Chapter 2

Back in the classroom, the entire class fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone stared at me like they’d seen a ghost, their whispers barely audible.

"Oh my god, she really dared to hit Julian? Is she crazy? Will the Chen family even let her live until tomorrow?"

"And Brittany got hit too. I just saw someone helping her to the infirmary, her wrist was swollen like a pig's foot, completely disfigured… Don't tell me Audrey did it?"

"She's lost her mind, hasn't she? She used to be so timid, always quiet. She'd just cry when she was bullied."

I ignored the chatter and walked straight to my desk.

On my desk, someone had used white-out to draw a crude turtle, with "Audrey the slut" written next to it.

My desk cubby was stuffed with garbage.

There was even a wad of chewed-up gum spit inside, with a few strands of unknown hair stuck to it.

I emotionlessly extended my finger, scraping off the dried graffiti, bit by bit, with my fingernail.

Not a word.

But my calm demeanor, to others, looked like submission.

Soon after, a folded note was passed from the front, accompanied by snickers from a few boys along the way, finally landing on my desk.

I didn't even need to open it to know what was inside.

In my past life, I received notes like this almost every day.

Because I developed curves earlier than other girls, some boys always found sick pleasure in it.

They used vulgar insults to humiliate me, and took pride in it.

I slowly unfolded the note.

It was a drawing, done with a black marker.

My body was crudely depicted naked, surrounded by several leering stick figures.

They were making obscene gestures at me.

Next to it, a line of scrawled text read:

[Audrey, name your price tonight? Us guys are good in bed, we’ll make you scream for more.]

The artwork was rough, but the malice practically overflowed from the page.

My past self, seeing something like this, would have collapsed onto the desk, crying uncontrollably.

Letting the explosion of laughter around me drown me completely.

But now.

I slowly lifted my head, my gaze sweeping coldly across the entire classroom.

Finally, it landed on Kyle, a boy who was exchanging smirks and nudges with his buddies.

Kyle was the class's notorious troublemaker, and banking on his family's money, his favorite pastime was bullying the weak.

I held the note, stood up, and walked towards him, step by agonizing step.

The air in the classroom completely solidified, even the sound of breathing vanished.

Seeing me approach, Kyle didn't hold back one bit. In fact, he smirked even wider.

He leaned back in his chair with a swagger, his eyes raking over me from head to toe.

Finally, he stuck out his tongue, making an incredibly lecherous lip-licking gesture.

He didn't say a word, but his eyes screamed, "What are you going to do about it?"

I smiled, and under his provocative gaze, I slowly stuffed the crumpled note directly into his open mouth.

"Ugh… What the hell are you doing?!"

He hadn't expected such a move, and gagged on the paper wad, his eyes rolling.

"Does it taste good?"

I leaned down and asked softly.

Before he could react, I suddenly lifted my foot, aimed squarely between his legs.

And kicked him with all my might!

"Aow—!"

Kyle's protest instantly turned into a high-pitched, agonizing scream.

He clutched his lower half, curling into a ball, his face instantly beet red.

The class exploded!

Girls shrieked in horror, covering their eyes.

All the boys collectively gasped, instinctively clamping their legs together.

Kyle writhed on the floor for a few seconds, then grabbed the heavy metal pencil case from his desk.

His face contorted with fury, he roared and lunged at me:

"You bitch! I'm going to kill you today!"

I didn't dodge.

The moment he lunged, I precisely sidestepped him.

I grabbed the wrist that was swinging the pencil case and twisted it backward with force!

*Snap!*

Another tooth-grinding sound of a joint dislocating.

"Ah—!"

He let out a second scream, his wrist dislocated, the pencil case clattering to the floor.

As his other hand instinctively swung at me, I swiftly grabbed the utility knife that had popped open on his desk, and in one swift motion, without hesitation—

A deep gash, visible to the bone, instantly bloomed on his arm.

Blood dripped to the floor, staining the white tiles.

The entire class fell into a deathly silence.

Then came even more hysterical screams.

"Ah! Blood! She killed him! Call the teacher!"

In the chaos, the classroom's back door burst open, and Julian rushed in again.

He hurried to me, grabbing my shoulders, his grip so strong it felt like he would crush my bones.

"Enough! Audrey, stop it! What the hell do you want?!"

His voice was filled with exasperation and confusion.

I violently shook off his hands, and with a flick of my wrist.

The utility knife, still dripping blood, was pointed steadily at his Adam's apple, barely a millimeter from piercing his throat.

Watching his face instantly freeze, I spoke softly.

"Julian, I'm saying this one last time."

"Don't touch me. You disgust me."