Chapter 5

Kila Haru I'm still going. I didn't come home because I didn't want to face my family. Good thing Haru's Dad is on a business trip. I can sleep with them for a week.

While walking in the hallway I was talking to Ate.

"Come home later Arden," he said.

"I don't want to,"

"Don't pretend, we're worried about you."

"Maybe you're the only one who worries about me."

"Even Mom is worried about you."

"I don't want to go home Arzela," I insisted.

She sighed, "I'll go to your building later, I'll pick you up."

I stopped at the stairs. "Don't stop Arzela."

"What's wrong? Arden, make up your mind! What are you doing?"

"Don't lecture me."

"If I don't tell you, will you change?"

"Whether you tell me or not, I will do what I want."

"What the hell is that Arden!"

"Can you defend me from Dad? All you can do is worry, Arzela," I said annoyed.

He was sniffing on the other line, "I don't know about you! My boyfriend has never made me cry. But you, I make you cry every night!"

I sighed in disbelief, "Can you please stop crying?"

I heard her sobbing suddenly. I can feel him crying.

"Arzela stop!"

"U-go home because I don't know what to do anymore. I can't sleep every night because you're not here."

"I'm safe sister, Haru is with me," I promised calmly. I don't want to be a mistress, especially my sister when I get angry.

"It's not enough that I know you're there Haru. I-I want to see you in person..."

"Alright, I'll be home later, just don't cry," I convinced him. I never heard her sob.

"Let's go home together so the door won't be closed on you," he suggested.

"Okay,"

"Take care Arden! Sister loves you so much, so you will always remember that someone is worried about you," he said softly.

I immediately hung up. I sat down on the stairs. I stared blankly while thinking about what Ate said. It was like someone caressed my heart when he said he loved me so much.

Instead of feeding on my thoughts, I just took the cigarette out of my pocket. I lit it with the lighter I borrowed from Haru. I still looked around. Good thing there were no students and teachers. I quietly finished that cigarette. After finishing, I took another one and smoked more.

Feels good.

"What the hell! If you don't let go of me, your face will be ruined!"

I looked up to the hallway where I heard that scream.

"Come on because..."

Their voices are familiar. Until I realized who they were. I saw Fern being pulled by Harith. Because Harith is stronger he can lift Fern.

I threw the cigarette I was holding and stomped on it before Harith peeked in. He lifted up the fighter Fern. He forced it into the CR near where I was.

I dropped my bag and ran to them. They had already entered the CR, I could not catch up when Harith locked the door.

What will he do?

I knocked hard on the door when I heard Fern's scream inside.

"Harith! Open it!" I tried to break the doorknob.

"Ahhhhhhh! Let me go!"

"Tang *what are you doing to him?" I still scream. But he didn't seem to hear anything.

"Let go of me you fool!"

I was nervous there, I turned around because I didn't know what to do. Should I call Haru? Or Ryu? Or should I just destroy the door?

I closed my eyes because of annoyance, "This man is really stupid."

I clenched my fist and quickly ran to a nearby classroom. Because it was early, there weren't many people around. So I didn't say goodbye to enter the classroom. I took the wooden chair from the side and returned to CR.

Without hesitation I hit it on the door. It took me a few more strokes before it finally opened. The infuriating scene unfolded before me.

Harith lay on top of Fern. His uniform is also torn so his chest is exposed. She was crying helplessly while being kissed by Harith.

My blood boiled and I didn't realize what I did next. I hit the chair behind Harith causing him to stop what he was doing. When he let go of Fern, I brought him to me with all my strength.

"Arden..."

"Shut up!"

I hit his face with my fist. I wasn't satisfied yet, I punched him until my hand bled. Fern was speechless because of what was done to her. Even if he wanted to stop me, he didn't have the strength.

I dragged Harith out of the hallway. Someone saw our students so they came immediately. I lifted Harith so that our eyes were level.

"You're the dry one," after I said that, I pushed him to make him lie on the floor.

"Call the teacher quickly!"

"Pres, go see Dean!"

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Aren't those BSAs?"

I ignored the whispers around me. I landed on Harith and smashed his face with my fist. That's when the men came up to me to help me. They tried to get me away from Harith but I didn't stop.

"You can't come in tomorrow!" I shouted in Harith's face. He still managed to grin even though he was bruised. He couldn't even open his eyes.

"I'll empathize with you fool!" He also shouted at me. I was about to punch him when a professor pulled me away from Harith.

"Mr. Claverya and Mr. Fortes!" The professor shouted at us. "What scene is this?"

I ignored the prof. I quickly went to Fern. Everyone followed me and they were surprised to see the broken door and poor Fern.

I took off my uniform and put it on Fern's body. Good thing I had a T-shirt on underneath.

"Fern?"

He covered his face and cried there. I got away from him when he started crying. It was so strong that I was very worried. My fist was clenched when I turned to see Harith standing. He tried to walk away but the male students grabbed him.

"Mr. Claverya what happened?" Professor Hidalgo asked when he got close to us. He also couldn't bear to see Fern's condition.

I also saw that Fern had wounds on her neck and arms. They bleed.

"Call Mrs. Bautista, hurry up!" Prof. shouted. Hidalgo to the students. They responded immediately.

"You're safe Fern," I whispered.

"N-a while ago I noticed... y-that man. He s-followed me when I was alone..." he couldn't speak properly.

I closed my eyes, "You should have told us."

"S-sorry,"

Why is he apologizing?

I was about to approach him when Mrs. Baptist He came over to Fern and helped her up. Mrs. calmed him down. Bautista while talking. Fern just nodded to him. The female students escorted Fern out of the CR. I just followed them with my eyes until they finally left.

"Mr. Claverya, come with me to the dean's office," said Prof. Hidalgo. I just followed him. While walking, I kept looking at my hand. It's bleeding because I punched Harith.

Is that man an addict? How was he able to exploit Fern?

When we arrived at the Dean's office, Harith came up to me. His face exploded so I grinned.

This is the first time I went to the dean's office. I thought I could handle the 1st year college without stepping foot here. But I was wrong because I'm here now. I don't regret it because I wanted to call that Harith for a long time.

I explained everything to Dean. Detailed and flawless. I want Harith to be expelled from school.

"Mr. Fortes," Dean called to him.

He looked at Dean without hesitation.

"You're going to expel me? Dad," he said which really surprised me. I look at the two of them alternately.

This can't be happening! Are they a father? What a joke!

Dean looked at me, "Go back to your class Mr. Claverya."

"What? What are you planning to do with your son?" The tone of my voice rose. Prof. stopped me. Hidalgo in standing.

"Respect..." Prof whispered to me.

I shook my head, "Expelled him, what he did to our classmate was traumatic. If that idiot stays here, we will not be reassured!"

"Watch your words Mr. Claverya, don't you trust me?"

"Of course no, that's your son. What else are you going to do? You're going to ignore what he did," I promised seriously. I don't care if I insult him.

Dean remained calm, "I'm not taking sides Mr. Claverya. You can count on me to expel my own son for what he did."

"Dad? W-what are you talking about?" Harith's groin.

"Shut up! I've let you down a few times, but you did the worst now!" Dean suddenly shouted at his son.

"B-but Dad, d-don't do this to me," Harith immediately knelt down in front of Dean. I smiled when I saw that he was crying. "I-I didn't do that on purpose Dad. She was attracting me so I just hit her."

Stupid!

"You're lying," I said annoyed.

"If I get kicked out of this school, I will take you with me," Harith threatened me.

"Tch,"

He suddenly pointed at me while looking at Dean.

"How about him? Expelled him too," he said to Dean.

I scoffed in disbelief, "Why? Did I do something wrong?"

Instead of paying attention to me, his attention was on Dean. "He smokes here, brings alcohol, has sex in the bathroom."

I stood up at what he said. I will not refuse to smoke and bring alcohol. But the sex in the bathroom? So, when did I do that?

"He's lying Dean," I said.

"No, I'm not," Harith defended.

Dean just held his head and tried to process what we were saying.

"Stop it," Dean said. He looked at Harith and me. "I will make a decision about the expulsion. The day after tomorrow you will know what my decision is. I will talk to Ms. Alcazar later and when I find out that you are lying about what you say you have attracted to her. You can expect to be expelled. And you, Mr. Claverya , when I prove that what Mr. Fortes told you is correct, get ready."

I closed my eyes because of annoyance. I tried to hold back my anger. Prof. talked to me. Hidalgo has returned to the classroom. I just obeyed, I didn't go to the clinic to treat my wound.

~

"Where is that man?"

We looked at Haru when he stood up. We are here in the Auditorium, I didn't go to class and neither did the two of them. The incident quickly spread throughout the school. So when Haru and Ryu found out they rushed to our building.

"Easy Haru," Ryu sat Haru down.

Haru gave me a glance, "Fern? Where is she now?"

I held my hand while wiping the blood from it.

"At the clinic," I answered.

"Let's go," Haru grumbled.

I sighed in frustration, "They won't leave Fern there, you're overacting."

Ryu patted Haru's shoulder. He also tried to calm her down. Finally, the attention was focused on me.

"Get your wound treated at the clinic," suggested Ryu.

"Yes, it's bleeding," Haru looked at my hand. I hid it from them and simply smiled.

"Don't worry, it's not bad," I said.

"You're a superhero like that!" Ryu promised. I just ignored him.

"Thanks Arden," Haru said.

I smirked, "Why?"

"Because you didn't abandon Fern."

"Tch, I didn't scold Harith because of Fern," I said.

"Just what?" Ryu asked.

"I've been wanting to destroy that face for a long time. I just got the chance," I say as I clenched my fist.

"Olol! Hahahahaha is it true?" Ryu still behaved.

"Oh? You think I defended Fern? No! So don't thank me Haru."

Ryu laughed, "God, your grandfather is defensive."

I hit him so he got away from me. We noticed that Haru was quiet. He was deep in thought as if we were the ones to drown.

"Hey! What are you thinking?" Ryu asked him.

"Fern," he replied.

Biting my lip, I approached Haru and patted his shoulder, "It's fine, don't think about anything."

"Can we go see him?"

"Don't let me tell you about his condition."

"Well, because h--"

"Come on Haru! Our next subject is coming soon," Ryu suddenly invited. He didn't do anything else but what followed.

I assured him that Fern was fine, so he was relieved.

I went to the classroom, they were already in class but I didn't notice it. I continued to enter and sat in my seat. I put my dirty bag on the floor.

Everyone just looked at me. Even our teacher is curious.

"Arden, you're stupid," Moymoy whispered. I focused my attention on him.

"What did I do to you?"

"I made you an excuse letter," he said.

I don't know whether to laugh or be annoyed.

"Have you signed yet?"

"Yes, two teachers who signed,"

"Is that Ms. Ramos?" I will refer to our communication teacher.

"Not yet,"

"Goods," I replied sparingly.

"Wait for your hand," suddenly pointed at my reddened hand. I looked at where Deigo and Ley were. They think badly of me. Deigo even secretly fingered me.

I smirked, "You're welcome too..."

It's a good thing I said it weakly. I just focused on Ms. Ramos. He was discussing but I couldn't understand anything. But I'll listen because she's beautiful. He only likes me to enter in his subject.

After class, I called Haru and them so we could have lunch together. They responded but I haven't been to the cafeteria yet. I passed by the clinic to see Fern.

After the nurse came out, I quickly entered. I looked around and immediately saw Fern. He was sitting on the bed looking away.

That's trauma for sure.

"Fern," I called her.