The Shadow Within Me

Chapter Ten - Bullies

Crystal Raine Meadows

I lost consciousness, I know that, but what's weird is because I dreamt about him again, but this time, we're not on the wedding night of his twin sister, we're in a place unfamiliar to me.

We're looking at each other intently, his face looks like he was asking me to stay away and leave him alone, but surprisingly, I don't want to.

"W-What's wrong? Do you have a problem?" I curiously asked, but he didn't answer me as he disappeared before my eyes.

My eyes widened like something pulled me back from reality and I gasped for air, w-what the hell was that about?

"Her eyes are open! Finally, she's awake!" I heard Jenny's worried and happy exclaims as she reached out to touch my hands.

"I was so worried about you! Are you alright?" she asked, so I raised my body on the bed and noticed that I was inside the infirmary.

I calculated what happened inside of my head and gasped realizing why I was still alive, "I-I'm still alive?" that was the first thing that came out of my mouth.

Jenny smacked my head causing me to grunt in pain, "H-Hey, that still hurts you know?" I complained while caressing my head.

"I was worried about you! Don't say like you're wishing that you died!" she exclaimed, so I just smiled because I know that she really was worried about me.

"You'll not die on that field because those balls can't really harm you though you'll really gain serious injuries if you got hit by it," I almost flinched upon hearing Rowen on the other side and saw Liam with him who's just smiling at me intently.

They look like they're worried about me either, I started to feel uneasy because I caused trouble for them.

"O-Oh no, did something happen? What happened back there and how did I end up here?" I curiously asked so they looked at each other before sighing.

They started explaining what happened when I lost consciousness, my eyes widened when I heard Jenny mention that Calyx protected me from that last blow.

He protected me and summoned a burier just to protect me from getting hit? What the? I always dream about him and now he's doing those kinds of things? What is up with that?

"W-Why would he do that? He was a jerk to me," I claimed before scratching the back of my head.

Jenny exaggeratedly nodded at me as she crossed her arms against her chest, "Exactly! He's a jerk, so it confused me for a moment!" Jenny sounded like she was mad about something.

"Thankfully that you didn't suffer that much because he helped you, so let's just be grateful for that," Liam smiled, so I just sighed before nodding at him because he's right.

I better thank him for that, I'm not as cold-blooded as he is, "Um, Rowen, Liam, may I have some time alone with Crys?" I heard Jenny requested so I glanced at her.

She must want to tell me something important, "Alright, we'll come back later for lunch," Rowen stated before kissing Jenny on her forehead.

Jenny's eyes were widened until those boys left and I snapped my fingers at her, "Hello? Grounds to Jenny?" I pulled her back from reality as her cheeks turned red.

"Y-You saw nothing alright? You saw nothing!" she exclaimed, so I just laughed and nodded at her.

"Alright, what is it you want to tell me? You always do this when it's important," I curiously asked, so she just sighed before looking at me intently.

"You see, I had this talk with our professor a while ago," I felt my heart thump because of the nervousness that I felt from the words that she has used. She also looks like she's looking for the right words she needed to say to me.

"She told me that she can fail you if you didn't manage to train yourself eagerly for this semester," she exclaimed, and the horror of hearing that F word almost killed me on the inside.

"Crys? Crys! Breathe jeez! You're not going to fail in an instant, we still have many months for you to improve!" she cheered me up, but I just shook my head at her.

"You know how bad I am at these kinds of things, Jenny, how am I supposed to do that or maybe even pass it?" I almost wanted to cry, but Jenny cupped my cheeks.

"Hey! It's going to be alright, I'll be there to help you, though I'm also not sure if I can since I heard a while ago that we'll be starting training with our mates tomorrow and if you don't have one you'll have to train in singles," she informed me, so I just sighed before looking at her intently.

"Thank you for telling me this Jenny and don't worry, I'll find someone who could help me with my issues, our classmates seem nice plus I won't let my ass fail this freaking subject," I confidently said, so Jenny clapped her hands.

"Now that's my best friend, now let's go and grab some lunch, I bet they're saving seats in the cafeteria right now," she claimed, so I just nodded at her.

She told me if I was ready to go because if not she'll ask for a take-out for me, but I don't want them to treat me like I'm disabled.

I just lost consciousness, that's all. After Jenny checked me out of the infirmary, we went out and set our trails towards the cafeteria.

Jenny clung to me when she noticed something from our surroundings, people were looking at us while whispering against each other.

"Crys, why are they looking at us like that?" she asked, so I shrugged my shoulders because, like her, I don't know what's going on.

"I-I don't know, maybe because we're new?" I restated her statements, so she just pouted before nodding at me.

After we entered the cafeteria, we saw that mostly all of our classmates were eating there. Rowen and Liam looked serious after they saw us at the main entrance.

I witnessed how they ran after us and tried to pull us out of there, "Liam? What's wrong? We're eating here right?" I curiously asked, but he just shook his head before trying to pull me away from there.

"Let's not go there, for now, people there are not nice and they may say something like..." he trailed off, so I furrowed my eyebrows for a moment.

I peered my head over there and saw that those were all just our classmates, "U-Uh, aren't those our classmates?" I curiously asked, so he just shook his head.

"B-Believe me we have to get out of here, I don't want you to get hurt," he stated, so I stopped for a moment and got confused.

"Hey, if it isn't the clumsy nerd!" I flinched after hearing Clara's voice, she's running towards us like she wants to invite us somewhere.

No one talked to her until she presented herself to us in front, "Hey! I was talking to you nerd!" she pointed at me, so I flinched for a moment.

Clumsy nerd? What the hell is up with that? "What's your problem?" Jenny stepped forward and raised her chin towards Clara, Jenny is a bit taller than her.

"Nothing! I was just trying to be friendly, you know?" she sneered before looking at me, "Your performance a while ago was unforgettable, a lot of us didn't forget it," a few of her friends heard what she said and laughed at the tables.

"Oh um, thank you? I'm sure that circumstances and accidents like that are unforgettable," I replied, so she furrowed her eyebrows at me before laughing.

"You don't get it? And the fact that you're smart makes it so weird that you don't understand it, that's a shame," she laughed, so I started to feel wary around my surroundings. They're looking at me like there's something wrong with me.

"And for the record, that was not an accident, it was stupidity at its finest, I didn't know that someone was that bad in the fields," she stated, so a lot of our classmates laughed inside of the cafeteria after she said those words.

"And also the fact that you're a Meadows, your family must want to get rid of you," she claimed, so my eyes widened as I felt a pang on my chest.

T-They know about The Meadows? Is that how my parents were well-known? Oh no, they're going to call me for this if they heard this with the people that follow them. They're going to...they're going to...

Jenny glanced at me and she immediately noticed my uneasiness, so she looked really pissed off when she grabbed the hem of Clara's uniform before glaring at her intently.

"Watch your words, Clara, you may have done better but that doesn't mean you have the right to degrade others, it won't make you gain something, you just feel good about yourself," Jenny hissed, so Clara glared at her.

"She's right, what is wrong with you people? What's wrong with being good and bad about something?" Rowen stood beside Jenny.

"Yes, why are you bullying her? Don't lie, we heard a lot about the rumors you've spread," Liam firmly stated while gripping my wrists, so I felt touched for a moment.

But I just realized that these people were looking at us like a while ago because they're gossiping about me. After all, I'm a weak mortal.

"So what about it? All you did was listen, you didn't even approach me up until now to stop me," Clara smirked, so Liam gripped my wrist even more tightly.

"That's enough Clara," I spoke before looking at her intently, "They don't have to deal with my problems, it's mine to solve, though I'm grateful that they're here for me," I firmly said.

 "But as much as possible, I don't want them to get involved. If you have problems with me, talk to me instead of babbling rumors that you know won't do good," I added before turning my back on her.

After I left, my feet brought me to the east, and saw the big library before me. Jenny was calling my name when I left, but I'm too embarrassed to face her.

I can't believe that even here, I would be degraded. This is a University where we need to learn more and excel. I don't understand why they bullied me after they saw my capabilities in physical fighting.

They all looked amazed a while ago when I kept on raising my hand for recitations and after they saw my weakness, they treated me like this.

I just shook my head, there's no point crying over spilled milk and more importantly, I can't have a failing grade for this semester.

Having a straight-A score has been my life and I wouldn't let these physical skills get ahead of me. I agreed with myself as I decided to enter the library to look for possible guides that will help me excel in my class in the fields.

I've gathered all the books I needed and decided to put them on one table. Physics, Movements, Martial arts, Footwork, core workout, flexibility, speed, stamina, power, agility, and whatever other warriors call it. I can't miss even one of them here.

After gathering all the data that I need, I've decided to study about movements of the body and how am I able to do it.

I've also checked the time and didn't realize we have an early lunch, so I still have two hours left to study.

Studying workouts, footwork, and other basic things that I have to know is one thing, but when it comes to martial arts or skills of combat fighting, I think I have to train this on my own in the field.

The only problem is where? I can't train in the house of Ate Kathy. I'm also too worried if they found out why I'm studying or training because I may be going to fail this class.

I placed my hand on my forehead and sighed when I realized that this is going to be a problem. Ugh! Why is it so hard? I can't also ask Jenny to train with me, they'll have to train with their mates from now on.

"Oh look! It's Crystal! Hi Crystal! Are you alright now?!" I flinched after hearing Peter's voice, so I raised my head and stopped after seeing their group together with Calyx.

He had this cold expression on his face, his eyes were glinting with something unknown to me, so I furrowed my eyebrows at him before looking at Peter.

"Y-Yes, I'm fine now, thank you for asking," I nervously smiled at him, so he just nodded like he's relieved.

"That's great to hear, I didn't know that you were studying here! If you told us a while ago you would have joined us in our special room!" he beamed, so I wondered for a moment and realized what he was talking about. 

I've read that when you're part of the top five student warriors or human dragons, you’ll gain access to a very special room in the Library.

I heard that’s where you can study, eat, and stay when you’ve got nothing to do. Those rooms contain lots of history and legend books about this world, there are also some reviewers over there that you can read or study for your paper exams and most especially, you can also bring guests if you wanted.

Oh my God! I almost forgot about that, they really have a perk like that here! I suddenly felt jealous for a moment, they're living a good life inside this freakin library! I wish I could get a hold of those books.

"I-It's alright, I'm fine here," I firmly stated, as much as I wanted to. I'm too embarrassed to be with them right now.

"Crys--!"

"Quiet, Mr. Hughes," he was cut off and we both flinched after hearing Mr. Light on our side, he looked furious before he left us alone.

"Dude, calm down, you're going to get us into trouble," David Ronin scolded him, so Peter just scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry about that," he whispered before tapping my shoulders, "We'll be going now, it's almost time soon, do you want to join us go back?" he asked, so I contemplated for a moment.

It looks like they haven't heard about my issues.

To be continued...