Their eyes were cold, filled with scrutiny, as if they wanted to see through her flesh.
Turning her head to look at her teacher, his mouth opened and closed, making no sound, but judging from his lip movents, he seed to be saying "serial killer."
Other students didn't speak, but their gazes revealed the sa sentint.
Here it goes again, always like this.
Amber gripped her pen tightly, forcing herself not to look at the classmates and teacher, focusing intently on the blackboard content.
The eerie atmosphere in the class lingered for an unknown duration, until finally, sound appeared again by her ear.
"That's all for today's lesson. You can think about it at ho, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask the teacher tomorrow."
"Okay."
"Class dismissed."
With the sound heard again, the class returned to normal.
The teacher packed up the teaching materials with a normal expression, and so classmates were joking around while others hurried out of class, as if nothing had been different; the strange feeling in the latter half of the class seed like nothing but her imagination.
She closed her eyes, recalling the warmth of Erin's hand on her shoulder, dispelling the coldness within her.
Everything was false, as long as she didn't think about it, nothing could hurt her.
Without packing, she stood up from her seat, intending to go to the restroom to wash her face.
As she passed the podium, she heard the teacher speaking behind her:
"Amber, I'm glad you listened to a full lesson today. I hope to see you again tomorrow."
Amber did not respond, habitually going to the toilet at the very edge of the corridor.
When she turned on the faucet, a girl erged from a stall, checking herself in the mirror and adjusting her hair clip.
The girl was even taller than Amber, at least 165 cm; Amber rembered her—her na was Gracie, a sixth grader, who practiced dance from a young age. She was very athletic, and it was said that her goal was to beco a cheerleader after entering junior high.
Amber rembered clearly because she and Gracie were often ntioned together in comparison, with Amber always as the negative example.
Gracie finished adjusting her hair clip, spun in place, and showed a radiant smile to the mirror.
Satisfied with her beauty today, she then spoke to Amber beside her:
"I heard that Mr. Sean and Miss Erin haven't married yet?"
Amber splashed a handful of water onto her face, not responding.
Gracie continued, "I actually really like mixed martial arts, and I recognized Mr. Sean early on. Afraid of mistaking him, I secretly confird his identity with him just now."
"I'm his fan, fell for him at first sight. Do you think I can win over Miss Erin?"
Amber didn't reply, believing there was no comparison between them.
But just then, the smooth-running faucet halted abruptly, leaving her only to hear the sound of running water.
The noises and footsteps from the corridor disappeared, as did the vain Gracie beside her; the world fell silent.
Amber's face showed distress—damn it, here it cos again.
She turned off the faucet and looked up to find Gracie still posing in front of the mirror, her eyes glued to her reflected self, as if she had suddenly turned into a statue.
Amber turned to leave the restroom, but before she could step out, her hair was pulled from behind, and the next mont, she was yanked back into the restroom.
She stumbled to the ground, clutching her hair, looking forward only to see Gracie with a fierce look in her eyes, her face gloomy.
"I'm asking you, who is more beautiful, or Miss Erin?"
Amber reached behind her waist for the baton she carried but hesitated upon recalling her agreent with Wu Chang, withdrawing her hand.
"You're far off."
"Bitch!"
Gracie flew into a rage, kicking Amber hard in the abdon, nearly causing the girl who hadn't finished digesting her lunch to vomit.
Urgh.
Amber clutched her stomach, sliding back, but only moved a bit before her back hit the sink, with nowhere left to retreat.
Gracie's body began to change, her palms emitting eerie energy fluctuations as she slowly approached Amber.
"Soone like you, why do you live in this world?"
Amber smirked bitterly. It was always like this—everyone she hadn't t before would inexplicably show murderous intent towards her.
Only by killing the monster within them could everything co to an end.
If she pulled out the baton and smashed Gracie's head fiercely, maybe like before she could kill only the monster without harming their body.
But then it would be like before.
Plus, Gracie was different from others; she was taller, stronger; facing her, Amber practically had no ability to fight back.
She recalled her agreent with Wu Chang, wondering if her opponent would honor it if she didn't retaliate.
Amber curled up in the corner against the wall and sink, trying to shield herself from Gracie's attack.
Still, two kicks ca, and despite her arms being used to block, she couldn't disperse the force completely.
With the impact, her head knocked against the sink, hitting hard enough it buzzed.
Gracie sneered as she approached Amber, raising her fist ready to strike hard.
"Goodbye, you monster who shouldn't exist in this world."
Amber bit her lip, looking towards the restroom door.
The corridor was dead silent, without any movent visible; just like before, no one could find her, no one would co.
Every ti it was just her alone.
No matter the agreents made, in the end, it would leave only herself.
All liars.
She could no longer fight back, channeling all grievances into a discontent shout: "Liar Sean!"
Bang!
The mirror on the sink shattered, a thick fist burst through, hitting Gracie, sending her flying into the wall.
Then two more punches widened the hole on the mirror, two hands grasped the opening firmly, and Wu Chang crawled through the breach into the girls' restroom.
He showed apologetic eyes to Amber in the corner, "Sorry, it took a bit of ti to get in, but I'm glad I made it."
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