Faster than a kiss.

Chapter Seven ♡

"There is only one way to deal with this. Snow White MUST DIE!" I boomed and then flinched - it felt as though my voice shook the whole room, with the echoes bouncing off the walls. After the trip to PD, we returned to school and were immediately assigned a new English assessment. Play scripts were handed out to each class from my grade, and we had to pick one, practice, and then perform it on the 7th of November - which only left us one more week to rehearse. My class picked Snow White, and as much as I prayed to be chosen to be a singing tree, fate wasn't on my side. I was selected to carry the role as the Evil Queen. Great.

We ran through the rehearsal twice more, then thankfully, released by Mrs. Greene. I ended up being one of the last students out the classroom, since I had a lot to pack. With the locker room only filled with the sounds of splattering water, I quietly walked to my locker and changed out of my Evil Queen outfit (dress rehearsal), hanging each garment back into the locker.

That was when I heard a shriek from one of the shower stalls.

The sharp scream was immediately muffled, as though someone forced a hand over the screaming girl's mouth. Without thinking, I immediately dropped whatever was in my hand and bolted for the shower stalls. When I reached the last stall, I came to face the back of a man wearing a dirty camo jacket, one hand around Mandy Reinhart, and the other over her mouth, silencing her.

He was too busy with Mandy to notice me behind him. I watched helplessly as he started to roughly kiss the side of her neck, despite her squirms and struggles. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a metal stool. An idea formed in my head and I reached for it. In five seconds, the man was on the floor, yelling out in pain as he clutched his back where I hit him with the metal stool.

With adrenaline still rushing through my veins, I draped a towel over Mandy's body and grabbed her hand, leading her out the stall. Giving the man a hard kick in the balls, Mandy and I ran out of the locker room. I told her to stay still and then headed for the boys’ locker room, which was right opposite the girls’. Fortunately, the boys just finished volleyball practice and the room was packed with walking testosterone.

Running past the boys (I didn't even have time to appreciate their rocking bodies), I aimed straight for a particular person: Zach. He was talking to a friend of his, completely oblivious to the chaos I've created by barging in. I grabbed his elbow and spun him around. Caught by surprise, he did as I intended him to and came to face me.

"Wha- What the fuck, Kaji?!" No time to explain, I simply tugged on his elbow, leading him back to the entrance. He seemed to have regained his composure. "Wow girl, if you wanted me so bad, you could've just called." Earning laughs from a few of his teammates, I continued my march. On the way out, I pointed to some of the boys.

"You, you, you. Follow me."

Too damn shocked, they obeyed my orders and followed me out.

Once we were out, they looked at Mandy's state and their faces twisted into a more confused expression. "There's a man in the girl's shower stall. I hit him with a metal stool after I saw him trying to... take advantage of Mandy. I think he's still there. Get him!" Without missing a beat, the boys ran into the girls’ locker room, while Mandy and I waited outside. After hearing a few grunts, I saw the boys carrying the offender out. They obviously gave him a good one.

Zach turned to me and spoke. "We got this covered. You girls do what you gotta do and get home soon, okay? Stay safe."

I nodded and he gave Mandy a small smile. After the boys left our sight, Mandy slumped into my arms and started sobbing. "Thank you so much, Kaji. If - if you didn't stop the guy..."

I shivered at the thought of her unfinished sentence and brought my arm around her to pat her back. "Shhhh, it's all okay now. Let's get you dressed then straight home, alright?"

Her head that was hidden in the crook of my neck bobbed up and down, and I took that as a yes. Afterwards, I did everything I promised and then left for my own home. I was exhausted.

*

I was about to fall asleep when Kaz barged into my room. He obviously heard about the incident. After the trip, Kaz went back to keeping a distance from me, as usual. I was so used to it, I can't even bother to feel angry anymore. If he wanted to act like a PMSing girl, then so be it.

"Kaji!" He dashed to my side. Holding my face with both his hands, he shot a string of questions at me. "Are you hurt? Are you okay? Why didn't you look for me when it happened? What would I do if you were hurt?!"

I slowly peeled my eyelids open and calmly answered his concerns. "Nope. Yes. Your office is probably a mile away from the locker room. You'd have to pay for my medical fees?"

He sighed and looked at me in the eye. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there when you needed me. If only I had come to check on you.."

I snorted and stopped his rambling. "You're not psychic. And it's okay, really. I'm totally fine. I can handle myself."

His eye twitched a bit, but he didn't remove his gaze from mine. "Sleep." He commanded. I closed my eyes and nodded. Feeling satisfied with my compliance, he tucked me back into bed and pulled the covers up to my neck. Before leaving, he kissed the top of my head and sighed. "Silyl girl, you have me to count on now."

*

Turns out the Mandy's attack wasn't random at all. The slime bag confessed everything to the police. He'd been stalking her for a few days now. Needless to say, he won't be harassing girls in their school locker rooms anytime soon.

The incident was everything anyone talked about for the next couple of days, but it eventually died down. So did my glory as the 'hero'. Honestly, I was just happy I managed to save an innocent girl from getting harmed. All the attention threw me off, and not in a good way. I'm fine with my name not constantly being flung around the school hallway, thank you very much.

Before we knew it, the rest of week slipped by and it was time for our drama showcase. Our class did a good job, earning a huge beam from Mrs. Greene and thundering applause from the crowd. However, I speculated that the only reason why we got such positive of a response is due to the number of popular kids in this class. Well, whatever makes Mrs. Greene happy. Delighted Mrs. Greene meant better grades, and I wasn't about to complain about that.

After our performance, we had to play a stupid game where someone from the audience volunteers to arm wrestle with the villain from each play. And if he succeeds, he gets a date with the respective 'princess'. Suddenly I wondered why I agreed to this. Soon enough, it was my turn and I stepped up to the centre of the stage. A table and two chairs were placed in the middle, and I plopped down, waiting for my opponent.

Please let it be a scrawny kid. Please let it be a scrawny kid.

I just wanted to get this over as quickly as possible, without much struggle. As my opponent climbed up the stairs and took his place, I heard murmurs from the crowd and looked up.

Sitting across me was a face that was an exact copy of Kaz's, only younger. 

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A/N:

Hiya lovelies! Sorry for the stall (once again). I've been working part time at the mall. It sucks. And I've been diagnosed with gastric! Seriously the most painful experience in my life. Anyway not to bore you guys with my rant, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! 

Oh, my birthday is in 4 hours!!

Proofread by Mel! ♡