The Birth of Cruelty
The seasons passed, but Angelyn never changed schools again. She didn't need to.
She had carved her place here, wrapped in her mask, flanked by friends who worshipped her edge, her silence, her ability to wound with just a glance. Where once she'd been the awkward girl teased for her face, now she was something else entirely.
A queen born of mockery, crowned in whispers, ruling through fear.
The teachers avoided her gaze. The principal bowed to her father's influence. Even the other rich kids, spoiled and arrogant as they were, kept a careful distance.
It was intoxicating. Every laugh, every cruel word, every act of humiliation she and her circle inflicted on others fed a fire inside her.
That fire burned away the last of her doubt.
When another scholarship student was transferred in, the girls pounced. This one was smart, polite, and hardworking. The perfect target.
"Do you think you'll last here?" Angelyn's friend sneered on the first day.
"He won't," another laughed. "They never do."
Angelyn didn't laugh. She didn't need to. She only stood there, silent behind her mask, and watched the boy shrink under their gaze. That silence was enough to crush him.
And as the days stretched into weeks, the pattern repeated:
Books scattered on the ground.
Shoes hidden in the locker room.
Food stolen and tossed into the trash.
Shoves in the hallway, whispers that clawed at his ears.
The boy stopped smiling. Then he stopped speaking.
And Angelyn—she felt nothing. Not pity. Not remorse. Just a cold, thrilling emptiness.
But fate is cruel in its timing.
One rainy afternoon, Angelyn stood near the school gates, her mask damp, her umbrella tilted. She thought she was alone. She thought her secret was safe.
Then came the voice.
"Angelyn…?"
She froze.
Naoki stood there, a little drenched from the rain, eyes wide in shock. His gaze was fixed on her face—her real face, bare for only a moment as she'd adjusted her mask.
That instant stretched into eternity.
The disgust she'd always seen in her father's eyes, the whispers of her old classmates, the laughter of her so-called friends—it all came crashing back in that single look.
Naoki didn't laugh. He didn't mock her. He only looked surprised. But to Angelyn, it was worse. Much worse.
It was unbearable.
Her heart twisted with rage, shame, and something she couldn't name. The fire inside her roared, consuming what little innocence remained.
The very next day, Naoki became the target.
Her friends didn't question it. They followed her lead blindly. And Angelyn—behind her mask—smiled faintly.
Because now, cruelty wasn't just her shield.
It was her answer.
End of Chapter 🫠