Chapter Three: Fear

Rhea's POV

I had broken every rule I made for myself in one morning and there was nothing left to do but fall apart in a locked stall and hope no one came in, crying hard into my palms.

My head jerked up when I heard approaching footsteps. My pulse went from zero to everything in half a second. I held my breath, watching the gap beneath the stall door.

"Hey."

I recognized the voice, my chest loosened by the smallest degree.

Elzbieta.

She was in my class. The plus-sized girl people made fun of. She had seen my real face once by accident. Since then, she had been trying to be my friend but I always ignore her.

"Please, go a-way." my voice came out hoarse and rough and wrong.

"I can't go away, Rhea." her voice was quiet. "You need to get out. I'm willing to help. We will figure something out together."

I didn't answer.

But I needed something. Even just a plan for getting through today, or for just the next hour. I sat there for a moment longer, turning it over. Then I stood up and pushed the door open.

She looked at me with concern or pity, or both. She handed me paper towels and stood beside me while I took off my glasses and washed my face properly.

"Naomi asked you to do this, right?"

I bit my lip and nodded slowly.

She thought for a moment. "Okay. We can't tell on her, that much is obvious. But what if we find one of Jiles' friends? You go to them, show how sorry you are. It's better than waiting for whatever comes next."

Going to Jiles directly was not a thing that existed in any world I was capable of walking into. But his friends were different. At least two of them.

"Do you think that will actually work?" I asked in a small voice.

"At least let's give it a shot. Classes will start soon. We need to move before the hallways go empty."

Empty classrooms and bathrooms were where bullies did their best work.

I dried my face, reapplied my foundation and checked the coverage before walking out. The moment we stepped into class, something flew at my head. I flinched. A water bottle missed me by inches and hit the wall behind me.

"How fvcking dare you stain our demi-god, you ugly motherfvcking piece of mute shit?"

The girl was standing at her desk, her face red with genuine fury like I had done something to her personally.

"Just so you know, Jiles won't spare you," another one added. "Your days in this school are numbered."

The shiver ran through me before I could stop it. I turned to Elz. She gave me a small, steady nod, and we went to our seats.

After classes, we went to the senior's wing. Girls from different classes stopped to say things as we passed, but we were lucky to stopped a female senior who actually looked at us without immediate hostility and asked where Jiles' friends might be. She told us they were at the corner of the rink building. Their usual spot.

Elz and I looked at each other.

No regular student went to that corner. It wasn't a written rule, just an understood one. Even Elz hesitated.

"I will go." I said.

She looked at me. "Rhea…"

"Wait here." I told her.

She stayed back with both our bags, and I walked toward the corner by myself, each step feeling like my heart climbed higher.

I was a few steps away from the main corner when Jiles came out from somewhere I hadn't been watching, or at least that was how it felt. I gasped and stumbled back, shock written all over me before I could arrange my face into anything else.

He looked at me.

His face was blank and cold, the same way it had been in the corridor. Before I could find a word to say, he had raised the water bottle in his hand and emptied the entire water over my face.

I went completely rigid, stumbling a step back.

The water was cold. It ran down my forehead, into my eyes, down my cheeks and my chin. I did not even think to wipe it off.

Then he took the glasses off my face.

I flinched but I did not pull back. I do not know if that was bravery or shock. My body just would not move. I stood there and let him look at me, and I didn't like how small and unprotected I felt without them.

My lips were pressed together, trembling. I was trying so hard not to cry or say the wrong thing. My eyes were stinging from the water, and I was looking at him with something that was not quite fear but had fear in it.

"You shouldn't do that," I said eventually.

"Why did you come here?" he almost interrupted me, sternly.

I looked up. "B-Because I wanted to apologize for what I did. I shouldn't have done that and I'm sorry."

He let the silence sit. It felt heavy and endless.

"Saying sorry isn't going to fix things. It just tells me you've realized the mistake," he took one step closer and I felt my eyes widen behind the wet lenses. "But I prefer balance, so your apology? Keep it.”

My lips parted and tears were already forming and I could not stop them.

"I couldn't say no. I would have..."

"That's why I'm going to deal with you in my OWN WAY.”

The emphasis was as clear as his intent, making my stomach twisted with despair.