[Erehisu] Queen Bee

The Queen and her Prey

"Can you say something that I don't know yet..." I said

She clutched her hands together. Avoiding eye contact with me.

In a heavy, cold, night. We were standing in the middle of the road. Where the lamppost shines its light. Flickering at every second. I knew that she was nervous. She was expecting something about me. So I walked closer to her. Grabbing her cold sweaty hands. She rushed her eyes up to me. I could feel her heartbeat beating faster and faster.

" I feel strange lately..." she says softly "Probably because of your homemade soup that you made it for me. That was disgusting." She changed the atmosphere.

"What?" I let out a soft chuckle "seriously? I thought you liked it..."

She shook her head " not anymore" she looks up to me and forcing herself not to laugh out loud in this dark area.

"C'mon..." a groan in the middle of the word "just tell me already..."

She pauses and looks at me for seconds. Crossing her arms to her chest. Looking at me from my feet up to my face. "You look disgusting"

"Well, I was AARGH—"

She kicks my right leg. The pain stings that reach up to my brain "fuck.."

"That's my payback..." she sticks her tongue out.

Love can be complicated sometimes. You can't expect love. You can't control love. Only love controls you and a lot of time is needed. We don't know when we'll meet our true love. Sometimes love can be hatred. Sometimes love can be loved. Love can change people. Love can change everything. And here I am. I was changed because of love.

And because of her.

~~~~~

Every time day comes I always knew that today will be the same day as yesterday. Same routine, same schedule, and clothes, same time as always. I wake up at 8:00 am. When I wake up I would stay first in the bed and stare at the ceiling. It helps me a lot when I start another day. After that, I would get up and finally starting a new day.

I would always arrive at school at 8:45 am. Yes, I know and I am already late. I'm always late and I'm always get scolded by my history teacher Mr. Smith. I'm used to his eyes whenever I come late. His eyes were ready to kill me indirectly. Of course, there's a punishment. A punishment where I would stand at the back for the whole period. Yep, the same day as yesterday.

I'm a new student. At first, I was expecting that it would very easy that I have to start again from the beginning. New school, the new life that's what they used to say. The first day of school was the hardest. I feel heavy in my chest and my legs wanted to walk to the exit. It was extremely awkward. Meeting new neighbors, new people, new classmates, and a new atmosphere. Sometimes, you need to adjust yourself to connect with other people.

But right now, I feel that I'm empty like a nobody. I feel like I was just a ghost roaming around this university. I wasn't part of anything. I was just a regular person that has no dreams and ambitions in life. I don't care to be honest.

The morning class was over. I was sitting outside by the entrance. Sitting on the bench as I watched the other kids doing their thing.

It's been days since school started. And I have discovered a lot of things.

"Oh oh!!! Oh oh oh!! A butterfly!! C'mon Connie let's catch it!!"

" Sasha!! Just wait for a sec!! Hey!!!"

Sasha. Known as the "Floater". Yeah, she's weird. I caught her once that she was talking to herself. And making faces by the glass window that everyone was trying their best to ignore her. She also likes to steal food from others. That's why I would go to the restroom and eat my snacks there. All alone.

And the other one was Connie. "The slacker" I wasn't able to know a lot about him. We never talk. Not even once. As far as I know, he's the type of guy who likes to be with Sasha. They're practically best friends. Best friends that like to do weird stuff together. Ahem.

" I told you! The manga is way better than the anime!!"

" Marco!! The anime is way better! Comics in black and white? You call that 'better'?" He does the apostrophe gesture with his fingers.

Armin. The PC-obsessed anime lover also known as the "Geek" with his buddy Marco. The Homework-obsessed nerd is known as the "Brain" who likes to read books. There were the most genius people here at the University. I talked to them once but all that they have been talking about was anime and other stuff. I'm not really into that. I am practically out of this place.

"Psst hey..." someone whispered at my back. Her breath hissed at the back of my neck. I scratch it with my fingernails as I look back. " ah. Mikasa..?"

She smiles with her eyes closed. Like a small doll face. Her pale white skin and rosy red lips make her look really like a living doll " yeah you call me right" she says. " Now stop looking at me!" She whispers and shouts at the same time. She moved my shoulders facing in front. Her grip made me think that this girl is strong.

" what are you hiding for—"

"SHH!" She aggressively says as I heard her necklace tingle as she moves " he'll spot us if keep doing that."

"Who..?" I softly say, without looking at her.

"That horse face bastard."

Ah... She meant Jean. The bad boy. The big bully. He was now walking along the pathway. With his hands on his pockets. His hair would always shine against the sunlight because of too much hairspray. His hair must be hard as a rock by now. He suddenly kicks the book that Marco was holding. And Armin stood up and shouts something at him.

"Damn..." I commented

"I know..." Mikasa whispers back. " I must make a curse that would make that guy away from us. He freaks me out every time he seeks up to me. I hate it."

Mikasa. The occult lover. The only Goth in this University. She's the only person that I spent the time most. She would always tell me the curses and mythology and some dark ages and stuff. She's been always with Armin and Marco after dismissal. And I would always be left out all alone. But at least I have the person to talk to.

"Uh... excuse me?" The voice sounds annoyingly disturbing. I suddenly look back and saw her.

Ahh... it's Hitch. The "Wannabe".

"You're new here, right?" She's talking to me " and you too Mikasa. Why the fuck you sitting there? That's gross." She says with her arms crossed.

Mikasa stands up without saying any other word. She walks up to me hiding at my back. What is this girl up to? I know that I'm a new student here just why the fuck is she acting this way? Disgusting. " what do you want from us?" I said boldly " why can't you just leave us alone."

"Oh... my... god..." she says softly at every other word. " who do you think you are, huh? Some upper-class school castes? Just look at you. You look like a helpless rat" she kicks the leg of the bench that made me stumble backward. " and lastly, you're violating the rules. Look at where you are sitting."

I blinked for seconds. I have no idea what she was talking about.

"Huh, by the looks of your eyes you don't know anything." She pauses " That's the 'Queen Bee's spot so get the fuck off—" she pushes me off the bench as I immediately remove her hand from my shoulder.

Hitch. I saw her every time with her boyfriend Marlowe the "Preps". Whenever classes are over, I spotted them at the back of the library. The place where they make out. Even my schoolmates were trying their best to ignore them. Even though how many sounds they make, even though it's very uncomfortable, they're going to stay still and stare at the book. And that's the start where Armin and Marco didn't go to the library anymore. Eugh. Who does that?

Mikasa grabs my arm pulling me away from her " maybe we should leave. She's coming anyway..." by her voice, I could tell that she's terrified. By whom? By Hitch? She acts like she's the bottom of everything and Hitch is way higher than us.

"Queen bee..." I said softly, trying to remember what Hitch just said. " who's Queen Bee?" I've never heard that name before.

We stopped by the shade under the tree. Armin was there as well as Marco. We sat beside them as they gave us a 'hi' look. And without noticing, Mikasa was ignoring my question.

"Hey, guys! What's up? What you guys bring you here?" Armin says with a friendly voice.

" That Hitch threw us away. Such a salty brat..." Mikasa's voice became acid when she said her name. " I'm going to curse her" she mumbles, avoid eye contact with us. "Besides they're coming anyway."

"T-they're?" I repeated as I inch closer to Mikasa. Willing to know more. " what are guys talking about?" I look back to Armin and Marco with a feared emotion sticking to their faces. "G-guys..?" They haven't said anything. Marco hugged his knees together as Armin does an Indian seat looking down to the ground. I gaze back to Mikasa who's her back leaning to the trunk of the tree, hugging her knees as she puts her chin over it. They all went silent.

There's a group of people walking down to the entrance. Looking confident as if everyone was praising them. People around them start to cheer and some of them were running away. They were looking like they're the god and goddesses in this school. Even Hitch is included also as Marlowe who's running down to meet with the others. Their faces seem unfamiliar to me. I haven't met them before. " who are they..?" I asked Mikasa who is still looking at them.

"Hmph..." She says softly " they belong to the higher school castes. And we were the bottoms. We're known as the losers."

"She's right." Armin said as I gaze back to him " We were supposed to avoid them or else they're doing to do something horrible to us."

"Bullying..." Marco suddenly says "Bullying is very common here. And we're the targets..."

This feels not right. "And you're okay with it?" I asked them, by looking at them one by one "you're all fine with it?"

"We've been here for several years now." Mikasa says " so... What's the big deal? We're already used to it. Besides we're not that fragile. And technically, we're not usually get bullied that easily... Well..." She raises her shoulders " sometimes I guess. And remember" her eyes focused on mine " I'm a Goth and they fear me..."

" Stop being an actor Mikasa..." Jean just appeared. As I felt the jolt coming from Mikasa as she heard her name. Jean sits beside her as he put his hand around her waist as he pulls her closer to him. I can see the "uncomfortable" look from her. She wanted to stay away from him and hide somewhere else.

"What did you just say hmm, darling?" He says slowly in a deep voice " I'm a Goth and they fear me..?" He laughs as he traces his fingers along her chin up to her bottom lip. " you're not quite that brave sometimes, Mikasa. Thank me because without me here with you, you'll be in trouble by now." His face gets closer as he sniffs her neck " Ghad you smell so good..."

"Jean, cut it out," I said in a tough voice. My body was tensing up seeing Mikasa trying herself to get away from him. And her eyes asking for help. She couldn't defend herself. She can't do anything. Now I get it. She's right. We're the losers and losers were supposed to express the admiration of those who were the upper class. And I know jean was one of them. Jean. The bad boy. The big bully.

"Hey hey, Jeager-boy? Am I right?" He says, pointing his hand at me by making a gun.

I didn't respond.

"Hey hey..." He says, willing to have a normal conversation with us. " I was just spying the four of you earlier and I have heard you..." he points his hand at the group of people who walked down the entrance earlier " you don't know them..?"

"Yet.," I said immediately.

He clears his throat. Fixing his hair even though there isn't have any strand falling off. He looks back at me and clears his throat again. " let's have a lesson shall we?" He says as he stands up letting go of Mikasa. He walks up in front looking like a professor. " Let's start with..." He looks back and gazing his eyes at the group one by one. Once he's finished he said " Reiner. 'The Jock'. Also known as the 'School's King". He said walking back and forth with his hands' clasps together
" He's technically the highest among the other school castes. And he's the most popular guy here at the University. Every girl has a crush on him. Well, Except Mikasa because I know she loves me am I right?" He winks at her.

" I'm not you dumbass" I heard her mumble beside me.

"Dammit. I wish I was him. Anyway... Back to the lesson." He puts his hand into a ball over his mouth as he clears his throat. "Next is Bertolt. The "Messenger". He may seem to look innocent but he isn't." He slowly kneels keeping his eyes on me. His voice becomes soft. Making it a secret between us. " whoever makes fun of his "king" Reiner he'll sure tell him immediately. You don't even know how much Reiner gets rage in anger. Imagine that so be careful"

Hearing those words is making me think that there is always will have a villain wherever you go. It could be your friends, your family, and even the people that were always around you. They may be looking so nice on the outside but you may not know what's their being on the inside. Fake. I call it fake persons. Fake friends. Sometimes, that's the reason why I have trust issues.

" That's it?" I said, looking back to see who's left. "How about the—"

"Ymir? Hmm, Ymir. The "Pleaser" I don't know much about her. All I know is that she's been always with that girl." Jean says.

"That girl..?" I question.

"The Queen bee." Armin suddenly says without even looking at us.

"Hah!" Jean was impressed I can tell. " look who's talking. It's the nerdy-boy" He slightly pushed him on his forearm. Making a friendly move.

" We never know her name." Armin slowly looks at me

" what?" Am I hearing that right? " wait what? You don't?"

" He's right." Marco said beside him " Surprisingly, she's the most popular girl. And... By the looks of her..." His eyes looked in front as I follow his gaze.

There's Reiner the "Jock" Bertolt the "Messenger" and Ymir the "Pleaser" and the person who is left is the "Queen Bee". She was sitting on the bench where I was sitting before. She crosses her legs moving her foot up and down repeatedly. She's wearing a cheerleader uniform. Her hair was a golden blonde that reaches down below her shoulders. She's looking at her phone in her hands while Ymir was beside her. Discussing something that she wasn't paying attention to. She's—

" She's quite bored." Marco says " well, most of the time"

"Everybody's dream girl..." Jean softly says as he noticed me looking " you know why?" His voice sounds more like a whisper " she's crazy rich. Like so crazy." He adjusted himself since he's only half-sitting towards the ground " there's even a rumor that her dad was a drug dealer." He pauses. Looks at me for a second and smirks

" Who knows... It could be true or not but for me, she's more like a mysterious girl..."

~~~~~

A " mysterious girl" huh? I've been thinking about it until now. It's Saturday afternoon and I have no idea what to do. I'm just laying over my bed staring at the ceiling as I have earphones plugged on. Listening to some music by "Khai dreams". His songs were my favorite.

I've been living all by myself in this very small apartment. Just one single bed with a single shower room. There's no kitchen but there's a big glass window by the terrace. Since I don't have a kitchen or even a refrigerator, I would buy some instant noodles. That is my meal for a whole month now.

There's a sound of a small click by the door. The mail just got in. I get up and start to compile them. Just some bills. And bills. And other bills. And the other one. Fuck. I don't have enough money.

And there's a letter from my mom.

My mom was working abroad as a janitress. We've never talked for almost a few months now. I miss her a lot. I miss her homemade dish that she would always prepare for me. I stared at the envelope for a moment as I slowly open it carefully.

My beloved Eren,

Sorry, it's been so late since I made you one. But there's good news. My boss gave me an extra allowance. I hope that's enough for you. Be a good boy always alright? Your mom misses you a lot. I promise I'll get back very soon. Love you son. Study well...

Love,
Your mom.

I smiled at her sweet words and I felt her embrace against mine. Without realizing there's a tear spot ar the corner of my eyes. I wiped it away immediately. Even though she wasn't around, I could feel her warmth and even her voice as I read the letter. I do. I do miss my mom.

There's my allowance attached to the letter. I would collect them in a clear jar. I use them to pay for my tuition fees. Yeah, the school that I was studying for right now was a little bit expensive so I need to earn a lot. The 1/4 of the allowance will be for my survival needs and the others will be put in the clear jar.

How am I going to pay all the bills? Well, somehow I ended up working as a cashier at Seven-Eleven. For the whole night. My night shift. That's why I'm always late. Like the whole time.

My shift will start at noon. And ends at 6:00 am. If the classes start at 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. I have 7 hours of sleep before I get into my job. Yep. That's my life. My dark circles under my eyes start to appear now which is great. Sigh.

It's currently 1:00 am at seven eleven. Customers often go here at this time. So I patiently sit down by the counter. Read some magazines and eat more instant noodles. And more Slurpees cause why not. I'm in heaven right now, A lot of food is around me.

I find it very suspicious. When the clock ticks at exactly 3:03 in the morning, she would come. Yes. I meant the "Queen Bee" at school. The mysterious girl that everyone talks about. But every time she comes, she would buy some snacks. Just some ordinary snacks. Sometimes she would come in pajamas on like she doesn't even care what she was wearing.

She would slam the box of pocky against the counter and wasn't paying attention to anything. She's always on her phone. She would walk by the aisle without even looking. Looking like a robot that has memorized the directions.

As I patch the pocky, I said " that would be—"

Without me finishing my sentence she cut me off by slamming the bill. Not even looking at me. " keep the change" she said immediately. And then she left the convenience store with her box of pocky.

When the other night comes, she came again. As always with her phone attached to her eyes. Grabs several bags of chips and slam it again against the counter. She didn't look at me even once. I think she doesn't know me or even recognizes me or maybe she doesn't know that I was her schoolmate.

" that would be 30.2—"

Then gives me a 100 bill. " Keep the change..." She says leaving the convenience store with her chips again. That repeats again and again for a few weeks now. sometimes I don't have to say the amount anymore. She would place the money and be done. She'll leave the store and come again tomorrow night.

One night came and it is already 3:30 in the morning. And I guess this is the first time she wouldn't come. It feels very different. So I sat down from my seat, leaning against the wall and tries to have a small nap. Just a nap. So I closed my eyes and—

The sound of the bang object against the counter, which is something heavy that I made myself jumped in horror. I thought it was a criminal but... it was something else. It was her again.

Thank god. This time she wasn't holding her phone. Her hair was tied up into a messy bun and it looks like she's wearing an oversized white shirt, exposing her whitish legs.

"How much?" She says neutrally. Her eyes look so tired. Until I didn't realize that a bottle of liquor was standing on the counter.

"how much?" She repeats but this time in a rising tone.

Her voice scares me " I'm sorry ma'am... this liquor will only be bought if someone was 18 and above. And we require personal identification to make sure of the age." I sound so uncomfortable

" Are you saying that because of my height?" She asks in a fast tone. " I'm calling my dad"

"B-but ma'am, we're—"

" OP OP OP" she put out her pointer finger at me. Her eyebrows were pressed together as she pouted her mouth. " Shut up"

So I stand still. My back aches from standing so straight. I swallowed air. And my throat feels dry. This girl was something else I thought. Is this person even a drinker? why would she buy liquor at this time? It's 4:00 in the morning.

She puts out her phone and pressing the keyboard as fast as the wind. Then, she puts her phone on her ear. She waits and she responds. " dad. I can't buy the liquor that you asked me to bring" she says eye contacting at me. I swallowed. "Ahuh... yeah yeah. Hm-mm. alright."

She puts her phone before me as she taps the loudspeaker button. She whispers "explain everything to him.."

I made a small nod " Good evening sir. I am very sorry. This store doesn't allow 18 and below to buy the liquor. It also requires a personal identification card to make sure of the age." I just said the same earlier.

" I am his Father. And I asked her a favor if she could buy me the liquor. I am 18 plus years old." Then looked at her. She was smirking, proving that she was right.

" Uhm, sir. As I said, sir. The only ones who can buy the liquor of whose age has 18 and above. You can come here and we can clarify your identification card—"

"Hey, you cashier boy." She suddenly snaps out "I'm not here to wait. Let me just pay this okay? So I can go home now."

"I'm sorry." I feel like I'm the one who's the victim " I'm just doing my job—"

She cuts me off as she suddenly puts several paper bills on the counter and brings out the liquor with her. " hey hey!!" I shouted. I ran after her. Suddenly I bang myself by the metal small opening door blocking my way. With my sweaty hands, it gets stuck so a jump up and runs after her.

I stand still outside by the sliding door. My breathing gets shallow as I realized how tiring it was to jump. The sun starting to rise where she was nowhere to be found. " fuck..."

~~~~~

Monday. My worst day in a week. A new day for starting a new class. How great is that? Lunchtime in the cafeteria was quite busy. There's a lot of people talking and mumbling and clattering of plates around. And today was different. Usually, I'm with all by myself. But this time Mikasa is with me. She was sitting beside me. Also, there's Armin. He was here but he was taking a line to get some lunch. And Marco. He's absent.

I haven't told them about Queen bee. Where she would always come very late at night. Also about what happened last night. Surely, there's a lot of cameras around in that store. I'm sure they captured her face. And I'm going in a big trouble. With that simple act of hers, my manager will be so upset at me. I knew it. I can already sense it.

" Hey..."

Without noticing. Mikasa just shook my arm. I looked at her. " hm?"

" you're daydreaming. What's wrong? You didn't even have at least one bite to your food."

Mikasa has a motherly thing behavior. Sometimes she kinda reminds me of my mom. " Ah—" I jolted back to my food as I take a spoon. " I'm sorry..."

" it's okay" She softly laughs " At least the demons didn't catch you" typical Goth Mikasa.

I hum in response. As a took a bite. Chew the beefsteak and swallows it. Looking around the cafeteria I noticed that there's a group of people by the counter. I recognized their faces. Reiner, Bertolt, Ymir. I heard an argument. By studying their actions they were blaming someone. It was Armin. And he was scared.

I stand up but someone grabs my hand to stop me. " Eren no..." Mikasa said in a worrying voice "we're not starting a fight..."

" Are we just going to leave Armin like that?" I said immediately " He needs help—"

"Yes, I know that. Do you even have the windows of your soul?" Her eyes shifted from the group. " they're them. The highest castes" Her voice went down "we're the losers and we have to ignore them, remember?"

I don't feel right. This is all wrong.

Armin stood there. Locking his fingertips below the tray he was holding. He was shaking his head at every question he was asked to tell. Ymir slides the tray to the ground and pushes him as he stumbled backward. From the distance, I could hear that he was asking for forgiveness as they were not accepting it.

Queen Bee came holding a cup. She stares at him as she pours the juice above his head. She smirks as she laughs out loud following the others. That's it. This is making my system turn and my blood starts to boil.

I shove my arms away from Mikasa to free myself as I run towards Armin. Queen Bee aims to pour it again over him. But just in time, I shove it her wrist tightly to my hands. Gripping it so she'll not move. " Hey, what the fuck?!" She tries to get her hand away. Shaking her arms doesn't do anything. I heard gasps around the room.

"Let me go!!!" Queen Bee shouted.

" Why don't you stop doing that bullshit?"

Ymir stares at me. And starts walking towards me " hey hey young man.." She pulls Queen Bee away from me. " you better watch your mouth."

Queen Bee slowly looks at me. She stares at my eyes for seconds. Her eyes react as she recognized my face. "You..." she remembered me.

" for all that you did last night." I said, " I'll never forgive you."

"Fucking hell..." she swears under her breath.

Her words sting like a snake bite. Who knew Queen bee could be a snake while him a rat as her prey.

It is The Queen Bee and her prey.


To be continued...

Accomplished date:
September 29, 2018
4:07 pm