Lamb To The Slaughter

005

I stayed quiet like I normally would at school if I wasn't in Seonghwa's class or meeting him in the morning.

There was no one else I wanted to interact with besides him. Everyone else here just brought me headaches.

Everything was more or less fine. As much as I wasn't interested, I could still hear everything that was being said.

Which was fine to listen to until, of course, Tara started speaking. We shared one other class, and while the teacher stepped out for some reason, she started speaking about none other than my greatest obsession.

"Maybe I should just gather enough evidence to report him." She muttered, making a popping sound with her mouth as she pulled out her lollipop.

"I thought you were interested in him." One of her friends said.

"I am! Or I was. I mean, I've never met someone as hot as him. But I turned in my paper on Friday, and I got an F! How does that work?! I know for a fact all of the answers were right."

"Well, did he say something?" Her friend asked, clearly not as interested as Tara was in the conversation.

"He just pulled me aside and said that I needed to focus on my own work." She scoffed, dropping her feet down from her desk.

Ah...

That was Seonghwa's way to warn his students away from cheating. Which always worked without embarrassing them, but it seemed like Tara didn't understand shit.

"So how would you get him reported. It's not like he's done anything wrong." Her friend continued to provide her feedback.

"I could find something. He goes low, and I go lower." She said it simply like she had no remorse for her plan.

I sat back in my seat, letting the fire erupt in my veins. It was a protectiveness I felt for him. Different from how possessive I was over him just days ago due to her other behavior.

It wasn't like I could just sit black and watch her plan unfold. Seonghwa said to ignore her, which he would. And he was smart. He wouldn't let her get to him.

But maybe I was just tired of her presence.

Maybe I just wanted it to end.

Telling my parents about everything that had been happening recently felt exhausting. Having to fill them in on me liking men, and the specific man I like being my teacher, and everything that came with it.

My dad was more confused than my mom, she was just elated that I had found someone I was interested in. She couldn't exactly care less if it was Seonghwa or a rock I found on the sidewalk.

But to get to the real issue was even harder.

"This girl, she's been bothering you?" My mom asked, her demeanor turning cold the moment I explained how Tara was risking everything.

"What should I do? Should I let Seonghwa handle it?" I asked, my eyes falling to the cold ones of my mother.

"Go for the throat." My dad said gruffly. His eyes were just as dangerous. "You want this man, son?"

"Of course."

"Then show no mercy."

My mom nodded in agreement, her hand reaching for her husband's. I knew enough about their history to know that's where their words were coming from.

"You know what you're doing. We trained you for this since you were a child. Don't disappoint us."

And with that...the conversation was ended...

I could just slit her throat and watch her bleed out, but I knew that would cause too much attention. It was best to make it look like an accident.

Or...

Or... I had a better plan.

Her friend, the one who was not too interested in the conversation. They had been fighting ever since they formed some alliance. It was easy to stir some things between them.

A little whisper in an ear, a small rumor spreading about, and soon enough, the two of them were fighting endlessly. Her friend, Stephanie, she was a bit of a fighter. More inclined to throw punches or cause physical damage instead of Tara, who liked to ruin your whole school image.

Stephanie had been in and out of juvie for anger issues, causing problems that not even her rich parents could sweep under the rug.

So all I had to do was follow Tara's MO and create a rumor so vile and disgusting that there would be no other person it could've been who started it...other than Tara.

I waited until I knew that Seonghwa was staying in his classroom before I started anything. He was too kind to witness what would happen.

And it soon began.

Stephanie heard about the rumor by lunch, just like I expected her to. She was on a murder mission to find Tara, and who would've expected Tara to be leaving her specific vaping spot in the upstairs janitors' closet?

They found each other on the stairwell, their disturbance getting the attention of everyone in the hall. Since it was between classes, the teachers were in their classrooms, preparing for the next group of kids that would flood in.

So, it was just the students to witness this.

I stayed close to the wall, watching it unfold. Stephanie was the one who started it, losing her mind while Tara stood there confused. Her ignorance was enough to send Stephanie over the edge.

See, Stephanie was someone you needed to stay on the good side of. Because this wasn't the first time something like this happened. But it sure would be her last as she could now be tried for an adult. She was violent, extremely so.

While the other students stood in shock as they watched, I found myself smiling as Tara was shoved over the railing and fell down. Her bag slipped off her arm and tangled around her neck, getting stuck on the railing, and the thick chain was enough to stay stable to carry her weight.

Especially as a crack echoed through the halls. Things were silent for a moment, just pure peaceful silence before the screams erupted.

Her lifeless body dangled from the railing, her neck all bent out of shape now.

It could've just been me...

But she resembled a human piñata.

I smiled.