Chapter 194: A big declaration

Meanwhile, in Slater’s classroom.

Slater sat quietly on his desk, keeping his memory fresh from the last lessons they had last night.

Tak... tak... tak...

His concentration, however, was being disturbed by that very faint noise in their quiet classroom. Looking at where the sound was coming from, the first thing he saw was a crumbled paper hitting one of his classmates from the back.

Moving his eyes to where the papers were coming from, his gaze landed on Keith.

Keith chuckled while wasting papers, crumpling them into balls, and then throwing them in one of their classmates. The classmate on the receiving end could only lower his head and let these papers rain on him.

"Haha." Keith was about to throw another one when he noticed Slater looking at him. He shifted his attention to him and smirked. "What are you looking at?"

Hearing Keith’s provocation earned everyone’s attention. This time, they didn’t carry the same nonchalance or interest in what was to unfold. Today was the first day of their final exam. Therefore, they simply want to concentrate — at least for now.

Slater looked away from Keith. ’It’s not worth it.’

"Hey!" Taking Slater’s subtle action as a provocation, Keith rose from his chair. He approached Slater’s desk and tapped his back, making Slater look up at him. "Did you just sneer at me?"

"No."

Keith scorned, tapping the back of Slater’s shoulder once again. "Hey, did you think because I kept letting you off I’m done with you?"

"Keith, today’s the first day of the exam." Slater clasped his hand and kept his shaky heart still. "Please, not today."

"Then, when?" Keith returned in sarcasm. "Later? Haha. You little siscon. You’re becoming confident now just because your sister stood up for you, huh?"

"Hey, Keith!" James jumped from his seat and glared at him. "What do you think you’re doing now?"

Keith scoffed when his eyes landed on James. "Here goes another coward. You two... and that little sissy over there as well are so pathetic. How could you hide behind that little girl? Aren’t you ashamed?"

"How about you? Are you not ashamed that you kept picking on those you knew weaker than you?" Slater blurted out. He wasn’t even trying to fight him, but his words already flew out of his mouth before he could stop it.

"What did you say?"

"He said aren’t you ashamed that you kept picking on those who were weaker than you?" James bravely repeated what Slater called a mistake, making the latter gasp. "If there’s anyone who should be ashamed here, that’s you, Keith!"

Keith ran his tongue across his inner cheek, darting his eyes between the two. He took a languid step back, rocking his head.

"I see," he said. "So, you guys really had no balls to fight on your own, so you feel proud of hiding behind a girl. I guess you are truly one pathetic bunch. Well, what can I expect?"

He shrugged indifferently. "Your families are like that. I mean, Penny is probably so upset that she had to look after her big brother."

Slater’s jaw tightened, keeping his fist still on top of his desk. He looked away and tried to feign a deaf ear, telling himself Keith was simply trying to provoke them. He shouldn’t fall for this petty provocation.

"What a poor girl. Although she’s an eyesore and a nosy child, I feel sorry for her. I heard she was swapped and raised by a dirt poor family while her own family spoiled another child without shame. All these years, she’s scrambling for food and warmth, while her own family eats to their heart’s content and has a nice home to keep them warm," Keith continued, keeping his voice loud so everyone could hear him. "I can only imagine how painful it was for her to be separated, only to be taken home to a place that she also has to clean up."

Keith sighed dramatically. "Not only does she have to be around the fake daughter who tries to harm her, she also has to fix her big brothers problems! Even I, a stranger, can’t help my heart but ache for her! Surely, the Bennet Family doesn’t deserve such a person. I wouldn’t be surprised if she wasn’t proud to be a Bennet. After all, she’s using her name Reed instead of Bennet."

"Well, I can’t fault her! Even I would be ashamed to be a part of the Bennet...!" he trailed off when Slater suddenly rose from his seat, smirking. "Oh, ho! Slate, did I hit a nerve?"

"Take that back," Slater’s voice shook, facing Keith fiercely. "Take back what you said!"

"Huh? Why would I?" Keith scoffed. "It’s the truth! Why would Penny use Reed if she wasn’t ashamed to be a Bennet, huh?!"

Slater’s grip tightened as his eyes blazed in fury.

"Keith!" James exclaimed, panicking when he saw Slater’s expression. "Slater, don’t listen to him. He’s just provoking you so you missed the exam! He’s a loser!"

"Loser? If there’s a loser here, that would be the Bennet Family! What? Haha! Don’t get angry, Slater! It just shows that getting angry over some people’s opinions means what I said is the truth! Penny is ashamed to be a Bennet!" Keith stressed, hitting Slater with words that he knew hurt him. "Such a pathetic family — even a child from the slums like her would rather be a Reed because the Bennet Family is simply pathetic!"

"You!" Slater’s vision turned red and his mind went blank. He marched toward Keith, ready to fight him and give this guy what he wanted. After everything he went through in Keith’s hand, this was the first time Slater found it in his heart to fight back.

But...

"Hey, little guy." Slater’s steps halted when an arm suddenly landed across his shoulder with some added weight, making him lower his head a bit. "That’s enough."

Turning his head, Slater’s brows furrowed as soon as his eyes landed on Mark — the said delinquent of their school. Mark smirked at him and said, "Don’t forget the bet. I heard our leader of the fan club put her money on you."

Upon hearing that, the life in Slater’s eyes slowly returned in his eyes. Mark’s smirk broadened as he retrieved his arm from Slater.

"Hey, Keith, you really have a big mouth, huh?" Mark pointed out. "Keep it shut until the exam is over. Otherwise, I’ll send you far away enough not to disturb this class."

"Hah! Mark, why are you interfering here? Forgetting your place now?"

Mark shrugged, showing no sign he even planned to indulge with this loser. As for Slater, he huffed and tried to control his emotions.

"Keith," called Slater. "I know you can’t wait until the results of the final exam are out, but let me tell you something."

Slater drew a deep breath and looked his bully straight in the eye. "I will not become your slave. Not just that, but I will top this class just so my name is something yours can’t even reach!"

"..."

For some reason, Slater’s voice echoed, making everyone hear his big declaration a few more times in a daze.