Affliction

Chapter Four

"Give it back!" Eliza finally shouted, frustrated as she tried to snatch her book back.

Snickering, Chen threw it over to Tao who looked like he was going to shred it into tiny bits and pieces. "Come get it, then."

"Look at that," the boy from the other day quietly said, slightly nodding towards the two boys. "They're bullying her again."

"Ignore them, they'll eventually go away," Kris replied, rolling his eyes. His friend shrugged but continued to stare at them through the corner of his eye. "Kris!" he squeaked.

"What?" he sighed as he noticed his hand gesturing towards them. He turned to see, shaking his head in disbelief that she was on the ground, being wryly laughed at.

Kris got up, "They've gone too far," he whispered. "But..." the boy said, but before he could complete, he was gone.

Tao felt someone seize the book out of his hands as he turned to look at the tall figure standing behind.

"Aren't you aware that what you're doing is an extremely rude and inhumanly act?"

"Says the person who used to do it themself," Chen contemned, crossing his arms across his chest. 

Kris' friend grabbed Eliza's wrist and pulled her silently away. "But my textbook!"

"He'll get it," he said. He sounded calm when he spoke, and his tone was gentler than Kris'.

Eliza nodded as they waited silently outside the classroom. "I'm Luhan, by the way," he whispered, trying not to break it, and smiling the same way he did when they first met.

 Because she didn't want to seem rude, she returned the smile and simply replied, "I'm Eliza."

"I know." 

Confused, she asked, "How do you-" but was interrupted by Kris as he gave her textbook back to her saying, "Be more careful next time," and with that, he ran off, holding his hand up to his face as if he were concealing something.

"Well, I suppose I should go. See you around?" Luhan asked, sucking in a breath. Eliza felt like she saw his eyes darken with fear, but ignored the fact they did, supposing it was just her imagination.

"Yeah, alright," she responded as she made her way back to the class, pondering about what just happened and believing this was just one strange dream. How could the person who used to bully her, be standing up for her now? At least that's what she thought, when she quickly directed her attention towards Luhan.

She had never seen that kid around before, but then again, the school was so big, she would see new faces all the time. She had a million thoughts and several questions on Kris and the school, and why the bully was getting bulled. She wanted to know more, figuring Luhan would be her source, and suddenly remembered she had seen him sitting with the school's book club once, so planned on paying him a visit soon.  

The loud screech of the chair being dragged against the floor snapped her back to reality. Paying no attention to her surroundings, Why do I care? she thought to herself, running her finger across the lines on the wooden desk. He means nothing to me, she convinced herself. He ruined your life..in a way, I suppose. Don't show a liking for him since he doesn't show any for you. She shook her head as if this would result in removing any negative thoughts and finally opened her textbook, distracting herself by focusing on her revision.

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"Okay.." Eliza swallowed, unzipping her school bag. "Maths, check. Social Studies, check," she said aloud as she went through the list. There were seven subjects in total, and rechecking her bag to assure all books were there was very important since assessment tests were just around the corner. "English Literature, ch-no check," She raised her eyebrows. "Wait..." she bonked her forehead with her palm. "I left it in class!"

Checking the rest of the subject books to make sure they were there (and they were), she grabbed her backpack and scrammed towards the classroom.