What if he wore no chain? the thought crossed my mind, pulling me back to the harsh reality.

  Jaden finally locked eyes with me. His hands dropping off her waist. Now all that heavy, dark attention was aimed straight at my face.

  “What do you want to do?” he asked.

  He stepped into my personal space while I was still standing there like a total glitch.

  I’d spent the last thirty seconds running “what if” scenarios in my head—imagining myself lunging at him, feeling the solid hit of a punch, the whole cinematic mess.

  I had never been a coward. I just knew how to read a room, and at the moment, the room was telling me I’d get absolutely wrecked. Even in my own head, I couldn’t come up with a single version of this where I ended up as the winner. He was just too solid, too immovable.

  Try something else, I told myself, forcing my lungs to actually take a breath. Don’t give him the fight he’s begging for.

  The girl beside him shrank back instinctively, her hands lifting to cover her neck. She looked small, confused, and utterly unsure of what to do. Honestly, it made my stomach do a sick little flip.

  I planted myself firmly in front of them, anger coiling tight in my chest. My voice was low, sharp. “Stay away.”

  Jaden’s lips curved into a slow, curious smirk. He tilted his head, studying me, amused and not quite certain what I was about to do.

  I stepped in and planted my boots right between them. I could feel the anger coiling up in my chest like a spring, tight and heavy.

  “Stay away from her,” I said. My voice was low, but it had that jagged edge that usually means I’m about a half-second away from losing it.

  Jaden didn’t even flinch. His mouth just twitched into this slow, annoying smirk—the kind of look someone gives you when they think you’re a cute little stray dog trying to growl.

  He tilted his head, literally studying me like I was a science experiment he hadn’t finished yet. He looked way too amused for someone I was currently threatening, and for a second, the “comfortable” peace I’d been working on felt like it was about to go up in flames.

  I didn’t blink. I kept my eyes locked on his, trying to look way more official than I felt. “I’m calling the cops, Jaden. I’ll call CPS. I’ll call whoever I have to—you’re literally hurting a kid.”

  The smirk didn’t move. Instead, he let out this low, dry chuckle that made my skin crawl. “Try it,” he said. He sounded so bored, like he was dared by a toddler.

  It hit me then, like a punch to the gut. The network. There was zero bars, zero signal, nothing but a “no service” dead zone in this entire village. My “brave” face didn’t just slip; it completely disintegrated.

  I felt like an idiot. He knew I was holding a useless piece of glass in my pocket. If the law couldn’t get here in time to do anything, then I’d have to go over his head. The school. The principal. Someone who wasn’t a predator in a designer hoodie.

  I ground my teeth together so hard my jaw ached, spun on my heel, and started power-walking towards the principal’s office.

  But the girl didn’t move. She just stood there with her eyes wide and terrified, her small hands still clamped to her neck like she was trying to hold herself together.

  I stopped and looked back, trying to catch her eye, but she wouldn’t even look at me. She clearly wanted zero part of “reporting the bastard.”

  If she wasn’t going to stand up for herself, then I’d just have to be the one to do it for her.

  I grabbed her by the shoulders—maybe a little too hard, because I was vibrating—and promised her I’d get her some actual justice. I told her to get out of there, right now.

  But she didn’t budge. She just flicked her eyes towards Jaden, like she was literally waiting for his permission to breathe. And to my absolute disgust, she only scurried away after he gave her a tiny, bored little nod.

  Was everyone in this pathetic school just his lapdog? It felt less like a hallway and more like his own personal kingdom, and I was the only one who hadn’t gotten the memo to bow down.

  I went alone. Climbing up the stairs like I lived here my whole life. The floors still felt devastatingly cold that a shiver ran through me.

  My backpack felt heavier than it should, my fists clenched tight at my sides.

  At the principal’s office, I paused, hand on the door and took a deep breath before I opened it.

  The principal looked up from behind a massive oak desk like I’d just walked in and personally insulted his entire family.

  Honestly, he looked like he hadn’t slept since the eighties—the bags under his eyes were so deep they were basically suitcases, and he had this twitchy nervous tic where his fingers wouldn’t stop drumming against the wood. Thump-thump-thump.

  There was something wrong with the air in this school, and everyone carried it. It was like the building itself was just tired of existing.

  “I’m here to report a harassment case,” I said.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  I dropped into the chair across from him and crossed my legs, trying to look way more composed than I actually was.

  Under the desk, I was gripping my knees so he wouldn’t see my hands shaking. I was trying to channel that “comfortable” reflection I’d been working on but I just couldn’t.

  He just blinked at me, his eyes moving like they were stuck in molasses. “And… what exactly is it you want me to do about that?”

  I stared at him, my jaw literally dropping. “Are you serious? Doesn’t this school have rules? Policies? Guidelines? Literally anything?”

  The way he just brushed it off made something inside me slow down. My words felt like they were made of air, just floating away while he looked at me like I was a fly he was too tired to swat.

  This—this exact moment—was why I usually just handled things myself. Relying on “adults” always felt like screaming into a vacuum.

  “Rules,” he muttered. He said the word like he was trying to remember a language he hadn’t spoken in twenty years.

  He didn’t answer. Instead, he reached for this ancient, tattered file that looked like it belonged in a museum, not a principal’s office. His fingers were so brittle they practically crunched as he flipped through the yellowed pages.

  Finally, he slid a single sheet of paper across the desk. It was so rough and gray it felt like it had been pressed from old rags or dryer lint.

  I squinted at the ink. I couldn’t tell if the writing was some dead language or just the local Villaluz dialect, but it looked like a bunch of jagged, impossible symbols. He just sat there, watching me with those dead eyes, clearly expecting me to read it.

  “Do you consent to the rules?” he asked.

  His voice went all mechanical, like he was a pre-programmed robot reading from a script I wasn’t allowed to see. My stomach did a slow, cold roll. I’d come in here expecting a lecture or a detention slip, but this felt more like I was about to sign a contract with a ghost.

  "Consent?” I repeated. I had no idea what I was agreeing to—some weird Villaluz school board policy? A nondisclosure agreement? I didn’t care. If it meant Jaden actually got what was coming to him, I’d sign my life away.

  Before I could even ask for a pen, he reached across the desk and grabbed my hand. I didn’t even see the needle until I felt the sharp, hot sting in my thumb.

  “Ouch! What the—”

  He didn’t let go. He pressed my thumb down hard against that weird, rag-paper. I felt the wet smear of my own blood hitting the page, and a jolt of pure, cold unease shot straight up my arm.

  This wasn’t a school report; this felt like a blood pact.

  I stared hard at him, my heart hammering against my ribs, but he was already acting like I wasn’t even there. He slid the file back into its spot with a heavy, dry rustle that sounded way too loud in the dead quiet of the office.

  “Follow me,” he said. He didn’t even look back.

  As we stepped into the hallway, his voice dropped into this low, almost inhuman whisper. “Are you sure about this, Ms. Hana?”

  “Absolutely,” I said. I made sure my voice sounded like steel, even though my insides felt like they were turning into liquid lead.

  So, we walked into the courtyard behind school. The entire student body was just… there. It wasn’t even like they were just hanging out; they were in this massive, perfect circle like some messed-up gladiator arena or a cult meeting waiting for someone to confess.

  The day light bounced off their faces, and it was so awkward—some looked judgy, some just looked confused, but everyone was dead silent.

  I realised the school didn't have so many students in total.

  And then I saw him. Jaden was standing right in the middle of the semi circle, looking way too calm, like he was actually enjoying the drama.

  He locked eyes with me and just stared for a second too long. My heart definitely skipped a beat, and not in the cute way.

  Why was he too confident?

  It was instant. Everyone’s eyes swerved to me, totally ignoring how smug Jaden looked standing there. They were looking at me like I was the crazy one, like I’d just grown a second head or something, even though I was literally just telling the truth. I felt my face getting hot—I was so beyond over it.

  They marched us towards the back of the school, like way further than I’d ever been. The walls back there felt huge and super old, almost like the school was built into the side of a mountain or something.

  “Explain again what you saw,” the principal barked. His voice sounded all weird and echoey in the empty space, which definitely didn’t help my nerves.

  I took a deep breath and tried to keep my hands from shaking. I laid it all out—how Jaden was all over that girl, how he wouldn’t let go, and how terrified she looked. I made sure to be super specific because I needed them to actually believe me.

  Then, they brought her out. She looked so tiny and was literally shaking, but when she opened her mouth, her voice didn’t even waver.

  “Jaden didn’t... do anything,” she whispered, like she was scared of her own words. “Nothing happened. I honestly have no idea what she’s talking about.”

  The principal just stood there, looking back and forth between us with this super intense stare.

  “Heard that Ms. Hana? guess it’s time,” he said, sounding way too dramatic, “time to find out who’s lying and who’s actually telling the truth.”

  My heart was pounding. “Are you sure you're telling the truth?” they asked me one last time."because if you're not...then we'll do as the law suggests."

  But before I could even open my mouth or process what was happening, something slammed into my back. I didn’t even have time to scream before I was falling face-first into this pond.

  A pond i had not seen, where did it even come from?

  The water was freezing and pitch black, and for a second, I totally forgot how to breathe.

  The gasp from everyone above me sounded so muffled and far away. Nobody moved, nobody screamed—they just stood there like total statues, watching me like they were waiting for the credits to roll or something.

  I started thrashing, trying to kick my way up, but the water felt... weird. Heavy. I’ve been swimming my whole life, but this time it was like the pond was literally trying to suck the life out of me. My lungs were on fire and I was full-on panicking.

  Were these the rules? Or they were planning on killing me!

  As i struggled to remain on the surface and kicked my legs as hard as i could, something clicked...

  Jaden.

  This was all him. He totally planned for me to be in this exact spot at this exact second. He rigged the whole thing—the crowd, the timing, the water. This wasn’t just him getting back at me; it was a total setup.

  For a split second, I actually caught his eye. He had this tiny, annoying smirk on his face, like he was so proud of himself. He knew exactly how this was going to go. He set the trap, and I basically just skipped right into it.

  I wanted to slap that look off his face so bad I could actually feel it.

  My brain was screaming and I wanted to just go off on him, but I realised I kind of had to survive the pond, not drown first.

  I forced myself to swim up, even though my muscles were literally on fire and my lungs were begging for air. The world narrowed to the sound a whisper and my bag pulled me down.

  I was literally hacking up water as I clawed my way to the surface. I used every single bit of strength I had left until I finally broke through. I was freezing and shaking, and my hair and clothes were totally soaked, but I didn’t care—I was just gulping down air like it was the best thing I’d ever tasted.

  The silence from the crowd felt different now. It was heavier. They were all looking back and forth at each other, judging me like I’d just failed some ancient ritual or a test they’d been planning for centuries.

  It was so incredibly creepy.

  I stumbled towards him, every step feeling like a thousand pounds because of my soaked clothes—and honestly, just pure rage. Everything felt totally electric.

  Without saying a single word, I just swung and slapped him, hard, right across the face.

  "Fuck you!"