Academic Rivals: A Collision of Hearts

chapter XIX

Third person POV

In the dim hallway, two people were pulling each other. One was trying to break free from the grip of the other, but due to the strong hold, she couldn't escape.

The girl started feeling anxious, imagining various scenarios in her mind, causing tears to well up. They reached the outside, where there weren't many people. The girl looked around several times, searching for someone to ask for help.

The person holding her finally stopped pulling, causing her heart to beat faster. The girl couldn't explain the fear she was feeling, so she bent down and clenched her fist to calm herself.

"Sheila?" The person called out to her softly. But the girl couldn't face them, as she had already started crying.

The person who brought her there panicked and quickly let go of her hand, looking for something to wipe the girl's tears.

"Hey, um, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. Are you hurt? Is something hurting you?" The guy asked before placing a hand on Sheila's shoulder to turn her towards him. "Look, I'm sorry, it won't happen again," he said, trying to calm the girl.

But she continued to cry, her breathing becoming heavier, leading to a breakdown.

The guy noticed the change in her breathing, which made him even more anxious. "Oh god," he said before walking around in circles.

On the other side, Gianna was walking down the hallway towards the garden to answer her father's call. However, on her way, she noticed two figures in the dark. She furrowed her brow upon seeing one person pulling the other.

Instead of answering the call, she chose to hang up, put her phone in her pocket, and approached the two.

As she walked closer, she heard what one of them said.

"I just wanted to be with you, I didn't mean to trigger your trauma, I'm sorry, Sheila, please forgive me," the voice paused Gianna in her tracks, making her wonder whether to intervene. "Please, I'll accept you again, just me, please come back to me," he pleaded again.

"Tsk, this isn't my problem after all," the girl said, about to leave until she heard the other girl's sobbing.

"P-please *sob* l-leave me alone."

She bit her lower lip before clenching her fist, irritated as she faced the two without hesitation.

As she approached the guy, she grabbed him by the shoulder before turning him around. The guy's face registered surprise upon seeing Gianna, and before he could speak, she quickly punched him, causing him to fall to the ground, holding his bleeding nose.

"W-what's your p-problem?" the guy shouted, about to stand up when Gianna kicked him back down.

"What did you do to her? Tell me, what did you do to her?" The girl shouted angrily, glaring at Sheila. "Did you touch her? Did you force her to come with you?" she added before clenching her fist.

The guy didn't respond, just turned away from the girl. But she didn't let him go, as she noticed his actions, she approached him before kneeling him down.

"You bastard," she said angrily, tightening her grip on the guy due to her frustration. Her mind went blank, seeing nothing but darkness.

"Stop it, let her go, release Alexa," a tied-up child shouted, crying as she watched what was happening to her friend.

"Enough, have mercy," the child pleaded with the man who was tormenting her, but he didn't listen.

The child kept asking for help, while the other tried to break free from being tied up to help her friend. Gianna witnessed everything, how the man mistreated her friend, how her friend asked for help, and the looks of hopelessness in their eyes. All of that was clear and fresh in Gianna's memory.