NASHIRA

CHAPTER 5: UNIT 406

RYECINTH DISTACIO

"Grab her!"

THE CHUBBY woman who slapped me real hard earlier commanded her company. They are still wearing their cheer dance uniforms so I guess, they just finished their performance.

So yes, the chubby girl brought half of her team, grabbed me by my sweatshirt and brought me back here where I have been earlier. They slammed my body on the bed of broken chairs which I can tell, really hurts my back.

All of them encircled me and stared at me with deadly glares, preparing themselves for interrogation.

What is it this time? Did someone see me smudging their faces on the poster? Wew, are they really that low? First, they almost choked me to death just because I bumped into their boss. And now, taking advantage of this quiet place to kill me now just because I put some ketchup on their poster.

"Did you know what you just caused?" the chubby girl first asked after seconds of silence. She slowly moved closer to me before she uttered, "Did you know what happened to us while performing?" Then she gave me another slap that left my eyes in surprise.

She did it again, that slap must not be taken lightly. Her slap is equivalent to a single bat, hitting on your face. That almost removed my jaw from its socket.

"You're the reason why we failed the try-out. And now, Gigi will get the throne and Trixie will kill us for that!" she then poked my forehead, pushed my head back that made me bumped on the hard wood from the broken chair.

After hearing that, I fell into a deep thought. What did she just say? Did I ruin their performance?

"No idea what you're talking about." I just said calmly. Despite how she hurt me, I remained calm and endured the pain. That pain is nothing compared to the pain I felt before. I'm used to it though.

"So you still have the face to deny it?"

Instead of being frightened by what she does to me, I am most bothered by the things she's saying. What does she mean by that? I don't get it.

"What exactly do you mean!" I yelled in front of them that made them slightly step back.

The chubby girl just stared at me for a bit. She then laugh sarcastically. "Haha, you just ruined Danica's performance, you stole her heroin shot!" she yelled back that made sense to me.

Ow, that powder is indeed powdered heroin. And they take those to have great performance in the try-out. What a scheme.

"Really?" I uttered while I slowly crawled my hand into my pocket. "Is this what you are looking for?" I asked after raising my hand with a small pack of what they called heroin shot.

The chubby one quickly extended her arm to grab it from me but I quickly dodged my hand. I then twisted the small pack, and it opened in no time.

The next thing I did surprised them when I poured the content into my mouth, leaving not a single grain behind. I even showed them how I played with the powder on my tongue and swallowed it once it melted.

I raised my eyebrow before I spoke. "What?"

The five of them were left dumbfounded and speechless. They obviously did not expect that.

The chubby girl was too speechless. She keeps on swallowing her own saliva, clearing her throat. The time she spoke again was two minutes after. "Heh! Do you think you're cool now? You just got a single shot but we already took a lot of it already. I bet you have the confidence. Do you think you’re that pretty, huh? You’re just a small weird p***y!"

And for one last time, she slapped me again. That hurts no more, by the way. Your palm might have left a mark on my face but it caused no pain at all, not anymore.

One of her companions was about to move closer to me when someone suddenly called that startled them. "Hey, Kai! What are you doing?"

Who the hell is this Kai, I keep on hearing that name.

After they heard that, they looked at each other as if they're talking in between the lines. And one of them said, "Kai's here, we better leave." and they ran away.

After they left, I immediately sneaked behind the tree from where a guy was hiding. Yes, I saw him sneak in and hid himself behind this tree. While sticking myself behind the tree, I heard the guy walk out from where he was hiding.

"You're not jerking again, are you, Kai?"

"What's your problem, Theo? Why are you here? You ruined the scene."

The two had a conversation and walked away but as the guy said, 'you ruined the scene', makes me hate him! Did he really enjoy watching a bullying scene? I know he's my seatmate. We haven't talked yet but I hate him already. And oh, he's that Kai that everyone is muttering.

After that incident, I went home early because the remaining classes were cancelled due to the interschool sportsfest event's preparation.

The university is too far from where we are staying in Missi City, so it took almost 2 hours of bus ride before I got home. It was the exact time as well to get rid of those reddish marks on my face. I don’t want Nana to get worried about this.

Nana came home too late tonight from work. I asked her about it but she just said that she's tired. That's the thought filling my head right now while I'm trying my best to sleep. It's already 2:00 am, and here I am, wide awake. The last time she went home late was very tragic. Her husband died. Now, she bears the same face that she had that time and it worries me to death. But, everytime she tries to stop me from asking, I am always not allowed to talk back. Tss.

The next morning, as I entered the campus, as expected, most of the students' eyes were around me. I can't blame them since that always happens to every transferee, and as someone who often transferred into different schools and colleges, I know how it feels. But I never get used to it, I still hate it. I hate to be in the spotlight.

I just looked down, trying to don’t mind them at all. But I hadn't gotten to the building already when I bumped on someone, or shall I say, someone bumped me, intentionally.

I raised my head and there they goes again. “Oh, here comes the freak! Why are you still here, by the way? You’re not belong here. Go back to where you belong!” she rebuked.

I just closed my eyes, trying to collect all the patience I got inside me and heaved a long sigh. Patience, Ryecinth, patience.

For once, I ignored them and tried to walk away. If I could, I would put myself away from any scene. Take note, a lot of students around are starting to get the commotion.

“Hey, freak! We’re not done yet.” The girl with blonde hair suddenly pulled my hair and she was the same girl who grabbed my hair yesterday, Danica. I guess they have their own specialty, the chubby one was assigned for slapping. I get it.

Once the girl let go of my hair. I took a heavy breath and exhaled before I looked back at her. But too late when I realized, turning back is a very wrong move when something hard hits my face and it cracks once it meets my forehead. It was then followed by a sticky liquid that gave me a clue, it's egg.

I hadn't gotten over yet with the sticky liquid and it's shell slowly sliding down on my cheek when three consecutive eggs were thrown directly on my face again. But this time, I managed to turn back and so it hit the back of my head instead.

That scene took time, and after that, I touched my head and saw reddish liquid as well.

Thanks for the tomatoes and eggs. I just thought.

What the heck!

I went directly to the comfort room leaving them laughing. I washed my face and hair thoroughly to get rid of the bad smell of egg. Good thing I am wearing a red shirt, the tomato that slightly smudged my back is not that too noticeable.

After that, I stared at the mirror and watched my wet hair in my reflection. "They are just a piece of insects. You can't show it off again, not this time." I said to myself.

The rest of the day went pretty well. Well, I sat on my chair the whole day. I didn't even get out for lunch and just took a nap for the rest of break time. I've been here for just 2 days but I've already gotten into many troubles already. If I can, I really just have to avoid crowds. To avoid scenes.

It's 11 o'clock in the evening but Nana is still not home. I kept calling her but to no avail. This is very unlike her. She always comes home around 8 to 9, but 11 is too late. If she got into something related to her job, she should have given me a heads up and not let me worry all night long.

I was thinking of going to her work place, but the thing is, I don't actually know the location. We just moved here in Missi City five days ago, and I don't have any idea about her work place.

I kept walking back and forth in the living while incessantly calling her again and again. If this takes until midnight, I don't know what I could do.

"Where are you, Nana?" I asked in monologue while unconsciously biting my nail in frustration. I am frustrated and terrified by now. I tried to think less but I can't help thinking that she might get into trouble. "Where are you, you should have—" I suddenly stopped talking when the door opened and showed the person I longed to see.

"Nana!" I called. I rushed to her and gave her a very tight hug. "Where have you been, Nana! What took you so long?" I took 10 seconds to hug her but the strange thing got into my mind. She is not hugging me back, not even a word from her. So I let go from hugging and faced her.

Then there I saw her blank face. It was emotionless and familiar. Something has happened again.

"What happened, Nana? Is it the bank again?"

I asked but she just stood there pinning her eyes on one area. "I thought we already fixed the bank issue, Nana?"

Then suddenly, Nana's face shifted back to its normal emotion and looked at me. "Let's not talk for now, Ryecinth. Let me rest first, I'm tired. I'll talk to you promise." she touched both of my cheeks before she went straight to her room. And I left dumbfounded. I left with new thoughts to overthink again on my bed.

This is a burden!

The next day was pretty much the same as what happened first yesterday. Those three waited for me and did the same. Pulled my hair and slapped me like a doll who was not feeling any pain. Well, that's true anyway. It seems like pain has already taken its flight away because its was tired triggering in me.

However, I can't believe it when someone makes changes. Someone just grabbed and pulled my hand out from their grasp. She even talked back to me.

I experienced a lot of this case but only this girl choses to save me.

“Gigi, Thank you—“ I read it on her ID, her name's Gigi Laveen. I thanked her once she pulled me away from them. I was amazed by what she did to me, but still, I kept my posture as natural as it can be.

“Stop thanking people who aren’t worthy of it. Don’t be grateful just because I saved you from bullying, it’s no use, that’s very stupid.” she said and threw my hand that she was holding earlier. I was shocked because of her response. Is she mad at me because I thanked her? Tss! Just so you know, I don't need your help. I can endure the pain even tenfold of what they caused. Of course I did not say that out loud.

The time she let go of my hand, she immediately went away with a glimpse of bitchiness on her.

The class ended as early as 2 o'clock in the afternoon for the same reason the last time. I could say today was very tiring after all. Bullying is given, but someone did something different to me. Someone accused me of stealing a box that contained a lot of money. But thanks to that detective boy. Was it Theo? I might be looking down most of the time, but I saw how he was determined to solve the case. He did not let someone be wrongly accused.

That Gigi and Theo saved me this time. They are the first two who saved me from bullying. Ow, wait—Kai was the first I guess. He was there at the back of the building. He was the reason why those girls walked away. But to think deeper, nope. It was still Theo in the end. Kai was just enjoying himself watching me being bullied.

I arrived at home at 4. Yes, as soon as they let us go home, I immediately took my bus without anything.

I was expecting a vacant and quiet house once I got home but when I opened the door, Nana suddenly showed up.

Questions suddenly arrived in my head about why she's home already. But what bothered me the most was her face. It was filled with frustration and worries.

"What happened to you, Nana? This time, you have to tell me, please!" I asked after I dropped my tote bag on the couch.

I thought she would just stay silent just like what she did first last night but she gave me hope when she parted her lips and tears are starting to form in her eyes. "Ryecinth, listen to me. I have to go back there. Something came out that has to be looked back... And I can't let you go with me." Nana said with shaky voice that makes my heart in tears.

"No, Nana. Whatever that is, I have to go with you. I can't just let you leave without me. We're in this together, remember?"

Nana suddenly moved closer to me. She held my cheeks with her trembling hands and she closed her eyes very tight that made those tears come out from the sockets of her eyes down to her cheeks.

No, Nana, don't cry. Seeing her cry is the worst of all. I always say that I would do all things just to keep her smile. But this time, I looked like I was fooled by myself, I just let her cry like that. And makes me fall into deep sadness.

"Nana, I will go—"

I wasn't finished talking when she cut me up.

"No, Ryecinth, I can't let you do that. You can't go with me, you will just make everything worst." she cried as she pulled something from her pocket before she gave me a card. "This, leave this house for now. I want you to stay in your unit. I already prepared everything and this card has the unit number." she said in a hurry.

I was speechless while looking at the card she handed to me. So, she was already prepared for this? Those 2 nights that she became strange, is this all about it?

I want to cry, but not a single tear wants to come out of my eyes.

"Nana, No! I will go with you! Let's just stop this stupid university. I'm through with it already, Nana!" I rebuked as I threw the card to the side.

"Ryecinth Distacio! Please do me a favor... in this way, you can make me smile. Okay?" she uttered softly. She wiped all of her tears and tried to paint a smile on her face. "See, this smile will last forever if you do my favor, Ryecinth." she added that makes me pause for awhile.

She really knows how conversation goes. She really knows how to make me go with her plan. She really knows my weakness. And I hate that she knows everything!

I did not utter a word anymore and just watched her pulling the baggage she prepared beforehand. She went out through the door without saying last words and left me alone.

I suddenly grabbed a pillow beside me and pushed it against my face before I screamed.

"AAAAAAHHHH!!!"

At 6:50, I found myself standing lifelessly in front of the door where the card brought me. With hours of thinking, I decided to do what Nana wanted me to do. Deep inside, I understand her why she wanted to leave without me, and why she wanted me to stay here. It's all for my safety. But what about hers? She is the only person I have on earth and I can't bear losing her.

I heaved a long sigh before I raised my head. I found a card scanner where I scanned the card I have. But I scanned the card four times but to no avail. It won't open.

Maybe it was manually locked from the inside. That is why I decided to use the bell. I pressed it once but no one is answering. I pressed it again but still there's none. Without any thoughts, I repeatedly pressed the bell button countless times until I heard a click.

I just lowered my head as I waited for the door to open. Once I raised my head, the door was already wide open.

"What?" the three of them said, synchronously.

I looked back on my card before I asked. “Is—is this, unit 406?” I stuttered while trying to recollect the faces of the three. I even fixed my eyeglasses and slightly dipped my head forward just to see the faces of the three clearly.

Theo, Gigi and Kai?

After that, the area filled with silence.

"Oh yeah, another one." Kai suddenly broke the silence.

"This only means one thing." Gigi inserted as she started to draw a curve on her lips.

"Our rent fee... will be lessened." Theo finally said.

And the three of them suddenly smiled.

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