Her room reeked of jasmine. Denser in the center of her space her bed was still unmade, curtains half drawn and her worn clothes thrown on her stool, she sat down on the comfy mattress, drawing out a relieved sigh as she inspected her messy zone.
Suddenly standing up to view the book she'd thrown on her study table, she picked it up, She hadn't noticed it before but his notebook oddly smelled like caramel, a little bit of burnt sugar, and an unidentified fragrance she couldn't pinpoint, was it apples? Or perhaps it was a men's cologne. Did he especially scent it for her? Seemed like it.
Seeing her phone she instantly kept it back in its original position, interested in checking on the latest news about recent incidents, unfortunately, as soon as she opened it, she saw a lot of messages on her insto and reluctantly decided to hold off her mundane endeavor.
As she tasks herself to answer, she finds a few accounts of her classmates, and then it leads to her curiosity heightening and ripening, perceiving their cringe profile and caption, description, in the end, she manages to unearth one shocking discovery.
Her bully had an account.
She couldn't negate the familiarity between him and her hypersensitive torturer, it had to be him, no posts were made just a simple deposition to show his personality, she wanted to bet his side-bubbies did this for him, but there was always a possibility of it being a copycat account. Most of her classmates were following him, except her, and her online friends.
Maybe he was dared to make an account- there's no way he did it out of his own will.
KATSUKI BAKUGO IS NOW FOLLOWING YOU. 1 SEC AGO.
Her eyes grow wide.
She receives the notification before a request to message, she wildly couldn't approve his follow petition, she could block him. Even if that sounds harsh, he's committed worse.
Sadly for her, he is just going to afflict her more misery if she doesn't.
His proclamation reads, 'Follow me back loser, you don't forget to bring my notebook tomorrow if you don't return it, I'm going to kill you.' He cared more about his paper tablet than her feelings.
She stiffly hovers over the button, her thumb slightly trembling, stare trained on the smirking face of her bully, his picture confirmed it.
It was him.
Hesitantly her fingers tapped on the letters, erasing her sentence twice, rephrasing it properly in case he assumed it wrongly, the entire time, she didn't realize she was holding her breath and chewing on her lips, reading her memo thrice, she sent it.
She accepted to follow him back and then blacklisted him. She couldn't see his messages and it was better that way.
Besides, not that he will care.
About to retire from her device to freshen up, disregard, and forgive, she gets an unknown call she immediately rejects it, standing up to close her curtains. It was likely just a bogus call.
Now adorned in soft clothes, she plops on her chair, her phone on mute, prepared to relax and binge-watch videos, but her mother shouting for her presence downstairs had compelled her to put her idea on wait again. She internally groans, carrying herself towards her mother's voice.
She retreated to her dull space after a tough while had breezed by, mildly annoyed but still had a soft tint in her eyes, grabbing her gadget to take pictures of her bully's notes since she didn't feel like writing and it was impossible to jot it down in a single day, she could print it out the next morning before school. She opened the slab, gently turning the papers and observing his rather neat handwriting, too elegant for a fella like him. She was astonished.
At unlocking her golden-covered phone, several unknown calls had been made to her number, she got uneasy. Checking it prior to making a quick call to know who was trying to get a hold of her. She brought it to her right ear, nervously surveying her entire room as the ringing began to drag on.
Until a firm stern voice startled her senses.
"Why didn't you pick up earlier?"
She knew who it was just by the tone of his voice, low, raspy, and an angered portrayal of him already playing inside her head.
She spoke.
"I didn't know it was you." She defended, her legs glued to the floor as she stiffly tried to think ahead biting her lips for reassurance.
He didn't answer.
"So- how did you get my number?" She anxiously inquired glancing at the walls, anything her gaze landed on. She needed some sort of closure, her heart slowly starting to pound faster.
"Deku gave it." He replied in a single breath, his line on the call was oddly quiet.
She looked at her clock, it was already past nine, was he a late sleeper?
"It's late, I'll hang up now. Bye." She sheepishly uttered, quickly tapping the red button and moving into her chair. She concludes with how different he sounded.
The next sunrise, she woke up late.
She didn't concern herself, at first.
Then remembered her plan to print his notebook just in case, then came her frenzied rush, unfortunately, she had less time to spare and ran out the door with her mother screaming for her to have breakfast. She sprinted, legs shaky and adrenaline coursing through her blood breaths short and quick, inhaling through her mouth, her dry uniform dampened with sweat.
Jogging hastily at the scenery of her destination, she galloped across the deserted surface, dismissing the prying stare of her classmates, already in class and seated by the window. She stopped in front of her classroom door just on cue for the bell to ring and signal their impending lot. She collapsed, only to sit straight up and anxiously rampage her bag's contents.
Fishing out the notebook.
Combing through it to see if it was the correct one.
It was, she could pass it over during lunch break. The problem was approaching him willing, after the tactics he pulled on her, she's uncertain, cautious, careful, she shouldn't let him take advantage of her meek nature but when their eyes connect and he glares with potent bitterness, her heart halts, and the air remains captive inside her lungs. He was intimidating.
She avoided his eyes solely for that rationale.
Part of her did not want to admit that, she was slightly frightened.
Instead of delivering it to him herself, she begged one of his side-buddies to do it in her cause and he strangely consented, muttering her thanks and departing with the notebook.
She grew more sentimental over it than her bully.
Positive this subsisting to be the last time she had to repay anything of his. She walked away.
Besides, he was probably enraged she arrived later than sooner and was adamant about teaching her a lesson via a harsh glint, she's subconsciously made a comparison to him being moody versus his usual temper.
Pondering the same thing upon dropping down on her seat and getting a candy bar out of her pocket, she looks out the window. In a hurry, she left her lunch box as well, and she didn't have breakfast either, so this was much she could afford with her current pocket money.
Students were present with her, just her bully and his friends were missing from the classroom, breaks were her least and most favorite time of the day, it was also when her heckler was picky on her.
In the back seat, her green-haired friend shyly peeks at her figure his hand grasping a pen and words neatly scribbled on his notebook. Wishing to talk with her, but decided not to.
And his intuition was right about it.
Entered their childhood bully with hands stuffed in his pockets. His buddies eluded from his side, standing straight as he loomed over the spirited female who immediately glanced up to stare at him, he looked and angrily uttered.
"Why didn't you come to give me my notes huh? Are you that ungrateful?" He narrowed his scarlet eyes, furrowing his cream-coloured eyebrows.
"I bet you are, didn't even say a word of gratitude after I humbly gave my help to you. You thankless brat." He scornfully ridiculed her, the girl took no initiative to respond drinking in his words, admitting mentally that he was right, she didn't thank him. Silence followed.
It was tense for a long moment.
She opened her lips and said.
"Thank you." She wasn't as prideful as him, and it didn't seize much out of her to say something appreciative.
He appeared taken aback, however, his hardened expression endured and he let out a disgruntled sigh, still glaring at her being. Watching her without saying anything.
"Hmph. Loser." Finally, he mouthed, showing her his back, and fled.
Her timid friend had taken note of everything unusual, but simply looked down and dismissed his longing to communicate.
But still, his gaze lingered around her.
School had ended, and she arrived home early, stomach protesting for some delicious contents, without having done anything she normally does after coming home, she strode towards the kitchen and opened the fridge. To find vegetables and none of her delightful treats, she plopped down, upset with her spotting. "Oh you are home so quickly, you must be hungry." Her mom mocked behind her.
She internally mourned, speaking without thinking, "I am, I had to go without breakfast because I borrowed a notebook from someone troublesome." She frankly confessed.
"Why is that? You weren't absent for at least a week." Her mother remarked, walking towards the counter to prepare her daughter's belated breakfast.
"Hmm. This person insisted on giving me their notes and also demanded I give them back in time."
"Sounds like someone troubled."
She chuckled, sounding in agreement.
"I don't want you staying with anyone with bad influence, you hear me? Teenagers and alike are pretty rowdy these days." Her mother said, keeping the filled plate beside her daughter.
"That's an understatement."
"Well, you know better than me, don't remain in a bad friend group if it isn't for you."
She nodded, finding nothing wrong with her mother's worries. Besides, she was correct.
Finishing her food, she takes off to her room. Still craving something sweet but exhausted, she didn't want to do anything but rest and sleep, no homework, no nothing, even if she got in trouble for it the next day.
Laying down after changing her outfit she browsed through her phone, accidentally opening and closing apps she wasn't supposed to. Insto was now her least preferred place to pass the time after she found out her bully and classmates also had accounts she never recognized until recently.
The screen is abruptly altered and she suddenly rises, seeing the unknown caller ID yet again. She did not want to pick up.
Thwarted, she childishly frowns. Huffing before accepting the call.
"Hello." She mumbled.
"Shut up loopy, why aren't you replying to my messages? You ignoring me!?" She could visualize his temper flaring.
"What messages? I didn't get any." She acted pretentiously, recalling herself blacklisting him right after she replied to his first texts.
"Oh, I get it. You are ignoring me." He softly declared, declining her answer by cutting off the connection.
Abandoning her in sharp silence.