Tomorrow is the day that we'll be performing the task that miss Tirrae gave us and I am literally dying because of the pain of my fingers, I need to practice more, I still lack a few keys and I need to perfect it.
I still have an hour before the next class starts and that will be the time where me and Icer will present our report and I still need to attend my volleyball practice later.
I groaned and looked at my fingers, my index finger on my right hand is stinging and a cut is visible to see, good thing it didn't bleed tho, I sighed and look over Ace who was busy with the piano.
Tsk, I could have been the one using it. I took a deep breath before running my fingers over the strings once more.
'Ignore the pain Tine, ignore the pain' I kept repeating that on my head, I had my eyes close while listening to the melodies of the harp.
"Clungk!" My eyes shot open when I picked the wrong string, it was all fine but due to my lack of focus, it once again failed.
I need a break, I stood up from my chair and left the room, I walked around the main building trying to find a peaceful spot to rest with a nice view and cool breeze- in short, I went to the rooftop.
I saw a bench facing the wide field so I sat there, I fished my phone on my pocket and wore my earpods to connect it to my phone.
I closed my eyes while listening to my favorite playlist, class is starting soon so I'll just have to finish 3 songs and I'll go back to our classroom.
As a matter of fact, I don't really think I can perform very well tomorrow, knowing that my classmates and teacher will be watching me, I have tons of work to do plus if it wasn't for Ace who pushed me to play the harp I wouldn't be suffering now, d*mn him.
I took an end with my thoughts when the last music ended, I remove my earpods and start walking towards the door but my feet froze in place when I met a very familiar face.
I slowly step backwards while my hand hand geniusly pressed the dial button on my phone, it wasn't hard to find his name because he was the last person I contacted earlier this morning.
"Well, well, well, I finally had the chance to be alone with you" she chuckled deeply, she's not wearing her mask anymore.
She has this innocent and fragile face but her eyes spoke different, it's shouting murder, I know Icer already answered my phone but I didn't want her to notice it so I hid it behind me.
"What do you want?" I asked, trying not to break down, d*mn this trauma.
She laughed evily sending shivers down my spine, she took a few steps forward and I kept backing up until my back hit the railings.
"Aw, don't be scared, actually I'm here to help you end your suffering from this cruel world" she smiled sweetly a fake one.
"The world isn't cruel, those people who live on it are the ones who's cruel" I retorted in a low voice that made her drop her smile.
"Well to be honest, if it wasn't for that room mate of yours, you'll be safe, blame her for this" she untied her hair and wore her mask once again, no I'm not blaming Annie for this.
"Don't worry I'll make this quick so you won't feel any pain" she giggled before finally dropping her act and her aura becomes much more muderous.
"No! Don't come near me!" I exclaimed almost getting too much hesterical.
She continue to walk towards me until I tried to ran away from the railings and that succeed, I ran as fast as I can towards the door and pulled it open but it won't budge, the next thing I knew is that she was standing behind me laughing.
"There's no where to ran now, I locked the door from the other side so there's no use escape me" she held my shoulder making me flinch as I face her.
My body and mind isn't working properly due to my panic cause by the servere trauma I experienced 4 months ago and affected me mentally and physically.
She brought her hand towards my neck, choking me, making me drop my phone as I try to remove myself from her grasp but it was too strong.
I cough when the air finally failed to enter my lungs and my sight started to get blurry but her smirk didn't escape my eyes.
"Good night!" She smiled and I felt my body getting paralyzed when she dropped me to the floor, my head hit the ground but before I fell unconcious, I heard the door burst open and darkness took over me.
I woke up into a familiar place, I feel my head hurting for opening my eyes so suddenly, I groaned by the heaviness I feel on my head as I try to sit up.
"Woah there" I slowly turn my head towards the door to see Annie and Loraine entering the room.
"How are you feeling?" Annie asked me worriedly.
"I'm fine- my head is just heavy" I answered.
The two looked at me worriedly just then I realize that I was wearing a neck brace and there's also a patch on the right side of my head, I also have some dextrose attached to my wrist.
"W-what happened? What time is it? How did I end up here?" I asked continiously, Loraine set some food on the table near me while Annie sat on the chair beside the bed.
The smell of the infirmary is really hurting my nosetrills, one of the reasons why I hate it here.
"According to Pierce, you collapse by the time they got there and they caught that psycho girl getting ready to stab you by a scissors, it's a good thing they came on time over the rooftop even tho they didn't know where were you" Annie shrugged.
"About the time, it's already dismissal, you're excuse to your volleyball practice and I brought food cause you didn't have lunch because of what haopened earlier, how did you end up here? Death took you here" Loraine answered the rest of my questions.
H-he was the one who brought me here? I'm quite speechless, despite of the way he treats me, he still took care of me and even bothered to bring me here, I though it was Icer tho- Oh stop it Cursetine!
"How about that girl?" I asked.
"She's under the hold of the 1st Card, the school need to handle her first before handing her to the authorities, I'll be standing as one of the witnesses" Annie smiled.
"You're really speaking up?" I asked her, I envy her because of her braveness, she overcome her trauma that easily.
"Well yeah, besides Pierce will be responsible for my safety so no worries" she replied and looked away.
"Okay ask more questions later, eat" Loraine commanded and helped me sit up before putting the bed tray infront of me so I can eat.
I thanked her before starting to eat the food she brought, she also set some bottles of my medicines on the side of the tray so I can drink it later.
Moments later, Sam and Liz came, the two immediately asked me about how I'm feeling or do I need something, they also asked what happened earlier and I told them what really happened on the rooftop.
They were really worried about my condition but that died down when someone knocked on the door, Sam went over the door to open it.
"Oh it's you guys, come in" Sam said casually and open the door widely for them to enter.
"You're awake" Pierce said and I nodded.
'Technically Pierce I'm asleep, your eyes are just playing tricks with you' I really wanna blurt that out but chose not to.
"Xiena, let's talk" he suddenly said.
"Sure" Annie answered almost immediately, oh, they're going on a date, that's nice.
I gave her a teasing smile but she simply rolled her eyes at me before taking her bag and walked out of the room with Pierce following her, they've been talking privately lately huh.
I continue to finish my food while they are talking to one another, Ace suddenly extended his arm over the tray and reach for my medicines, I was about to grab it but his hand already took a hold of it.
He silently read the labels before giving me a unidentified look, he's not holding the same rank as me for nothing, I know my secret has been revealed.
"Why are you taking this?" He whispered, I blinked twice before taking the bottle from him and hid it behind me.
"I-it's nothing-"
"Stop lying" he said seriously but I remained silent, I saw how he clench his jaw before calling everyone's attention.
"Why is she taking those pills?" He asked.
"What pills?" Icer asked and he stole the bottle from my back once again before I could take a hold of it.
"This" he handed him the bottle, Icer read the labels before turning to me and my friends, eyeing them one by one.
"Samantha, Lizelle, Loraine, explain this to us" he demanded furiously, probably feeling guilty upon those bullying they did to us.
"Why does she have these? When did she start using this?" He asked once more and Loraine sighed before taking the bottle away from him and gave it to me.
"It started this summer vacation, we don't know the actual details but according to her older sister, she was on the way back to her home country when she got ambushed, well they made it look like an ambush but they kidnapped her, she experience a lot of t*rture- a-almost got r-r*pe- but the rescue came before she was touch" Loraine said, I drank my pills as if I heard nothing but deep inside my organs are shaking.
I gulp down the medicine as silence filled the room, I sighed that made their attention shifted to me.
"And you still manage to let us do those things to you?" Icer asked softly.
"It's not worthty to be known" I said and set the cup down the tray and Loraine removed it.
"It is worth to be known Tine" Ace retorted, I shook my head, I don't wanna talk about it.
"I'm sleepy, I wanna rest, good night" I smiled without looking at them and hid under the covers of my bed.
"Right. We'll leave you here for a moment, we're just gonna talk outside, good night" Sam said and I heard them leaving the room one by one, then the door shut leaving me alone.
My eyes instantly burned up as my tears continued to flow down, I tried to hold my sobs as those dark memories took over my mind.
The van spinning before it hit the tree. Gunshots. My bodyguards starting to collapse one by one. Men in black surrounding me. In a tub with water. I got electrified, dozen of times. They drowned me, dozen of times. I got beaten up, not less than 10 times a day. They touched me and almost r*pe me. They are all monsters.
I feel so dirty of myself but I continue to live on, I tried getting myself busy as much as I could even if my body collapse, I badly want to get rid of that event.
If only I didn't insist to go back home, if only I obeyed my dad to stay on the countryside, if only I didn't want to visit my sick mother, if only, if only I thought of my own safety that time.
"You know, you can cry out loud Tine" I bit my lower lip when I heard Liz's voice, I thought they left?
And on that moment I finally let my walls down and cried out all of the pain I'm feeling, they stood there listening to my sobs and lowly screams, no one left the room until I calmed down.
"You feeling better Tinay?" Sam called out.
"Yeah, thanks Sammie- huhuhu" I cried and I heard her sighed and I felt the side of the bed sunk and her warm hug enveloped me.
"There, there, let it out" she said while rubbung my head under the sheet.
I cried and cried until my eyes gave up and I fell asleep eventually.
The next morning, my friends picked me up so early so I can have my breakfast and took a nice warm bath, I also change into my new uniform and fixed my things.
When I set foot out my dorm, the three of them are waiting for me there, I smiled warmly at them then Annie step up to me.
"You need a little make up to cover that puffy eyes and dark circles" she chuckled and applied some concealer on my face.
"You also need this to keep your lips glossy" Liz added and applied some lipbalm on my lips, after that, I thanked them as the four of us walked towards the main building to attend our classes.
"Fudge-cake, is miss Tirrae here?" I suddenly burst out.
"Well yeah but she moved the performance task tomorrow because of what happened to you, she's expecting you to perform first" Sam smiled and I sighed in relief, I almost died out there.
"Calm down" Liz chuckled and Annie nodded.
Since it was early, we send Annie to her classroom first before proceeding to ours, Sam opened the door and everyone smiled at us, more like me I think.
"Tine, I heard what happened, how are you?"
"Did that psycho hurt you?"
"Why are you here? You're suppose to be resting"
"It's okay now Tine the higher ups already took her away"
Those were one of the things that they showered me, and this is also the first time that they got so concern to me as their normal classmate, not the one who they envy for getting the top rank, I smiled at them.
"I'm fine guys, she didn't hurt me, thanks for your concern" I bowed and the sighed before smiling back.
"Everyone get back on your seats, Tine needs to be fully recovered don't stress her" I turn around and saw Icer and the his friends on the doorway.
"Right, come on guys" the President of our class said and they all settled down.
I mouthed a thank you to him and he just nodded before walking towards their seats at the back, I sat on my desk and doodled at the back page of my notebook until the bell finally rang and ms. Tan entered the room.
The class started and I gave all my focus on discussions until the bell once again rang, I immediately fixed my things and waited for the two to finish up before we left the classroom.
On the way to our building, Sofia's group suddenly blocked our way, her worried expression was present and the rest of her group was also pitying me.
"You guys..." I trailed off.
"No, we just want to check if you're okay" Dhenzy said, I smiled.
"Totally fine, no bones broke" I joked making them smile.
"It's a miracle that your brother group is not with you" Sam added.
"Ah yes, they are attending some business with the rest of the boys from the Core society" Sofia answered.
"Even Icer's group?" I asked.
"Nope, they suddenly got banned from going inside the conference room for an unknown reason" Miracle said.
"What? Unknown reason?" Liz asked.
"The 1st Card didn't let us knew why" Tara frowned.
"Those four have been working on random agendas behind our backs, but I know they won't do anything that would harm the group" Crystal commented.
"Especially Pierce, I've always seen him talking with his fiancé by the garden behind the girls' building" Mahiro said in her usual japanese tone.
"Girl maybe they're just dating" Crystal chuckled, technically a couple thing, good point.
"Girl if they're dating, they should be doing sweet gestures and close to each other- do consider long sitting distance, serious face and cold replies a date?" Mahiro complained and that left us all silent.
"Well, I think-" Sofia was cut off when someone called me.
"Cursetine!" I look to my right and saw Pierce and Troy running towards us.
"What's up?" I asked when they stopped infront of us.
"Have you seen Xiena?" He asked tiredly, probably from running.
"Huh? Isn't she with Loraine at this time?" I asked him back, he gave me a confuse look before turning to Troy.
"Loraine said that Xiena went off to find you guys" Troy mumbled.
I immediately checked my phone and tried calling her, it ring a few times and the call suddenly went out of reach, my eyebrows ceased when I look at my phone.
"She's out of reach" I said, Pierce hissed and messed his hair.
"Where the hell is she?" He groaned.
"What? Who?" We all look at the girl walking towards us, she gave us a confused look while taking a sip on her milktea and stopped a few meters away from us.
"Where have you been?" Pierce frowned.
"Oh me? I was at the main hall to buy something to drink 'cause I'm really thirsty, I was actually gonna call you but my phone was left on my dorm because it died down and I can't find the charger" she explained innocently to her worried fiancé.
Troy grinned when Pierce sighed indicating that he understand her, I didn't know he was this understanding. Our jaw dropped when Pierce picked up his wallet and handed Annie his card.
"Buy a new phone" he said casually.
"Hell no" Annie chuckled and pushed his hand away.
"Stop showing off, let's go, see ya guys!" Annie waved before she got pulled away from the other direction by Pierce.
"Hey Troy, do you have a minute?" Sofia asked cutely.
"Ah yeah sure" he chuckled and the two left.
"Ah, again" Sofia's group complained while the three of us decided to excuse ourselves to have our lunch at our building.
While having our lunch, we talked about having our study party for the upcomming exams, we've been holding this kind of party since our 2nd year here because aside from being on the top class we still have our so called 'weakness' on some subjects.
Just like me, I hate history, Sam hates Math and Liz hates Research so we help each other on reviewing a few stuff to pass the examination.
That's 200 items each subject and we only have 1 hour and thirty minutes to finish it, the passing score is usually 180 or if the teacher is kind enough- which is rarely to see on the this academy- they would prefer giving the 150 points as the passing score.
"Are they dating?" Liz suddenly asked.
"Who?" I asked, well we are talking about the study party, how did that thing got inserted in the topic?
"Troy and Sofia" she mumbled and looked away.
"Who cares?" Sam scoffed and muched on her meal while I look at Liz.
She has this depressed look in her eyes but she still manage to smile, why would she ask if Troy and Sofia are dating? Not to mention that she look so down, does she like Troy?