The Girl Aria (A Stray Kids Fanfiction)

Chapter 19

The rest of the school-day felt like a daze I was trapped inside of. Out of millions of auditions, I was the one who they picked. Trying to grasp the idea was bizarre. Nothing like this had never happened. I had always assumed that I was a person who held nothing but bad luck, but maybe I had clearly misjudged that for the time being. I would have loved for my mom to see this and prove to her that I got farther than she ever could have. I wanted to show her that everything she had claimed about me and my dreams had been wrong. No matter what it took, I was determined to fulfill my dream of having a singing career and inspire the world. It might be hard, and their would be a lot of tribulations, but I would make it. I would prove it not only to my mother, but to myself as well.

It was the end of the day, and I was heading for where parents would pick up their kids. I was about midway down the school hallway when I was yanked into an empty classroom. I knew it couldn't be Hwan, since he was asked to stay after class to clear some things up with the teacher. After I regained my footing, I came eye-to-eye with the girl who had poured water on me. She glared me dead in the eye, and I found myself recoiling in fear. Two other girls beside her took a step closer. They all had the same look my mother had given me right before she would smack me. My stomach twisted once again and it felt like someone had lit a fire and was scorching me from the inside.

"My apologies." I quickly said, bowing. Sharply, I turned my back to them and proceeded to exit the bare room. She grabbed the back of my shirt and yanked me. I would have fallen right into her if the two other girls hadn't of caught me harshly. They gripped my wrists and shoulders with such force I was sure they were going to leave bruises.

"I didn't give you permission to leave." She shot at me, her face scrunched into one of disgust. "You think you're better than me only because you're living with Stray Kids." I didn't reply, too terrified to say something wrong. Instead I hung my head like a cowering dog submitting to its owner. The girl snatched the hair on the top of my head so it forced me to continue holding eye contact with her.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you." She hissed, eyes like daggers. I swallowed, throat going dry. "I'm Hyo, and I expect you to listen to me or otherwise things might not go so well for you. And you don't want that do you?" Hyo said, cocking her head to one side with a smirk on her face. Hyo was beautiful, no doubt, but her personality showed otherwise. I only nodded my head in response. "Now, I want you to stay as far away as you can from those boys. If you tell anyone I said this," She paused, and leaned right next to my ear, "I'll kill you." It was a rather profound statement, and I didn't know if she was serious or just trying to intimidate me. Nevertheless it still made me go weak, and I could feel all the blood rush out of my face. My hands began to shake and I could hardly hold eye contact with her anymore. Hyo released my hair from her fingertips, and patted my head sharply.

"Now, be on you way. You best think over what I said, you psycho." When she spoke the last to words, she looked at my arm which had the cuts on it and snickered, the two others following in sync. I nervously pulled down more on my coat sleeve, hoping they would just leave me alone. Hyo flipped her hair over her shoulder, obviously trying to intimidate me more than I already was, and strutted out of the classroom, the two other girls following close behind. I was left alone, with nothing but her lingering words playing over and over again in my head like a broken record.

* * *

Hwan met me outside the classroom not too long after the incident. I could still feel my knees shaking and my heart fluttering and skipping beats, but I attempted to steady myself. He was talking to me about something, but my mind was somewhere else and he obviously noticed.

"You okay?" He stated, grabbing my forearm to stop me from walking so I could turn to face him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said back quickly. I bit my tongue. I hated lying to him, but I could not bring myself to tell him what happened especially after the warning Hyo gave me. He gazed at me quizzically, eyeing me up and down like I was some sort of display in a window-shop during Christmastime. Without a word, he lifted both of my arms and pushed the sleeves up. When he found that there were no new marks on my arms, he put them back down before continuing to walk the halls with me.

"Why do you care so much?" I asked, my voice a little bitter. I was afraid that he was just faking his intentions and that he would eventually abandoned me like mother.

"Because I hate to see you going through things like these alone." He replied, trying not to make eye contact. It was odd, because he always looked me dead in the eyes when talking to me.

"But that still doesn't answer it. I asked why." I persisted, refusing to back down now. His face blushed a little, but maybe it was because of his heavy school uniform.

"I just do." He said simply, growing more nervous in his body language. I didn't want to be a nuisance so I dropped the subject. Of course, that made things more awkward for the rest of the walk out to the parking lot.

I scanned the ground quickly for the van I hoped would be there, and sure enough I saw Lee Know leaning against the outside of the car on his phone, waiting for me. It looked like he was having a relaxed conversation with someone but I couldn't tell. I began to make my way over to him, but Hwan grabbed my arm again. I loosened up when I saw the friendly smile on his lips.

"Be careful okay? Don't do anything stupid when I'm not around." I chuckled a little, the corners of my mouth raising.

"Can't make any promises." Half of me was joking, but the larger half wasn't. Something unsettled me when I spoke the words, and I tried to ignore the sad-depressed feeling that suffocated me. He released my arm and I bowed slightly, making my way to my guardian.

Lee Know glanced up, and when he saw me he waved goodbye to the phone before quickly putting it back into his pocket.

"Who was that?" I asked, meeting his gaze.

"Vlive with STAYS." He replied simply.

"Who are STAYS again?"

"Our fan-base." I nodded in understanding, my gaze drifting from him to stare at something else instead. "You ready to go?" He asked, I nodded. We both climbed into the vehicle, ready to head home. Lee Know quickly fastened his seat belt and adjusted the rear view-mirror while I waved goodbye to Hwan who soon after disappeared along with the horrors of school.