Saving the Villain

The next two weeks had been strange for the entire Class F. The air was already different whenever the school bullies were around, and would quickly become lively whenever they skipped class. It might be terrible, but some students wished these proud delinquents just ruin their lives and dropped out of school completely.

No one could blame these students, though. Even though Remo and his lackeys hadn't done anything, their messy track record was enough to scare many students. For them, it was just a matter of time before these delinquents start picking on students.

However, this lingering fear was slowly replaced with worry.



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Why?

Well…

Sarah glanced at Cosette while the latter was enjoying her lunch. As usual, when the bell rang for lunch, they dragged their desk closer to each other to eat lunch. But it had been two weeks since their lunch time was mostly filled with silence with some occasional banter between Luke and Cosette.

Sarah then shifted her eyes to Fay, who didn't look affected by the stifling atmosphere as she ate so fast so her brain could work properly. Until now, Fay was on fire on getting better grades and her enthusiasm was like she was about to save the world. No one wanted to criticize her, though. It was good she was motivated.

When Sarah moved her eyes to Amie, the latter was looking back at her. Amie had a slightly pale complexion and her hands that were holding the cutlery were trembling. A deep exhale escape Sarah's nostrils as Amie lowered her eyes to focus on her barely touched food.

'It's been two weeks,' Sarah thought inwardly, letting out another sigh. 'Yet, she lost a lot of weight already.'

Her eyes then snapped at the person sitting beside Amie. Remo. That guy… those guys were the cause of Amie's fear.

Two weeks ago, Sarah and everyone in class F was so surprised when Luke dragged Remo's desk to join them for lunch. They could still remember how awkwardly silent that day was. And ever since then, Remo had been joining them for lunch.

Cosette was okay with it. Matter of fact, she even brought Remo a lunchbox one day, but it only happened once. No one knew what actually happened, but Remo brought his own lunchbox after that day. Perhaps, he refused her, and to stop her from giving him lunch, he brought it for himself.

They asked Cosette what happened and why they were being too chummy with Remo. After all, Remo bullied Maxen in the past, so, even if Maxen was fine with it, they expected Cosette and Luke to be angry with him. The only answer Cosette gave them was, "Remo isn't as bad as he looks. He might've done terrible things, but everyone deserves a second chance, right?"
'Goodness…' Sarah shook her head, deciding to keep her thoughts to herself like the past two weeks. 'I just figured out how to deal with my fear of Maxen, and now… Remo.'

Another deep exhale escaped her mouth as she ate, thinking how she had a tough time dealing with the inexplicable fear she had for Maxen. Although Maxen never did anything to harm her, the look in Maxen's eyes whenever they meet screamed, 'thief.'

Sarah nearly choked on her food when she felt someone's gaze on her side. When she turned her head carefully to see who it was, her back stiffened the moment she locked eyes with Maxen. The latter was wearing his classic plain expression, but that was still enough to scare Sarah.

'It's my fault.' She wept internally, and the reason was because of that incident months ago. 'I didn't mean to steal her first kiss!'

"Sarah, are you alright?" Sarah jolted when Cosette suddenly talked to her. "You look a bit pale."

"Ahh…" Sarah let out an awkward short laugh, forcing herself not to look in Maxen's direction.

"Are you sick?" Cosette inquired, and without further ado, raised her hand to check Sarah's temperature. The genuine worry and affection in Cosette's eyes, only raised Sarah's awareness of her surrounding. Sarah couldn't see it, but she was certain Maxen was glaring at her and already thought of ways to kill her alive!

"I – I'm fine." Sarah carefully drew her head back, forcing a smile on her face.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Sarah nodded profusely. "Of course. Don't worry about me."

When the worry in Cosette's eyes didn't disappear, Sarah cleared her throat and caught Amie's figure from the corner of her eyes.

"Actually." Sarah cleared her throat, moving closer while signaling Cosette to come closer. "I don't think Amie will be fine with this."

She pointed in Amie's direction with discretion. Amie just stuffed food in her mouth until her cheek was puffed, forcing herself to eat despite her fear of having Remo as her seatmate. It wasn't like Sarah was using Amie solely because she wanted to divert Cosette's attention. Sarah was deeply concerned about Amie, and it was also enough to distract Cosette.

"Oh… I thought she was fine with it," mumbled Cosette, remembering asking Amie if she was okay eating beside Remo. Amie said yes, and Cosette asked her again and again — even taking her to the restroom to talk to her privately.

Amie reassured her she was okay to sit with Remo, but it seemed she just didn't want Cosette to think she was being too picky. After all, Cosette had expressed her thoughts about Remo and voiced out she wanted to give Remo a chance and be his friend if possible.

"You know her." Sarah cast Cosette a side-eye. "She doesn't speak up for herself and will just agree on most things."

In their groups, Amie and Fay were the ones who had a very close relationship. The four of them — Cosette, Sarah, Amie, and Fay, were close, but there was just something special between Amie and Fay. It could be their many common interests despite that their personality were poles apart.

That was the reason Sarah and Cosette were already reassured that Amie would be fine. Amie had a meek personality, but Fay's mouth was unstoppable once she opened it. If something was wrong, Fay was quick to address it. And therefore, if someone was trying to take advantage of Amie's kindness, Fay was there to stop people from abusing Amie.

But now that Fay had her eyes on her studies that even right now, she was reading intensively right after she finished her lunch, no one was there to push Amie to speak for herself. Sarah and Cosette let out a deep exhale.

"I can switch chairs with her," said Sarah quietly, looking back at Cosette. "She should eat in my seat tomorrow. I think she's losing weight because she hadn't been eating properly."

"No." Cosette shook her head, making Sarah furrow her brows.

"No?"

"Mhm." Cosette let out another deep exhale, setting her eyes back to Amie. "I feel sorry for her, but… she needed to learn to stand up for herself and say, 'no' if she isn't comfortable with something."

"Cozie."

"Sarah." Cosette pursed her lips and shook her head slowly once again.

It was true that Cosette felt terrible about this, but she figured Amie had been too dependent on Fay. She knew Amie was just kind, but as her friend, she wanted Amie to learn how to refuse and speak her mind aloud. They were already growing older and before they knew it, they would be graduating and entering college.

They would just die in worry if they knew Amie was prone to get taken advantage of. Fay, Sarah, and Cosette wouldn't always be with her especially if they pursued different courses.

"Let's just watch from the sideline for now," added Cosette with a tinge of helplessness, trying her best to not get swayed since she had a soft spot for her friends. They were her first set of friends; Cosette didn't have any in their previous life, which was one of her regrets.

But treasuring them also meant allowing them to fly with their own wings and helping them resolve their problems with anything they can. And at the moment, Amie's problem was her trouble in refusing and the lack of courage to protect her boundaries.

"Alright." Sarah stared at Cosette for a moment and nodded in agreement. She then slowly set her eyes back to Amie, sighing for the umpteenth time during this entire lunchtime. "It might be hard, but I think that's for the better."

"Mhm."

Both Cosette and Sarah stared at each other before they sighed once more. They didn't talk about it anymore as the bell rang, dragging their desks and chairs to their original spot. Amie wasn't able to finish her lunch again and barely filled her stomach with water.

As the teacher entered their classroom, everyone tried their best to focus. Meanwhile, Fay, who was on fire just a moment ago, slightly calmed down. She cupped her cheek, keeping her pen on her upper lip while puckering her lip.

Her eyes then veered to Amie, noticing the latter's pale complexion. Fay let out a deep exhale before setting her eyes on the teacher in the front.