7 | 𝐻𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝒦𝑜𝓃𝑔

Sophia's POV

I was in my English class, sitting next to Natalie, who was surprisingly enough not sleeping. But then I remembered that the teacher has already given her two warnings. Mr. Sandberg told her that if she dozed off again, she could do that in the principal's office.

I couldn't help but let a giggle escape as I watched her glare at Mr. Sandberg's back. I believe that she doesn't like him very much, I told myself ironically, a toothy grin on my face.

Natalie turned to her right to stare at me, wide-eyed. "You're really having this, aren't you?" she said, eyebrows raised. I nodded a little, just enough for her to see.

She shook her head. "And I thought you were the nice one here," she mumbled.

I gasped softly. "I am nice. At least I think I am..." I whispered the last part a bit more with sass.

She playfully rolled her eyes and muttered a small 'sure' before turning her sharp gaze back to poor Mr. Sandberg's direction.

There were only a few minutes left of the lesson, so I put away my notes, when the teacher told us we were finished for the day. We weren't permitted to leave the room yet, so me and Natalie just talked.

Her head was on the table when she told me she and her friends were going to a near café for lunch. "Do you wanna come with?" she asked.

I looked up, astonished. "What?" I stuttered stupidly. She didn't repeat herself, but just lifted her head and stared at me, perhaps waiting for some kind of response.

"Oh...uh no, that's fine. Thank you though," I said then.

"I know what you're thinking, Sophia, and you're not going to be a burden," she laughed, laying her head back down. We've only known each other for three days and she already knows what I'm thinking. Or maybe I'm just that predictable. Yeah, definitely that.

I laughed nervously, clearing my throat. "Oh well, I shouldn't go anyways. My parents don't want me leaving school." It's true, they think it's bad for my safety. When I say I have strict parents, I mean it.

She hummed in reply, not looking troubled at all, more like extremely tired. "Did you sleep last night?" I asked. She always appears so exhausted, I wonder if something was off at home.

She snorted. "Who actually does sleep in high school," she answered, it wasn't a question. I didn't really comprehend her, or anyone at this school. I mean, I slept at least eight hours every night. I shrugged it off though.

-

By now it was lunch and I followed Natalie to the school exit. There she waited on her friends while I stood beside her. Where am I going to sit? I thought to myself, beginning to freak out. I'm gonna be all alone and people will be watching me and laughing.

"You know it's not too late to come with us," one of Natalie's friends encouraged me. She was looking at me with a spark in her eyes and seemed exceedingly kind.

"I really want to, but I can't." I added a quick 'but thanks' with an awkward smile and looked away. I never was good at keeping eye contact.

"'Kay, we'll be going now," another one said. I might be oblivious sometimes, but I immediately saw how she looked at me, with sudden detestation. I never knew why, I still don't and possibly won't ever.

But that's life. Don't try to make everyone like you, you don't even like everyone, I told myself the quote I've been repeating in my head for over two years now.

"Relax, okay? No one will hurt you," Natalie told me when she saw my stressed face. I nodded, giving a minor, untruthful smile.

The girl now standing next to her budded in—I think it was her girlfriend, but I couldn't reminisce her name. "And if anyone was mean to you or said something rude, just tell us," she said assertively. I bobbed my head once more.

"Or just punch them in the face." She sounded so self-assured, I respected it. They didn't care what any person thought of them.

"Exactly," said Natalie, swinging her arm over the girl's shoulder. She pecked her lips—yup, definitely girlfriends—winked at me and started walking away.

Okay, listen to what they said. Calm down, nothing is going to happen, and I can just go sit in the library. I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes for a brief second. Yeah, I'll do that. I was standing at the back exit of the school, so it was almost completely empty here, and I found it creepy.

I turned on my heels, straightened my back and put my hands against my sides. Did I look relaxed? Because I totally wasn't inwardly. I just promised myself that I'd buy me a reward if I got through the whole day without overthinking everything too much, so I took a step forward.

Two steps...

Three...

And I stopped counting after I entered the not too crowded but also not wholly deserted side of the school. Most students were in the canteen, some were out—like Natalie and her friends—and others were roaming the hallways.

As I strolled down the corridors with my head down, I passed a group of boys leaning against the lockers. One of them turned around and winked at me. Somehow I found the wink Natalie sent me way more consoling.

I didn't know how to react to that and I didn't want to look impolite as the new kid, so I gave him a subtle smile.

(A/N: I do not think that ignoring or talking back to a guy that catcalls you is rude; this is just a part of her personality. She is unaware of some things and thinks that everything she does is wrong! I do not mean to offend anyone!!)

He took that as a sign, I think, and called me over. "Hey, come here!" I looked over my shoulder, only to see no one behind me. Was he speaking to me?

I didn't say anything to them as I was now standing in front of their little group. They were all bigger then me, which made it even more scary.

"So, you're new, huh?" one of his friends started, scrutinizing me from top to bottom. I shuffled uncomfortably under their gazes and barely nodded from the shyness.

"Well, welcome to the school then," he said, grinning. It wasn't a normal grin, there was something evil about it. And that look, there was a glimpse in his eyes. I've seen it before but can't tell what it was.

"Where were you headin' just now? Do you have anyone waiting?" the boy who winked asked me, making a move closer to me. At first it didn't seem too threateningly, so I dismissed it.

Wrong.

And stupidly enough, I answered with, "No."

They looked at each other and smirked down at me. Again, he took a step forward, and before I noticed, one of the others were now behind me, blocking my way. I felt extremely violated and almost didn't have any personal space anymore.

"Why don't you come with us? We're going to the parking lot," the boy before me said. Why there?

"Wha-Why?" I stuttered, blinking rapidly.

He chuckled to his friends but kept his eyes on me. "Just hanging out."

"Oh..." was all I could say. I always froze when feeling afraid. I didn't know what to do, nor say in such situations. He was finding this amusing. I could tell by the way his smirk grew even more.

"I'm taking that as a yes, boys," another friend that I hadn't heard yet said. Even though I'd wanted to rather do anything else in the world right now, I didn't reject.

Surely someone would see. Right?

But no one even looked our way.

I was alone, they were with four...

Just as his hand reached out to touched my arm, probably to guide me to the parking lot, a loud and familiar voice boomed throughout the hallways. An angry one, should I rather say.

"Don't touch her, you son of a bitch!" he almost yelled. I swiftly turned around, well as much as I could between these boys, and saw Grayson with three of his friends striding towards us.

I always see him with those three, so I'm guessing they're friends.

Grayson had a startlingly furious expression on, the one next to him smiled at me, but the gesture was so small, I almost missed it. The one next to him didn't show any emotion at all and the guy on Grayson's other side was smirking, not the same kind of smirk the locker boys had, but a more playful or gratified smirk.

"I'm not touching her," the boy fired back, looking very frustrated for some reason. I was particularly thankful on the other hand. I didn't know what I'd do if they hadn't come here.

I swear I heard Grayson growl at him, but he stood proud. I don't know how, honestly, I mean I would've gone to the toilet in my pants already. And it looked like his friends were about to.

"And why do you care? Shouldn't you go back to that slutty girlfriend of yours?" he asked mockingly. "Oh, and by the way, I fucked her a few days ago," he added smugly.

I just stood there with my mouth hanging open and my jaw possibly hitting the ground. How—Why—I mean... What?

I couldn't even form words in my mind for that blunt and vulgar language he just spread for the entire hallway to hear. Yes, by now everyone was staring at us.

I didn't mind if people cursed, but if it were directed at me, I'd probably start crying right then and there. I even cringed when he said that to Grayson. No one has ever said those kind of words to me. My parents didn't allow swearing, so I never truly understood what these words meant.

The three of Grayson's friends looked beyond surprised, I fully understood why. In the three days that I've been here, I've heard that no one has ever stood up to him before, and I've also never seen anyone try it.

One of Grayson's friends had a growing smirk on his face, enjoying the show and waiting for something to happen.  And Grayson, well let's just say that if looks could kill...you know what I mean. Rage wasn't even a good enough word to describe his feelings right now.

"You need to chill, bro," the boy that stood behind me whispered to the his friend.

I hadn't even realised that the smile-guy - another of Grayson's friends - had moved to me. He suddenly said, "I agree with your friend over here. And shouldn't you already know how to treat a woman properly?" He put his hand on my shoulder and I spun around.

"No, no, no, leave it be! I've been waiting for this moment my whole life," the smirk-guy said, clapping his hands together whilst walking away from Grayson towards us as well.

"So you think you can disrespect me now, do you?" Grayson said, taking a slow and painfully step closer.

"Yes," the boy said. He tried to look noble and big, but that façade started to slip away, bit by bit. You could see his hands starting to shake if you look closely enough.

"I think you need to be put back in your place," Grayson said, now being only a few feet away.

"Dude, come one, just chill out!" one of the boy's friends was beginning to freak out.

"No. Someone needs to stand up to him. He thinks that he owns the world, that he's Hong Kong or whoever... You're the king of the school, huh? I mean, everyone's sooo scared of you, right? Well, not me, no. I'm not falling to my knees for you, just so you can go ahead and walk right over me," the foolish boy yelled, throwing his arms up in the air.

Honk Kong, isn't that in China? Does he mean King Kong? I seemed to have been the only one to notice.

His friends went backwards a bit, away from the lockers. Everyone was astonished by his abrupt outburst, everyone except Grayson. He still had that same deadly look on his face. I could only imagine what was going on inside his head, and it definitely weren't colorful rainbows and fluffy unicorns.

"And now...I was busy with something, so I'm going to finish what I started without you and your 'gang' interrupting," he finally finished, air-quoting and emphasizing words when no one said anything to break the tense silence in the hallways. I swear, even the kids in the canteen stopped talking to listen.

"I'll show you why everyone's so scared of me. I'll show you why no one wants to talk to me. I'll show you what happens when you belittle me..."

A/N: Pretty please VOTE if you can!