Guillotine [HIATUS]

Chapter 4: The phone is mightier than the fist

"Look who's here. Apparently you got yourself a nice catch Flea-boy", Ethan commented.

"Screw...you...", Rob replied.

Chad went ahead and gave another hard punch in Rob's stomach. This time he couldn't help it and a bit of vomit escaped his mouth. Ethan took a peak at Julia, searching for a reaction. Even if she was his girlfriend, she wasn't letting anything show.

"Well, well you still have a lot of energy! That's good, we have all night if we need to!", he then faced Julia,"If only there was a kind soul that could pay in the stead of this loser so he wouldn't need to suffer so much!"

Ethan's friend whispered to him,"What the hell are you doing ?! This idiot hit me! He's not going anywhere so soon!"

"Calm down now, Chad. This way, we could get double the money and then you could have your ti-", before he finished his sentence, Rob bit his arm. Ethan groaned in pain and Chad gave Rob a right hook. The blow made a wound on Rob's forehead and blood started dropping down from it all the way to his eyebrow.

"Hey! I told you to stop!", Julia screamed.

"If you want us to stop then all you've got to do...is pay up."

There was a silence that felt like an eternity. Ethan thought that she was finally giving in. But, there was something wrong. For someone being coerced like that, she appeared too calm.

No...Wait, the phone! Does that mean...

"I recorded the fight you had with him."

Ethan had a chill down his spine.

No. No. No, No, No, No, No, No!

"Hey, Ethan, you're okay? You look pale", Chad asked.

Ethan shook his head to regain a sense of himself. His legs started trembling. Suddenly, he felt like the person he was holding was several time heavier.

Wait. Maybe it's not what I think it is. There's no way she knows!

"S-S-So?! What about it?! We can just take your phone and delete it!", Ethan said, sweat starting to drip down his face.

"From this distance, i have enough time to send the video directly to the headmaster of the school and block my phone, assuming that I don't move from this place. I have a pattern measure and a password blocking it. If i press send right now, there's no way you'll be able to delete it in time."

"Hold him, Ethan! We just need to beat her up until she gives us the password!", Chad attempted to charge at her, but Ethan grabbed hold of his shoulder, letting Rob fall to the ground as a consequence,"What are you doing?!"

"I can't risk it.", he whispered.

Chad brushed off Ethan's arm and stared at him straight in the eye,"I don't understand!"

"Chad...",when Chad looked at his friend's face, he saw an expression of utter terror that he never caught a glimpse of, even after all the years they've known each other,"My dad will kill me if this gets out."

"You're not serious...", he put his hands on his head and looked at the ground, unsure of what to do.

"Let him go, and walk away.", Julia screamed with an unwavering voice, not moving an inch from the same spot.

"I-I-If we do that, you won't send it anywhere right?!", Ethan screamed, his face being covered by a layer of panic, visible to anyone.

A big moment of silence followed. Ethan was shaking all over his body, in the same way a person would be if they forgot to bring extra coats when visiting a cold region.

"...If you keep your part of the deal."

"What should we do Ethan?!"

"T-There's only one possible choice isn't there?", Ethan looked at him, his voice exhausted and his expression tense.

Chad clicked his tongue in frustration and turned to her, defeated, "Fine! You win...We'll just walk away.", he put his arms up and started walking backwards, towards the school's gate, and Ethan followed him in the same way.

Julia watched as both of them walked backwards until they were out of her sight. She silently took some steps towards Rob, who was face-down on the floor, next to a now deformed lamp post. When she got near him, she collapsed to her knees. Her body started to tremble uncontrollably and she put her hands on her face.

"That explains it...I was thinking it was...weird that you were talking so fluently.", Rob talked between breaths as he slowly stood up.

Now that she was closer, he noticed that Julia was covered in sweat. Aside from the tremors, she didn't move at all, still stuck in the same position. He noticed that her breathing was uneven, maybe to the point of hyperventilating. Rob stayed silent, looking around to see if they would come back, just in case. Rob stared at her silently, being careful not to disturb her further. After what felt like an eternity, Julia took a deep breath and moved her hands away from her face. Her eyes were red, and her lip was still shaking.

"Are...you...okay?", Julia asked, still sobbing between the words that barely managed to get out of her mouth.

"I'm alright...It's nothing they hadn't already done, honestly. Although, the lamp post was a first. They usually just throw me at trees.", Rob shrugged it off and, while trying to stand up, felt a sharp pain on his back and fell to the floor,"I may not be able to get up right now, though. Let me just stay here for a while."

Julia gave a nod and looked on the floor, both of her hands on top of her knees who were touching the ground. Her eyes started to tear up again.

"Rob...you're...an...idiot."

"Yeah, I get that a lot.", Rob said putting both of his hands behind his head and putting his back against the deformed lamp post.

She gave him an angry look, barely being able to hold back her tears,"You can't...beat them...yet you'd rather...fight them...and end up in this...state ?", Rob stayed silent as Julia slightly teared up.

"I can't stand people like them.",Rob started talking,"They stroll around school every day, searching for isolated people that look weaker than them.", he closed his fist and hit the ground, "And these bastards one day came up to me and started asking me to pay!".

"Judging from... the result...they judged you right."

Rob gave her an annoyed look and clicked his tongue, "Next time I'll beat both of them! And then, you'll all see!"

"Did you...manage to beat them....once?"

"W-well, not really...", he answered in a low voice.

"It'll be easier...if I just send this...straight to the principal...when I get home...", she answered while looking at her phone.

"No.", Rob said in a serious tone,"This is my fight! Not yours! There's no need for you to be involved any further!"

"The very moment they approached us...I was already involved."

"Even so... I need to beat them myself!"

Julia stared long at hard at the boy that stared in front of her. An wound above his eyebrow, a black eye, hands that had scars at the knuckle area, and still traces of puke on his uniform from when he was hit before.

"You're...asking me...to just stand back...and watch?", she stood up and faced him,"I...can't do that."

Rob chuckled to himself, "Rosa was right. You're just a teacher's pet in the end."

Julia took a step back, "What...did you say?"

"You heard me. A teacher's p-e-t.", Rob spelled out while pointing at her. He walked furiously past her, heading to the school's gate.

She stood in the same place, silent, as she saw Rob walking away.