"Kate, I've been waiting for you. You have no idea what happened. Some crazy bastard thought it was a good idea to mess with Dylan." Right at the door, Natalie Langley rushed to greet Kate.
She paused to glare at Zoey, but Zoey didn't spare her a glance and simply walked to the back of the class to continue gaming.
A moment later, someone tapped her on the shoulder.
"Do you have any idea the uproar you caused in the school?" Austin was too tickled by the video on his phone to speak clearly.
Lowering the volume of her game, Zoey craned her neck to glance at his screen, chuckling when she saw the new edits added to yesterday's video.
"I could've sworn the video was clearer when I uploaded it. The forum must reduce video quality."
Austin shook his head, pausing to look down at her.
"It's been shared over a hundred times just this morning. Add that to the three hundred from last night—I'm even surprised we can still make out their faces."
"You're saying it got a lot of views?" Kelsie perked up, taking the phone from him.
He nodded.
"Dylan's minions are a nightmare. Our students didn't just keep it on the school forum—they pushed it onto social media. So basically, every student who knows those delinquents has seen it."
"When I came to school this morning, I purposely walked past the train station where they usually hang around to smoke and drink, but there was no one there."
"So no dog to walk today, huh?" Zoey sighed in disappointment, returning his phone.
There was really nothing fun around here besides this game on her phone.
Returning to her game, she didn't realize Austin was still beside her until he leaned down to peer into her screen.
"You play?"
"Mhm." By now, she had already started the game and couldn't be bothered to look up.
He scratched the back of his head and looked around.
It was still fifteen minutes before class started, so no one noticed he wasn't from this class.
"I've been thinking… do you think it's a good idea to switch classes?"
"Do whatever you want," she replied distractedly, eyes darting across her screen as her fingers repeatedly tapped a spot.
Over at her desk, Kate, who had been strategizing all morning on how to reclaim her position at home, immediately tuned in when she heard Dylan's name.
"Who's the psychopath who did this? Dylan must be so furious right now!"
Unaware that came from a place of concern and not mockery, Natalie scoffed and leaned forward.
"No one's seen him or his minions. Students are already speculating he's gone hunting for whoever disgraced him."
"It makes me happy knowing that punk finally met his match. But I do wonder; who's daring enough to mess with that guy?"
Some surrounding classmates joined the conversation at this moment.
"Does it matter? Whoever it is better be ready to get squashed by Dylan!"
"Yeah, Dylan doesn't care about much, but he does care about his reputation and his minions'. He won't go easy on whoever did this."
"I already feel bad for them. They'd better transfer out of the country before he finds them."
"As if! Leaving the country won't stop him. If they want peace, they better vanish outside the country."
Behind them, Austin listened in. His once-excited eyes slowly clouding over with worry.
"I was wondering… how tight-lipped do you think those two guys with us yesterday were?"
Zoey was too deep into her game to hear a thing.
"Don't worry," Austin continued, "I'll keep your identity a secret even if Dylan beats me to a pulp."
Zoey's head tilted slightly at this moment, "By the way, is this Dylan you keep mentioning the same one with the minions and a yacht?"
"Yeah."
She sucked in her teeth regretfully, "It didn't occur to me last night, but show yourself to his minions. If they beat you up, I'll collect the debt with a cruise on their boss' yacht."
The boy huffed, "How nice of you to joke after hearing all that. Dylan's dad is one of the wealthiest parents in the school. Your Smith family would rather sacrifice you than save you."
Hearing that, Zoey momentarily paused to look up at him, wondering what kind of conversation led to such a painfully accurate statement especially from someone who didn't even know about her situation at home.
Once her game ended, she slid into SoaringEagle's chat box again.
Zoey: I think I may be in trouble.
It took a while before his chatbox showed he was typing.
SoaringEagle: You've been kidnapped?
Zoey: This crazy guy in my school might be coming after me. I hear he's so influential, he'll find me soon.
SoaringEagle: I don't know—punch him in the eyes and show him who's boss?
Zoey paused and looked up from her phone.
Right.
Violence isn't always the answer, but that doesn't mean it's not an answer.
Her phone buzzed again, and she glanced down to see three more messages from SoaringEagle.
"And in the groin."
"Maybe burst his eardrums with a rock and then hit his mouth."
"It'd be hard to be coherent if he's missing some teeth."
Genuinely solid advice.
Who knew SoaringEagle was this much fun?
Zoey: Hey, let's meet in three days instead of a week?
SoaringEagle: You got it.
She had just logged off when someone ran into the classroom, eyes wide in disbelief as she pointed toward the hallway.
"You guys, this is too scary to say, but… I think I just saw Dylan beaming as he walked to class!"
Kate sat up front, so those with her were the first to hear the girl's announcement.
"Beaming and walked to class? Those don't belong in the same sentence, especially not today."
Austin fidgeted with his fingers, exhaling shakily through clenched teeth.
"This is bad, Zoey. If he's actually going to class, then he's dead serious about finding you. His minions probably told him they saw you in our school's uniform. What do we do?"
Zoey shrugged, her voice calm.
"A very good friend just told me how to deal with him. You don't have to worry anymore."