"I bet you think now that Jin's back things are different. You were supposed to kill yourself. Now you're here smiling like an idiot, like you're better than us. Well, fuck you!"
There was a cough and a crash. Two boys were on the floor clutching their heads.
Behind them was a kid holding what appeared to be the biggest textbook she'd ever seen. Bigger than him but shorter than his hair which swayed by his crotch but tied tighter than hers, it was like there was a bungie cord tied to his head.
"What the fuck is wrong with you!" Kazuki yelled, the girls broke away and the boys converged.
"You're in our way." Long hair said, it would have sounded cool were the pitch of his voice not so feminine.
"Who the fuck is 'our'?"
At that moment the largest person in the universe turned a corner too small to have ever hidden him. Had he been lying down? He matched Kazuki in height, which was genetically unfair of the universe because he wasn't just tall, he was bigger than all of them.
The colour drained from Kazuki's face.
"You're in my way." Said a voice so deep it wasn't human, it was geological.
They backed off immediately, leaving despite having numbers on their side. Kazuya rushed at her, she didn't know whether to flinch or reach out. She flinched, he ran right past and pulled out a phone from a rock where it'd been propped.
"I told you. I fucking told you it'd look amazing."
Paige could hear herself talking and getting beat.
"Fine." Came a rockslide from the big guy's mouth.
"You guys set this up." She yelled.
Long hair turned.
"Nope, actions have consequences. You picked a fight with the most aggressive rich kids in this shitty school. The tallest tree gets the most wind and you and Jin decided to TOWER! They're not scared of you. Why should they be? They're right to be scared of Jin, but I think we both agree they're not scared enough."
He started kicking the gravel with purpose, digging with his shoe.
"And you didn't make or buy food. There's no vending machines in this cheap school, so you'd have to come here. All we had to do was 'set the scene' ooooh , aaaaah."
He blinked, then sighed, defeated by the lack of fanfare.
"Anyway you should spit into this hole. But after, clench your teeth, you've got a pretty nasty cut. When I tell you to, spit and yell. 'I'm okay'. Now… Bento money."
She stared, frozen.
"Come now." He said tapping her forehead.
She pulled out her wallet and he extracted a wad of cash, she was being mugged in broad daylight!
"I guess you are one of the rich kids, be careful. Don't want anyone calling you a snob!"
She closed her eyes, just breathing through her nose, the push and pull of air inside her couldn't distract from the huff of one lifting themselves and the crack of branches taking on weight then…
A few more awkward moments.
"Okay, now!" Long hair yelled.
She spat into the hole and yelled, a moment later long hair was back holding four boxes of Bento, more than she'd asked for.
"Sorry, got to pay the man for saving you. You normally tip a lot right? Very 'America' of you." He laughed.
"Don't worry, wash your mouth out a couple times and the pain will go away. Thanks for the YouTube hits."
With that he was gone.
Mouth still shut she walked to the taps by the sports hall, washing as much of herself as she could. He was right, it worked like a miracle. She could feel her face and mouth again, even the blood was gone. It must have been a mistake. It couldn't have been a cut in her mouth. It must have been her gums, those could bleed and recover that quickly. It had to be the case.
All of that had… well… happened…to her, and yet she felt like a spectator, even the pain was distant.