Chapter 19

Little by little, I began to forget the pain caused by my love for Keivan because Alzid was always by my side. I treasured what we had—our friendship.

It was P.E. class, and we were stretching. My partner was Alzid. I had just finished recording his time for his stretches, so now it was my turn.

"Come on, reach for your toes, Laine. You can do it," he said as I tried to reach my feet while sitting on the floor, but my hands just couldn't reach them.

"Ugh, I can't do it. My knees hurt—I feel like they're going to break," I said, struggling.

"Laine, come here," our teacher called out to me, so Alzid helped me stand up, and I walked over to our teacher.

"What is it, sir?" I asked.

"Did you do something wrong? Mr. Lino wants to speak with you. Go to the faculty room," he said, surprising me. I didn't even know who Mr. Lino was, so why was he calling me?

"Okay, sir," I said, turning to leave.

"Laine, where are you going?" Alzid asked, running up to me.

"To the faculty room. A teacher wants to see me," I replied.

"Huh? Why?" he asked, confused.

"I don't know either," I said.

"I'll come with you," he said. Thankfully, the teacher wasn't looking, so Alzid was able to sneak out with me.

"Oh no, Laine, what if you're in big trouble?" Alzid said as we walked toward the faculty room.

"You're making me even more nervous," I said irritably, though I was already feeling anxious myself. Finally, we reached the faculty room.

Alzid waited outside while I went in and quickly found Mr. Lino's desk.

"Are you Laine?" he asked immediately.

"Yes, sir, I am," I answered.

"Someone pointed out that you were the one spitting from the rooftop," he said, causing my eyes to widen and my heart to pound in fear at what I had just heard.

"Was that you?" His tone was angry, and I was too scared to respond.

"Answer me! Was it you?!" he shouted, drawing the attention of some teachers in the room.

"Y-Yes," I said in a soft voice, but it was enough for him to hear.

"My God, I can't believe it. So it was really you. And I was the one hit by your disgusting spit," he said angrily.

"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to," I said, still feeling nervous.

"You're in high school, miss. You're acting like a child. Because of that, you'll be punished," he said.

"I'll accept it. I'm really sorry," I said.

"Run five laps around the oval. No breaks," he ordered.

"W-What? But sir—"

"No buts! Start running, or I'll call your parents and tell them about your disgraceful behavior!" he threatened. I panicked—my aunt must not find out about this; she would be furious with me. I had no choice but to do it.

"Run now!" he shouted.

"Wait!" Alzid suddenly stepped forward.

"Please don't punish her. Punish me instead. I'm the one truly at fault. I started the spitting on the rooftop," he said quickly. I just stared at him. Why was he getting himself involved?

"So you were the one who started it?" the teacher said, still angry.

"Yes, sir, I did. So please punish me instead, not Laine," he said seriously.

I couldn't speak. I was just stunned as Alzid kept insisting that I shouldn't be punished, only him.

"Because of this, both of you will run around the oval. Start now," he ordered.

"But sir—"

"No more buts!" he cut me off.

I held Alzid's hand.

"Come on, it's okay. I can handle this," I said, pulling him out of the faculty room.