Chapter 4

No. It couldn’t be.

Standing in front of me was the one person I wanted to avoid—Leon Caster.

I raised my gaze, and my eyes met his father. At first, the words around me blurred. I couldn’t hear what my mother was saying.

All I could think of was how I parted with Leon, by slapping his face. Now my family needed the help of his. Anger burned within me.

“It’s okay, Alexandra. You have helped me with more.” Mr. Caster gave my mother a smile, and although I didn’t understand, I was glad she could finally get some help.

Later that night, in a small apartment besides the large estate building, my mother sat with me.

“I made arrangement with Jake. You’d be following Leon to school now, it’s easier that way. Jake offered.”

My chest burned, and I clenched my fists hard, but a smile still appeared on my face.

I didn’t want to make her worry, “Okay Mum. Thank you so much for everything.” I hug her, not wanting her to see the tears in my eyes.

The next morning, we arrived at school, and as soon as we got down from the car, a crowd surrounded us, and I knew what was coming.

“Leon, don’t tell you are now with the school cafeteria’s top customer?” A guy said, pulling his head back.

“Are you now interested in fat girls? You can probably carry her with all that strength.”

The crowd started laughing, but my eyes were focused on Leon.

There was a small speck of hope, maybe this time; he would stand up for me.

I looked at Leon, and his back felt like something I couldn’t reach.

“What are you talking about?” Leon shot a dark gaze at the man who had spoken.

“What makes you think I’d fall someone like her? I have standards, and even if I don’t have standards, I don’t date fat girls.”

Fat girls…

I bit the inside of my cheeks. I was only a hundred and twenty kilograms, and I still looked presentable.

“I don’t want her creating earthquakes when she walks besides me.”

Laughter erupted, and I raised my hoodie, walking away.

Speaking back would cause more ridicule so it’s best I remained silent.

Leon’s laughter was the loudest. “She only stayed at my house for a night, and the chefs felt her effect.”

That was low! Why would he say something like that? I didn’t even come out for dinner.

I inhaled sharply; there was no way I would let them get to me.

The main thing was to get through the day, and leave.

I had a gotten a new book for my writing, and since classes were a breeze today, I decided to head out for lunch.

There was nothing in my stomach because of the intermittent fast I was doing. Once I had eaten something, I wouldn’t eat till the next day.

I stopped at the door, and a sigh escaped my lips. Going in there meant I had to face another round of insults, hunger was greater.

Ignoring the voice that tried to pull me away from that room, I pushed the door open and walked inside.

There was a sudden hush as everyone looked at me, but I kept my head down, and walked forward.

Today, I could only take two spoons of rice, and a lot of vegetables according to the diet my mum had prepared for me. 

There was no incident so far, and I took my tray, my eyes zeroing on an empty table. 

“Damn. The cafeteria should restock after that.” Kenna’s voice resounded in the hall, and everyone started laughing. 

I kept quiet, and soon reached my seat.

“Stop it, Kenna.” I heard Leon’s voice, and I thought he was trying to redeem himself. “You can’t see that she took a little food today.” He continued. 

The next thing was the sound of a chair scrapping on the ground. Leon was coming to me.

“For someone like you, that’s quite small. Or is that just your appetizer?” 

My cheeks burned, and the laughter continued. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Kenna stifle her laughter.

It was at that moment that my patience broke. 

“If you weren’t so obsessed about what I ate, Leon, maybe you’d actually be able to pass your final exams.”

The laughter instantly died down but I didn’t look up. In fact, this place was making me nauseous. 

“What did you say?” Leon growled, his voice had dropped to a dangerous level. 

I rose to my feet, “It’s embarrassing. Captain of the Soccer team,” After walking a few steps, I turned back, sending a glare at him. “I can lose weight, but no amount of reading would make you intelligent.”

A wave erupted in the crowd, followed by whispering and muttering. 

After years, I had stood my ground, and it made me proud. Happy too, but there was a sense of disgust because I had stooped to the level of these people. 

“Oh please,” A soft voice came out, and instantly stole everyone’s attention. “It seems you want attention so badly, because it’s silly that someone like you thinks she can stand tall.” Kenna spoke, and my blood ran cold. 

She brought out her phone, and a memory flashed in my head. A bad feeling settled in my stomach.

No, please, anything but that. 

“Let’s see if Alyson really loves attention.” Kenna said, and she turned to me with a wry smile. “It would have been better if you had stayed quiet, and taken the insults like before. Maybe then, I would have stayed in my hands.”

Countless dings rang across the hall, and everyone held their phone to their face.

The blood drained from my face. It was the half naked photo she had taken of me when she tore off my dress. 

“Heck no!”

“This is so disgusting.”

“Is this what she looked like underneath?”

“No wonder she always wears a hoodie.”

My hands started shaking, and the tray fell to the ground. They were all laughing at me, and I couldn’t breathe. 

Kenna stepped forward, “You think you can embarrass my boyfriend,” She said, linking her arm with Leon’s arm, “Think again.”

Tears fell from my face, burning my cheeks quickly. I looked up at Leon, but he instantly turned away his gaze. 

I deserved none of this, and the betrayal stung more than anything so I turned, walking quickly out of the cafeteria.

Swinging the massive doors open, I slammed straight into someone; papers and books flew everywhere.

I was about to apologize, but the impact was greater than I imagined, causing me to slip on a piece of paper. 

Closing my eyes, I braced for the crash, but it never came. W

hat came was something I didn’t expect. It was a voice filled with concern. 

“Are you okay?”