Bullied by the Devil

Chapter 5

I was still on cloud nine because Roan noticed me. He stood so close I could have touched him. If only I had some of my fellow mob characters with me, I would have been free to tee-hee and ogle at him to my heart’s content.

“I guess this is what delusion looks like,” Angela muttered in front of me when I kept sighing. The Roan effect had dissipated a long while ago.

Irene bumped my shoulder gently. “It is a bit painful to watch but we’ll take care of you,” she assured me.

“They’re humans, Wendy. Not gods. When will you stop worshipping them?”

“I don’t need traitors nagging me,” I scowled at them, specifically aiming my glare at Joy who was sitting beside Angela.

Joy grinned. “Just because I have a boyfriend now doesn’t make me a traitor.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “You still are. We’re supposed to be mob characters for life but you went and dated the ace of the soccer club, a main character.”

Angela heaved out a sigh and I glared at her next. She lifted her brows.

“Just because I worship K-pop idols now doesn’t mean I betrayed you too,” she pointed out. “And lower your voice.”

“You’re still a traitor, Miss President.”

“Jesus, get over it. It’s not like Roan or Nicholas will like me back if I continue to crush on them.”

“Your new idols won’t either.”

“Yeah, but they make me happy.”

“They make me happy too.”

“But she doesn't have to wake up early just to scream herself hoarse anymore.” Reaching over to turn a page of my book, Joy instructed, “And you should start reading here and do the worksheets after.”

Resting my chin on my palm, elbow on the table, I stared at the text on the page and mumbled, “Alright. Thanks.”

“Jesus, Irene. That’s not how you solve that problem.”

“Chill, Angela. I got this. I think.”

I couldn’t help but smile while listening to their exchange. Irene, intellectually, was at the same level as me. Difference was she was actually working hard to get above average grades with Joy and Angela’s help and influence. This while having a part-time job as an amateur model for a family friend’s clothing line to help ease the financial burden on her family.

“Hey, Roan. There’s a stain on your polo sleeve.”

My head jerked up.

Roan?

“Ah. I think it’s paint?”

That voice did sound like Roan. And the guy talking to him was…

I slightly tilted my body to the right to look over Irene’s shoulder.

Nicholas. It was Nicholas and Roan. They were in the library at this very minute, just two tables away from us. This had to be my luckiest day.

I was about to pull my cell phone from my pocket to take a snap of them together for the chatroom when I realized there was a third person on the table with them.

“It seems that there’s a careless side to you too, Roan," Autumn gently reprimanded. “Do you want me to help wash it off for you?”

The smile Roan gave her was unlike any smile I'd ever seen on him before. "Aren't you the careless one, Autumn? You forgot to mark the second question in your workbook."

Angela suddenly tilted her head to the side, blocking my view of the trio and meeting my gaze.

“You better not be eavesdropping,” she hissed. “And this is not how you should solve this problem.”

“Whatever do you mean?” I asked, giving her an innocent look.

Cotton candy’s laughter drifted over to us again and I leaned my body on the left side of Irene this time.

Only to be caught looking by Nicholas.

And boy, did he not look happy.

I ducked my head down and pretended to be absorbed by the text on my book. And after a few minutes, I heard the trio leave the library.

Joy was sighing when I looked up for one last look at the guys.

"You're hopeless, Wendy."

I grinned. "They're eye candies. I need my daily fill or my blood sugar will dip into dangerous lows."

"And crazy."

"We've already established that so stop raining on my parade."

"You could just talk to them like a normal person, you know."

I mock-gasped and Joy rolled her eyes. "An extra like me talk to the main character? Now that's crazy talk. Not to mention the fan club will kill me..."

"But aren't you like a main character yourself?" Irene asked.

My eyes rounded in horror. "What?"

Irene grinned. "Well, for starters. You're a high school girl."

"And? That doesn't immediately make me a—."

"And you can be so dumb," Joy put in sarcastically.

"If you're trying to insult me then you're on the right track. But that still doesn't make me main character material."

"Then you need to read your manga again," Angela inserted. "Because most main characters are either super likeable or stupid, both of which you possess. And you can be such a doormat. You have no problem standing up for other people but you can't do the same for yourself."

Slamming my hands on the table, I stood up. "I'm sorry but I can't stand to listen to this blasphemy any longer."

"Then sit," Joy deadpanned.

"And you're really quite interesting to listen and watch," Irene pointed out with a chuckle.

Reaching over to grab my sleeve, Angela pulled me back down to the chair. "We aren't finished studying. Let's move along, shall we?"

"Yes, ma’am," everyone muttered and I picked my pen up.

Me? A main character?

Hilarious.

That just wasn't going to happen.

The bell was ringing as I made my way to my last class of the day which happened to be an elective class. A class that I didn’t share with any of my friends. A class where I could slack off to my heart’s content.

Nicholas was already inside the classroom when I walked in. We were in the same elective class every Tuesdays and Thursdays this semester. Despite going completely gaga over him, I immediately stopped giving him my attention as soon as I entered the room. Nicholas was not only known for his bad temperament but also for humiliating girls who annoyed him in class.

"Hey." Someone poked me from my right as I was walking to my seat. "Do you have an extra pen?"

I turned with a sigh. "Seriously, Arthur. Why do you even come to school if you don't have a pen?"

Arthur smirked down at me. "Just give me one."

"Sorry but I don't have an extra pen."

I started to walk off but he grabbed my arm. "But I just saw you buy a whole set of pens yesterday at the school store."

I blinked up at him, shrugging his grip off. "Were you spying on me?"

"Why the hell would I spy on a weirdo like you?"

“Reasons, reasons. Just accept the fact that you like what you see, my man,” I ended with a wink. His face turned red.

“You’re as dull as dirt. There’s nothing to like about you and the pimple on your chin, freak.”

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, you stalker."

Eyes narrowing into slits, Arthur took a threatening step closer. "I will erase you, you ugly dwarf," he spat at me.

"You know giraffes are quite tall too but pretty much useless animals otherwise."

Arthur made a grab for me and I dodged him, scampering to my seat in the second row. He immediately stopped coming for me. It was my turn to smirk.

Because my seat was beside Nicholas’.

This was not by choice. I wasn't a stalker. Most teachers in our school liked assigning seats alphabetically and since my last name was Lovina, I was placed next to Nicholas.

And Nicholas wasn't only mean to girls, he'd also end any guy who dare bother him so Arthur was stuck giving me a dirty look from his seat in the back row. I stuck my tongue out at him and ducked my head to hide a smile. Then I propped open a book on my desk, pulled out my phone and put it in front of the book as subterfuge so I could read my favorite manga.

I also had somehow scored the window seat for this class.

At first, this bothered me a lot, being assigned a window seat and getting to sit next to a god. This was main character material and I was afraid I'd be breaking character. But with Autumn's presence in school, there was no way that would happen. Not to a potato like me anyway.

I was about to start reading when I heard the sharp intake of breath of all the females in the classroom then and I knew he just arrived.

Roan.

Because along with Nicholas, I also had an elective class with him this semester.

One might think I was lucky to share a class with them but I didn’t think that way. Like I said, Nicholas would kill anyone who he’d catch staring at them and even though it was immensely difficult not to, the threat of death and the threat of fan club expulsion made it manageable for me to keep my eyes away from the two. Even if they were sitting literally around me.

I didn't need to look up from my phone to know that everyone, including the guys, had their eyes on Roan as he walked in and took the chair in front of me. I didn't need to look to see Nicholas give his best friend a rare half-smirk, half-smile. Especially not when the main character of this manga I was reading had just been stabbed and betrayed by his so-called friend in the worst possible way.

Damn it.

I knew this would happen.

In my disappointment, I must have slapped the desk harder than I intended to because I heard Nicholas curse beside me.

“What the hell?” I heard him snap.

"Sorry," I muttered lamely, hiding my face with my book.

Then I heard Roan’s quiet laughter and lifted it even higher.

I did not want their attention at all.

I was happy and contented with my life as a mob character. That is why I like to believe nothing crazy ever happens to me unless I do the crazy.

I believed that I was just an average high school student, with average looks, average grades and with average hobbies. I also believed that though I had a good number of friends, I would always be coasting under the radar, just like the mob character I think I am, and I was completely fine with that.

Which was why never in my wildest dreams could I anticipate what then happened the next day.

I jolted back to the present when I heard the last bell for school rang. My friends all began laughing when even before the teacher could clear the door, I was already out and running, ignoring the pangs of pain from my poor bruised knees. Thank goodness the teacher let me skip PE earlier.

I thought I saw Autumn from the corner of my eye but I was gone. She would have to give up on me. She most likely had better things to do, like drinking tea and having biscuits with Nicholas and Roan in their mansion. She shouldn't have to dedicate any of her time to a lowly mortal like me.

Oh, but I was wrong.

I was so wrong.