Field Trip (1)
Dragging his heartbroken self, Daniel entered the noisy tenth-grade, A1 classroom.
His limbs were heavy, and his body and mind exhausted. As the cacophony of voices hit him, he pondered to himself if he would have been better off missing school that day.
Perhaps if he had gone through with his original plan, he would have saved himself the hurt...
It did not take him much to locate his friend Ethan. As usual, the boy was being swarmed by a group of others.
For once, he pondered how Ethan did it. Although he knew that many of them gathered around the boy because they thought if they stayed around him long enough, they would be noticed by his twin sister, Daniel still believed it must have been difficult to manage.
A flawed person like himself surely could not even dream of being the center of such a gathering... Just imagining it, he could already see himself committing one major blunder.
Quietly, Daniel entered the class, trying to make himself as unnoticeable as possible. However, the moment Ethan sighted him, he lost the element of imperceptibility.
The grey-haired boy broke off from the group and quickly came dashing at him like he always did.
"Danny! Man, you came! I kind of figured you wouuuwoah! What happened?!"
The boy paused and quickly backed away.
Daniel did not speak for a while, trying to, then sighed.
"Nothing..."
"Nothing? Look at your face, man!"
Daniel grimaced, or showed a hint of such reaction at least.
"What's... wrong with my face?"
"You look like you just ate shit man!"
Ethan replied with a scoff, but then the over-dramatic show he was acting out was foiled by one of the Carlos boys:
"Quit exaggerating man... you don't look that bad, D, not as bad as yesterday at least. What's up?"
Daniel nodded to the boy who was among the group impatiently awaiting Ethan's return.
"I'm good N... I guess."
He ended the sentence awkwardly as he was not sure which one of them it was that spoke to him. The boy was already looking away, gesturing towards Ethan to return, so it really did not matter anyway.
"You're such a killjoy man, I totally had him just now!"
Ethan said with a frustrated click of his tongue.
He winked one eye at the boy a couple of times, then turned to Daniel and nudged him slightly before he continued;
"Sup Danny, what's with the face again this morning, could have sworn you looked fine when you went home yesterday."
Daniel shrugged.
"I just got rejected so... yeah I did literally eat crap this morning—"
"YOU CONFESSED TO ANGELA?!"
Ethan's sudden bluster startled Daniel. He quickly threw his hands over the boy's mouth before he could overreact some more.
"The hell? Are you trying to tell the whole—"
"Confessed to Angela?"
Daniel froze in his spot like a deer in front of a vehicle's headlights.
"Did I hear that right?"
Both boys turned around to face the slightly taller, darker-skinned boy who stood behind them. Denilson's eyes switched between Daniel and Ethan, then he said:
"You confessed to Angela? You? Danny?"
He let out a short, disbelieving chuckle as Daniel's cheeks went pale.
"Wow! I gotta say, you... I don't even know what to say! You, Daniel Jason, actually confessed to Angela?"
"N–no... W–we were just joking. I didn't c—"
"Joking?"
Daniel gulped heavily as the taller boy cut him off. The way Denilson stared down at him with predatory eyes made him shiver in dreadful foreboding.
And as he watched the boy's lips twist into a sadistic grin, he knew that something dire to an incendiary degree was coming.
"YOU SAID 'I CONFESSED TO ANGELA' AS A JOKE?"
The boy spoke those words so loudly, he might as well have been shouting them. And Daniel felt his stomach jumped to his throat.
The heads of every person present in the classroom turned to them...
"Did Nil just say 'confessed to Angela?'"
"Someone confessed to Angela?"
"Danny did?"
"It's gotta be a joke!"
The whispers spread around like potent venom in a circulatory system. Within seconds, the damage was terminal.
Daniel's name was on the lips of every teenager within the four corners of the classroom. The boy himself stood, rooted in place by disbelief.
Denilson had intentionally done it, there was not a shred of doubt about it as Daniel watched the smirk on the dark-skinned boy's face grow wider.
"Leonardo is so~ going to kill you."
He said with a light chuckle.
Why had he done it?
There were no grievances between them, if anything, Daniel had always respected the boy in a way that bordered fear.
So why?
The murmurs of the class had begun to grow louder, some began to call out to Ethan, asking if what Denilson had said was true.
"N–no wait... It... it was a joke!"
Speaking up quickly, Daniel took an unsteady breath and then turned to Ethan.
"R–right?"
Under his near-emotionless glare, the gray-white-haired boy took a step back, then shivered as Denilson suddenly grabbed his shoulder.
"A joke? Come on Ethan, tell us. Am I lying?"
Daniel shot the slightly taller boy a glare, then turned back to Ethan, waiting for his best friend's words to liberate him.
"I–I am so sorry... that was a big mistake, I swear I did not mean to—"
Dread bubbled up from the bottom of his stomach as Ethan began to speak in stutters.
'What are you doing? Rendering an apology instead of quickly fixing this mess? Use that loud mouth of yours to yell how that was a joke and end this whole thing before Leonardo hears of it!'
Daniel desperately tried to make gestures at his friend, but the subtle movements he made only seemed to frighten Ethan even more.
"S–sorry... I uhh... shouldn't have said that out, it was a... Uh..."
Denilson shook his head and clicked his tongue in mock empathy.
Ethan continued to silently plead for forgiveness, however, with each second that passed the whispers and stares around them felt even sharper upon Daniel's skin.
And yet his face and body language refused to respond properly to his growing anxiety and agitation.
"Say, did she say yes? She rejected you, right? Did she reject him?"
Yet Denilson just kept on pushing.
"She said no to him..."
And Ethan continued replying.
"That is so messed up! You're so cool and—"
Daniel really wanted to scream at this point. He glared at Denilson and clenched his fists till he could feel the fingernails digging into his palm. At that moment, he wished he had Maxuel's strength, or just enough to punch the boy in the face.
'What the fuck did I do to you!'
'Why are you preying on me, you bastard?!'
'Why won't you just shut up and leave me alone?'
"I don't know if I should feel bad for you, or congratulate you, Danny."
Denilson said, and finally, Daniel's frustration reached its breaking point.
"Why won't you just shut the fuck up?!"
He snapped.
Denilson, the target of the words froze in shock, Ethan gasped, and the rest of the class went silent as a graveyard.
At the silence that befell the classroom, Daniel felt a rush of satisfied elation. Shutting up the irritating boy had provided a window of opportunity for Ethan to speak up and clear his name
Now that Denilson had stopped talking, perhaps Ethan would be calm enough to think rationally and quickly help him gather the pieces together before this case blew up any more than—
The door swung open.
"Hey everyone! The bus is here!"
The golden-blonde-haired girl excitedly announced as she ran in.
Daniel forgot to breathe for a moment.
"Come on! It's time to go!"
Unaware of the events that had just taken place, she veered around the class, her breathing slightly heavy, but her eyes gleaming with excitement. However, she quickly simmered down as she noticed the strange atmosphere, and the stares and whispers being directed at her.
"Mister Rowen says you should pack...up... and..."
Bringing her lips to a slow pause, she looked around, bewildered then cautiously and self-consciously made for her chestnut-complexioned friend.
The moment she stepped close, Maxinha quickly pulled her into a gathering of five girls, and she was assaulted with a barrage of questions.
Angela wore a flustered look at first, then her eyes widened in horror. She turned to look in Daniel's direction, her eyes, wide in shock, met his, which were locked on her with his almost unreadable expression.
She quickly averted her gaze.
"I'm... g–g–gonna reserve a seat for us, y–you guys should hurry up."
Leaving those words, she made a beeline straight out of the class.
All eyes followed her departing figure, as if watching an actor exit the stage, then, when she disappeared out the door, they all turned to the male lead.
'I'm fucked...'
~~~
Daniel meekly stepped out of the stairwell amid his classmates.
Most of them had grouped up and were having discussions all around. Stares and whispers were directed at him, but the apathetic mask on his face seemed to serve as a deterrent to anyone who would want to put on another show like Denilson had done...
However, it also dissuaded anyone from striking up a conversation with him, even the few who had seemed very inclined to do so.
As their groups spilled into the large hallway of the ground floor, students from various other classes seeped into their ranks, interacting with those of the tenth grade who would soon be leaving.
Because they would most likely be away till late in the day, few of their siblings and friends had been allowed to come and see them off briefly, though it was under the condition that they had a good reason to do so.
Daniel searched for Maxuel with his eyes, but the two-tone-haired brother of his was nowhere to be found.
That was understandable though, the freshmen had the tightest curriculum. Even if he was not having classes now, Maxuel probably would not be permitted to see his brother off as he had... quite the reputation among the disciplinary staff.
Sighing, Daniel turned to the huge doorway.
Since there was no one to talk to, he decided he might as well just head straight to the bus... yet his steps came to a halt just as soon as he had taken the first.
Most of the girls from his class were gathered close to the entrance, but that did not matter, the doorway was wide enough for ten people to walk adjacent through.
What mattered though were the boys the girls were cheerily chatting with.
A group of boys from the school's football team... The Jocks.
Titled as the most desired boys within the school by some fangirls, their existence carried a certain weight among the student bodies and groups within the school.
How could it not? The school team had twelve trophies, four of which were won back-to-back from inter-school football tournaments of the past years, and this year's team in particular had beaten a professional team in a friendly game.
They were more than deserving of the privileges they were given. Plus, they were all good-looking, fit, and carried themselves in ways that just drew admiration to them.
Indeed, no matter what some of them did, they were still held in high esteem.
Daniel's eyes trembled as his sight focused on the 180.2cm tall sliver-white-haired twelfth grader who was chatting with his golden-blonde sister and her friends.
Even among the members of the football team, he stood out like a white kitten in an all-black litter.
Leonardo Eugene was said to be like his sister: good-looking to the point that it could be called unfair.
He had a perfect athletic build, albeit fairly on the muscular side, and combined with his silver hair and eye colors, his accent, and his "bad boy" personality, he was a total lady killer.
Yet he was one of the few humans Daniel wished he had never known or had any form of interaction with.
Daniel's distraught with the situation was obvious from the small frown etched on his brows.
He swallowed hard and made his decision. It was best to move now when Leonardo was distracted by all the girls around him.
...Hopefully, he had not heard about the confession yet.
Daniel walked swiftly, heading straight for the entrance.
However, just as he placed one foot beyond the doorway, he heard two words that made him freeze like a soldier who had paced his foot on a land mine.
"Oi femboy!"
Tightening his jaw, Daniel took another step furtively, hoping that the words had not been directed at him.
Sadly, the next statement shattered that hope.
"Stop! Turn around when I'm talking to you, Jason. Or did you finally grow tiddies? Are you trying to hide them?"
Daniel sighed defeatedly.
Slowly, he turned to face the group.
Watching him as if he was looking at something amusing, Leonardo smirked.
"So you didn't after all *tsk* disappointing... And what's with those deadeyes? Never thought I'd hate anything more than seeing you smile, but this po-face is just tragic!"
"Please stop Leo. Danny is... a little ill today."
Angela spoke up while avoiding Daniel's gaze.
"Huh? Is he on his period or something?"
One of the other boys jeered and they all burst into laughter, some of Daniel's classmates joined in, while others suppressed theirs or looked away.
"That wasn't funny."
Surprisingly, the one who spoke up was Kira. She had a rather cold look on her face at that, but the glance she threw Daniel's way sent a shiver down his spine.
"Eh~ that was a good one though."
Kira turned to glare at Sonia.
"Stop it."
Observing the two girls who began to bicker, Leonardo wore a thoughtful frown and turned to Daniel.
He narrowed his eye at him, seemingly displeased, and then a sinister light twinkled within his pupils.
"I've got it! Since femboy here is ill, the lot of you should isolate him for the rest of the day. You know, so you don't catch his..."
The twelfth grader wrinkled his nose and waved his hand.
"Whatever he's down with."
An icy silence befell the hallway, even those who had previously been laughing went rigid in their spots.
As stated earlier, the reputation and regard given to the boys of the football team granted their words and actions a weight that rivaled that of even the teachers... even superseded it sometimes.
Of course, this was solely among the students, but it was also an undeniable fact that the students made up ninety percent of the school.
And among them, Leonardo, whose reputation as a bully rivaled his status as a member of the football team held one of the most influential positions among students.
Essentially, his words were law here.
Distress marred Angela's features as she quickly tried to retort:
"L–Leo! What do you—"
"Huh? What are you kids still doing here?! Dahlia must have aged a few years waiting for you all!"
A man wearing medicated eyeglasses who looked to be in his late forties walked into the hallway and exclaimed at the sight of the gathering.
"Ah... Mister Rowen, I was just seeing my sister off. Alright, Angie."
Leonardo smiled and patted his sister's head, then turned to the tenth graders.
"I'll see you lot later and have a good old chinwag on "how the trip went.""
His underlying words were clear. Anyone who disobeyed him would be in for a hell of pain.
Daniel who did not utter a single sound in response to any of theirs turned around and left the hallway immediately.
Deep down, something steered within him. Gritting his teeth, he swore to himself:
'Someday... I'll make you all remember this moment.'