Chapter 3 TWO

MORGIANA'S POV Just when I thought I was free of the punishment, I was wrong. After I went to Mr. de Marcel's office he called me again the next day to give me my punishment. "I'm sure you've seen the bathroom walls," he said and I already knew what he was going to say next. "Majority of it were drawings of male genitalia. Hard not to notice," I said before I could even stop myself. I saw how Mr. Alaris' brow rose. "Good. Your first punishment is to scrub those drawings off the wall. You're dismissed." That was the first task. The second day, he called for me again. This time, I have to clean the gym too. The school utility told me it was fine but I had a feeling that Mr. Alaris would know somehow that I did not do what he told me to do. So I cleaned the gym too. By the third day, it was the bathroom again. I heaved a deep sigh as I looked at a new set of drawings by the wall. "Must be nice to draw on a plain white canvas." I shook my head before I started cleaning. It was a good thing that I didn't have to cross paths with Arleigh or any of her cronies. I don't want to extend my punishment. I don't exactly know when is Mr. Alaris going to stop my punishment but somehow, I made it as an excuse not to go to science class. I hated Ms. Mont. And I hated her even more when I saw her getting out of Mr. Alaris' office with a feline smile on her face. I knew she liked Mr. Alaris. On the fourth day, I woke up earlier than usual and went to school. Aunt Helen was still asleep the moment I left so I didn't get my daily dose of slap on the face. And today is my birthday. I don't want anyone to ruin it for me. Today, my life will change. I will run away from home and will never ever wish to come back. I will ask Mr. Alaris too to give me a break today. Despite his coldness, I am certain he will allow me to at least have a normal day for my birthday. But I was definitely wrong. The moment I got inside his office, he didn't let me talk. "Dressing room," he said. "But sir--" He whirled to look at me and his deep blue eyes pinned me on the spot. I'll remind myself next time not to cross him. "What?" he asked. I swallowed hard. Somehow, telling him that I wanted a break because it was my birthday sounded absurd. So I shook my head and went straight to the dressing room. I waited for the girls there to finish before I got inside. I scanned the whole room. Today is sports day and I wasn't surprised when I saw the bags scattered on the ground. The shirts, underwear, shorts, and shoes, were all lying on the ground. The dressing room is quite big and I have at least an hour before the girls start coming back. I gripped the mop handle tightly. "Happy birthday to me," I said and then I started to clean the room. * * * The moment I was almost done, the door burst open. I was expecting all of the girls to have returned but I was wrong. I whirled to see Arleigh and her cronies. The same people who got me in trouble. I saw Arleigh's wicked smile as she crossed her arms and looked at me and the mop I was holding. If it won't get me in trouble, I would have slapped their faces with the stick. But the last thing I would want to happen is to have another set of punishments. Besides, I already swore to myself that I will stay out of trouble for today. I picked up the bucket and went straight for the door when one of Arleigh's girls stopped me. Oh, come on. "What do you want?" I asked. They all snickered. I heard Arleigh's footsteps behind me and the next thing I knew, she took the mop from my hands and threw it on the floor. One of the girls took the bucket full of dirty water and they all laughed as they circled me. "Arleigh, stop this. I don't want any trouble." "We're not even doing anything to you," Arleigh said. "Then let me pass so you and your girls could use this dressing room." "Why don't we play a bit?" I muttered a silent curse. "I still have to do the other tasks Mr. de Marcel told me to--" I wasn't able to finish my sentence when I felt the coldness of the water on my skin. The stench of dirt seeped through my nose and the rug that I had been using earlier fell on my shoulder. Arleigh had just thrown the water from the bucket into me. And now I am drenched. They were laughing but all I could hear was the ringing in my ears. All the other sounds were muffled and when I felt a hand touching my shoulder, I didn't hesitate to grab that hand and twisted it. I think I heard a scream but the ringing was too loud that everything else was muffled. I let go of the hand and faced Arleigh who was looking at me with wide eyes. I walked closer to her and she staggered back. Fear was visible on her face and for a second, I delighted in it. I was delighted to see the look on her face as she saw me walking toward her. One hand tried to grab me again but I did the same. I held the girl's wrist and twisted it. Another snap. It felt good. The sound of snapping bones sounded good. I wanted to hear more of it and Arleigh in front of me would make such nice sounds. I walked closed and was about to grab her when the world suddenly tilted. I felt myself losing consciousness and before I even dropped to the ground, I felt two strong hands catching me. I could have sworn I heard Mr. Alaris' voice before darkness took over.