Jubina Loxter might look like a loud, rough-and-tumble tomboy—someone who bullied the weak and feared the strong—but deep down, she still had the heart of an ordinary girl.
She had quietly liked Kade Davis, the forward on the school basketball team, for a long time. Kade wasn't the most handsome guy on the team, but in Jubina's eyes, he was her one and only idol.
Kade had plenty of admirers. Pretty girls brought him water, handed him towels—there was never a shortage of attention.
When Jubina compared those cute, graceful girls with her own tall, broad-shouldered frame, the courage she'd once mustered to confess vanished completely.
After lunch that day, Jubina spotted Kade heading toward the sports field through the cafeteria window.
Almost without thinking, she followed him—just wanting to see her idol a little longer.
What she didn't expect was to overhear him confessing to a girl.
And that girl was Clara Johnson—the one Jubina hated most.
She hated Clara. Truly hated her.
Back in elementary school, Jubina had relied on her size to intimidate other girls. Their fear gave her a twisted sense of superiority.
But after entering middle school—after meeting Clara—that sense of dominance crumbled.
In Clara's eyes, Jubina felt like a joke.
She still remembered raising her fist to scare Clara, only for Clara not to blink once—just staring straight back at her. In those emotionless eyes, Jubina saw her own fear reflected clearly.
As time passed, Clara grew more popular, more beautiful.
And Jubina grew… bigger.
She hated Clara.
And envied her.
….
When Clara and Jeresia Jonez returned to the classroom, the warning bell rang almost immediately. Jubina walked in soon after, glaring viciously at Clara.
Feeling the burning stare, Clara glanced back once—then ignored her entirely.
The class bully was always stirring up trouble. Who knew what mood she was in this time?
Being ignored made Jubina even angrier. She didn't hear a single word of the afternoon lesson.
…..
After school, stewing in resentment, Jubina went to a small bar tucked away in an alley, looking for the bar owner's daughter to vent her frustration.
The bar owner's daughter had been expelled early for bullying classmates. Growing up in a smoky, chaotic environment, she'd picked up street habits far beyond her age. Her tough, big-sister aura made Jubina admire her deeply.
After deliberately trying to get close, Jubina finally earned a place under her wing.
"So," the girl drawled, lounging on a sofa in ripped jeans, chains clinking all over her body, a cigarette dangling from her lips, "you're saying a classmate stole your boyfriend?"
Through the swirling smoke, her face became clear.
It was Catherine—the delinquent girl who had once slapped Clara.
"Y-Yes…" Jubina nodded, face flushing when Catherine casually referred to Kade as her boyfriend.
"Well then," Catherine sneered, "if someone dares steal my little sister's man, I'll teach her a lesson. When do you want to corner her? After school?"
"No," Jubina shook her head quickly. "She lives close to school. Tomorrow she's on cleaning duty with a cowardly girl. I'll have that coward lure her into the storage room. She's timid—just scare her a bit and she'll do whatever we say."
Jubina had planned this for a long time.
"Fine," Catherine said, crushing her cigarette into the ashtray as she stood up. "Tomorrow after school, I'll sneak into the school. You get that coward to bring her over."
"B-Big Sis…" Jubina hesitated. "Just scare her, okay? Don't hit her. If she tells the teacher, they'll call my parents…"
In the end, Jubina was still just a middle schooler—she was afraid of things reaching home.
"Tch, you're timid too," Catherine scoffed. "Relax. A little girl like that will be scared stiff. Come on, I'll buy you a drink—fruit wine. You won't get drunk."
"Thank you, Big Sis!" Jubina said eagerly, trotting after her.
…..
At the start of the new semester, Ms. Daisy had paired Clara with Linda McGim.
Her intention was clear—have the fearless girl who could catch rats barehanded help the most timid student in class.
Besides, Linda was always the one being bullied when seated with others. She cried easily, which annoyed her classmates. Only Clara had the patience to deal with her.
Because of this seating arrangement, Jeresia sulked for days—her new desk mates constantly joked that her "girlfriend" had run off with someone else.
Cleaning duty was assigned in pairs, rotating through fifteen groups in a class of thirty. On special class-event days, student leaders were also required to help.
Today's cleaning duty was Clara and Linda.
Clara asked Linda to go to the storage room at the end of the hallway to fetch the mop and bucket, while she swept the classroom first.
Linda returned soon—but something was off.
"What's wrong, Linda? Are you feeling sick?" Clara asked, standing up.
"I… my head… hurts a little…" Linda murmured hesitantly.
Seeing Linda's pale face, Clara didn't doubt her. "A cold? Go home and rest. Have your mom take you to the hospital."
"But… you'll be alone…"
"It's fine. I'll finish quickly. Go on."
Clara picked up the bucket and headed for the sink, where students from other classes were filling water.
"Clara!"
Linda suddenly called out loudly, causing a boy nearby to turn around curiously.
"What is it, Linda?"
"…N-Nothing. Just… go home early."
Clara nodded and turned back to ask the boy if he was done.
Clutching her backpack, Linda's mind was in chaos.
She wanted to tell Clara the truth.
But the moment she remembered that vicious woman's threats, fear overwhelmed her.
She didn't want to be stripped and thrown onto the street.
She didn't want her hair cut into a bald mess.
She didn't want that.
Linda ran home as fast as she could and hid under her blanket. Her mother noticed something was wrong and asked again and again, but Linda insisted she just had a headache from a cold.
In the end, her mother gave her some cold medicine. Under its effects, Linda fell asleep.
…..
Cleaning alone took much longer.
By the time Clara finished rinsing the mop, everyone else had already left.
She knocked on her stiff lower back, picked up the mop and bucket, and walked toward the storage room.
Unaware that betrayal—
was already waiting inside.
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