Leanna

[Leanna]

[Pests]

[ One thousand bucks.

Tonight at my place.

– J ]

I crumpled the note and resumed writing on my notebook, ignoring the snickering and silent mockery of my name. I knew these people were taking this opportunity to attack me while Estela was not here at the moment.

That girl was absent for three days now.

I wonder if something happened.

When the bell rang, I packed my things and made my way towards the cafeteria to meet Zoe.

The cafeteria was located strategically at the center of the campus and meters away from every buildings and department.

I ignored the whistles and catcalls from the boys who were sitting on the benches in one of the mini-parks surrounding the cafeteria.

My hand stretched to open the canteen's door when two men barged my way. I treated them as air and circled my way around them.

Unfortunately, they kept getting in my way, not letting me through.

The laughter of the boys and the giggling of the girls irritated my ears.

"Woah! Where are you going in such a hurry, love?!"

I forced my eyes to stare at them.

"You're in my way," I said in a calm manner.

The tall skinny man with blonde hair and piercings grinned at me.

"Hot damn! You're even prettier up close! And that bod sure is a turn on," he said and whistled.

My dead expression remained dead.

"We heard you'll sleep with anyone for money. How about it? We can negotiate the starting price," said the fat guy beside the blonde man.

I even heard the fat guy's scruffy breathing as he roamed his dirty eyes all over my body while I, on the other hand, wanted to cover my nose at the disgusting stench coming out from his sweaty flesh.

There must be something going on as to why these two would harass me in broad daylight.

"Move.Out.Of.My.Way," I warned.

Instead of feeling intimidated, the two got excited with my remarked.

"A girl who is calm on the outside, but a ragging wild temptress in the inside! I like that!" The blonde man licked his lips as if that would make him look seductive.

The fat guy seemed to be in heat as he could no longer resist and reached his hand to grab mine.

"Don't play hard to get. We will pay you––!"

Fatty didn't finish his sentence when I took a side step and extended my leg when he approached me. He tripped and lost his balance as he fell hard, face flat on the ground.

I felt the ground quaked from his fall.

"Hey, are you alright?!" Blondie helped his friend up while Fatty fumed in anger from humiliation and embarrassment.

He was the type who was short-tempered and hot-blooded. The type that is easy to deal with.

"You slut!" Fatty roared, kicking dust as he stormed at me.

"Hey, don't!" Blondie attempted to stop him, but fatty only jerked his body away from his grasp.

Fatty rage like a cornered boar as he rushed in my direction. When he was inches away, I bent my knees, and with all my weight –– struck him with my palm, straight on his jaw.

His body flew from the impact and with a loud –– THUD! He laid motionless on the ground, teary eyes, sweaty face and choking with all his saliva, dripping from his disgusting mouth.

I strode to him. Cold and ready to kill. My leg rose, the pointy stiletto shining from the edge as I brought down the deadly weapon straight to his groin.

"DON'T!"

Screams and cries hang in the air as my stiletto hammered inches away from his groin.

"Don't. Ever. Call. Me. Slut," I hissed.

Fatty's face was so pale it was cadaver like. His body laid paralyzed with shock and fear.

Not long after, a pungent smell stained the air.

"H-He wet himself!"

"Ewww!"

I frowned and lifted my leg while Fatty flinched. Probably thinking that I would strike my deadly stiletto at his groin again, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted on top of his piss.

HMP! I sneered and looked at the blonde guy. He audibly gulped, fear and panic in his eyes as he kept his shaking to a minimum.

I raised an eyebrow at him, and he scurried to the side, stumbling along the way. As if nothing happened, I flipped my hair and sashayed into the cafeteria.

----

[Leanna]

[Rumors]

"Did you see that?! Young miss doesn't even need our help! She can totally protect herself!"

"Heh! I'm afraid it is our young master who'll need protection from her."

They giggled.

"Ladies, focus," said a high pitch no-nonsense female voice. "Thirteen, have you gotten the names of those two boys yet?"

"Edward Walsh and Reynold Barks."

A ghostly pale, stunning woman with long silver hair snorted. The dead air revolving around her told everyone that she was the leader of the pack.

And 'coincidentally,' she was also the Russian professor at Artem University.

"Just a puny family dared to act so arrogant in front of young miss?"

"Should we inform young master?"

The pale woman focused her attention outside her private office. Her eyes narrowed, pupils constricting, locking at the skinny and fat boy.

"No need. Those two are not even worth a second of young master's time."

"What should we do then? Young master said to torture anyone who dares to harm young miss."

A wicked, seductive smile that sent a feeling of impending calamity coated the pale woman's face.

"Hmm . . . The purple room appears to be empty nowadays . . ."

*gasp

The women exchanged glances. All of them were seasoned assassins and skilled in the arts of torture, individually handpicked by Master Russell himself. However, they still shivered at the pale, woman's methods of administering pain.

She is indeed the head of the pack!

"They want some excitement? Let's give it to them."

----

"Hey! Are you alright?!"

I snapped my fingers in front of Zoe's daydreaming face.

"H-huh . . . W-what?" Zoe blinked a few times before her eyes regained its clarity.

"What's wrong with you?! I said, "Did something happened with your dinner with your stepmom? You were absent yesterday. I called you, but you didn't answer."

Zoe's expression flickered with killing intent at the mention of her stepmother. Her face then puffed red within seconds, changing into one of a love-struck fool as if she remembered something.

My browse crumpled. This is serious! Something must have happened!

Zoe cleared her throat and avoided my questioning gaze. "N-nothing . . . happened . . . ," she said with a face full of guilt. She then shook her head and returned my scrutinizing stare. "Don't worry about me. Let's worry about you."

"What do you mean?" I pretended.

"Don't act like you don't know. There are rumors about you circulating at the start of the school. But it escalates the moment that jerk face-asshole-Rowan approached you. Is he still targeting you?"

"Yes." I shrugged, not a care that Rowan's been taking every opportunity to get closer to me ever since Estela's absence.

Zoe punched her fist against her palm, ready to wage war. "That asshole and those bitches. I'm sure they're behind all of this!"

She pointed her finger at me. "And you! I can't believe you're so nonchalant about all of this! They're slandering your name, you know!"

I restrained my eye roll. "No need to concern about those rumors. It'll just stress you out."

Zoe exhaled an exhilarating sigh while tilting her head. "I'm so jealous that you can be so unaffected with all of this."

I'd lie if I said I wasn't. But my extreme laziness and 'don't give a fuck' attitude dominated.

I learned through experience that if you want to live a happy-lazy-stress free-carefree life, you'd just have to roll with all the shit everyone throws at you.

It's just rumors. It'll die down.

I just hope those spreading the rumors would not cross the final line.. Even my 'no care' attitude has its limits.