Chapter 4: Stop Living That Way

Ilang araw nang hindi nakakausap ng mga Royals si Stephen na ngayon ay nakakulong na naman sa computer room  nila. Mas lalong naaasar sina Meth at Scar ngunit sa dalawang course lamang nila kaklase si Aisha kung kaya naman hindi nila ito nakita sa mga sumunod na araw. Inaabangan talaga nila ang araw ng lunes dahil magkikita na naman sila sa marketing course nila at sisiguraduhin nila na hindi makakatakas si Aisha sa kanila.

Katulad ng nakasanayan, ang royals ay nasa back row. Inaabangan nila ang pagdating ni Aisha at hindi talaga nila papalagpasin ang pagkakataon kung sakali mang umupo ulit ito sa pwesto nila.

“Aisha!” Napataas ang kilay ni Scar nang may kaklase silang tumawag kay Aisha at pinaupo ito sa tabi niya. Hindi niya inakalang nakahanap pa ng kaibigan si Aisha kahit na alam ng lahat na kung sino mang makipagkaibigan sa mga target ng Royals ay madadamay.

Hinila ni Meth ang buhok ng babaeng nakaupo sa harap niya, “who’s that girl?”

Humarap ang babae sa kanya bago sumagot, “She’s Jamila Carreon. Heir of the JC Holdings.”

Meth scoffed. The girl is not even as influential as them, is she expecting that that newfound friend of hers will shield her from the Royals? Aside from the Royals, no one could defy them because they all belong to the top. If there were students who could stand on equal grounds with them, those wouldn’t bother befriending some unknown girl with an unknown background. Theoretically, no one would be able to go against them no matter who they were because the most powerful students belong to the Royals.

Meth waited for their dismissal before talking to Aisha. She really hates the girl’s guts and she can’t stand a person who dares to defy the royals. They did something to gain authority and superiority in the University, she won’t let a mere girl like her stop them.

“Ms. Mori, please bring these to the faculty office,” utos ni Professor Lair.

Bago pa man makatayo si Aisha ay tinulak niya ito pabalik sa pagkakaupo. She smirked before putting a piece of torn paper on Aisha’s hand. “Don’t dare ditch me. I might do something bad to that friend of yours,” she said using a threatening tone.

“She’s not my friend. But don’t worry, I don’t ditch people who want to be friends with me.” Aisha smiled sweetly and put the paper in her pocket.

Methuselah scoffed when she saw Aisha’s friendly expression. Ignorance might be bliss, but it would soon turn to be a curse for her. Bryce might be the most notorious among them but she was the one who sent a lot of students to the hospital. If she thought that she could handle her, she must be courting death.

“Tignan lang natin kung makangiti ka pa mamaya,” Methuselah said with a smirk before following the other Royals who already left the room.

“Are they bothering you?” tanong ni Professor Lair kay Aisha habang sabay silang naglalakad papunta ng faculty office. His eyes were filled with worry as he looked at her.

The professor knew what Aisha was like and he couldn’t stop himself from worrying about her. She was someone who had a history with bullies back in the US and he wouldn’t want the same thing to happen to her again in the Philippines.

“Actually, they are trying to bother me. However, they don’t have what it takes to bother Aisha Mori. I’ve been through a lot more than what they can do. Don’t worry, Uncle. The things that they are planning to do are just like a kid’s play for me.” Matapos magsalita ay nauna nang pumasok si Aisha sa Office at binati ang mga gurong naroon.

“But I don’t want you to go back to how you were before,” he said with a sad smile. He wanted to keep the current Aisha. The girl who would always smile and keep a brave face. His heart would be broken if he would meet her with those dead eyes again.

“Aisha, let’s have lunch together,” yaya ni Professor Lair bago pa man makalabas si Aisha ng office. Ngumiti naman ang huli at tumango bilang pagpayag sa paanyaya ng kanyang tiyuhin.

Sa loob ng cafeteria kumain ang mag-tiyo at wala silang pakialam kung na-agaw man nila ang pansin ng iilang mga estudyante. Professor Lair is a hot and handsome bachelor so, despite his age, people would still fawn over him and try to get his attention. Seeing someone who could handle the Royals being with someone whom the Royals were targeting would create more gossips among the student body.

“What’s the relationship between Professor Lair and Mori?” tanong ni Scar nang mamataang sabay kumakain ang kanilang guro at si Aisha.

“How would I know?” walang pakialam na sagot ni Meth. Ang mga lalaki naman ay wala ring balak sagutin ang kanyang tanong. Pero ang mga ito ay nakatingin rin sa table ng dalawa.

“They seem close,” bulong ni Scar at pasimpleng kinuhanan ng picture ang dalawa na nagtatawanan pa habang kumakain.

“What’s that for? Are you a paparazzi or what?” Bryce teased Scar.

Binatukan ni Scar si Bryce at pagsasabihan pa sana niya ito ngunit binigyan siya ng malamig na tingin ni Stanley kaya naman di na lamang niya itinuloy ang pang-aaway kay Bryce.

“I’ll be meeting with her later, I’m going to be the teacher for her next lesson,” Meth smirked while watching Aisha walked out of the restaurant with their professor.

“Woah. Can you really do it?” pang-aasar ni Bryce kay Meth.

“Why not?” Nagtaas ng kilay si Meth at tinapunan ng masamang tingin si Bryce.

Bryce rested his chin on his hand and a smirk curved on his lips. “Nothing. Really…”

Nang ma-dismiss na sina Aisha sa klase ay nagmamadali na siyang lumabas upang makipagkita kay Meth. She already has a hunch on what’s about to happen and she’s well prepared for it. She just wanted to make friends with them but she ended up being their target. She wished that they would stop picking on her so that the other students won’t avoid her and gossip about her.

Sa kabilang banda naman ay naiinip na si Meth sa paghihintay sa late na si Aisha. Punctuality is what Meth value the most and she really hate tardy people. Kaya lalo pang nadagdagan ang pagkainis ni Meth kay Aisha nang makitang ilang minuto na ang nakalipas sa napag-usapang oras pero wala pa rin ito.

“How dare you make me wait,” iritadong bungad ni Meth nang makitang naglalakad na palapit sa kanya si Aisha.

“Ang hirap naman kasing hanapin nitong hide-out mo. You should’ve called me to a much easy-to-find place,” pabirong sagot ni Aisha.

Meth laughed sarcastically. She didn’t expect that the girl is still capable of joking after finding out that she was called to an abandoned building inside their University. If she was an ordinary student, she should be trembling in fear and ran away or asked for forgiveness.

“Who do you think you are?” malakas na itinulak ni Meth si Aisha sa pader nang makalapit na ito. She slammed the wall near her head as she gave her an evil smirk.

“Ouch. In fairness, medyo masakit.” Mas lalong nainis si Meth nang magawa pa nitong tumawa.

“Are you crazy? Or maybe a psycho?” Hinila ni Meth pababa ang buhok ni Aisha na siyang naging dahilan upang mapatingin ito sa taas.

“Ikaw pa talaga ang nagtanong?” Aisha smiled again which made her blood boil.

Dahil napipikon na siya ay sinampal niya ng dalawang beses si Aisha. Sa lakas nito ay kita ang pamumula ng pisngi ni Aisha pero nagawa pa siya nitong ngitian.

“What’s the problem with you?” She’s totally irritated at the moment. Sino ba naman kasing hindi? She is the one who was hurting Aisha but Aisha is still mocking her.

Malakas niyang itinulak si Aisha bago hinila ang kwelyo ng corporate attire nito na uniform nila, “Stop messing with the royals. I can do something more frightening than this.”

Aisha snickered, “but I’m not messing with you guys. Kayo yung unang lumapit sa’kin, remember?”

Dahil sa inis ay malakas niyang itinulak si Aisha kaya naman nauntog ito sa pader at nagkasugat ang dulo ng kilay nito. Tumulo ang dugo mula rito pero hindi pa rin nakuha ni Meth ang reaksyong hinihintay niya. Nagawa pa nitong ngitian siya kahit pa duguan na ang mukha nito.

“I can’t believe you.” Akmang sasampalin niya pa ito ngunit may kamay na pumigil sa kanya. Tinignan niya ang may-ari ng kamay at napakunot ang noo niya nang makita ito.

“That’s enough, I won’t let you hurt the young miss anymore. Not when I’m already around.” Malakas ang pagkakatulak sa kanya ng lalaking nakaitim na suit kaya naman napalayo agad siya kay Aisha.

Bodyguards? Does that girl have bodyguards watching over her? She must be someone from a good family if she could afford bodyguards. She smirked when she realized that Aisha was just acting tough but deep inside she was afraid because she hired bodyguards to keep her safe.

Wala nang nagawa pa si Meth kundi ang panoorin si Aisha habang inaalalayan ito ng mga body guards nito papasok sa sasakyang kakadating pa lamang. A few more guards came out of the other cars and surrounded Aisha.

“I told you not to run away from your guards, young miss,” narinig niya pang sermon ng lalaking pumigil sa kanya at tinawanan lamang ito ni Aisha.

“I told you I don’t need your protection,” Aisha wiped the blood that trickled from her head.

“That’s not convincing especially now that you’re bleeding.”

Bago umalis ay ibinaba pa ni Aisha ang salamin ng sasakyan at hinarap siya, “stop living like that Riley.”