Deafening laughter crashed at Leon's neck. He remained stiff, staring at the smudged text in the book he was holding as if the words could shield him – especially from her.
"I mean, honestly," Vera's voice cut through the classroom chatter in a tone filled with sweetness and venom. Drawing all eyes to her in a satisfactory expression.
"Does he think staring at the building will make his father's work any less pathetic?" The moment her voice faded, Leon tightened his knuckles around his desk. The words weren't just said; they were meant directly for him.
In this glass-walled academy, Leon was the odd one out. The one whose father always came home smelling of sweat and the sting of dirt and trash in his clothes, rather than money and power.
Yet, Leon focused his eyes on the distant needle-shaped structure, stretching to the sky. The Granum Tower.
He knew his father was at the top floor, turning the floors and walls into a shimmering diamond. Usually, Leon's thoughts were only a mixture of anxiety and pride.
But today, under the very lady who always tried to put him down, it was just shame.
'Dad… I'll take you out of your work and earn you respect.' Tears dropped down Leon's cheeks and fell with the same rhythm as the drifting leaf outside the window as his thoughts screamed.
When the tears touched the top surface of his desk, a chorus of harmonized chimes erupted around the room. Smart devices lit up on every wrist and desk.
A low murmur of interest stirred after the chimes, replacing the lazy hum of the afternoon.
Knowing the very person who would act first, Leon didn't bother to look as a gasp cut in. Instantly, he could picture Vera tossing her hair and soaking in the attention of the remaining students.
With Vera, everything was a performance. Even the slightest thing no one thought of, she made it become everyone's favorite.
"Oh, my gods, guys. Have you seen the news? A plane crash!" Even as Vera's voice faded, Leon just kept staring at the Granum Tower.
He stared at the speck he imagined to be the scaffold his father would have used to do the cleaning.
Since he'd no device to check, the only thing he could do was just lean his ears to them as they talked of the crash news.
But even with a focused mind, Vera pulled his attention to her side as she cleared her throat while mentioning Leon's name.
When Leon tilted his head, it first moved past Vera and caught Zoe's steady and calm eyes. And when he paused at Zoe, he noticed she was looking at him as if she wanted to tell him something but was afraid to.
When Leon tried to signal Zoe, Vera's voice sliced through the numbness. "The news says the plane hit a building under maintenance near an outbreak site," she said in a tone that had an ugly, joyful taste in Leon's ears.
Then, when she noticed Leon was now staring at her with his full attention, she smiled and turned her eyes in a cunning gesture. "Guess the cleaners' families can now pick up the brushes and brooms now."
She stared at Leon in a cruel state until Leon shifted his gaze from her.
But Leon couldn't forget Vera's stare. Hearing the silence after Vera's voice, he tightened his knuckles. Thought he was the only one who could feel the pressure rising in his hands. But the other students who kept their gaze on him saw a flicker of gold spark in Leon's eyes.
'No. Not Dad. Not there.' Leon's breath clawed for escape as he thought. In that very instant, something stirred in Leon's chest, causing his heart to skip a beat.
Then, the feeling he felt surged into a tension causing him to lose the grip on the book he was holding at first – letting it smack the floor.
Knowing very much such tension normally rises in him when someone in his family or something close to him gets destroyed, Leon moved before he could think.
He fumbled in his patched bag for the ancient, cracked communicator his family had shared through ages. Even as he pulled it out of the bag, his hands trembled so hard, it caused him to nearly drop the communicator also.
With an unsteady breath and slightly tear-filled eyes, Leon hit his fingers on the single speed-dial home button. It rang and rang, but no response came. Only the message that asked him to leave a message did.
Leon tried for a couple of times, but the empty tone that played over and over turned as if he was nailing his own coffin.
While he hoped and continued pressing the button, the whispers around him felt distant. Then when he paused, the whispers turned like a nuclear blast against his ears.
The moment he tilted his head around, he caught Jade's uncaring glance, Vera's venomous gaze, and Tiger's predatory grin. All three of them stared at him with pleasure of different tones.
But as Leon's eyes fell on Zoe, he stopped. What Zoe had was of no mockery. No pity. Just a steady look he couldn't really name.
When Leon thought he'd finally found someone who cared a little for him, Vera's voice cut through again in a sharp tone.
"Some people are just unlucky." When her words ended, she laughed. "Guess that's what you get when your dad is nothing but a cleaner."
Many voices joined in, duetting Vera's laughter.
After a while, all the laughing sounds stopped, followed by a thick silence when a shadow slowly surged into the room from the classroom door.
And when the owner of the shadow stepped foot in the classroom, faces turned pale. The person was none other than the very Physical Education teacher – the very teacher who only visited the school twice every month. Mr. Lee.
When Leon saw the teacher's face, the tension that had started in him increased. Judging by the stare the teacher had – which he hadn't seen before – Leon couldn't actually tell what he would be asked or told to do this time.
"Leon," the teacher said in a voice that echoed with mixed emotion. "A word, in my office. Now."