Chapter 6 II The Contract

At lunchtime, the canteen was buzzing with activity. So many hungry and thirsty students were waiting for food and drinks. They would place their orders and then find a table to eat at with their pals.

Since she was a young child, Julia has grown up moving around to different schools, so she was not surprised to find that each one had a slightly different cafeteria situation. The reason was that before moving to the city, Julia hid away in a quiet little town. To be more descriptive, Julia resided in a rural environment, the ambience of which she found to be more relaxing than that of a metropolitan area.

"The rice bowls sold in the cafeteria at school will become an addiction for you, I guarantee you. However, an excellent sambal sauce paired with fried chicken is a match made in taste heaven. Julia, you really ought to eat a little," Moza seemed delighted to present the meal she had just ordered.

On both of Julia's visits to the cafeteria, Moza was in charge of ordering. Due to Julia's awareness of the school cafeteria's offerings, I can only assume that long-time Galactic High School student Moza has committed the school's most popular items to memory.

"Can you handle the chilli? Or dislike particularly spicy foods," Moza, who had finished her meal, enquired.

"Spicy food is great," Julia said. "To me, non-spicy food just doesn't have the same flavour. To put it simply, it makes food taste worse."

When Moza saw Julia, she stuck up her right thumb at her. A demonstration of her agreement with Julia's assessment.

"The boat is where we are right now, Julia. In a word, yes. However, I am the one who enjoys spicy foods at home. My parents and brother are opposed to it. This is terrible, right?" It was Moza's family, she said.

"Though I enjoy the heat, my mother frequently prohibits me from eating spicy foods. But mom was right; eating too much heat might make us sick to our tummies," The story of Moza was met with a response from Julia.

With her curiosity piqued, Julia took a cautious bite out of the rice bowl. Indeed, the flavour of chicken combined with sambal was unparalleled. And most importantly, Julia approved of the flavour and texture.

"Anyway, what exactly did you and Lucas discuss earlier? It's serious enough that you might stop paying attention in class," Moza inquired.

"We have a great bull in Lucas. Still, Lucas has his special way of disrupting the norm and making other people's days more difficult." Any time Julia thought about Lucas' behaviour, she became irritated.

"Lucas will continue to harass you, Julia until the desired outcome is reached. In the end, Lucas will do many things to force you to submit and grovel before him," Moza remarked as she masticated.

"Job as Lucas' slave, perhaps? Who must blindly follow his every command?" as Julia enquired, and Moza agreed.

Seriously, who was Lucas? What was the deal with being so meek and mild in Lucas' presence? But on the other hand, Lucas could not follow the regulations set forth by the educational establishment. Just because he was the grandchild of the foundation's patron? Something was wrong. Surely the foundation's owner's grandchild didn't have such a negative outlook on life.

"I'll be right back, Julia, but first, I must use the restroom. So please bring my leftovers to class when you're done," Moza declared. "Enough!" and rose from her chair.

While Julia finished her meal, Moza exited the café. After that, a number of the cafeteria's pupils began to leave. Those students that left had lunch and planned to make it back to class. Julia would choose to spend her break in the cafeteria. Then, she would return to class when the bell rang. The hope was that Julia wouldn't stare at Lucas's annoying face for too long.

"Does it seem like you're all by yourself? What happened to your new pal? Is it true that she returned to class without asking you beforehand? Poor thing."

Just then, Julia prayed that she would be protected from a boy named Lucas. Unfortunately, Julia did not have the support of the heavens. Again, Julia was forced to meet with Lucas in the cafeteria. The atmosphere was similar to Julia's first school day at Galaxy High.

Lucas sat down casually in front of Julia and stated. "You won't be able to run away from me until you do what I want you to do, Julia."

Julia answered without looking at Lucas. "I'm not running from you."

Asking, "Do you frequently make blunders for which you don't feel compelled to offer an apology," gently giggling, Lucas shook his head.

"If that's the case, then you're just as bad as any other bitch out there."

Rapidly interjecting. "Don't talk rubbish," Julia interrupted Lucas. "I hope you accept my sincere apologies. Don't act like you haven't heard that I apologized to you the day before."

"I'm not the type of person who quickly forgets the sins of anybody. But, on the other hand, my personality makes me highly upset and eager to exact revenge on those who have wronged me," Lucas stated while maintaining an appearance of ignorance.

Despite her best efforts, Julia couldn't tune out Lucas's comments. Her head was spinning from trying to complete her meal while also attempting to deal with Lucas's words.

Knowing Julia's strategy, Lucas did not choose to remain silent. Instead, Lucas had planned a series of punishments for the girl who had disregarded him arrogantly.

"If you want to spend the night at the club with me, I'll make sure word gets out. Perhaps the school's wall magazine would be a good venue for me to promote the information. So that the kids around here have greater faith," Amid Julia's quiet, Lucas spoke up.

"Really, you think they'll buy into the gossip you're spreading about us? Quit being such a kook, Lucas. That's why I've never spent the night with you and never will," Julia remarked.

When asked, "What if I told lies about our relationship?"

"As soon as I can, I'll send you an apology and explain why the information you posted online is completely false."

"What, you think they'll put more trust in what you say than in the news I brought them?"

"In a word, yeah."

Julia felt confident in her response. A short while later, Julia noticed something wasn't quite right. Julia suddenly became aware that she was the object of many people's stares.

"So you caught a glimpse of it, right? It seems like she has a thing for Lucas."

"What a huge claim. Whoa, that gal has guts to have taken Lucas out to supper."

"She probably only sought out Lucas for an FWB, as I overheard her say."

"Oh, you whore. That naive expression is only on her face."

"Eventually, Lucas will break up with her."

It came as a surprise people around Julia would side with Lucas. Julia, however, was the one who fell prey to this. On what grounds, then, did they defend Lucas?

"How? Is it still your intention to gamble with me?" The question that Lucas stated came off more as a threat.

"Nothing can be proven. Nobody will believe the stories you spread," Julia stood by her original explanation.

"Okay, how about this? Do you find that to be valid evidence?" Lucas showed a picture from his cell phone.

When Julia looked at the picture, she was utterly taken aback. But not! The girl in the photo didn't look like Julia to Julia.

But why did she have a face like Julia's? Just like Julia was taken in a party atmosphere.

"I'm smarter than you think, Julia" Lucas murmured, feeling a sense of victory. But Lucas knew that Julia would eventually give up the fight.

If things continued like this, Julia would have no choice but to do as Lucas wished. Julia felt she had lost the debate with Lucas, but she did not want to appear to be a doormat. In this way, Julia might continue to project an image of strength to Lucas.

After a moment of silence, Julia finally broke the ice by saying, "Tell me what you want from me."

"Bare in mind! I won't take your room service orders."

When Lucas heard what Julia said, he burst out laughing. It would appear that Julia hasn't been able to put out of her mind Lucas's request the previous day.

"There is nothing beautiful about a female your height. And it certainly wouldn't be fun to use as a toy." Julia felt personally attacked by Lucas's sneer.

"Please, get moving, Lucas! If I don't change my mind now," exclaimed Julia, raising her voice to a noticeable level.

"To put it simply, it's not complicated. Give me a week of your time," By the end of the conversation, Lucas had revealed his need to Julia.

"I don't want to be your slave, Lucas. How many times do I have to repeat that?"

"When you hear the word 'service', what comes to mind?"

Without warning, Julia froze. She didn't know what words to use to respond to Lucas's inquiry. Perhaps Julia's mind was too simplistic to grasp such concepts.

"An enslaved person is someone who "must" do something for another person, such as "must" make them breakfast and lunch, "must" drive them to school and "must" accompany them while they play, "must" be available whenever they are being called, etc." Lucas gave Julia a further explanation of his request.

"Why can't I just feel better? Isn't it long enough to make me learn my lesson in three days? "said Julia, who had previously refused Lucas' request.

"Do you want me to make your prison term longer? What do you think about working for me for a month?" Lucas inquired as he took note of Julia's irritated expression.

"Not. There's no need to extend this past a week," Before Lucas could revise his request once more, Julia had responded.

Inquiring minds want to know, "When do I need to start carrying out this punishment?"

"A day from now, in the morning."

"Why can't I get started right away?"

Lucas shook his head firmly. Away from his chair, he proceeded to where Julia was waiting. Lucas leaned forward just a hair to meet Julia's gaze. Then, in response to Julia's inquiry, Lucas explained.

"Why?"

"Because I want to spend more time with you, sweetie."

***