Pretzels

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"It gives me strength to have somebody to fight for; I can never fight for myself, but, for others, I can kill." –Emilie Autumn

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I vaguely remember the weeks that had passed after that first night.

My childhood memories were a fuzzy blur but some moments remained in fragments.

Some were sad or traumatic but there was one specific day that I kept close to my heart.

That day when I learned to fight back was the same day that I made my first Academia friend.

As I became accustomed to my new life, I found myself changing into someone I was not.

A credit-driven or recognition-seeking ambivert.

I still had not met with Lord White.

Nor did I get any valuable information about him and his whereabouts.

But I was told that he was expecting more talent from me.

A discreet reminder to up my game.

The unbelievably advanced school curriculum had me challenged to a point wherein I often questioned myself if I had a brain or if it was just soggy noodles in there.

Was I really intelligent enough to compete with other gifted children?

Why was I the only one who didn't understand anything?

I had spent days struggling to catch up to the progress of the other kids from our Class A, the top class.

Most of the students did not seem to care about me or the fact that I was adopted by Astra's CEO, Lord White, except for one girl who reminded me of Goldilocks.

She wore expensive frilly dresses and had aqua eyes with long blonde hair curled like telephone-wires.

"You," Lizzie pointed at my face. "You are nothing more than a pretend princess here."

I still couldn't tell why she hated me so much.

There was nothing about me that she had to envy about.

Lizzie lived a comfortable life compared to mine. She was from a nouveau family and a rumored famous one, they say.

Despite her better status, she had grown a fixation towards me.

A hatred I never fully understood.

Yet as far as I could remember, I had done nothing wrong to her or to any of her peers.

Being the bigger person was not always as easy as it sounded.

But I was the new kid.

That pretty much left me with no choice but to suck it up and pretend I never heard any of her insults.

I picked up my notebook and pencil, preparing to leave the study room.

As advised by Scarlett, I had learned to tolerate most of Lizzie's verbal attacks after weeks of being the star in her perpetual hate speeches which seemed to worsen each time.

I'd loved to think that I was maturing into a patient and good-natured terran but that day Lizzie's words attacked old wounds inside me which led to a fateful meeting with a mysterious friend.

"You act so pure and innocent but the truth is you're the smartest among us," she pushed me forcefully which caused me to painfully fall back to my seat.

"You sold yourself not only because that was the easiest way to earn money," she began, mockingly.

"But because the Whites are vieux and you're ashamed of your dirty pauvre family!"

My chinky eyes narrowed into slits as soon as she spoke the last parts of her monologue.

"You don't get to talk about my family like that!" I screamed, slapping her cheek with a force that caused her to stumble a few steps back.

It was satisfying.

To see her startled and wide-eyed with a hand on her stinging cheek.

The satisfaction from hurting her was exhilarating after enduring weeks of unjust bullying.

Something cruel inside me awoke and wanted more.

A demonic rage seemed to have possessed me when I growled wildly and tackled her down on the floor.

We lost the ability to think.

We wrestled like jungle animals and screamed incoherent words while the room fell into utter chaos.

It did not take long before Sir Butchenberg had burst from the corridor and managed to separate Lizzie's golden head from my hands.

Lizzie had scratched my cheeks and arms into little bruises and gash but I had pulled a handful of her golden locks and a glaring red mark grew on her cheek from where I had slapped her with all my might.

That did not turn out well at all.

But something inside me was pleased.

I was so glad Scarlett was out of campus that day.

I would have been too embarrassed to face her if she were the one who had to play referee between Lizzie and me.

"She started it," Lizzie immediately cried a waterfall of tears.

She sobbed pitifully as she mended lies into a full blown fabricated story of how the uncivilized Skyler attacked a thoughtful Lizzie.

Like the best actress she had always been, she managed to convince Butchenberg that I attacked her first.

But knowing how much Butchenberg disliked me he would have chosen to punish me even without Lizzie's impeccable acting skills.

Hell, he would have punished me for anything really.

So after the fiasco, I sat on the cold cemented floor stuck in the dark detention room to reflect on my unbecoming actions.

I stared off into space, trying to ignore my grumbling stomach.

That night, I was told that no dinner would be served for me.

Butchenberg justified that it was a lesson because all students must abide to the Academia's rules including a princess adopted by Lord White.

I gazed at the ticking wall clock, the only item inside the room.

It was boring staying there.

All by myself.

I still had four more hours in detention.

My eyes grew heavier by the second.

"Hello."

I rubbed my sleepy eyes.

I thought I heard a sound but I guess I was getting too hungry and tired.

I had begun imagining things.

"Over here," a tiny voice sounded again.

Was I really imagining it?

I scanned the room but it was completely dark with barely any light except for a tiny crack on the wooden door.

"Are you awake?" The tiny voice asked.

Okay, maybe I was not dreaming.

I blinked a couple of times and pinched my cheek.

"Come to the door."

So I did.

Once I tried to peek into the cracks, I saw a small hand with a box of pretzels.

"We can eat this together," his little voice whispered as he passed the chocolate flavored sticks through the cracks.

"Who are you?" I asked as I munched on the most delicious pretzels I had ever tasted, completely forgetting to thank him.

"Does Scarlett know you're here?"

He ignored my question.

"Nope," I shook my head. I was sure Scarlett said she would be away for a few days. "She is still out on a holiday. Who are you?"

"Do you feel cold?"

He dodged the question again.

"A little," I answered, letting him off for a while. Maybe he was not sure if he could tell me his name. "Are you?"

"Not much," I heard him shuffle as he seemed to have leaned on the other side of the door. "I'm wearing warmer clothes tonight."

Just like that we ended up chatting randomly about the school and the students. We laughed and joked, sharing stories with each other.

And for the first time since what seemed like forever, I found myself enjoying.

I was happy.

We were in our own bubble, not minding the minutes that flew too fast.

My remaining four hours in detention had passed too quickly.

Suddenly, we heard footsteps approaching us.

"I have to go now," he whispered in a hushed voice.

"Can I see you tomorrow?" I asked but after some minutes of deafening silence I knew he had already left.