Gears of Harmony

Episode 20 - Beyond

Days passed since then. One day, I was on my way walking to school when I spotted some third years passing by as they were gossiping. I recognised one of them as Julius. He was talking to some other guys as he walked towards the entrance.

"Nah, I heard that Andrew was blackmailed by someone?" said one of the guys.

"No joke, someone sent him a scandalous tape!" said Julius, "and told him to stay away from Amelia if he doesn't want it to be tagged to his social media by numerous re-roll accounts! That's really going to jeopardise his chance with the top-tier unis and in finding jobs!"

"Who could have done that?" asked another guy, "that's so scary,"

Hmm, hmm... I thought in satisfaction, and that is why guys, you don't mess with me...

I just kept walking as I watched my shoes. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and came face to face with a pair of familiar sharp blue eyes.

"Yes?" I asked and fluttered my lashes.

"Wina," he said, sighing as he nodded upstairs.

~~~

"What? Me? You're suspecting me?" I asked as we stepped into the rooftop.

"Who else?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, "there's only one possible answer,"

"Only one possible answer? This is prejudice," I said and looked a him, a little teary-eyed.

"But did you do it?" he asked, folding his arms.

I stayed silent for a moment, walking to the balcony and looking at the students going to and fro the school gate. He sighed and stood beside me.

"Wina, I'm not going to tell him or anything," he said, "why do you think I asked you to talk here? But really, you have to be honest with me,"

Sighing, I turned to him.

"Fine, you're right," I said, "it was me. How do you always find out?"

"You think?" he asked and crossed his arms.

"Well, okay, maybe I sound sus the other day," I said and rolled my eyes, "but you just can't let a guy like that roam free! Do you know what else Amy told me? She said Andrew jerked off to that middle-aged biology teacher who's married with a teenage son... ugh, God, that was disgusting to even say..."

He turned around leaned his back slightly on the balcony. I could see that he was alerting his gaze with a stiffened expression, as if trying not to show any emotion, though he noticeably cringed a little.

"And when they were talking about me too! That creep told Amy that I'm cute – who knows what he's done on his own time!" I said and scrunched my face, "and that he has been trying to figure out every girl's chest sizes, including hers- look, this isn't just about Amy, this guy's just objectifying women right and left! This is getting out of the line!"

"I get your point," he said, sighing as he put a hand to my face, telling me to stop, "he's done some inappropriate things and I admit it's getting out of the line. I heard about them too- I saw someone from your cohort storming in and giving him a lecture about it a few Saturdays ago at the debate club,"

He turned to the balcony with a hand put to his forehead.

"You despise him and you're doing this in your friend's stead," he said, "since she's too indecisive and hence kept getting hit on when she actually doesn't like it,"

"Exactly," I said and looked up to the sky, "this is getting way too much. I mean, you just don't say those kind of things to girls, do you?"

"Well, I don't, but..." he said, "some people do, whether they say it early on like Andrew or much later in the relationship. There are just those kinds of people,"