Feeling the collective gaze of Abigale, Nora, and Emily on her, Ava looks in my direction with a frown and our eyes meet. Immediately, an angry look spreads across her face and she stealthily flashes her middle finger at me (the gang women probably didn’t notice this).   

Much to her shock, I return back a smirk and raise my middle finger as well.    

“Oho, she’s coming here,” Emily says cheerfully as Ava stands up in rage and start marching towards our table.   

Oh, fuck…   

Instantly, Abigale raises up from her chair, ready to intercept Ava in case she tries to get violent or anything— but I raise my hand to stop her.   

“Sit down. She won’t do anything,” I assure her calmly.   

Unlike Pig, I have never seen Ava actually resorting to violence. True, I don’t know if she’s beaten girls while bullying them, but she never picks up a physical fight with guys, that’s for sure— not even me.  

Hesitating a bit, Abigale settles down on her seat again, though she continues to eye Ava with caution. And she’s not the only one, almost all the gang women are observing her closely, ready to take action in case the need arises.   

But…  

“Caiden, can I borrow you for a moment?”   

Unexpectedly, Ava’s voice gets sickly sweet the moment she reaches our table. On top of it, she’s also suppressing her anger somehow and forcing an ugly smile upon her face.   

Why is doing this?  

Well, I think I know— because of the gang women.  

Undoubtedly, even though she wasn’t present in the cafeteria yesterday when the whole ordeal with Pig happened, I am sure she must have heard everything from her friends— how Pig’s bodyguard friends were licking the dirt off the floor before anyone could even understand what was happening.  

And thus, she’s probably doesn’t want to be hasty and careless in making an impression on these new students— bullying me or yell at me in front of them would do just that.   

“Sure,” I simply reply, standing up.   

“Wait, Caiden, you shouldn’t—”  

“It’s fine.”  

Abigale tries to protest but once again, I stop her. I can already tell what Ava wants to say to me and thus, I know that not going along with her might result in something really unfavorable.   

“Let’s go,” I tell Ava.   

Immediately, she turns around and starts walking towards the exit of the cafeteria— I follow behind calmly.  

Sigh…   

As ordered, I am maintaining my act to be calm and confident, but honestly, I am quite unsettled right now— after all, it’s quite risky to talk to Ava and it’s even worse if I don’t talk to her.   

According to what Reagan said, Ava will be somehow dealt with later today. But for now, she is in hold of a weakness of mine— Nudes of Lily and me.   

Maybe if I didn’t react to her showing me the middle—   

Nah, I am sure she would have cornered me anyway.   

Once outside, Ava grabs my hand, pulling me to a deserted spot right under the stairs leading upstairs.   

“What the fuck. Have you done. You filthy piece of shit!?”   

Turning around, Ava whispers. Her face is contorted in fury and every word she utters is filled with rage and accusation.   

“I see, you sure don’t like to be on the receiving end of the middle finger, do you?” I ask, chuckling.   

“You know I am not talking about that!” she hisses.   

“Hmm? Then what are you talking about?” I ask innocently.  

Actually, I do know what she’s talking about.  

“Those new girls!” she snaps.   

“You were flirting around with them, right!? And also, before your brawl with Johnny yesterday, you declared that they are your girlfriends, didn’t you!?”   

“Yes, I did. So?” I ask, raising my eyebrows.   

“…”  

Ava stares at me for a moment in shock. I can tell that she didn’t actually believe that I will admit it.   

“How the fuck did that many…”  

Ava’s voice trails off.  

“What?”  

“N-Never mind… What about Lily then, huh!? You finally broke up with that bitch!?” she asks something different.   

You are a bitch, not Lily.  

“No, she’s my girlfriend as well,” I answer with a shrug.   

“…”  

Ava again goes silent.   

“So, you are actually cheating on that whore!? You!?” she asks after a few seconds, unable to believe her ears.   

“Yes, I am,” I answer.   

…   

“That’s… That’s actually good news. But still, why the fuck did you announce it in front so many students!?” Ava asks, turning angry again.   

“Why? You have a problem with that?” I ask, raising my eyebrows.   

“Yes, idiot, I do! What if my father finds out about this, huh!? Did you forgot that he thinks I seduced and snatched you from that Lily’s arms!? He will literally kill both of us for lying to him, you understand!?” she says, fear apparent in her voice.   

“I think you’re exaggerating. First of all, there is no way he will kill his own daughter and second; Unless you tell him yourself, I doubt he will ever find out something that happened in our school,” I say.   

“You’re dead wrong, asshole! On both the things at that! My father doesn’t care if I—”  

Suddenly, Ava stops speaking and her hand automatically reaches inside the pocket of her skirt— taking out a phone.   

“What is it, Joseph? I am really busy right now. Be quick,” She says impatiently, answering the call.   

There are a few seconds of silence as this Joseph speaks. The next moment, Ava’s eyes widen and a look of pure shock overshadows her face.   

“What!? Today again!? Are you sure!? But he just visited…”  

…   

“Really!? He ordered you!? F-Fuck…”  

…   

“Yes, yes, I know. I will come there straight after school. I am not stupid enough to make any detours.”  

With this, Ava hangs up the call and looks back at me.   

“I-I need to go— we will talk later. And don’t you dare think that I will forget about this,” she says, a note of panic in her voice.   

Then suddenly, without even waiting for a reply, she marches away while muttering about something.   

…   

What did that Joseph said to make Ava look this frightened?  

 

 

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“We are not going to Abigale’s base today?”   

I casually ask, looking out of the window, as the car I am sitting in takes an unfamiliar turn on the road.  

“No,” Reagan replies.   

The school is over and currently, I am sitting in the backseat of the car along with Reagan.   

“Where are we going then?” I ask.   

“You will see,” she says.   

I frown at her, but she’s not looking in my direction to see my face.   

Unlike yesterday, Reagan is not telling me anything— where we are going or what I have to do once we reach there, nothing at all. In fact, even more surprisingly, she’s not even attempting to tease or mock me like usual— something she loves to do.   

Simply staring ahead, it’s like she’s trying to ignore me while making as minimal talk as possible.   

“Hey, if you don’t even tell me what I have to do, how will I act my part!?” I ask, determined not to back down until she gives me some information.   

Actually, this is necessary for my plan as well. With Pig and Neustadt’s punishment yesterday, I was able to think of a way to impress the gang women only because I knew what I had to do beforehand.   

Today as well, I want to strengthen my impression on the women who are coming with us (they are traveling in the van behind).   

“Just keep up with your pseudo personality and follow my lead— you will do just fine,” she says flatly, still not looking at me.   

“Okay, but still… I think I can do much better if you just tell me what I have to do,” I insist.   

“No, I am not telling you anything. Don’t ask again,” She says sternly.   

Damn it… Why is she behaving like this?   

Even yesterday, after everything went so well, she didn’t look much happy at all. I was actually observing her closely— while her expressions were perfectly neutral, she seemed to be thinking hard. Also, one more thing was off— as Abigail said earlier, almost everyone expected Reagan to praise me for my performance— but she didn’t. Forget praising, she didn’t even speak to me.   

…   

Wait, she didn’t realize what I was trying to do, right?   

No, that’s impossible. I cannot believe that anyone, even Reagan, can get suspicious just from that.   

And anyway, she knows that Pig and Neustadt are my enemies, it’s not unnatural for me to think of some extra punishment to exact my revenge.   

But then, why?   

Sigh…  

Well, for now, only one thing clear to me… She’s not behaving like this for no reason.   

…   

Suddenly, the brakes are put and the car stops moving, forcing me to come out of my thoughts.  

“Come on, we have reached our destination,” Reagan says, opening the door on her side.   

Oh, we have?   

Quickly, I look out of the window again… only to find a familiar building standing in front of me.   

A really shabby looking building…