01

"Hahaha!"

In the slightly dusty, cramped, and slightly dark school warehouse, several teenagers were laughing merrily. Only the girl in the middle of them was not laughing. This girl was the reason the teenagers were laughing. The girl's name was Claia Anatasya.

Claia's short, disheveled hair covered most of her face, her legs and arms were bruised and bleeding, her stomach hurt, and her eyes kept crying.

A girl with long wavy hair and pink hairpins on her right and left said, "Disgusting."

The girl crossed her arms and gave Claia a disgusted look.

It all started a few weeks before.

Claia stared at her seat as she walked into class. Most of the children in the class were talking to each other. Claia, who had no friends at all, was not interested in joining in.

Claia pulled her chair forward because it was slightly backward. But then there was a sound like something breaking.

"Bastard! What are you doing? Are you so blind that you can't see that?" Tiara asked, half shouting. She was about to slam her right hand down on the table when her eyes glared at Claia.

Claia looked down to find a broken makeup mirror scattered on the floor. Only then did Claia realize that Tiara had used her chair to prop up her makeup mirror. Claia regretted not having seen it.

Tiara's scream brought the others closer. When they saw that Claia had pulled her chair and knocked over Tiara's makeup mirror, some of Tiara's friends began to cheer for Claia.

"Tiara, you have a lot of patience sitting behind a mindless beast!"

"Disgusting!"

"It seems it really wanted the makeup mirror, Tiara, because it couldn't bear to see you with it, so it deliberately destroyed your makeup mirror!"

Claia shook her head repeatedly and said frantically, "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I didn't mean it on purpose. Really, I didn't see it."

"Just apologizing isn't enough! Fix it!" shouted one of Tiara's friends.

Tiara told her friends to calm down. She asked sarcastically, "Claia-Claia, why don't you just transfer out of this school?"

Claia could tell from the beginning that Tiara hated her more than she liked her. When Tiara sat behind her, Claia wasn't sure of Tiara's reasoning.

But over time, Claia understood that Tiara sat behind her on purpose to annoy her. Then the girls in that class began to join Tiara in taunting Claia. Tiara was deliberately provoking them not to be friends with Claia and to stay away from her.

Claia was no longer surprised because she had experienced the same thing in her previous school.

"Tiara, where did you get your makeup mirror?" Claia asked kindly.

Claia was an expert at keeping her emotions in check. Even though Tiara and her friends had yelled and scolded her many times, she remained polite.

"Why, Claia? Do you want to change? Never mind, forget it," Tiara replied lightly.

"But I feel guilty, Ra, and I want to take responsibility," Claia replied.

The girls in the class laughed at Claia. Meanwhile, the boys didn't seem to want to interfere.

"Huh? I feel even worse now that it's just a makeup mirror. I even asked for compensation when I could have bought a dozen, but I should have given it to you. Relax, forget it," Tiara replied with a faint smile.

"Unlike Claia, Tiara, you're a good girl! To you, Claia, you're impure!"

Claia ignored the expression of one of Tiara's friends. She decided to thank Tiara by saying, "Thank you, Ra."

"Hmm."

Tiara and her friends still invited Claia to the cafeteria. Claia often visited a different cafeteria than the one Tiara and her friends used. She had followed them, and even though the place was full of other kids and seniors, she was laughed at and insulted all the time. She couldn't defend herself.

Besides, Claia often went to the cafeteria near the eleventh graders for another reason.

Ren was a boy in the twelfth grade. He was very popular because, in addition to being handsome, he had won many sports tournaments and was the school basketball captain. Claia was one of the many girls who liked him.

Claia never caught Ren's attention, even though they shared the same cafeteria.

When Claia returned from the cafeteria, she was surprised to be called by her senior. Claia felt that she had never been in trouble with any of her seniors. Nevertheless, she dared to meet her senior at the door.

"So you are the one whose name is Claia. Here is a letter from Ren for you," Ren's friend said as he handed over a letter with a pink heart-shaped paper on it.

Claia was surprised. She had never told anyone that she liked Ren. Besides, it was hard to believe that Ren liked her. She was sure she was dreaming. Nevertheless, she accepted the letter and opened it.

From Ren

Dear Claia Anatasya. I'm sorry I can only write to you this time. How many times have we met? I'll tell you more later, after we've met, because I'm a little lazy to write. I also often notice you eating snacks in the cafeteria and watching me compete. I will meet you in the school's storage room after class!

Please come!

Ren

Claia was so excited when she read the letter that she trembled. It was truly unbelievable that Ren returned her feelings.

"Is this for real? I didn't expect him to write a letter."

Claia thought.

Before Tiara and her friends could see the letter, Claia hastily tucked it into her purse. If they knew, they would definitely make fun of her.

After the bell rang, class began again. Claia couldn't hide her satisfaction. She kept thinking of Ren and smiled throughout the lesson.

"Claia, you keep smiling; is something wrong?" asked Tiara casually.

Tiara's sudden question surprised Claia and she turned around. Tiara shouldn't have been able to see the girl's face since she was sitting behind her and smiling all the time, so why did she notice it when she was sitting in front of her? But her friend Tiara, who was sitting next to her, must have mentioned it right away.

Claia replied firmly, "Nothing."

Finally, a few hours later, the school bell rang. Claia slowly cleared the classroom so she could be the last to leave. She would visit the school storeroom after everyone had left their classes.

Before finally going to the schoolhouse, Claia made sure the school was quiet and sat on the bench in front of the class. But the door to the storeroom was closed. She thought that the door must be secured.

Ren might not be there yet. Claia had seen the 12th grade class before. Many of them were carrying bags, so Ren might have already left the classroom. Perhaps Ren had something to do. Claia decided to wait for him.

"What did you expect him to say? Man, I still can't believe it. It's like he didn't send the letter." Claia thought, "But if not him, who else?" "What if he tells me how he feels?"

Claia felt like her mind had gone too far.