It started with a feeling.
Not a loud one, not even something she could describe properly.
Just… a shift.
A strange knot in her stomach as Rachel walked ahead of them toward the courtyard benches, her short hair catching the breeze like it always did. Leanne didn't think much of it at first. It had been a normal day. Rachel was unusually quiet during lunch, but that wasn't new. She'd been off for a while now.
John approached them just as they were finishing up a joke Ivan had cracked about their teacher's habit of humming before giving pop quizzes. Leanne smiled faintly. The air felt light and normal.
Until he called Rachel's name.
Something about the way he said it made Leanne's shoulders tighten. Rachel's back had gone rigid too. That familiar fold of her arms across her chest wasn't her being defensive. Not just that. It was her protecting herself, like she already knew what was coming.
Leanne sat down on the edge of the bench, trying not to fidget.
John wanted to talk to Rachel alone. Of course he did. That never meant anything good. But Rachel refused. Her voice wasn't cold… but it was tired. Bruised. Still hurting from something that had happened long before this conversation started.
John didn't fight her on it. He just stood there. Fists tight at his sides.
Leanne studied him. The sharp line of his jaw, the way his eyes darted, conflicted. John always seemed to carry the weight of things he didn't say. It was part of why Leanne liked him.
Not romantically—no, but there was a stillness in him that made you want to understand more, even when he didn't want to be understood.
But this version of him? This one right now?
He looked like he was about to shatter.
"Do you know the Twibbler account Saicy1012?" he asked, like he was holding his breath.
Rachel blinked & denied it instantly.
But something in her voice made Leanne sit straighter.
John continued, calmly but firmly.
"The account was involved in some shady stuff. Has been for weeks. I did some digging. It was traced back to your email address."
Rachel's face was then drained of color. Her lips parted and then came a sudden, nervous burst: "I never bullied anyone online!"
Leanne's heart stuttered.
Wait—what?
John didn't flinch. "I never said it was about bullying."
Silence fell like a dropped plate.
Leanne felt the world stop moving. Ivan's mouth hung open. Joseph stiffened beside her.
Rachel froze.
For the first time, she truly froze.
Her words crumbled. Her shoulders slumped. And in that tiny second, Leanne knew Rachel had slipped. And she knew exactly what she'd just admitted.
The pieces were connecting too fast.
Leanne didn't want to believe it. But she saw it now, the way Rachel avoided certain topics. How she'd grown resentful over the past month. All those times she looked at John, wanting something he never gave her.
Then Rachel started talking.
And Leanne wished she hadn't.
The bitterness poured out like venom wrapped in a cracked heart. Her voice shook with rage and grief, and it hurt to hear. She talked about how long she'd known John. How she was the only one who saw his pain before anyone else noticed. How Kana had come out of nowhere and "stolen" him.
Leanne's stomach twisted tighter with each word. This wasn't just jealousy.
This was an obsession.
When Rachel spat out the words "online slut," something in John snapped.
His voice, low and raw, struck harder than if he had screamed. He spoke about Kana, about what she meant to him, how she was the only one who truly understood his darkness. That Rachel and everyone else, never could.
It wasn't just words.
It was a wound opening.
Leanne couldn't move. Her heart was racing, mind tumbling through a thousand thoughts she couldn't grab onto. She looked at Rachel, but it wasn't the girl she knew anymore. This Rachel was unraveling right in front of her.
And then—
CRACK.
John's head jerked violently to the side.
Leanne gasped, hand flying to her mouth.
Joseph.
He stood between them now, fist still outstretched, face stormy with rage and grief.
Leanne stared, frozen.
She didn't know what to feel.
Shock?
Sadness?
Fear?
But above all—grief.
Something between them all had broken.
And there was no taking it back.
*****
Soon, a crowd had slowly begun to gather around them as everyone was fully drawn in now after they saw Joseph throw what looked like a heavy punch on John's face and this surprised them as most people had seen John hang out with Joseph and Ivan and assumed they were good friends.
But it didn't seem like that was the case.
The school courtyard buzzed in shock as students turned. Conversations stopped. Phones tilted up and whispers fluttered.
John didn't even strike back.
He just stared at Joseph in stunned silence while Joseph stared at him in rage.
His voice came out hoarse, boiling from his throat.
Joseph: You act like you're the only one who's going through something.
John's head snapped up, eyes narrowed.
Joseph: You walk around every day with that dull face, like you're carrying the weight of the world and like the rest of us are just too shallow to understand.
He pointed a shaking finger.
Joseph: You never give anyone a chance. You shove everyone out and act like it's mercy, like you're doing us a favor by staying quiet. But it's not...
John's expression changed, his teeth gritted, jaw clenched tight.
Joseph: (yelling) Don't act like you're the only person in this world with pain!!
There was a pause.
And then John snapped.
His voice erupted in raw emotion. For once, his guard shattered in public.
John: (furious) You think I want to be this way?!
His voice shook, loud enough for everyone to hear.
John: You want to know the truth? You really want to understand me?!
He stepped forward, his eyes burning into Joseph's.
John: My mom's a sex worker... She sells her body every night just to keep a roof over our heads.
Gasps echoed in the crowd and Ivan had a shocked look in his eyes while Leanne was left speechless by what she had just heard.
John: (voice cracking) I was born because some man paid for one night and left. That's what I am. That's my origin story. A f**king price tag!!
He let that sit for a while before he continued.
John: And every night, I heard it. I heard everything. The walls are thin and it's a cheap apartment. I used to cover my ears with pillows and hum just so I could fall asleep.
He stared at Joseph.
John: That's why I came late to school at some point. Not because I was lazy, not because I was irresponsible, but because I couldn't sleep. Because I had to watch my mom leave the house and pray that tonight wouldn't be the night she didn't come back.
There was a deep silence as no one had anything they wanted to say at that moment.
No one could look him in the eye.
John: Can any of you understand that? Any of you?
But there was no answer.
Not a single word was uttered and Joseph who had spoken earlier couldn't find it in his heart to say anything to John at that moment.
John: Do you know what it's like to live with shame you didn't ask for? To flinch at every knock on the door in case it's a man looking for your mother? To lie to teachers about why your homework isn't done because you're too tired from just trying to hold yourself together?
Even Rachel, who had been glaring only moments ago, now stared down at her feet. Her fingers trembled at her sides.
John exhaled shakily.
John: Kana… was the first person I ever told. Because she was going through something similar.
His voice softened with memory.
John: She filled the noise in my head that I was trying so hard to drown. She made the noise go quiet.
He looked directly at Rachel now feeling nothing but extreme hurt and frustration.
John: And now she's sick. The stress from the bullying, the anxiety, it's been worsening her health. She cries constantly and her doctor says it's affecting her treatment.
He shook his head, his voice thick.
John: She did nothing to you, Rachel. Absolutely Nothing. So tell me—why? Why would you do this to someone I love? (pauses) Why...? Why did it have to be you... Rachel?
Rachel's mouth opened slightly and then closed as words failed her in that moment.
Tears stung her eyes, but she didn't wipe them.
She looked down, face filled with shame and disbelief in herself. Her legs were trembling beneath her.
Even Joseph… his anger drained away like water through open fingers.
He looked at John.
And realized—
He hadn't seen him at all.
Not the real him.
Joseph clenched his jaw, eyes closing briefly. Regret washed over him like a wave.
Then—
"HEY!"
The voice cut through the crowd like a blade.
A female teacher had stormed over, face tense, eyes wide at the gathering of students and the clear mark on John's jaw.
Teacher: What's going on here?! Everyone, break it up! Now!
The crowd scattered quickly like water over hot pavement, kids slipping away, muttering, whispering.
The teacher rushed over to John, concern etched across her face.
Teacher: John… who hit you?
No one answered and John didn't point.
He just looked exhausted.
Teacher: (stern) Everyone involved, follow me to the staff room! Now!
She pointed at Joseph, Rachel, Leanne, Ivan and even John.
But then, seeing the bruise forming clearly along John's jaw, she paused.
Her voice softened.
Teacher: John… you head to the infirmary first.
John gave a tired nod and as he was led away, the others were ushered toward the main building.
No one spoke as they all walked away and disappeared into the school building and the courtyard slowly returned to its normal rhythm, but something had changed.