Lina's back immediately straightened, pulled by the force of prickling as she recognized the voice; a voice she very much wanted to leave her alone.
Stomach squirming like a bucket of worms, her eyes widened- resembling a scared puppy with its tail between its legs.
The metallic taste of blood infiltrated her mouth as she viciously chewed her already-short nail, nipping her skin in the process.
Shoulders high, the girl's breath ceased to exist, trapped within her throat as her chest grew tight, caging her as her lungs grew claustrophobic, ribcage suffocating them.
Lina felt as if time had suddenly halted, and like every pair of eyes in the entire cafeteria had turned to her, ready to judge every aspect of her.
She felt a presence occupy the seat beside her, and their shoulders brushed together, leaving the girl reeling away from him, controlled by a jolt of anxiety.
Where their arms touched, her skin was prickled by imaginary needles, and the sensation spread throughout her body, leaving her feeling uneasy.
Her stomach swayed like a ship on a stormy sea, summoning what felt like motion sickness to drown her, swirling her intestines around in an endless vortex of movement as she began to feel queasy.
Too afraid to meet eyes with the boy beside her, Lina's eyes fell to her lap, fixated on a hole in her jeans.
From the corner of her eye, orangey, bleached hair poked into her vision, accompanied by a pair of bright, inhuman grey eyes that bore into the side of Lina's face, forcing her under his scrutiny.
Her hands grew clammy as she felt his eyes on her, and she hated it- wanting nothing more than for him to look away.
A large earring with an excessively huge diamond bulged from his ear, blinding the girl as it reflected every glimpse of light within a five-mile radius.
Dressed in a leather jacket that sported strategically placed tears for the iconic bad boy appearance, wrapped into a pair of ripped jeans and Doc Martins.
Laughing snidely, the boy glanced behind Lina, waving his arm to someone excitedly, and Lina began to pull at the hem of her shirt, itching to disappear into its oversized folds.
"Jeonghoon! Let's give the nice girl some company, yeah?" He teased, shooting Lina a humorously malevolent stare.
Her eyes grew wide as her head rapidly whirled towards the student, heart pounding in her chest as her lips parted, gaze darting around in search of an escape, but it seemed too late.
Soon enough, a second boy with black hair slid into the seat beside her, a flirtatious smirk plastered upon his lips.
The new opposer slung his arm over Lina's shoulder, and she immediately flinched, legs bouncing as her eyes quivered, unsure of what to look at.
Jeonghoon wore a blue hoodie that screamed boyfriend material, and his dark, twinkling eyes had every female in their senior year swooning over him, falling for his attractive charms.
His pretty-boy smile flashed towards Lina, making her heart race— but not for the same reason every other girl or gay uttered: the organ pounded thunderously in her ears due to fear, feeling anxiety shoot adrenaline through her veins.
"Yeah, why not, Min?" Jeonghoon taunted, and his breath washed over Lina's ear- making her face crinkle with disgust.
Wanting the ground to swallow her if it meant getting away from this pair, Lina gulped back her freight as her hands shook, but she quickly tucked them within the holds of her sweatshirt, nervous one of the boys would notice.
Lips pressed into a thin line, Lina refused to move her eyes from her lap as the two watched her, tossing slurs and snarks at each other.
Min's boney, long finger's lurched towards her copy of 1984, and Lina's eyes shot open, watching him take it as her heart froze in her chest.
"Whatcha reading?" He tantalized, giving the girl a sly glance. "Seems interesting."
Feinting enthrallment, Min's gaze raked over the cover of it, shifting it around it his hands as his eyes narrowed at it, yet the sadistic smirk that played upon his lips diminished such an innocent look.
"You wouldn't mind if I took it, would you?" Min articulated, tone dripping with smugness and privilege.
Lina swallowed nervously as she hugged her baggy sweatshirt, and a snake of ice slithered down her neck, inching, inching agonizingly down to her spine as shivers electrified her body, leaving her cold, nervous, and scared.
"B-but-"
"Amazing. Thanks!" He interjected, tucking the book under his arm.
Mouth gaping, Lina awkwardly stared at the male before quickly averting her gaze, stomach spinning around like the tea cup ride at Disneyland.
Jeonghoon suddenly flinched away from her, which, in result, made the girl jump out of her skin, and his nose crinkled as his lumps curled unnaturally, disgust written upon his expression.
"That is such an ugly sweater," He criticized, grappling the fabric by her shoulder harshly.
She glanced down at it; it was a grey, knitted shirt that loosely clung to her body, and it was rather plain and simple, unworthy of most people's attention.
Her eyes twitched up towards Jeonghoon, yet her gaze only made it to the corner of his lip, unable to look him in the eye as her legs began to fly up and down and up again vigorously with no end in sight.
His words felt like a slap in the face, causing her chin to tremble as surges of anxiety washed over her like the suffocating waves of the ocean, slowly drowning her in pessimistic thoughts.
"Ugh, let me help you with that," Min smirked, and gripped the fabric tighter, making Lina's eyes morph into mini moons.
He viciously tugged at it, and the deafening cracking of material screeched into Lina's ears before a cold breeze rose goosebumps upon her skin, leaving her arm feeling rather frigid.
Yanking it even further, Jeonghoon tore her sleeve straight off of her body as Lina merely watched, shaking as her nerves twisted into knots.
Her arm shot up to her bare flesh, eyes wider than the universe itself as she gawked at the boy, heart erratically pounding in her ears.
A small laugh escaped Jeonghoon's lips before he grabbed the hem of her sweatshirt, and began to pull- ripping it until her stomach showed.
A small whisper burst from Lina's throat, and the second his hands distanced from her, her arms immediately wrapped around her exposed body, feeling violated.
Her intestines writhed painfully as she desperately hid her suddenly revealed torso, and her eyes began to well with tears, staring at her ruined sweater.
The echoes of Min and Jeonghoon's laughs ricocheted around her skull endlessly, injecting a certain, unpreventable poison into her brain, causing the vile taste of vomit to crawl up her windpipe.
She wanted to run away; she wanted to disappear from the prying eyed of the world, but she was trapped, smothered by the stifling presence of the two boys beside her.
With every movement they made, they bumped into the small girl, and reminded her that she was engaged between them, stranding her feeling defenseless against them.
She clamped her eyed shut as the males began to pull at her baggy clothes, tearing small pieces away from her as she desperately clung to her shirt, bottom lip quivering.
"Fingers off, or I will not hesitate to rip them from your body with my bare hands," A friendly voice cheered, seeping with exaggerated kindness.