1.3 | Under The Pink Evening Sky | ✓

3 | bullies

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Sana dug out her money and counted the notes carefully. There had to be at least 3 notes - 50, 20 and 10.

It was all there. Satisfied, she tucked the notes back in and pocketed the purse.

"What are you doing?" Asked a voice behind her. She felt particularly annoyed every time she heard the voice.

"I'm dancing."

"You suck at dancing."

Sana's eyes narrowed. She turned back. "How are you sure that I suck? You've never seen me dance."

"Well, you're saying you're dancing right now but it's not entertaining at all. So, you probably suck at dancing."

Sana felt words disappear from her mind. Hadn't this guy heard of sarcasm?

Deciding to ignore him, she stood up, patting her pocket carefully.

"Where are you heading off to?" Shrest followed her.

Sana rolled her eyes. "What's it to you?"

Shrest glanced at her pocket. "You're going to the cafeteria?"

"I don't know. You tell me."

"I'll come along."

Sana gave him a stink eye. "You have money?"

He shook his head.

"Then, how can you eat there?"

"I'll come back to class and eat later."

"Then, why come with me?"

Shrest grinned. "To annoy you."

Sana narrowed her eyes and looked away. Ignore the opponent. She could do this.

As they padded to the cafeteria meant for the elementary school kids, two humongous giants blocked their path.

Shrest and Sana looked up. They were clearly being blocked by high schoolers. Shrest slowly pushed Sana behind him.

"Please move out of the way."

"What did you say, kid?"

"Move out of the way, please."

"We'll get to that eventually. But first, you need to pay us."

"Pay you for what?" Sana boldly voiced.

"For us moving out of the way, of course."

Other highschoolers caught sight of what was happening and hurried away in the direction of whichever teacher they could find.

"We can't pay you. Now, move please." Sana responded, frustrated.

"If you can't pay, we won't move." The two highschoolers grinned between themselves.

"This is not funny. I only have ten minutes to get lunch. Please move."

"So you do have money? Give me some, won't you?" They grinned a little more.

Shrest felt his temper build up. "We won't. We absolutely won't-"

One of the high schoolers punched his shoulder and he fell to the side, scraping his knee. Sana gasped and bent towards him.

"Shrest, are you okay?"

She heard a groan in return.

Before the highschoolers could do anything more, they heard the sound of some students rushing towards the boy and fled the scene, worried that a teacher could catch them.

Quickly, one of the highschoolers took Sana to the cafeteria and another high schooler took Shrest to the infirmary.

Managing a quick meal, Sana hurried back to the classroom to find her teacher seated inside.

She reported the incident to the teacher, who quickly went to find the coordinator. Then, Sana sat at her desk, glancing at the door every few minutes.

She waited out the last few periods.

But Shrest didn't come back.

Once the bell rang signaling the end of the school day, she packed up his belongings and fled to the infirmary.

"Are you really hurt?"

Shrest shook his head, his fist tightening and his gaze downward. Sana had never seen the proud boy look anywhere but straight ahead. This was a new sight to her. She felt respect bloom within her. It was enough to erase all the grievances she felt against him.

"Here, put this bandage on. The girl who helped me gave me this."

The nurse from the infirmary smiled. "It's good that you got a bandage. We ran out of bandages here."

Shrest began hurrying away from the infirmary after collecting his bag from her.

"Wait, put on the bandage."

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's too..."

"What?"

"There's Barbie on it, Sana. I'm not wearing it."

"Does it matter?"

"Of course it does."

Sana let out a long sigh. "You hold onto your pride at the wrong times."

"Thank you."

"It wasn't a compliment."

Shrest huffed, as he plopped down on the lawn outside his block. Sana caught sight of his elder brother and a girl walking towards them. Quickly, she padded over to them and explained the incident.

After giving the girl her bandage, she cast one last look at Shrest. Then, she hurried to her bus.

Only one thought had been revolving in her mind throughout. He was an irritating boy but he wasn't that bad.

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wordcount: 700 words

[behind the scenes]

"Don't you know? There have been so many bullying incidents recently. So my mom told me not go to the cafeteria."

Shrest blinked as he digested all the information his friend was throwing at him. He, then, glanced to the side and saw Sana counting her money. He watched her, carefully. 

"-and they keep taking away the money. That's the bullying they do."

Shrest glanced at Sana's purse and then, stood up heading to her direction

"Hey, where are you going?" His friend asked.

"I'm walking her to the cafeteria."