Amethyst's Treasure

CHAPTER 4: Echoes of the Past

While the other students enjoyed their lunch in the canteen, I sat in the classroom alone, the emptiness of my stomach gnawing at me. My mother hadn't given me money for lunch, nor packed me anything to eat. All I had was a bottle of water to quench my thirst. I tried to focus on something else, anything to distract from the hunger.

Suddenly, the classroom door creaked open. I looked up to see the three boys who had helped Queena yesterday—Anthony, Luigi, and Arsha—approaching me. They were my juniors, but they walked with a sense of purpose, like messengers on an important mission.

Anthony, the skinny one, spoke first. "Our Queen sends us to deliver a message. She warns you not to stalk her again."

I raised an eyebrow, confused. "Your Queen? You guys are Queena's subordinates now?"

"So what if we are?" Luigi, the chubby one, crossed his arms, standing taller. "Queena is amazing. She's beautiful, strong, and smart. She's perfect. So yeah, we decided to devote our lives to her."

"Fanboys," I murmured under my breath.

The three of them exchanged proud glances, as if I had complimented them. "Yeah, that's what we are!" they said in unison.

Arsha, the quiet one who barely spoke, added, "And she also said, 'I won't hurt anyone here. This has nothing to do with Leon or To...'" He trailed off, trying to imitate Queena's voice and gesture.

"Who are they to her?" Luigi asked, sipping from a carton of milk through a straw.

"Queena's like a mystery, though," Anthony said, looking dreamy. "A mysterious Queen from Wonderland. It's amazing, right?"

I rolled my eyes, struggling to hide my annoyance. 'Oh boys, you're still young... Why waste your time on this nonsense? Why not study harder instead of devoting yourselves to a vampire?'

As I sat there, tuning out their endless praise for Queena, my eyes wandered through the doorway the room—and then I saw him. Rio.

He was standing by the doorway, and our eyes met for a brief second before he made his way toward me. My pulse quickened. Without a word, he pulled a chair and sat in front of me, his expression serious but soft.

"Hey," he started, his voice low. "I'm sorry about last time. I didn't mean for things to get out of hand. Those girls started everything."

I tried to act indifferent. "It's fine. I didn't mind."

But as I said those words, I could feel the weight of the stares around us. The girls from the other class watched us, eyes filled with a mix of envy and confusion. Rio was popular, and me—well, I was nobody.

He didn't seem to care about the attention, though. "Why are you still here with these losers? You didn't eat lunch."

I forced a smile. "I'm fine. Just not hungry."

He studied me for a moment, and I could tell he didn't believe me. But instead of pushing, he nodded and stood up. "Alright. See you later, then."

Rio left. And those girls also left in whispers.

I decided to head to the canteen after all, needing a change of scenery from the classroom. As I entered, my gaze immediately landed on Malvin, sitting at a table, chatting animatedly with Queena. His expression was unusually cheerful, like he was enjoying every moment of their conversation. When he saw me, he raised his hand and waved, beckoning me to come over.

Queena followed his gaze and locked eyes with me. Her stare was intense, unreadable. I hesitated but slowly made my way toward them. As soon as I reached the table, Queena gently patted Malvin on the shoulder, flashed a mysterious smile, and left, her figure disappearing into the crowd of students.