Chapter 8: Hey scholarship.

It had been an eternity since Stephanie or anyone else departed the classroom, the chattering and the noise her classmates made had ceased a long time ago.

Was it thirty minutes, an hour, or perhaps two?

The silence had settled like dust, thick and undisturbed.

Finally, Olivia's tears had ceased, leaving her eyes dry and weary.

She lifted her gaze, scanning the room with a tentative, searching glance.

Gazing outside, she noticed the sun had already set, cloaking the world in twilight.

Summoning the last flicker of her motivation, Olivia slowly rose from her crouched position.

However, her legs, numb from being curled up for so long, betrayed her, causing her to stumble and fall.

—thud.

She nearly fell but managed to steady herself just in time.

Ignoring the sharp pain in her thigh, she picked up her bag, unusually light with so little to take home.

Slowly, she walked outside, numb to the world around her.

In that moment, it seemed doubtful whether she would have noticed even if a ball had struck her face.

—Grrr

Her stomach growled with a sound she barely recognized, breaking the silence.

'Am I hungry? Do I even need to eat food?'

Despite not having a proper meal in days, she refused to visit the cafeteria, where the usual group will probably wait her to ridicule.

Instead, she decided to just go back to her dormitory, hoping to find even something to cook.

If nothing remained, well, she could just sleep.

'Tomorrow, I won't even realize it anyway.'

Like a marionette with strings cut, she trudged timidly towards her room, her movements devoid of purpose or liveliness for that matters.

However, on an impulse, she decided to take a detour through the back of the school, a secluded area where she could probably avoid any potential encounters with Stephanie or her friends.

The sky was a deep shade of twilight as Olivia made her way to the back of the school.

The shadows of the trees stretched long and thin, creating a serene but eerie atmosphere.

She trudged forward, her steps heavy and deliberate.

As she turned the corner, a peculiar sight behold her eyes.

From a distance, it seemed that an array of birds— a canaries, a dough, parrots, and other unrecognizable species of birds had gathered on a peculiar perch harmoniously.

Atop this unusual seat, a pristine white kitten sat regally as their leader, sleeping peacefully in the shape of a ball, looking as if it is very peaceful and afraid of nothing.

The seat itself, or rather the creator of this fairy tale like phenomenon, was a solitary figure seated low on the grass, absorbed in sketching on a pad of paper.

The boy appeared to be about her age, with a lean frame and an aura of aloofness that enveloped him.

His expression was indifferent, languid, with not a hint of tension in his features.

His hair, dark as midnight, framed his face, while his cold, dark eyes were fixed intently on his drawing, an intensity in his gaze that seemed to shut out even the spectacls he had created, let alone the surrounding.

Olivia paused, unsure whether to proceed. She hesitated, but the peaceful scene before her and his aloof, magnetic presence pulled her in.

Her curiosity piqued, she took a step closer.

However, the subjects of this captivating phenomenon—the birds—regarded her with an understandable weariness that seemed to convey an unspoken hesitation.

As if they were reluctant to acknowledge anyone other than the boy seated among them.

But, despite their unease, they remained rooted in place, unwilling to take flight away from him.

Without lifting his gaze from the drawing, the boy spoke, his voice monotonic and indifferent. "Lost your way, scholarship?"

The cold monotonic voice of his stung a little bit, but the Olivia right now was not unfamilliar with such indifference, and unlike the boys of her class, she could sense a subtle undertone that wasn't entirely unkind from him.

"I— I'm... My name is not scholarship."

"Is that so? Now, will you answer me, scholarship?"

Olivia hesitated, then decided to ignore his somewhat rude behaviour and respond. "No, just... taking a different route."

He stole a glance her way, only moving his head. His movement was somewhat eerie.

His movement subtle yet enough to startle the birds perched around him, causing them to flutter nervously in response.

Still maintaining a certain distance, the eyes of his, cold as a winter frost, roving up and down, assess her entire being from head to toe with a detached air.

As if losing all interest, he turned his head back, his tone disinterested. "Different route, ay? Truly? Or... Rather... escapism, perhaps?"

He spoke with an air that betrayed his complete lack of trust in her words.

Olivia's hand clenched, the pink flesh of her palm giving way to a stark whiteness. She looked down at the ground, feeling a wave of shame and anger.

"That... Yeah... Probably."

With the same disinterested tone, he responded, "Perhaps you're not very proficient in the Holfort language? I find foreigners rather difficult to comprehend."

Olivia felt her temper fraying at the edges. She couldn't fathom why she continued engaging with him anyway.

"And you're not very good at minding your own business," she retorted, her voice edged with frustration.

A faint, distorted smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "Hmm... But then again, I do enjoy watching people crumble. It is a fascinating pastime."

"Why? Why do you think it's fun? do you or anyone even try to understand how it feels?" She half shouted, her voice causing all the birds perched on his shoulders, head and thigh to take flight, even startling the sleeping kitten atop his head.

Just after she finished speaking, she felt a pang of remorse and an overwhelming compulsion to apologize.

She couldn't comprehend why she had lashed out at this stranger when she could have simply walked away.

'I wonder if I'm becoming crazy.'

In truth, Olivia would never normally act in such a manner, but her experiences of the past month had pushed her to a breaking point.

'S— hould I apologize? I should Apologize. Did I made him angry?' She gazed at the boy, worry evident in her eyes.

He shrugged, pausing his pencil, and with the same languid demeanor, he expressionlessly stroked the little kitten above his head gently.

"I don't. It's just fascinating to me, you know? Humans harming humans."

"Is that right? is that what I am to you? A spectacle?"

Distracted from her previous train of thought, she lashed out once more, her voice slicing through the air and causing the little kitten to startle even further, its tiny frame trembling with fear.

With his expressionless, piercing gaze, he stared at her, causing Olivia to timidly avert her gaze.

"yiih." She yelp.

"Isn't that just what you are to everyone here? The first ever scholarship student, breaking into the pristine little world of aristocrats."

His previous monotonic voice now held a slight tone of irritation and displeasure.

"Heh... Personally though, I enjoy just being a bystander you see, but even for me it's pretty entertaining."

She swallowed hard, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill again. "I— I didn't ask for this."

His expression softened imperceptibly, though his voice remained detached.

"Hmm?... Is that so? Regardless, you are here, nonetheless."

"What's your name?" she asked timidly, looking in his direction again, her voice quieter now.

He glanced at her again, as if weighing the decision to answer.

Then, "Leon." He answered, returning to his sketching once the little kitten had been pacified

"Leon," she repeated, tasting the name on her tongue. "I'm Olivia."

"I see," he replied dryly.

"I just needed some peace."

The boy, Leon, paused his sketching to stare at Olivia.

Though his eyes remained indifferent, his expression shifted, silently asking, "Did I ask?"

This was the first time he move the muscle of his face deliberately, breaking his usual languid demeanor.

The change gave Olivia a strange thrill.

Regardless, as if to humor her a bit, he averted his gaze and resumed sketching, responding in the same dry tone.

"Peace? Here? Hmm... You are much more optimistic than I initially anticipated scholarship."

"I—"

"Leave." He cut her off with a commanding tone.

Olivia gazed at him, her eyes wide and empty, as if his words were spoken in a language she could not comprehend.

With a sigh that spoke of a deep seated impatience, Leon's voice cut through the silence, harsher and more imperious.

"I said leave."

The repetition of his command struck Olivia like a physical blow.

She stumbled back, her feet finding purchase in the worn out grass as she half ran, half stumbled away from him.

'I didn't even know who you are anyway."

Blinded by tears and the weight of unspoken words, she ignored the sneers that followed her retreat and the cruel graffiti that marred her door.

"Why? Why? Why? Just why do I need to suffer like this?"

Opening her door, she stepped inside and collapsed into tears.

Her eyes wandered over the disarray of her room, too cruel to be just a prank.

The letter from her hometown lay scattered here and there.

She strolled past the mess with a quivering body, the disaster that hardly deserved to be called a 'room'.

With trembling hands, she grabbed a thin cloth from her wooden wardrobe and shuffled over to her bed, which was too dirty to even consider sleeping on.

She tossed the cloth over the soiled mattress, hoping to at least make it somewhat presentable.

Collapsing upon its surface, she surrendered her body to sleep.

Tears flowed unabated, down and down until she lost her consciousness entirely.

Author's Note: Olivia bullying arc has been enjoyable to write so far, I'd consider uploading everyday if we have some more reviews for motivation!!!

Come on Guys, get your shits together.

Additional Note: Would you guys rather have a realistic slow paced character development or a fast paced satisfying development?

I personally prefer the former. What do yall think?