
"You're so annoying! You're no different from Damian, you're both monkeys!" I said angrily. His face clearly showed his irritation.
"What did you say? Don't compare me to that Damian! I'm way more handsome than him… he's the monkey, not me!" he yelled back at me.
"I don't care about you!" I shouted and walked into the room. He followed me in and entered the room.
My female classmates screamed with excitement upon seeing Cairo in the room. Some of them even took pictures of him.
Sometimes I wonder what they find so appealing about Cairo. Okay, fine, he's good-looking, but that's all there is to it—he's just handsome but his attitude is garbage. Don't they get turned off by him? Tsk.