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Chapter 6 Standing Up To The Bullies

  • Mathias was quick in bringing out his wallet, taking all the money out of it, and was about to hand it over to the boy before Clara stopped him.
  • "You would do no such thing!" she said, her grip tight on Mathias's hand, pulling it down.
  • "It's okay, really," Mathias said, his voice shaking with fear and uncertainty.
  • "No, it's not OK," Clara replied, her voice firm and resolute. "How can you give them all your money? And you guys should be ashamed of yourselves bullying an innocent boy," she added, her eyes glaring at the bullies. Clearly not intimidated by them.
  • "Do you know who you're messing with?" Steven sneered, his face twisted with anger and arrogance.
  • "I don't give a damn who you are," Clara retorted, her voice rising in defiance. "You can be the president's son for all I care, but that doesn't mean I will sit and watch you mistreat my friend," she said, her eyes fixed on Mathias.
  • "Careful there, little girl. No one talks to Steven like that and goes away unscathed," one of the huge boys warned, his frown deepening.
  • Steven made a wicked smile. "Don't worry, boys. She will find out the hard way... Let's go," he said, his gaze lingering on Clara and Mathias for a moment before turning to leave.
  • "What have you done?" Mathias whispered, his face pale with fear.
  • "I just saved your lunch money," Clara joked, trying to lighten the mood.
  • "No, you just made things worse," Mathias said, his voice trembling. "They will surely beat me up now... And you are not safe yourself." Mathias said walking away.
  • ."Where are you going?" Clara asked, her voice filled with concern.
  • "I have to get away from here," Mathias said, his eyes darting around nervously. "It's not safe for me to stay."
  • Clara looked confused. She actually thought she was helping him, but it seems she just made things worse.
  • "Where is the damn teacher when you need them?" she said, frustratedly.
  • Meanwhile, Adams had been watching everything that was happening from where he was. He had seen how Clara had stood up to those bullies, and he was quite impressed.
  • "Who is that girl?" he had asked his best friend, Noah curiously.
  • "I don't know. Nobody really knows. She is new. She came in yesterday," Noah replied.
  • "And she is already picking a fight? She must be in trouble," Ella, Adams's girlfriend, said, clearly not a fan of Clara's.
  • "I think she is brave," Adams said with a soft smile..
  • "Or stupid," Noah stated.
  • "I am going with stupid," Ella said smiling. "She has no idea what she has gotten herself into. Nobody is stupid enough to pick a fight with Steven."
  • "Except you happen to be Adams Bright, of course, am I right?" Noah joked, and both boys shake hands in a laugh.
  • Clara turned in their direction, and she saw Adams and his friends laughing while looking at her, and she concluded that they were laughing at her, which made her feel uncomfortable. Coupled with the fact that Adams's girlfriend was giving her a mean look, she stood up and left the lab, heading straight to the female restroom. On her way to the restroom, she came across some groups of students laughing and taking pictures of something they found funny with their phone cameras.
  • Clara, with a heart full of dread, slowly walked towards where the commotion was coming from. As she pushed herself to the front, she saw it - Mathias, pinned up against his locker with his pants down and a cut on his mouth. His face was covered in bruises, making him look like he'd just been run over by a train. Clara knew instantly that Steven was behind this.
  • "Mathias!" she called out in shock, her voice trembling.
  • She quickly tried to help Mathias down while everyone else just kept on laughing and taking pictures. "It's alright Mathias, I will get you down from there," she said to him, but he was too weak to reply.
  • Clara turned to face the crowd, her eyes blazing with anger. "What's wrong with you all?!" she screamed. "Please help me get him down from here!" she pleaded, but they ignored her and continued taking pictures.
  • Then, as if on cue, Anna and her friend Caleb came out from the crowd. "My God! Who did this to him?" Caleb asked, quickly lending a helping hand.
  • Anna also rushed to help, and together they brought Mathias down. The onlooking students murmured in disappointment that the fun was over and gradually left the scene one after the other.
  • Caleb helped dress Mathias properly while Anna pulled Clara aside. "What are you doing?" Anna whispered to Clara disapprovingly.
  • "What do you mean?" Clara replied, confused.
  • "You know what I'm talking about. I told you to stay away from him. He's no good," Anna said with a frown.
  • "I can't believe you just said that. He is harmless," Clara retorted, her voice rising. "It's the rest of the students in this school that have a problem. How can they all just stand there laughing and watching as a human being suffers? That's barbaric and plain evil. Look at him, does he look dangerous to you?" Clara gestured towards Mathias, who was still recovering from the ordeal. "What's wrong if he talks about vampires and werewolves all the time? I myself enjoy watching vampire movies and werewolf classics, and I am sure almost everyone in this school talking bad about him does the same. So, tell me, what does that make you all? Hypocrites!" Clara finished, her voice shaking with anger and frustration.
  • As she spoke, Clara noticed Steven standing at the far end of the hallway, smiling with his arms folded at his back, and as usual, he was with his dogs. Clara wanted to charge at him and break his nose for what he did to Mathias, but Anna held her back.
  • "Be calm. I see now how foolish I have been for labeling someone a weirdo for liking the things I like, only that I am scared and ashamed to admit it. He isn't weird, neither is he dangerous, but Steven is. He is really dangerous, and you shouldn't pick a fight with him. You have seen what he can do, so let's just quietly back down," Anna said, trying to reason with Clara. But Clara was still very much angry.
  • "Coward! You are a damn coward! Yes, I'm talking to you, Steven, or what the hell your name is!" Clara yelled in his direction, her voice echoing through the hallway.
  • Steven just kept on smiling, which kept irritating Clara even more. Clara has always been an activist against antisocial behavior in her former school, such as bullying, drug abuse, and child abuse. She hates it so much when someone is being mistreated unfairly, and she could do anything in her power to fight against anyone doing such.
  • "You won't say anything, will you? Jerk! Coward!" she screamed at him even more, her voice rising in anger and frustration.
  • "It's okay, Clara," Anna said, dragging her away.
  • "What?!" Clara barked at her, her eyes flashing with irritation and disbelief.
  • "Look around you. You are causing a scene," Anna whispered to her, her tone urgent and concerned.
  • "Really, I'm the one causing the scene here? What kind of people are in this school?" Clara said, then walked to meet Mathias, who was sitting on the floor.
  • "I'm sorry, Mathias. This is all my fault. I didn't know he was such a jerk," Clara said, genuinely sympathizing with him.
  • "You shouldn't have yelled at him. He will come after you," Mathias struggled to speak.
  • "I am not scared of him," Clara said, her chin raised in defiance.
  • Mathias laughed painfully, “You are brave, I will hand that to you...but you should be careful,” he said.
  • They helped him to his feet and walked him gently to the school clinic....
  • After school hours.
  • “Hello, Mom, when are you coming to pick me up? I have been waiting for a while now,” Clara said on the phone, her voice tinged with disappointment.
  • “Oh, sweetheart, I am so sorry. Please forgive me. I forgot to call you to inform you that I won't be coming to pick you up from school today. I am really busy at work,” Dr Ellen said, her voice apologetic and regretful.
  • “Mom! You should have told me this earlier. I could have followed Anna in her mom's car,” Clara said, sounding disappointed and frustrated.
  • “I am sorry, baby. Don't be angry at mama. You can take a cab or a train. Okay, I love you,” she said.
  • “You know I hate using the train. I will stop a cab,” Clara said, her voice filled with annoyance.
  • “Alright, sweetheart. I love you,” Dr Ellen said.
  • “Love you too,” Clara muttered, and the call ended....
  • Before she could see a cab, she had to trek down a hilly road between a forest of trees to get to the main road where she could get a cab. Clara knew she wasn't going to enjoy this one bit.
  • She braced herself and started the long and lonely trek down the hill.
  • She plugged in her earphones, playing random songs from her phone playlist. Justin Bieber's ‘Sorry' started playing, and Clara moved her head slowly to the beat of the song as she walked down the hilly road, her head facing down.
  • However, as she walked, something just kept telling her to raise her head up, and when she did, she saw one of Steven's boys standing in the middle of the road. Her heart skipped as she slowly stepped backward, and as she turned around, she saw another of Steven's boys in that direction too. And yet another one came out from one side of the forest, and Steven himself came out from the other side.
  • “Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Steven said with an evil smile, his eyes gleaming with malice and his tone dripping with contempt.