Prey

~Bismika's P.O.V.~

(At school)

Right now I'm standing in front of the school gate. I look at the large nameplate. ANTHONY J. HIGH SCHOOL.

Boys and girls with expensive outfits are flooding all over the ground. Anthony J. High is an elite school. Flat brokes like me don't go with its image. So considering my outfit I think I'm the most eligible candidate to claim the 'beggar' label.

Clutching the straps of my bag, I'm walking toward my locker. Gaze, straight down to the floor. Precaution against unnecessary eye contact. Like this, I can avoid everyone. Blending in the crowd is no biggie for lonesome like me.

Suddenly a vague noise reaches my ear. It's coming from the field. I slowly come near the window to see what's happening down there.

A school bus, 'J. High Soccer Team' printed on its body, is surrounded by all the excited students. Tall, well-built players are getting down from the bus. Some of them are already busy kissing and hugging their girlfriends. Ughh! Talk about being gooey.

Everyone was cheering for the team. I guess the school team won some tournament.

"They are awesome." I hear some guy with blond hair, standing near me, speak. "Ya. They are so cool. Do you think that we also can get into the team?"- another guy with chocolate brown hair, blondie's friend I suppose, replies. I look in their direction. Their eyes are glittering with amusement.

"Poor guys."- I mutter inaudibly. Little do they know that this cool pack has a 'premium cruel package' among them. Oh, and how can I forget that Satan now has his flesh and blood here? I can't believe Liam's relative will be anything but bad. I shivered at the horror idea that I might have to deal with another bloodsucker here.

With a heavy head, I enter my classroom. The lack of presence of students in the class gives me some relief. I think most are still busy gawking at those hot-shot players down there. I take my sit in a corner of the class. I kill my time thinking of ways to avoid Liam the Lucifer. The bell ring as the students fill the class and I clear my mind to focus on the class.

_________________________________

It's time for lunch and so far, for now, I've been successfully avoiding Liam. Every lunchtime, I either do my homework or read books in the library. I don't eat my lunch in the cafeteria. The scenario of students talking with friends and sharing their lunch only highlights my lonesomeness. And now that I know Liam is here, there's no way I'm going to go to a place where he might be.

So, covering my 'most wanted' face with the least presentable hoodie, I walk towards the library. 'Please. Don't get caught. Don't get caught. Don't ge.. AAAAHHH'

I feel a strong yank on my left arm. And the next second, there's a hand, placed on my mouth, restricting me from screaming. Looking at those ferocious eyes, I start to quiver with fear.

"Did my bitch miss her Master?"- Liam kinda hisses as he removes his hand from my mouth. He has pulled me into the janitor closet. And I believe his friends are also outside, keeping an eye on the place so no one can interfere in their damn busyness.

"Cat got your tongue, bitch?"- I hear the anger in his voice.

I'm still silent, too scared to form any word, anticipating his next move. He slowly places his hand behind my hair and pulls them violently. It feels like my skull is tearing apart.

"I'm not here to waste my f*cking time on garbage like you. If I ask you something, you'll answer obediently."- Liam spits it like venom.

Well, I've heard those orders before. But the reality is, even if I had answered his ridiculous question, he would still continue the torture for some other stupid excuse.

His tightened grip on my hair has made my teary eyes roll back in my head. And then a sharp slap causes tears to flow down my pale cheeks. I'm biting my inner lips to restrain myself from screaming. My face right now must be looking like a horror masterpiece!

Liam takes a deep breath with satisfaction as he admires his artwork on my cheeks. Then, he hands me 3 copies and I know who they belong. "My homework needs to be perfect and on time."- his stern voice comes again. "Use all the smart brain cells that your garbage brain can afford. And if not, I might break this scull to see what type of shit it protects actually." This time he grabs my hair and shoves me down to the floor. "Laters, loser,"- exiting the door, he spits the fact.

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(In the school auditorium)

I'm standing with thousands of overexcited students, cheering for the school soccer team while our Principal is proudly enlightening us about the victory. And my stinging cheek and strong headache doing their best to keep me ignorant of all these hustles and bustles.

I press my temple with my fingers. After that face-off with Liam, I wanted to spend some time alone to calm myself down. BUT NO! We had to gather here as the principal had to declare victory in the presence of all the students. Now I've to sit here in the crowd for no reason at all. And not to mention the very precious and useless speech of his, which is going on for the last 15 minutes. I close my eyes to shut all the thoughts and relax a bit.

Suddenly the cheers turn into roars. I look up to the podium and MAAANN! Pain, sadness, regrets nothing seems enough to restrain me from admiring the look of this man. For the first time, I'm seeing the captain. I believe the specimen before me is not less than 6'3" and looking at his figure anyone can tell that he is a pro-athlete. All in all, he is breathtaking!

He places the trophy on the dais and one of the volunteers hands him a microphone.

"We wild souls are always hungry to win. We are wolves,"- his husky voice floats through the speaker. "We win and,"- he holds the microphone towards the students' direction to get a response. And imitating real wolves, all the students howl! Well, all except me. Cause, my every brain cell is busy right now at the thought of this hot wolf being the relative of that hyena. But before getting to any conclusion, I see Mr. Handsome staring at me in fascination, as I am the only indifferent soul in the crowd.

________________________________

The painful journey of school life has finished today. Big relief! Note the sarcasm in my statement.

I don't want Liam to catch me again to continue his torment and I need to borrow some books from the library. So, I've planned to spend a good amount of time in the library.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Rosario."- I smile at our cheerful librarian.

"Good afternoon, Bismika baby."- Mrs. Rosario replies without looking at me.

-"You are good at recognizing people's voices. Well, I'm looking for these bo-"

-"Bismika? Are you not feeling well? Why are you wearing this mask?"

Now she's looking at me.

-"Oh nothing serious. I just sneezed quite a few times in the morning. So I thought I should better wear a mask than spraying viruses."

Now she is laughing at my answer. I wish I could show her the purple fingerprints on my cheek!

Speaking of the mask, my mind diverts at the thought of that eye interaction from earlier. That dude's stare sure had shaken me from the core. However, I mentally patted my shoulder for wearing a mask. I had to wear it to hide my bruised cheek. But now I am a little grateful to think that, because of the cover, Mr. Handsome won't recognize me in the future.

"But I'm a little upset to see you like this."- Mrs. Rosario's words pull me back from my thoughts.

"Girls were crazy today! All were dolled up to impress Aiden. The dude sure knows how to get into girls' dreams,"- she laughs and then pouts at me.

So, that handsome face is Aiden.

-" And here my baby girl has to wear this and hide her face." Her babyish voice and puppy eyes make me laugh. Genuine laughter.

-"Well, I don't think anyone would notice me even without a mask." I don't want anyone to notice me either.

-"Ughhh. Don't be so pessimistic. I would have a crush on you if I were a boy"

-"The feeling is mutual, Mrs. Rosario."

Mrs. Rosario again laughs.

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When I finish all the formalities of the library and receive the desired books, the school becomes very quiet. I think most of the students already left.

Now I'm walking in the lonely parking lot and thinking about the chores I gotta finish once I'm home. Suddenly the pungent smell of tobacco makes my head raised. Not again! Sh*t!

This time, it's the captain!

That big guy, staring at me right now, is just telling me that I am not alone here. Sh*t! He already has seen me. If I take a U-turn, I'll just make things more uncomfortable.

Without looking at him I fasten my pace. He just stared at me once in the hall room and it was not like he had seen my face. So, it's no big deal that, I was being weird for not responding to their weirdest method of celebration! And even if I was too weird to ignore all that commotion, it's not like he has spare time to knock some sense into me.

-'Nothing will happen. Nothing will happen. Nothing will-'

-"What happened to your cheek?"