11. Criminal

11. CRIMINAL

A first-year beautiful girl took the food tray from the counter. "Thank you," she said, walking towards her table with her friend. As she walked and talked with her friend, she accidentally bumped into someone, causing her to fall.

She saw a guy, probably in his third year, standing in front of her with food stains on his shirt, looking furious. "Sorry," the girl said as she got up.

"Hey, can't you watch where you're going?" he shouted angrily, drawing attention from others.

"Sorry, sir, it was a mistake," she apologized, realizing her error. "I'm really sorry about this."

"You know," he murmured.

"What?" she asked, hoping he would forgive her.

"You know the cost of this shirt? You just stained my most expensive shirt!" he shouted, making her tremble suddenly.

"Sorry, sir, I will compensate," she repeatedly apologized, on the verge of tears from fear.

"Compensate?" he said with a malicious smile, putting his hand on her shoulder. "In what way could you compensate me?" he asked, making her feel scared and uncomfortable.

"Money," she said slowly, trembling even as her friends were scared by his demeanor. "I will give you the full amount for the shirt."

"Money? I have a better option," he replied, squeezing her shoulder with a creepy grin. "I will show you what happens when someone messes with seniors," he said, making everyone in the cafeteria look at her, tears running from her eyes.

"Hey, you," a calm voice called out to the senior guy. He turned around to see Marcus sitting at a nearby table with Lily, eating his sandwich. Marcus's eyes were calm yet serious, causing the senior guy to tremble in his presence.

"You're too damn loud. Should I come and settle your argument?" Marcus said calmly, silencing everyone around him. The guy removed his hand from the trembling girl.

"Marcus Stonsis," the guy murmured in fear, then turned back to the girl. "Give me the money, hurry!" he said urgently.

She took out the money from her bag and handed it to him, and he quickly took it and ran away. The girl's attention shifted to Marcus, who was silently eating his sandwich.

"Let's go," her friend said, and they left, while everyone returned to their own tasks.

"Wow, he did it again," Billy remarked, amazed by Marcus's quick resolution of the situation, watching the whole thing from their table.

"Thank God he didn't fight, or else it would've been a complete mess," Austin remarked.

"Thank God," Evelyn added with a smile.

"He was like a criminal. Why do they allow him in the university?" they overheard some girl talking to her friends on a nearby bench, prompting Evelyn to turn towards them.

Observing them, they noticed four girls in stylish dresses, probably in the same year as them, second years. "Look at his scar, it's creepy," one said. "Why do we girls need his protection?"

"We can't enjoy college life because of his own rules," another girl said. "They should terminate this monster from the university."

Annie, Austin, and Billy calmly listened to them while Evelyn grew irritated by their words, holding back her anger. Not only were they talking badly about him, but most of the cafeteria seemed to share the sentiment. Marcus could hear them all but wasn't bothered, eating his snacks, while Lily seemed bothered by it.

"Enough!" Evelyn shouted, slamming the table and getting up from her seat in frustration. "Don't you guys value him? You only know our university is prestigious, but does anyone know the number of harassment cases? Every girl would fear to join this university because of harassment, even me. But Marcus changed it. After he joined, the cases dropped to ten percent from their average. But no one ever appreciates him, only criticizes him? Yes, he's a monster, the guardian monster. So be thankful to him or afraid of him. What's wrong with saving girls from harassment? Did he commit a crime? Did he misbehave with any girls? Did he set up any strict rules? He was getting arrested just for saving girls from harassment. He's the best guy I've ever seen. Got it?"

Evelyn delivered a long speech without taking a breath, venting all her frustration, which silenced everyone as they watched her.

Suddenly, they heard claps, and it was Billy and Austin.

"I never knew you were capable of giving motivational speeches," Billy teased, and Evelyn realized what she had done, sitting back down embarrassingly.

"Don't worry," Billy added, "you stood up for what's right," which made Evelyn proud and everyone joined in clapping with them.

Lily watched the whole thing in shock, mouth open, then shifted her gaze to Marcus, who was eating his food with a blush and a small smile on his face.

"Oh, are you blushing?" Lily teased, nudging him slightly. "Were you happy that Evelyn stood up for you?"

"Shut up," Marcus tried not to answer, which made Lily laugh at his shyness.

"Come on, don't be shy," she said, tapping her hand on his back. "You don't have to act cool around the girl you like. Just be yourself, like Billy did yesterday."

"I can't risk getting slapped in front of everyone," Marcus replied, "and thanks for the snacks. I'll repay you again."

"Did I ever ask you to return my money?" she asked, frustrated, which Marcus observed.

"I mean, I can't always take money from you," Marcus tried to cover up.

"Why?" she asked, still frustrated. "Your part-time money is only sufficient for rent and basic essentials. How can you pay me back?" she teased.

"Well..." he trailed off, unable to find the right words, and Lily smiled at his behavior.

"You can pay me back after you get a good job. Until then, the treat is mine," she said.

"Hey, Marcus," someone called him, and he turned back to see a handsome guy wearing fashionable clothes and another guy just as handsome beside him.

Lily blushed at the presence of Robert.

"Hi, Robert," Lily greeted shyly.

"Hey, Jake, Robert," Marcus smiled at their presence. "Join us," he invited.

"It seems you did something cool again," Jake, the rich and handsome senior, asked him.

"You'll be the talk of the day again," Robert added.

"Nothing much, just stopped an argument," Marcus replied calmly.

"Oh, I forgot. Thanks for the anime recommendations, man. I enjoyed it," Marcus added happily.

"Come on, our online group always shares some good recommendations."

Annie noticed Marcus talking to Jake. "Hey, guys, look, it's Jake," she said excitedly, looking at him.

"Yeah, yeah, the handsome rich senior guy from the third year in computer administration," Austin said nonchalantly.

"You like him, right?" Billy teased, embarrassing Annie.

"Leave it aside. What will you do about Amy now?" she asked him, trying to deflect the question.

"Well, I gave permission to try for her, but with the condition of not harassing her," Austin answered.

"I've never seen an older brother who encourages his little brother to love older women," Evelyn teased, chuckling.

"Hey, I'm not the little brother. We're just three months apart," Billy argued, which made Evelyn, Austin, and Annie laugh.

"What will you do if he breaks the promise, Austin?" Annie inquired.

"Well, I'll hand him over to big sis, and she'll take care of him from there," Austin answered.

"I'm not a little kid to be cared for by big sis or you," Billy said, frustrated.

"Then explain the things that happened," Austin argued, and they both started a sibling verbal fight, while Annie and Evelyn chuckles by thier fight.