I stare at Vivian silently. Sarah really knows her first aid. She cleaned and dressed up the wounds neatly.

“It’s my fault she’s going through this.” She said, finally breaking the silence between us.

“Pretty much…” I respond. “I’m worried she would hurt herself because of this…”

Sarah lifted Vivian’s wrist, “rest assured she doesn’t cut herself.”

“Who says this won’t be the start?”

She looks down. “If Vivian had real friends here, do you think it would be easier for her?”

I was dancing around at the thought, surprised that she even wanted to make her life easier. Maybe she isn’t as evil as I thought she was.

“Anyways… do you think anyone from class would get along with her?” I ask. I genuinely don’t know much about the girl.

“Do you remember Anna’s group when we were teasing her?”

“They looked so done with you.”

“Well… yeah, but they’d never dare cross me. That’s also why they’d never try to befriend her.”

“So you mean to say, you want to group them together somehow?”

“Yes”

I thought for a bit. The question was how. She can't decide a grouping for them during school projects.

Oh wait… she has a higher power.

“So you want to group them together for sports fest.”

She gave me a confident smile.

“Just make it look balanced.” I tell her, looking away. I do not want to be charmed by this woman.

We get up and leave as soon as the nurse arrives. We head to the office and decide on the arrangements for the teams.

She put herself in the red team, as expected. She put me in the same team as her. I gave her a confused look.

“What?”

“What?”

“...”

“...”

“Aren’t you tired of being around me so much?” I ask, puzzled by her actions.

“You obey me when I tell you to. That’s good enough for me.” She says with utmost confidence.

One day I will smack her.

“So, Vivian, Anna, Leslie and Flora in the green team.”

She nodded. “Their boys would be Jason, Terrence and Louie.”

“Seems pretty balanced and tame.”

We continue on through the day, getting our work done. I walked with Sarah to the class. It was already dark outside. I’m not sure if I should offer to walk her home or not. My eyes followed the back of her head.

I know she would have no trouble getting home safely, but I still wanted to.

“Hey…” I said softly.

I looked towards her and noticed her hand trembling. “What?” I started to ask, puzzled.

I was so engrossed in my own thoughts that I didn’t realize that the hallway smells horrible. I cover my nose. The stench made my eyes teary, it made me want to gag.

Sarah fell to her knees. I look towards the direction she was looking at.

In front of her was the most luxurious bag in the classroom. The bag that all the girls in class was jealous of. Well, not anymore because on it was the most gruesome mess. A pile of shit, probably taken from the gardening club’s manure fertilizer. On that pile was the sick version of a cherry on top. A dead rat.

Immediately after seeing this horrifying sight, I grab her hand and pull her towards me. She looked like she didn’t have the strength to pull herself together. I can't help but feel bad for the Janitor who has to clean this crap. My mind started to wonder, who would do this… and why.

One name popped up in my head.

Vivian.

This… was my fault. I fed her the idea to mess with Sarah. My expectations lead me to believe that she would do this the lame way, and beat her grades. This… this was too much. I felt angry. I felt angry at her… and I felt angry at myself for enabling this kind of behavior.

Looking back, I can't completely blame her. The girls terrorized her badly. They crossed the line when they vandalized her things. I lead Sarah to the principal’s office and get her a glass of water. The principal wasn’t there, so I let her sit at the bench at the waiting area.

“Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

She nodded slightly. She seems petrified. Who wouldn’t be? Her bag instantly became a shitstorm.

After leaving her away from the mess, I sprint towards the clinic at top speed. I want to confront Vivian. For sure she’d never admit her actions, but I want to know. Why the actual fuck would she do something this horrible.

The nurse looked startled as I barged into the clinic.

“Deon are you okay?” she looks concerned for me.

I turn to the mirror by the wall and saw my face all red and sweaty.

“No, Miss… I’m looking for Vivian, is she here?”

“No, she left when she woke up.”

“What time did she leave?”

“She went home at around 3pm. She sprained her leg so she called a cab, the guards assisted her back. Why?”

What? If she left at three, she wouldn’t have been able to release her breed of fuckery onto Sarah’s bag.

“I just wanted to check on her…” I smile at the nurse slightly, “Thank you.”

She smiles back warmly. “Get home safely okay, Deon? It's getting late.”

“Yeah. Thank you.”

I went back to Sarah. She didn’t move an inch since I left her. Was she affected that badly? This is the first time I’ve seen her fazed.

“Hey…” I pat her head. “I’ll take you home.”

Letting her go home at this state would be a horrible idea, no matter how highly I think about her. That sight was horrifying.

She nodded her head.

“When I get my hands on that little bitch. I will show her what real hell is.” Her voice filled with spite.

Chills run down my spine. I fear for Vivian. “Hey, think rationally. Do you think Vivian would err you like this? Especially when she’s that badly beat up?”

“I know it’s her! Just because of what my girls did to her.”

“Motive doesn't mean she’s the criminal. She left school at 3pm. She’ll be an idiot to vandalize your bag in broad daylight. How the fuck did she even get hold of a rat?!”

“What evidence do you have that she left the school?”

“Lets ask the guard at the entrance.”

“Fine. But if it’s her, I swear to god, she will wish you never saved her.”

“Sarah, I’m against what happened to you, but I don't like watching you manipulate and play with someone else for no goddamn reason. Why don’t you think for one second that this is happening because you’re acting like the boss of everyone and not an actual decent human being?! You made the poor girl think you were her friend and then give her the emotional beatdown of a lifetime. I wouldn’t be surprised if she went through a mental break down. Sarah Bravura, you can be a better person than you show people. You just choose not to be.” I finally snapped at her. All that running, all that bullshit. It finally got to me. I couldn’t stay chill about this.

I’m mildly afraid of what she’ll say in response.

My focus was at the ground, I couldn't even look at her. She was quiet as well. Please break this fucking silence.

“You’re right. I did deserve that after what I did to her.” She said solemnly.

I look at her. “Then why do you do the things that you do?”

She glares at me. I step back.

“Right. I’m not someone you can confide with.” I sigh and kept walking.

Did she ever see me as a friend, because ever since I got into the student council I started treating her as one of my close friends. We got to know each other well during that time. Maybe that's what Vivian felt right before Sarah hurt her. Maybe I’m next. I overstepped my boundaries.

Either ways, I’ll just brace myself for her terror.

We reach the guardhouse in silence and I knock on the door.

The guard opened the door and grumpily ask, “What?”

“There was a girl at the clinic with a sprained ankle. What time did she go home?”

“3pm. Why?”

“I was just wondering… and… do you think she has the physical capacity to come back to school?”

“No. She’d be insane to come back.”

“Right… umm… someone vandalized Sarah’s bag. It’s at the fourth floor classroom. It's a horrible mess. An actual shitstorm…”

“What the fuck.”

“Umm yeah… I just want to report that…”

“Children are so fucking wild.” The annoyed guard retreated into his post slamming the door. Rude.

“That confirms it. It’s not Vivian.”

Sarah looks up at me. “Then, who?”

A sigh escapes my mouth. “Let’s just figure this out tonight… it’s really late… I’ll send you pictures of our homework since your bag is a mess. Let’s go.”

We spent the rest of the evening walking in silence. I know she’s trying to figure out who did this to her and why. I want to know as well… because this is getting too out of hand.