Special: The Impenetrable Fortress (Part 2)
(A/N: Slight Trigger Warning! Do not read if you are sensitive to physical abuse, drug abuse, and/or dark thoughts.)
.
.
Cordelia POV
I sat as silently as a mouse and tried to pretend that I was nothing but a whisp of air.
After all, my original father had just come home from work.
And as long as I didn't say a word...nothing would happen.
He had come home somewhat drunk and he stumbled through the doorway with a hazy look in his eyes.
Luckily, he was so intoxicated that he couldn't even see me huddling in the corner of the room and simply ignored me.
I gave a small sigh of relief.
It looks like tonight will be peaceful.
"F-ck...Where the hell is the beer?!" the man cursed as he opened up the fridge and realized that nothing was inside.
I flinched.
You drank every last drop of it...so there can't possibly be anything left...
"Hey! Clara! Where are you?!" the man howled as he looked around the room, attempting to find me.
I curled up into a smaller ball, hoping that I would magically become invisible and that he wouldn't see me hiding from him.
But, unfortunately, the apartment room was small, so his gaze landed me within moments of looking.
The look on his face was dark and warped with unreasonable rage.
He stomped his way over to me and pulled me up by my hair.
"Did you drink it all or something?! Did you think you could hide it from me?! Huh?! Answer me!" he yelled into my ears.
He dragged me to the center of the room and I did nothing to stop him.
I fell to the floor by his feet and, when I looked up at him, I could see his hands clenched tightly into fists, ready to beat me.
Ah...
This is why I hate this world so much.
.
.
.
.
When it was finally morning again, my father had already left and it was time for me to begin finding a way back to the other world.
Although I had no idea what I should do or how to start, I didn't want to give up.
Not yet...
The day I give up will be the day hell freezes over.
But, first things first, I needed to find out exactly what day it was.
There was no clock or calendar in my old, worn-down apartment room and, in my case, I didn't have a phone either.
I opened the creaky apartment door and took a peek at the sky to make a guess at what the time was.
It was early morning and the sun was already shining brightly over the city made of stone.
I stood still, completely mesmerized by the long line of beeping cars on the smooth concrete of the roads and the tall buildings which towered over them all.
It was a sight that I hadn't seen in many years.
A completely modern world.
But, even though I wanted to sit down and take in the sights of the city some more, I quickly forced myself to snap out of it and focus on the task at hand.
I didn't consider this world my home anymore, after all.
"Excuse me. Could you move out the way?" someone I didn't know said to me in a tired voice.
"...Sorry," I said as I took a step back for them to move by.
Just as they were about to move by, I realized that this was a good chance for me to ask about the time.
"Wait," I called out as I grabbed their arm to stop them.
The person flinched and pulled their arm away as if a germ had just touched them.
"Stop...!" they gasped with their eyes wide.
In my opinion, their reaction was a bit too extreme in comparison to what I was used to, but I ignored the clear repulsion on their face and asked them a question.
"What is the date and time right now?"
"I don't know," they answered with a frown as they turned around and left.
It was a blatant lie.
I bit my tongue.
I felt so lost in this world.
Years ago, when I was brought over to the world of the otome game, I never felt this same sense of confusion and distress.
I had adapted to the other world incredibly quickly as if though I had always belonged there in the first place.
But in this world, I felt like I was being torn apart into pieces.
And I didn't know why.
With a deep, frustrated sigh, I left and decided to find out where the apartment lobby was.
No matter how old this complex was, surely, there would be a clock at the front desk.
I might be able to find out what day it is too.
.
.
"Kindly tell me the time and date," I said with a polite curtsy to the old woman playing internet games on her computer.
"Hmm?" the old woman hummed as she glanced upward at me.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked.
"...kids these days must think they're royalty or something..." the old woman frowned as she clicked away from whatever game she was playing and checked the calendar.
"Um...Forgive me if I had offended you somehow. Could you please tell me the time and date, please? It's very urgent," I pressed for answers.
"I'm busy right now."
I stared silently at the old lady who was clearly playing games earlier and frowned.
"You don't seem very busy to me though," I said.
She glanced up at me and gave a small groan.
"It is March 16, 2019. The time is...wait a minute...shouldn't you be in school right now?" the old woman asked as she squinted her eyes at me in suspicion.
Oh...
I almost forgot...
It had been so long since I had been in this world that I had forgotten that school was a requirement for all people here.
"Ah...I...I actually overslept, so I was wondering what time it was. Sorry," I said with another small curtsy before quickly leaving and returning to my apartment as soon as I could.
But the moment I reached my apartment door, a sudden realization hit me.
I didn't remember the door lock's code...
A small headache began to form in the back of my head as I tried to shake the door handle open to no avail.
It wasn't as if I could smash the door lock open and break my way into the apartment...
The rules in this world were stupidly strict after all.
"What do I do now...?" I mumbled to myself with a frown.
This wasn't the most ideal situation...
At best, I'd have to wait for either my mother or father to come home to let me in with them...but there was no way I'd want to or be able to do that.
Besides, if I recall correctly, my original parents would only come home two or three times a week, since they enjoyed wasting away their money by gambling and partying together.
Which meant...
I was stranded outside with nowhere to go.
With a grave sigh, I decided to pick the next best course of action...
Going to school.
.
.
.
Surprisingly enough, even though I had forgotten many things about this world, I was easily able to find the high school that I attended.
It was as if my body naturally moved on its own.
"Good evening. Forgive me, sir, but I seem to be late," I said with a curtsy to the first person I met in the school office.
The man blinked at me, a little confused.
"Is that a trend these days? Acting all proper like that?" he asked with a small frown.
Ah...
I forgot that people in this world didn't have common etiquette like this...
"No. It was just a habit, sorry. Can I ask you what my class schedule is?" I quickly apologized before asking.
"You want to know what your schedule is? Do you not know? We're already halfway through the school year though," the man frowned.
"Ah, um...No...it's just ah...I changed my class schedule recently and I was...I was wondering if I could confirm something...sorry," I lied as I dipped my head.
Where did all of my confidence go...?
I thought I had built up so much confidence...so much pride...so much strength over the course of the past few years...
But I couldn't even look at a single person here in the eye without feeling a terrible sense of dread.
It was as if everything I had ever gained had suddenly come crashing down.
"Tsk. You should know these things beforehand. Wait here, I'll get you a copy. What's your name?" he asked.
"Cordeli— I mean...C-Clara Smith, sorry," I apologized once more.
"Clara Smith...? Ah...you're that young genius," the man said as his eyes widened.
"Huh...? Oh...yeah, I guess so..." I nodded.
I forgot...
In this life, compared to my peers, I was known as a genius among geniuses.
In my other life, I was constantly surrounded by people who were so unrealistically perfect that I forgot that I was considered 'abnormal.'
"Our school is lucky to have you. We aren't ranked too high nationally but, because of you, our school has at least one thing we can boast about," the man nodded as he quickly left to get my schedule.
"I see..." I murmured as I watched him go.
But, inwardly, his compliments didn't make me feel good at all.
What's the point of being smart if you don't have anyone you can lean on?
What's the point of being smart if you're going to end up dying young?
What's the point of being smart if I was...
If I was...
I was...
I was a—
"Here you go. The classroom numbers are listed on the side too. Do you need a map?" the man asked as he came back and handed me a small slip of paper.
"Yes...a map would be helpful...thank you," I nodded my head.
When he finally came back with a map of the school, I quickly left the school office to go find where my next class was.
My next class was AP Physics...
...To be honest, it had been so long since I had studied or heard about the concept of 'science' that I wasn't even sure if I would be able to understand anything in this class anymore.
My mind was only filled to the brim with magic concepts and theories, after all...
I sighed and walked around the school halls until I found my classroom.
With a deep breath, I took a step in front of the classroom door labeled 'D103' and opened it carefully.
"Sorry, I'm late," I murmured as I quickly tried to find the only empty seat.
"It's alright...Where's your backpack?" a woman, who I was pretty sure was my teacher, asked me.
"...I...forgot it at home..." I lied as I quickly turned away from her and sat down at my desk.
"You forgot your backpack...?" she asked.
"Yes...I'm very clumsy..."
"...I see. Just tell me if you have any problems. We can't have our star student in trouble," she replied, clearly not believing me.
I nodded my head.
"Does this mean you've forgotten your homework as well?" she asked.
"...homework...? Oh. Ah...yes...I forgot that too."
"..."
"...Sorry," I apologized.
"I've never seen you make mistakes like these before. You're normally so dedicated to your work. Don't get too cocky just because you're at the top of our school."
"I...I will try my best..."
"I expect results from you, Clara...not effort. Throughout my twenty years of teaching, I have never seen anyone forget their backpack before. Next time, don't even think of going to school if you don't have it with you."
"...Okay," I nodded.
Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, the teacher pulled her attention off of me.
I could feel the stares and snickers from my classmates the entire time.
It must have been hilarious for them to watch the 'smart kid' forget both her backpack and her homework at home...
In reality, though, I was locked outside of my apartment with nowhere to go...
I gave a small frustrated sigh.
When the teacher resumed her lesson, I zoned out completely and stared blankly into the air.
In my mind, I was thinking about nothing except how to get back home.
Back into the arms of the only one who would embrace me so warmly...
Ace...
Ace...do you really love someone like me...?
But...
Why...?
Someone like me can't be loved...
Someone like me isn't—
"...cor...del...ia..." a voice whispered from somewhere within the classroom.
I snapped up immediately at the sound of my name and stood up from my seat frantically.
What was that?!?!
"Clara?! What's wrong?!" the teacher called out to me.
I froze.
For a moment, I had completely forgotten where I was.
I looked around the classroom, searching for the person who had said my name...but all I could see were rows of my classmates staring straight at me.
"There was..." I tried to say.
"There was...???" the teacher asked.
"I-It's nothing. I'm sorry for interrupting class..." I murmured as I dipped my head down low.
At this, the entire classroom broke out into quiet snickers and chuckling as they began to whisper to one another.
And my ears, which were sensitive to the sounds of other people's voices, were able to pick up a few of the things that they said.
"...gone insane..."
"...thinks she's so smart..."
"...nah...just weird..."
And even though I tried to drown their voices out, I was able to hear the exact things that I didn't want to hear.
"...but that's just expected of a..."
"...murderer!"
Then, all of a sudden, a small section of the classroom began to roar with laughter as if they had just discovered the funniest joke of all time.
"...don't get close to her..."
"...you'll end up like the others..."
I took in a deep breath and clasped my hands around my ears.
No...
Stop it...
"...you'll end up..."
"...dead!"
--------------------------------------------------
A/N: Whew! Ahaha...Well, it looks like Cordelia has a pretty mysterious past~ I wonder what it could be~?
Fufufu~ You know, after torturin—I mean...uh...adding some spice to the lives of the male leads for the past few dozen chapters, it's kind of refreshing to start torturin—I mean...messing with Cordelia again...! Hahahaha...
Wait...
Now that I think about it...
Is it possible that...
I'm a little sadistic...?
Hmm...
Nahhhhh~
Hahahaha~ I'm the nicest, most honest person ever! There's no way that I'm a sadist, right?
Anyways, thanks, again, to all of my readers/voters/commenters! I really appreciate all of your support~ I'm not joking when I say that my main source of entertainment is reading your comments~!
Stay safe, everyone~
Okie byeee!
Word Count: 2413