Katelyn clutched her notebook, pressing it against her chest as she walked into the dim and half-empty college parking lot—as if the notebook could shield her from the thing she dreaded. She could have sworn her footsteps weren't the only ones echoing across the asphalt. Yet when she turned her head left, right, front, and behind—she was the only one walking there.
For the past few months, she noticed it—cars with tinted windows driving slowly next to her on the pavement, then disappearing at a jarring speed, blending with other cars on the streets; it was like the people inside just wanted to glance at her closely. She wondered if her dad, Louis Valniya, had pissed some people off and they wanted her for ransom, but her parents considered their name and their only child's future a paramount priority. Louis and Mia Valniya were known as charitable and had no enemies. She felt stupid for not letting her family's chauffeur drive her home after the end of her lessons; at least she would have felt safer, even if that meant less autonomy. But she hated attracting the judging eyes and the wagging tongues of her peers. She preferred to blend in as an ordinary girl instead, not inciting unnecessary envy or making her privilege conspicuous.
As Katelyn got closer to her car, she hastened her steps, trying to ignore the feeling of being watched, followed. She yelled, "Please stop following me!" Her eyes closed shut. Her weak heart couldn't handle that surge of adrenaline.
She then felt someone's hand on her arm, halting her from running with her eyes closed. She opened her eyes to see Theo's confused expression.
Theo gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "I didn't know I was this scary. I'm so sorry." He chuckled without mirth.
Katelyn then found herself hugging him tightly. She was glad it was all in her head and Theo was there. Theo reluctantly hugged her back.
He teased, "What's with you these days, hmm?"
She murmured, her ear pressed against his heart, "I don't know. I don't feel well, Theo." Relief washed over her when she heard her childhood friend's voice.
Theo rubbed her back and said, playfully, "Yeah, I can tell. One moment you yell at the air, and the next you hug me like I'm your husband who returned from the war."
Annoyed at his teasing, Katelyn extricated herself and pushed him away, causing Theo to let out a mischievously amused laugh—he got his rocks off painting her cheeks red with his confusing remarks, where she couldn't tell if he was flirting or just making fun of her strange behavior.
Katelyn said, looking away, "I hate you, but I'm glad it was you and not some dangerous person following me." She exhaled, fixing her hair.
He lowered his head to her level and whispered, "How do you know I'm not a dangerous man myself, hmm?"
Katelyn chuckled and playfully slapped his cheek, eliciting a dramatic "Ouch!" from Theo.
Katelyn, looking at him with fondness masquerading as fake annoyance, said, "Because you're an idiot."
Theo placed his palm on the cheek she had lightly slapped, gazing at her embarrassed expression.
He then asked, his voice taking on a more serious tone, "Seriously, though—what was wrong?"
Katelyn sighed, "I don't feel well. I don't know if I'm losing my mind or if I'm actually being stalked." She looked at him, defeated, troubled, and vulnerable—a contrast to the mirage of the bold, playful girl that crossed the physical boundaries between them.
Theo then held her arm, pulling her towards him before he embraced her again.
She whispered in her ear, "Shh, no one can hurt you as long as I'm with you, Katelyn. Please take a deep breath; it's not good for your heart to race like this when there's no real danger."
Katelyn knew Theo had a way with words, and he was good with women. He knew what girls liked to see, what they wanted to hear, and how they wanted to be touched—yet when he did it to her, she couldn't help but melt in his arms. Katelyn hoped she was special to him, even though she knew they could never be more than mere childhood friends.
Backstory
A few years ago, her private school offered scholarships to students from lower-income families across the country, granting those with high grades a chance at a completely free education. This well-intentioned initiative unwittingly triggered an unfeeling witch hunt, with the privileged students coming from affluent backgrounds targeting those studying for free from the lower class—the ghost of these unsightly memories still lingered in her subconscious. Katelyn's mind wandered back to when a girl in her class was forced to lick the bathroom floor while being filmed by a group of classist students—a reminder of her so-called "place" beneath them. The video circulated in their group chat, later causing the girl to take her own life. Katelyn's mind drifted to a much darker incident. When her classroom was empty, a group of guys trapped and cornered a girl from the lower class, taking turns in violating her in the most savage way they could. They knew if a woman had nothing and they had everything, it was their green light to do anything with impunity because that was how things went in this country.
The unfortunate male students had it much uglier. Katelyn recalled when the sound of an ambulance siren rang in the distance while she sat in her classroom. That fateful day, a group of elitists isolated a guy and roughed him up in the schoolyard. They stuffed their cash in his mouth, a cold-hearted mockery of his social status. After that, they held him down and started kicking him repeatedly on his lower stomach. It was later heard that the boy was rendered maimed after undergoing a painful surgery on the damaged area.
The victims were never compensated, and none of those students faced any consequences—because all it took was their parents paying the authorities to turn a blind eye—that was how it always went.
Katelyn, who had a weak heart, both figuratively and literally, would cry and tremble but was too scared to say anything—what could a little thing like her do? She tried reporting the bullies to the "responsible adults" at her school, but they couldn't have cared less. She thanked God that she hadn't been born hapless in this cruel place.
She recalled when Theo got settled beside her. His elegant, confident charm ensnared her. She didn't know he was in the program until he told her casually one day, like he didn't care what she or anyone thought of him. Even though she found him even more attractive after the revelation, she couldn't help but be troubled and uneasy. She didn't want him to get targeted—but he was.
She remembered when they grew closer and she asked to stroll with him at the schoolyard on a Wednesday noon; that was when 3 guys she recognized accosted them. Katelyn's pulse quickened when she sensed the acrid hostility in the air—they came to bother Theo, to remind him of his so-called "place," like they always do to the likes of him, and to tell Katelyn that she wasn't allowed to mingle with certain people.
One of them was named Steven. He stood before Katelyn and Theo with his other friends beside him.
Steven, looking at the two of them with disdain, said to Theo, "Why are you hanging out with a girl out of your league, Theo Mageeny?"
Theo smirked, taking a strand of Katelyn's hair in his fingers, "I hang out with whoever I fucking please. Fuck off!" He said, his gaze piercing through Steven's skull. He then inhaled Katelyn's hair, using her to taunt them, as if her hair was the fuel to everyone's fire. Seldom did they meet a guy like him with that level of boldness. He didn't know his place; they needed to remind him.
Steven raised his eyebrows, bemused. "Is that so, Mageeny? You know if you got killed here, no one would give a single fuck, so you ought to watch your stupid mouth when you speak to those above you."
Theo laughed, his unpredictability unsettling them.
Aymen, the guy next to Steven, chimed in, "Laugh as much as you want, Mageeny. Laugh while your jaw is still unbroken."
Katelyn felt dizzy; her heart was about to leap out of her chest. Their venomous promises sent a chill down her spine, and the violence in their words made her nauseous. She held Theo's arm for balance, her legs trembling.
She whispered, "Theo, let's go inside."
Steven furrowed his brows, looking at her askance, before saying, "Aren't you Katelyn Valniya? What are you doing with this guy, huh?" His tone was jarring and investigative, as if he were telling off a child. Katelyn didn't answer; she just looked at Theo with a pale expression and teary eyes—she wanted to leave with him unharmed.
Theo wrapped his arm around her shoulders protectively, as if to shield her from Steven's aggression. He knew she was a heart patient and that she couldn't handle how fearsome the situation had become.
The 3rd guy was Faron; his gaze raked over her before exchanging looks of disapproval with the other two, Steven and Aymen. They hated how she let Theo touch her and get close to her—to them, only guys like them should be allowed to.
Faron said to her in a tone laced with contempt, "What a shame. I didn't take the Valniya daughter for a cheap, wanton harlot. Tell me, bitch, do you prefer lower-quality sperm?" The 3 of them echoed a cruel laugh.
Katelyn's cheeks flushed, and tears ran down her face. She would never forgive them.
Aymen chimed in, reveling in her distress, "Well, to be fair, I heard poor guys are good in bed—because that's all they can give to a lady. Is that true, slut? Was his cock so good you forgot who he was?"
Katelyn screamed, her face red and her body shaking, "Shut up. Leave us alone! It's none of your business who I talk to!"
Theo held her tight by the waist as she collapsed on him; a small amount of vomit landed on his shoulder as her nausea and dizziness took hold of her.
Theo murmured, "Go to the nurse's office, Kate."
She was embarrassed that she vomited on his uniform, and as much as she was scared of them, she felt worried about him.
She uttered, looking at him with blurry eyes, "But—"
Theo cut in, his tone final, "I said go."
When Katelyn stumbled towards the building, her body collapsed on the hard edges of the stairs. She didn't intend to head to the nurse's office —she wanted to get someone to break the fight—but alas, she couldn't.
That day Katelyn opened her eyes to see her parents, Louis and Mia Valniya, sitting near the unfamiliar white bed. She was carried to the nurse's office with blooming bruises on her knees and legs. Her parents were called to pick her up. That day, an ambulance had been summoned—but not for Theo, not for a hapless student this time
Theo got arrested and spent 4 months in prison—because how dare he win a fight he only had the right to lose? Katelyn knew if the tables had been turned, nothing would happen to the others. Still, she was relieved he had only served a short prison sentence , rather then ending up permanently injured or worse.