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"If you were lucky earlier, you won't be now!" Samantha said harshly while entering the girls' locker room. A few students who were changing their P.E. uniforms stopped what they were doing.
"What is your problem, Samantha?" Heartfilia asked her. The girl rolled her eyes at her.
"You! You're subtly a flirt! You trapped Jharied into marrying you!" she yelled at Filia, who made the other students around them gasp in shock.
"Trapped him? Hahaha! You're hilarious, Samantha. I'm not as desperate as you to do that," Filia answered, laughing.
But what happened next she never expected-slap from Samantha.
"You tramp! And if you think you and Jharied will be happy, I won't allow it!" she shouted angrily.
"You know, Samantha, since you're so obsessed with Jharied, why are you so angry? I'm not stealing Jharied from you. Just stop—I don't have time for you!" Filia replied, annoyed.
"Is that so?" Samantha asked, smirking, before suddenly yanking Filia's hair.
"Ow! What the hell, Samantha?!" Filia yelled, trying to restrain her hand, but Samantha only tightened her grip.
She dragged Filia into the comfort room. Other students who were changing were startled when the two of them entered the room.
"Let go of me, Samantha! You're hurting me!" Filia pleaded.
Samantha raised an eyebrow before opening a drum filled with water that was kept on the side.
And she didn't hesitate-she plunged Filia's face into it.
The sudden cold and the force of the dunk sent Filia into shock. She tightly clutched Samantha's arm, trying to free herself, but she was no match for her opponent.
Samantha heaved her out momentarily—Filia breathed a sigh of relief…
But she was immediately dunked again.
She swallowed a lot of water. She struggled, her body trembling with the effort.
Samantha picked her up again.
"Stop it, Sa—"
She couldn't finish-Samantha dunked her again, longer, worse.
Samantha was laughing while teasing her.
When she lifted her again, Samantha pulled her hair with excessive force.
"I won't stop until you two break up!" she said coldly before finally letting go of Filia.
From the assault, Filia dropped to the floor, panting for breath, shaking all over, and unable to stop herself from crying.
Before leaving, Samantha even kicked her.
The three girls went out of the comfort room, leaving Filia staring at the students who had watched and never even tried to intervene. They looked quickly away as if they had not seen anything.
She calmed herself, then slowly stood up. She walked out of the comfort room and proceeded to her locker. The students who were changing earlier were gone.
She took her uniform and went back to the comfort room, quietly, not uttering a word.
She went into a cubicle and silently took a shower.
***
Meanwhile, in the cafeteria, Jharied glanced at his watch. They had waited for some time already.
"Filia isn't here yet?" Joseph asked, carrying a tray of food.
"Not yet, she's taking too long to change, huh?" Nicole replied, busy on her phone.
"Maybe she is embarrassed because of what happened earlier," said Lara as she organized the food.
"Well, how could she not be… Jharied was making his move," Arman teased, laughing.
"It was an accident! You guys are just looking for trouble!" Jharied answered curtly.
The group shrugged and burst out laughing.
"Maybe you're falling for Filia's beauty?" Joseph asked teasingly.
"Stop it, man," Jharied promptly responded. Joseph only raised an eyebrow at him.
"What the f*ck!" Nicole cursed while staring at her phone. Immediately, she sat up straight and her eyes were wide.
"What is it, Nicole?" Joseph asked, noticing the obvious darkening of her mood.
Nicole didn't answer immediately. She scanned the cafeteria…
And her face darkened even more when she saw Samantha and her friends eating happily.
Nicole had just watched the video on Facebook of what Samantha did to Filia in the locker room…
The second Nicole saw the video, her world came to a standstill. It felt like a bomb exploded inside her chest, her ears grew hot, and the blood rushed rapidly to her head.
"That bitch—" she didn't finish because she suddenly stood up and clutched her phone tightly, almost shattering it.
She didn't think twice.
She walked directly to Samantha's table; her strides were long, like a volcano that might erupt any moment. Jharied, Joseph, Lara, and Zander all looked at her in unison.
"Hey, Nicole is—" Joseph hadn't finished when, in a flash CRACK—Nicole grabbed Samantha's hair from behind.
The whole cafeteria was shocked. Even Samantha was momentarily frozen in shock, standing up while clutching her hair.
"You bitch!!" Nicole screamed, loud, full of pent-up rage.
"W-what the—! Let go of me, Nicole! What is your problem?!" Samantha screamed back while trying to remove her hand.
"**I** don't have a problem—YOU do!" Nicole shouted. "How dare you hurt Filia! You disgusting piece of trash, I saw what you did in the locker room on Facebook!"
As he heard that, his expression suddenly darkened. He did not move, but the sudden straining of his jaw was an indication in his stance.
Samantha: "What are you talking about—"
"Don't answer!" Joseph suddenly interjected, charging forward.
"YOU BITCH, if I had my way I'd truly curl your hair! Hey, you two," he looked at Samantha's two friends,
"try to interfere and I'll slap both of you, you think you're pretty but your eyebrows look stuck together!"
"Stop them! Stop them!" shouted one of Samantha's friends.
But no one listened.
Nicole's grip tightened further; she pulled Samantha's head down, forcing her to bow.
"You hurt Filia again—GO AHEAD! You better pray I don't lose my patience!" Nicole said, her anger rising.
Meanwhile, Joseph didn't mince words: "What'd you do to Filia, huh?! Dunk her in water?! You're an animal!"
They both yanked Samantha's hair. Her two friends barely reacted, merely backing away because Nicole was glaring at them too.
"LET GO OF ME!!!" Samantha screamed, her voice almost trembling from fear.
But they didn't listen.
As the ruckus was going on, Jharied quietly got up.
He didn't shout.
He didn't stop them.
He didn't smile.
But his expression was different. Serious. Cold.
It was as if he had reached an important decision.
Without a single word, he turned his back and left.
Joseph, Nicole, and Lara exchanged looks even as Nicole was busy pulling hair.
"Wait -where is that idiot going?," Joseph asked.
"I know…," Lara said, smiling.
"He must be in love," she added.
***
She came out of the locker room shower, hair still wet, her hands still trembling. Her scalp ached, she could still feel the stinging from the hair pulling, and the cold of the water she was forced to drink.
But she walked. Quietly. Without reaction. As if nothing had happened.
She was already in the hall when—
*HUG!*
She was startled when Jharied suddenly hugged her tight to his chest. His body was warm, and she could feel the fast beat of the young man's heart.
And she was taken aback.
"Are you okay?" he asked hastily. "Does anything hurt? Any bruises? Why didn't you say anything? Filia, what else did she do to you?"
She couldn't answer. She only looked up, staring at Jharied, unable to believe that this was… this was the guy she was always fighting with.
"J-just let go of me," she said, her voice still clearly strained. "You're being so dramatic."
However, Jharied noticed it-he knew Filia was just trying to act tough.
So he smiled.
Not the mischievous grin she used to see.
This one was… concerned. Sincere.
Filia firmly pulled away, clearly feeling uncomfortable.
"You're just putting on a drama again," she said, forcing a brave tone.
As she walked away, Jharied just stood there, smiling, leaning against the locker.
"Wait…" he chided himself. "I'm concerned? I'M concerned? But we're enemies—or we used to be!"
He scratched his head.
"Damn it. Could it be… could it be that I love that Amazonian girl?"
He shut his eyes momentarily in irritation.
"That's right, isn't it? But… but… AH! What is this I'm feeling! He practically tore his hair out in frustration. But the truth? He couldn't hide it any longer.
He was worried about Filia. And he was afraid of her getting hurt again.