Ellie looked at the ink stain on the paper from her momentary distraction and then picked up her pen to start working on the problem again.
William leaned back in his chair and started playing a matching game on his phone. His fingertips gently slid the same color blocks, watching the "great" pop up on the screen. With only a few more moves left, he paused.
The person next to him spoke: "That girl... what was it for?"
William turned his head to look at her and said, "Didn't you say you didn't want to know?"
"Never mind, then."
The good student has quite a temper.
William put away his casual expression and said, "Matthew."
Ellie's eyes flashed with surprise, and then she asked, "So you hit him because of this?"
William made a sound of affirmation.
"Why didn't you explain? Let them talk behind your back?"
William said, "Whether I explain or not doesn't affect me. What they say has nothing to do with me; I don't care."
"But... who would like to be misunderstood?"
William looked at her, chuckled, and said, "If you don't care, you don't care about what they say."
Right, if you don't care, you wouldn't mind what those people say.
Ellie glanced at his phone's matching game and said, "Eliminate these ones."
"Do you also like to play this?"
"I don't play games."
William asked, "Then what do you usually do besides studying?"
Ellie thought for a moment and said, "Dancing, reading."
William couldn't picture the well-behaved girl on stage, but he wasn't surprised to hear she liked reading—she was a stereotypical, well-behaved good student.
He followed her advice and passed the level, then said to Ellie, "Thanks, little classmate."
————
On the other side, the rumors in Class 7 weren't so pleasant.
"Why was Matthew taken away too?"
Noah spoke indignantly, "What else could it be? It must be because William bullied Matthew, so he was taken away."
"What's really going on with Emily? She's usually such a cheerful girl; how could she suddenly... not think it through?"
"It's William. He doesn't look like a good person; he must have done something bad."
"Don't just say things without knowing; do you have evidence? You keep mentioning William, but if you dare, say it to William's face. Stop gossiping here."
The speaker was a boy named Aiden, who used to dislike those who fought, but then his friend was bullied by outsiders and was saved by the so-called delinquents. Since then, he changed his view of them.
Noah said, "You're defending William so much; are you with him?"
Aiden sneered and said, "I'm just stating the facts, which is better than someone here making accusations without any evidence."
"Who the hell are you calling a liar?"
"I'm talking about whoever it applies to. Spreading rumors without evidence."
Noah was so angry that he threw a punch, but Aiden grabbed his wrist.
The two wrestled together, neither giving in to the other. Although Noah was taller, he was just flabby, and in terms of strength, he couldn't compete with Aiden.
The fight escalated, and Aiden pushed Noah into a table, causing books to spill everywhere and the row of desks behind them to be knocked askew.
The girl sitting behind them was frightened and retreated a few steps.
A few boys in the class stepped in to break up the fight, and others went to the office to call for Class 7's headteacher.
When the headteacher of Class 7 arrived, the two had been separated, but neither was willing to back down.
Laura looked at the two boys standing in front of her with their heads down and said, "Speak up, weren't you just fighting fiercely? Tell me, what's it about?"
Noah spoke first, "He said I was lying?"
Laura narrowed her eyes slightly and looked at Aiden, asking, "Is that so? Why did you suddenly call him a liar?"
"I didn't say that from the start. Today, Matthew was called away by the police, along with William from Class 17, and with that incident, everyone in the class was talking. Noah insisted that it must have been William who bullied Matthew and forced Emily to commit suicide.
As someone who has received nine years of compulsory education, it's irresponsible to spread such false statements without any evidence, not knowing the trouble it can cause others."
Laura nodded and said, "You're right."
Noah discontentedly said, "Teacher, but William is not a good person. Matthew was beaten up by him for no reason before, and the other day at lunch, William poured his tray over Matthew's head. Isn't that obvious bullying?"
Laura tapped her fingers on the table and said, "I think you might have misunderstood this matter. Matthew is about to be expelled from school."
Noah's pupils shrank, and he asked, "Expelled? Why is Matthew being expelled? He's the victim, right? Why? Teacher, can William do whatever he wants in school just because he's wealthy?"
Laura said sternly, "This is a unanimous decision by the school. Matthew not only violated school rules, but what he did broke the law, with a very negative impact. The school does not accept such students, so it was decided unanimously to expel him. The notice will soon be sent to all classes.
You're almost an adult; you should know the impact of public opinion. Don't spread these statements without any evidence; it's very bad. William performed very well in this matter."
"William? How could that be?"
Laura glanced at him and said, "That's the fact. Matthew attempted to molest a girl. If it weren't for William's arrival, he might have ruined her. He has now been taken away by the police and probably won't be out for several years. Emily and Matthew were secretly dating, and Emily was being manipulated by Matthew. She was greatly affected by this incident, along with many other things, which led her to commit suicide. It had nothing to do with William; it was entirely because of Matthew."
"Molestation? How could that be? Matthew is clearly... not that kind of person, and why didn't William explain, why didn't he explain why he hit Matthew back then?"
Laura smiled and said, "You can't judge a book by its cover, or do you not trust the police? William didn't explain because he wanted to protect the girl. If this got out, how would the girl who was harmed survive?"
Noah fell silent; he had been used by Matthew.