Chapter 14 Schoolyard Bullying

Just as Eliza nearly tripped. Nn grabbed the back of her bcor /band yanked her upright.

She barely avoided falling, but her chest still burned from the strain in her breath.

“bI /bbasked /byou a question.”

Nn’s presence was suffocating

Though he was bjust /bba /bteenager, he exuded a sense of authority far beyond his years.

I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Eliza tried to brush him off.

But Nn leaned in, voice low and expressionless. “I saw it.”

Her heart skipped a beat.

“I bsaw /byou switch papers during thest bexam/bb./bb” /b

Her eyes widened in shock.

He saw it? That couldn’t be. Naomi had always chosen the blind spot–areas with no cameras, no monitoring.

Nn didn’t miss the flicker of panic in her eyes.

b“/bbThere’s /bno one in ss Six who can bully you

He didn’t press her further. Instead, he flicked her forehead lightly and said, “Keep running”

Eliza followed him in a daze.

He’s known all along. But he didn’t expose her.

Why?

“Eliza! Hurry up! You’re falling behind!”

Henry jogged beside her, nudging her forward with a grin.

+B Pearls

Thanks to what had happened earlier, ss Six had unexpectedly taken her in. The resistance from this morning was gone.

Even Colton, who hadn’t been friendly before, made sure to run behind her, blocking ss One’s line of s

b[/bsaght

At lunch, a few of the ss Six boys hauled their boxed meals into the ssroom.

There were only sixteen students bin /bss Six. The cafeteria delivered meals bbased /bon ss headcount.

Since Eliza had just transferred in, her name hadn’t been added yet. There bwas /bno meal for her.

If she wanted to eat, she’d have to bgo /bbback /bto ss One to get it

And those people? They weren’t going to bmake /bit easy

“Eat mine!”

Henry shoved his boxed blunch /btoward her.

Eliza shook her head. “It’s yours. I can’t take it.”

“We’re all one family in ss Six. No need to bdivide /bwhat’s yours and mine. Besides, I worked up a sweat during PE–I’m not hungry anyway

8:37 bAM /b

Chapter 14 Schoolyard Bullying

He opened the lid and pushed it closer. “Eat up. You’re still growing. You won’t get taller if you don’t eat.”

+8 Pearls

His easy smile warmed her heart. It was hard to imagine this was the same Henry who’d been ready to throw punches an hour ago.

Outside the door, a few girls from ss One appeared, staring at Eliza with smug, bmocking /bexpressions

Clearly, they were waiting for something to happen.

Eliza’s eyes darkened.

“Eliza, Naomi asked us to bring you your lunch.”

One girl raised a boxed meal in her hand, her face haughty and smug.

Eliza didn’t need to guess to know what wasing.

“Ignore them. Tomorrow your name will be in the system. They won’t have any reason to mess with you anymore.” Henry muttered, gesturing to her to eat.

But Eliza stood up and walked straight toward the door.

The two girls exchanged excited looks.

-Eliza, we knew you bdidn’t /bhave a meal, so we brought one for you. Aren’t you going to say bthanks/b!”

“Right? You were part of ss One too. Even though you’ve given up on yourself, we still treat you like a ssmate. Just say thank you, band /bit’s yours.”

Eliza smiled.

She had thought that being reborn once gave her perspective–bthat /bchildish bullying like this didn’t deserve her energy.

But apparently, they saw her as the perfect victim.

She took the boxed meal from the girl’s hand and flipped the lid.

Inside was a pile of trash–cockroaches, and even a dead ral.

The girls in the corridor shrieked at the sight.

1

Henry and the rest of ss Six rushed out of the room.

But Eliza?

She didn’t even blink.

“That’s it?”

The btwo /bgirls‘ smug smiles froze.

Eliza bcasually /bgrabbed the rat by the tail and flung it squarely onto one girl’s head.

The girl’s face turned sheet white.

bBefore /bthe other could even scream. Eliza upturned the entire box over her, garbage raining bdown /bfrom her hair to her shoes.

The bmove /bwas so swift and smooth it left everyone stunned.

“Eliza! Are you binsane/b!! How dare byou/b?!”

“I’m telling the teacher! You psycho! You’re getting expelled for this!”

Eliza smiled bfaintly /b“Go aheadb. /bThere are cameras everywhere in school. You handed me that box. What was inside? Clearly

Chapter 14 Schoolyard Bullying

nted by you. The school has ba /bzero–tolerance policy for bullying. I’d love to see who gets expelled first.”

“You-!”

They hadn’t expected her to fight back so fiercely.

The Eliza they remembered was quiet, withdrawn, never said a word even when bullied.

But now?

She had teeth.

“If you don’t report this, I will. I’ll go straight to the principal.”

Eliza took a step closer.

Her presence alone made their hearts lurch

+8 Pearls

“One more thing,” she added. “Next month, I’ll bepeting in the city–wide mathpetition. You know how seriously the jschool takes that.”

She smiled coldly, “Remind me, where do you two brank /bin ss One? Bottom five, wasn’t it? You really think the school or the teachers would throw away their precious contestant just to defend two deadweights like you!”

Their faces turned pale.

At Westbrook High, grades were everything. Students with top scores practically bruled /bthe ce.

As long as they didn’t go too far, even troublemakers from ss One got protected.

But a city–levelpetition? That was on another level.

No teacher would risk losing a medal for two low–performers.

“Fine! Eliza, just wait! Let’s see how smug you are when you bomb thepetition!”

“Let’s go!”

The two girls turned to leave.

“Stop.

They froze.

“We were goi

going to let it go. What else do you want?”

“You don’t seem to get it.”

Eliza bent bdown /band picked up the remaining half of the btrashed /blunch.

“It’s not you letting me off the hook”

She straightened up, eyes sharp.

“It’s me who’s not done with you.”